DEVELOPMENT OF USE AND COST MEASURES IN A NURSING INTERVENTION FOR FAMILY CAREGIVERS AND FRAIL ELDERLY PATIENTS

The purpose of this pilot study was to refine and evaluate methods of measuring costs of an innovative home-health nursing intervention desi gned to support frail, older persons and their family caregivers. We e valuated a multifaceted strategy to collect a detailed utilization pro file from 22 caregiver/care receiver dyads for hospital, ambulatory, h ome health, nursing home, and community services. The strategy was fea sible for most participants, maximized accuracy of cost data, and mini mized research burden on study participants. Lower overall costs were found in the intervention group, but the difference was not significan t. Approaches to the measurement of costs in this study can serve as m odels for evaluating other innovations in nursing, home care, and long -term care. (C) 1996 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.