Robbing elders of their personality, their memory, and their independence, Alzheimer’s disease is one of the cruelest diseases of old age. As if the cruelty of the disease itself weren’t enough, caring for a senior citizen suffering from Alzheimer’s is difficult and expensive. In 1994, the net cost of caring for Alzheimer’s patients in Canada was nearly $4 billion. Today, the Alzheimer Society of Canada estimates that this figure has risen to $5.5 billion. As the population ages, this number will only increase.
What about the individual cost of care of seniors with Alzheimer’s in Canada? A study in 2006 in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry found that the average cost to caregivers of elders with Alzheimer’s was almost $1,300 per month. And as Alzheimer’s patients gradually suffered more from the disease, this cost went up by $30 per month for every one point increase in the patient’s MMSE score.
Slowing the Progression of the Disease is Also Cost-Effective
Because the cost of caring for an elder with Alzheimer’s disease increases as his or her mental state deteriorates, slowing the progress of the disease is not just good health policy but also good economic policy.
The drug Rivastigmine (also known as Exelon) is one fairly common pharmaceutical treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. A 1997 study that appeared in the journal Clinical Therapeutics found that Rivastigmine saved $0.45 per day after six months, and as much as $6.44 per day after two years.
Future Factors in the Costs of Alzheimer’s Disease
In 2007, 88 year-old Sydney Salter, who suffered from dementia, wandered away from his retirement home and died in a parking lot from hypothermia. When Alberta judge Ronald Jacobson studied the case, one suggestion he offered was to study the possibility of putting GPS tracking ankle bracelets onto elders suffering from Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia.
Some think the judge’s suggestion is a sound one. Others balk, including Mary Anne Jablonski, who is Alberta’s minister of seniors and community. In an interview with the CBC News, she compared the idea to George Orwell’s book 1984, in which Big Brother was always watching. The Alzheimer Society of Canada fears that ankle bracelets will only further escalate the costs associated with Alzheimer’s.
Studies suggest that a careful look at the cost-effectiveness of different Alzheimer’s treatments have not yet been explored. As the Canadian baby boom generation enters their twilight years, such an exploration is certainly necessary.
Tags: Alzheimers's care, caregiving, Elder Care, long term care
