Abstract
BackgroundIn order to make optimal long-term care-related decisions, it is important to take a societal perspective. Shanghai is one of the pilot cities of social long-term care insurance in China. However, little knowledge exists about the economic value of the informal care provided to dependent elderly people in China. This paper aims to evaluate the economic value of informal caregiving in Shanghai using the contingent valuation method by their least-preferred care tasks, and identify the associated factors of willingness-to-pay (WTP) and willingness-to-accept (WTA) of the informal caregivers.MethodsThis study employed the contingent valuation method to elicit 371 informal caregivers’ WTP and WTA for 1 hour of reduction or increase of least-preferred caring tasks in Shanghai. Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted to explore the associated factors with the WTP and WTA values.ResultsThe average WTP and WTA were 25.31 CNY and 38.66 CNY, respectively. The associated factors with WTP include caregiver’s income and caregiver’s relationship to the recipient. Care recipient’s age, income, least-preferred task by the caregiver, and subscales of Caregiver Reaction Assessment were found to be associated with WTA. The non-responsiveness rates were 26.1 and 33.2% for WTP and WTA questions, respectively.ConclusionsThe findings of the current study demonstrated that decision-makers and researchers should take the economic valuation results of informal care into account to make more informed and effective long-term care-related policies and analyses.
Highlights
In order to make optimal long-term care-related decisions, it is important to take a societal perspective
Studies have demonstrated that a substantial part of long-term care is provided by informal caregivers in China [3, 4]
The scenario of a hypothetical care recipient was not adopted, because it is difficult for the real caregivers to imagine taking care of a stranger in WTP questions, and this study only aims to value the informal care provided to real recipients
Summary
In order to make optimal long-term care-related decisions, it is important to take a societal perspective. Shanghai is one of the pilot cities of social long-term care insurance in China. Little knowledge exists about the economic value of the informal care provided to dependent elderly people in China. With the rapid expansion in China of the aging population, changing morbidity, and evolving lifestyles, the number of elderly people who require long-term care has been growing dramatically [1]. To deal with the “grow old before getting rich” situation [2], in 2016, the government initiated a pilot program of long-term care insurance in 15 cities, one of which is Shanghai. Studies have demonstrated that a substantial part of long-term care is provided by informal caregivers in China [3, 4]. Informal caregivers refer to non-professionals who provide long-term care services to their relatives, neighbors, friends, etc. Most researchers agree that informal caregiving substitutes and/or complements formal caregiving
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
