Caregiver participation in Resources for Enhancing Alzheimer’s Caregivers Health (REACH II or REACH VA) behavioral interventions is not associated with increased Veterans Affairs or Medicare expenditures, according to a study published online March 13 in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.
Linda O. Nichols, PhD, from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center in Memphis, and colleagues examined caregiver and care recipient health care costs associated with caregiver participation in REACH II or REACH VA behavioral interventions to improve coping skills and management of care recipients. Data were included for 110 caregivers and 197 care recipients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias from five community sites (REACH II), as well as care recipients whose caregivers participated in REACH VA and a propensity matched control group (491 participants).