A pilot examination of quality and cost of long-term care settings in Illinois

Burgos, Jason

Permalink

https://hdl.handle.net/2142/44220 Copy

Description

Title

A pilot examination of quality and cost of long-term care settings in Illinois

Author(s)

Burgos, Jason

Issue Date

2013-05-24T21:54:34Z

Director of Research (if dissertation) or Advisor (if thesis)

Alston, Reginald J.

Department of Study

Kinesiology & Community Health

Discipline

Community Health

Degree Granting Institution

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Degree Name

M.S.

Degree Level

Thesis

Keyword(s)

• Long-term care
• home and community-based care
• Nursing homes
• transition
• disability
• community integration
• centers for independent living
• Money Follows the Person

Abstract

Transitioning residents out of long-term care (LTC) institutions and back into the community has been shown to reduce Medicaid expenditure and improve quality of life for recipients of care. This research was conducted to build upon the findings of previous studies by contrasting components of cost and quality of life between nursing homes and home and community-based care settings (HCBC). Through the PACE Center for Independent Living in Urbana, Illinois, three consumers from the Money Follows the Person (MFP) program were recruited for this study. Each participant completed the 2006 AARP New York Long-Term Care Survey, the Assessment of Quality of Life (AQoL) -8D Questionnaire, and a phone interview. Thematic analysis was utilized to identify theme saturation in the participants’ responses from both sets of questionnaires and the interviews. The results of this study were consistent with previous research. The participants’ responses on questionnaires and in the interview showed that the benefits of transitioning nursing home residents into HCBC include lower costs and an overall higher quality of life for those receiving care. All the participants stated that they would not at all feel confident in their ability to afford the costs of a nursing home in the Chicago area nor did they purchase private LTC insurance because it is too expensive. Transitioning residents into HCBC improved many subcomponents of quality of life. The participants displayed a higher degree of integration in their families and communities, satisfaction with living arrangements, improved mood status, increased autonomy, decreasing one’s feeling of social isolation, increased privacy, and an elevated sense of self-worth. When asked which care setting the subjects preferred, they unanimously answered HCBC. There was also strong consensus that recipients of care should be given the choice to hire and manage their own personal care assistants. With regard to the future direction of LTC policy-making in Illinois, the participants felt that the state should create a central place where people can learn about the different types of LTC. Furthermore, in addition to transitioning a greater number of nursing home residents back into the community, there is a need for Illinois provide a broad range of LTC services that prevent unnecessary nursing home admissions and allow people to remain in their homes.

Graduation Semester

2013-05

Permalink

http://hdl.handle.net/2142/44220

Copyright and License Information

Copyright 2013 Jason Burgos

Owning Collections