Caretakers
... better advantage than institutionalizations. In a study recently done in the University of Chicago, caretakers and nursing homes were compared. Elderly with disabilities who were recovering from bad illnesses and were known to be at risk for nursing homes were assigned to stay at with a caretaker in their home, and some others were sent to the nursing homes. The groups were dispersed according to risk of diseases that could be contagious or risky to the nursing home, the other ones were sent home. Six months later, the patients treated in the nursing home had significantly more functional improvement in three daily activities, which included standing up alone, socializing, and eating (Centers). In contrast, those in the hands of the caretakers improved in seven daily activities including the ones already mentioned plus reading, TV, driving, and exercising (Centers). A year after, the patients who were with caretakers had to be transported to nursing homes for six months because of illness treatment that could not be treated in the house, but instead, only in the nursing home. However, the differences were only a few between the groups staying at the nursing homes and the ones with caretakers in the number of days spent in the nursing homes. Survival studies showed a tendency to fewer deaths among the patients taken care of at nursing homes, and mortality was significantly lowered in the elders thought to be at lower risk of immediate nursing home placement than the elders staying with caretakers because medicine treatment was more advanced in the nursing home than at the house (Comm). Although it is largely perceived that caretakers reduce the utilization of nursing home care, and its also cheaper, the magnitude of the services is not clear. In a study with the Hospital of Chicago, both nursing homes and caretakers were compared. Statistics showed that caretakers significantly reduced both the cost of hospital stays and the number of visits to clinics than the nursing homes. However, neither significantly reduced overall hospital payments (comm). In the evaluation of the combined findings of both studies, there were small differences in terms of efficiency between caretake...