Economic costs of a psychoeducational program

Abstract

Taking care of dependent people can be a highly burdening experience for informal caregivers. The Cuidar de Quem Cuida project was created to support informal caregivers of people with Alzheimer’s disease and post-stroke conditions in the Entre Douro e Vouga region, and was implemented between June 2009 and November 2012. The aim of this paper is to analyse the costs of implementing a psychoeducational program consisting of 11 sessions, considering human resources, consumables directly attributable to the sessions, transportation costs for caregivers and/or care receivers, and advertising material costs. The total estimated cost of one psychoeducational group was €4,123.08, of which 90.9% were related to human resources. In addition to acknowledging the psychosocial benefits of such programs, it is essential to understand their real costs in order to ensure efficient and effective resource management.