Abstract

Background: The MODEM project (A comprehensive approach to MODelling outcome and costs impacts of interventions for DEMentia) explores how changes in arrangements for the future treatment and care of people with dementia, and support for family carers, could result in better outcomes and more efficient use of resources.

Methods: The MODEM team has conducted a systematic mapping of the literature on effective and (potentially) cost-effective interventions in dementia care. We are using those findings to model the quality of life and cost impacts of making these interventions more widely available in England over the period from now to 2040. We are using a suite of models, combining micro and macrosimulation methods, modelling the costs and outcomes of care, both for an individual over the lifecourse and for individuals and the country as a whole in a particular year. The MODEM project concludes in 2018; we will present intermediate outcomes from the evidence review and the lifecourse model.

Results: Current costs of dementia in the UK are around £21 billion, but those costs could change with wider availability of cost-effective care and support. If medications to alleviate the symptoms of dementia were available to everyone with Alzheimer’s disease, savings could be c.£250 million in overall costs, comprising a saving of c.£400 million in social care with a partially offsetting extra cost of £150 million for unpaid care. If cognitive stimulation therapy was delivered to everyone with mild/moderate dementia, there would be little difference in overall costs, with a slight shift from social care to health care costs. Finally, if family carers of people with dementia were supported with the START coping intervention, overall costs would be c.£200 million higher than they are today, comprising savings of £200 million on health and social care and an extra £400 million in unpaid care costs. There would however be significant improvements in caregiver quality of life.

Conclusions: Making cost-effective interventions more widely available has the potential to reduce costs of care and improve the quality of life both of people with dementia and their family caregivers.

Slides