Prof Parsons, who has undertaken considerable research into health services for older people, said that was found to be the case in five district health boards he had studied, and Otago's situation was likely to be similar.
The Otago board is looking at ways of reducing its spending on the elderly, as it says it is delivering $10 million of services annually, above the national average and its government funding.
Prof Parsons emphasised that the people he referred to would have low-level needs and removing help after reassessment would not place people at risk.
It could be responsible for 10% to 15% of the total amount spent on home-based support, which the board forecasts to be $12.4 million this financial year.
About 5700 Otago people receive home-based support.
Prof Parsons said a typical case might be that of a person who could see the support worker only between 8.30am and 9.30am on a certain day of the week because the rest of the week they were out.
Such a person might have begun receiving services several years earlier, after a bout of pneumonia or a knee operation, and their situation might never have been reviewed.
If there were people who were socially isolated, lonely and with reducing mobility, two hours of housework care weekly was not going to help that.
Instead of giving that person 10 years of two hours a week of housework help, they could be given three months of 10 hours a week of varied help, which addressed issues which the people themselves had identified.
Such help might include improving their fitness and helping them to become more active in the community.
After the three months, they could be discharged from the service because they would be independent.
Workers involved in that type of care, rather than what had been the traditional model, were easier to retain.
Nationally, turnover was about 45% in this area and research had shown it could be reduced to about 15%.
While work in this area was never going to be highly paid, money was not the motivation for people who went into it.
They saw themselves as contributing to society and working in a more meaningful way with clients, with appropriate training, gave them greater job satisfaction.
The cost of providing help to people with high needs in the community was similar to that for residential care, but there were significant improvements in the health and quality of life and longevity of those receiving such care.
Otago had traditionally had a higher level of rest-home care than other parts of the country and appeared to have lower eligibility criteria for this.
If this was changed and more people were supported in their homes, that might also have the effect of encouraging the development of community hospital level beds.
Rest homes would "only do it if beds are empty", he said.
Hospital level care should only be required for the last three to six months of someone's life, if people entered such care at the right time.
