Developing a Graduate Program in Community Psychology

Abstract

The present health care system is fragmented, uncoordinated, and too costly for the chronically ill, elderly patient. Project OPEN provides preventive health and social services in order to reduce costs and provide more effective care. This alternative delivery system is based on a consortium brokerage model which provides functional assessment, care plan development and service coordination. A randomized sample of 338 elderly individuals participated in a time series experiment. Client functional status, service utilization, and all health costs were collected for six months. The results indicated a maintenance in functioning levels, a decrease in acute hospitalizations, and a 20% reduction in health care costs for the demonstration participants as compared to the control group. Project OPEN provided more effective care while simultaneously reducing health expenditures to the chronically ill elderly.