Early Community-Based Service Utilization and Its Effects on Institutionalization in Dementia Caregiving

PURPOSE: The present study attempts to determine whether utilizing community-based long-term-care services early in the dementia caregiving career delays time to nursing home placement (adjusting for severity of dementia). DESIGN AND METHODS: With a reliance on data from 4,761 dementia caregivers recruited from eight catchment areas in the United States and followed over a 3-year period, a Cox proportional hazards model was conducted that considered key components of the stress process (e.g., context of care, primary objective and subjective stressors, and resources), duration, and community-based long-term-care use. RESULTS: An analysis of interaction terms in the Cox regression model found that those individuals who utilized in-home help services earlier in their dementia caregiving careers were more likely to delay institutionalization. IMPLICATIONS: The findings suggest the practical importance and cost-effectiveness implications of early community-based service use, and they emphasize the role of timing when one is conceptualizing the proliferation of stress in the dementia caregiving career.