Published Jun 17, 2013

Paris, France - On average, 55% of the total cost of caring for patients with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) or other mental disorders is attributable to informal care. Since ageism, combined with lack of public funding, could lead to informal care becoming the cornerstone of elderly care, its value should be estimated. Giving monetary value to non-market services such as informal care is the prerequisite for adopting societal perspective in the framework of cost-effectiveness analysis of AD care. Using French panel data, researchers from the French School of Public Health and the University of Versailles-Saint Quentin, developed a study to ascertain how the intangible impacts of caregiving affect the monetary value of informal care. Variables like “Feeling valued thanks to caregiving” or “Having low morale due to caregiving” impact the caregivers ability to estimate their willingness to pay (WTP) for replacement (i.e. professional or informal replacement). A variable such as “Providing care makes the care recipient more responsible” influences the perception of the monetary value of caregivers which corresponds to the actual value of informal care. Results from this study, “Economic Analysis of the Intangible Impacts of Informal Care for People with Alzheimer’s Disease and Other Mental Disorders,” published in Value in Health, will enable policy makers to implement more efficient health care policies that take better account of caregiver’s preferences.

“The study provides an original approach to the intangible consequences of caregiving for beneficiaries with AD and other mental disorders. Our results are interesting in terms of policy making since the intangible impacts of caring can either increase or decrease the societal cost of caring for AD patients. Furthermore, as far as we know, our innovative approach based on clustering care recipients with cognitive impairments could lead to further research into the provision of care for patients with AD. Indeed, this work incites to consider care provision in broader terms rather than the present policy all too often restricted to treating pathological condition.” says Joël Ankri, Professor of Public Health, Health and Ageing laboratory (SEV), University of Versailles-Saint-Quentin (UVSQ), head of the evaluation of the 2008-2012 French Alzheimer national plan.

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