March 11, 2019 – CAPABLE

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Anchor lead: Can a program called CAPABLE help elders age in place? Elizabeth Tracey reports

Older people overwhelmingly say they want to remain in their own homes as they age, and a program called CAPABLE, developed by Sarah Szanton in the Johns Hopkins School of Nursing, and colleagues, helps them do just that. And Szanton has shown that CAPABLE is also cost effective in a recent study.

Szanton: That was a randomized controlled trial, the gold standard, where some people were randomized to get this program, CAPABLE, and others were randomized to get attention visits, which were also very powerful. But in the CAPABLE group we reduced disability by 30% compared to the control group. That’s pretty much unheard of in the disability literature. And the actually reduction was about 50% but because the control group also improved because they were getting some powerful treatment in essence, it was a win all around.  :26

The CAPABLE intervention uses a nurse, an occupational therapist and a repair person to modify the home environment to be easier and safer for an older person. Not only does the program save money, people who participate report greatly improved quality of life. At Johns Hopkins, I’m Elizabeth Tracey.