Abstract
As Thailand enters ageing society, it is increasingly necessary to be economically and socially prepared. The health care system deserves particular attention for the reason that elderly’s health tends to deteriorate overtime. In this regard, in fiscal year 2016, the National Health Security Office (NHSO) allocated 600 million baht for the “Long-term Care System for Dependent Elderly (LTC)” program. The objective of this study was to analyse the effectiveness of long-term care services under the LTC program in Udon Thani province. The study examined a total of 405 elderly who received long-term care services. The participants were divided into two groups: a control group of 261 elderly who received regular services; and an intervention group of 144 elderly who were under the LTC program. The elderly participated in the LTC program received long-term care services according to care plan provided by care manager. The services included vital sign measurement, Barthel activities of daily living (Barthel ADL) care, and physical therapy. After four months of receiving long-term care services, the effectiveness of the LTC was analyzed based on the average Barthel ADL index of both groups of participants. The study found that both regular services and LTC program encouraged the elderly to be more independent in performing activities of daily living. Specifically, the intervention group has significantly higher Barthel ADL index than that of the control group (p<0.05) by approximately 1 point. This difference suggests that the LTC program was likely to be more effective than the regular program. In addition, the LTC program was more cost-saving than regular services. The LTC program costed only 0.72 million baht, saving the intervention group’s costs of care by approximately 5.7 million baht. The results suggested that the government should support the LTC service and encouraged participation from various societal sectors, ranging from family, communal, local, to governmental levels.
