# COSTS OF AD SPECIAL CARE UNITS

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS · 1993 · $202,142

## Abstract

This study will measure the outcomes and effectiveness of Alzheimer's
disease Special Care Units (SCUs) for residents, family caregivers and
facility staff.  The cognitive, functional and behavioral deterioration of
Alzheimer's disease patients almost inevitably culminates in the need for
institutionalization, often extending for a period of several years, and
costing society billions of dollars.  In recent years there has been a
proliferation of skilled nursing facilities claiming to provide
'specialized" care to residents with Alzheimer's disease or related
dementias.  Little is known about the characteristics, services, patient
outcomes, and costs of these facilities beyond case studies and descriptive
reports.  In that there is increasing pressure to develop national and
state regulatory controls for these facilities, as well as create
reimbursements differentials for facilities providing "specialized" care
for dementia patients, this study will evaluate the outcomes,
effectiveness, and costs of providing care in these settings.

The proposed research will employ a quasi-experimental research design with
data collected on SCU residents and non SCU residents at pre- and post-
admission (6 months to skilled nursing facilities.  Data will be obtained
on a minimum of:  1) 162 institutionalized Alzheimer's disease patients
residing in SCUs and 2) 162 controls randomly selected from Alzheimer's
disease patients institutionalized in non-SCUs.  Each cohort will consist
of residents from skilled nursing facilities located in California or North
Carolina, who have been diagnosed as having moderate to severe Alzheimer's
disease or a related dementia, and who are socio-economically, functionally
and cognitively representative of the Alzheimer's disease population.

Information will be obtained using data collection instruments developed
from the researchers' previous work, and will include: demographics;
facility characteristics; problem behaviors; physical an pharmacological
restraints; health, functional, and cognitive status; caregiver stress and
satisfaction; staff stress and satisfaction; and costs of medical, social
service, and informal care.  Data will be collected through facility staff
and family caregiver questionnaires, direct observations of residents and
facilities, and review of medical charts.

We intend to examine:  1) whether the number or severity of problem
behaviors of dementia patients decreases after admission to a SCU; 2)
whether the use of physical restraints and pharmacological restraints
decreases after admission to a SCU; 3) the extent to which health status,
functional level, and cognitive status of SCU residents is maintained or
stabilized; 4) the extent to which family caregiver stress and satisfaction
is positively related to admission to a SCU; 5) the extent of staff stress
and satisfaction is positively related to resident admission to a SCU; and
6) the cost-effectiveness of formal and informal care related to SCUs.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 3123412
- **Project number:** 5R01AG011486-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT DAVIS
- **SAM.gov UEI:** TX2DAGQPENZ5
- **Principal Investigator:** DAVID A. LINDEMAN
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 1993
- **Award amount:** $202,142
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1992-09-21 → 1996-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/3123412

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 3123412, COSTS OF AD SPECIAL CARE UNITS (5R01AG011486-02). Retrieved via MORVS 2026-10-25 from https://api.morvs.ai/grant/nih/3123412. Licensed CC0.

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