Now a major research project will bring handymen, occupational therapists and nurses into the homes of 800 low-income seniors in Baltimore to test whether some inexpensive fix-ups and strategies for daily living can keep them independent longer and save millions in taxpayer dollars spent on nursing home care.
“Very small changes can make a big difference,” said Sarah Szanton, a Johns Hopkins University associate nursing professor who leads the project. “We’re not saying, ‘What’s your blood pressure?’ We’re focusing on function: What do they want to do?”
The four-month intervention costs about $4,000 per participant, including the home modifications and specialists’ salaries. The average cost for nursing home care in the U.S. is $6,700 a month, so even a modest delay could save thousands of dollars. Szanton will track participants long term and, based on results from an earlier pilot test of 40 high-risk seniors, hopes to delay nursing home entry by up to a year in this frail population.