Incorporating the contribution of informal carers into the economic evaluation of community palliative care
Key objective:
To assess the support preferences of informal carers providing care to people receiving palliative care at home
The provision of care at home for people with a terminal illness necessitates a substantial care input from family and friends (informal care). This study aims to investigate the carers’ preferences for support with providing this care and uses a discrete choice experiment to identify:
• the support services carers prefer, and
• whether carers prefer to receive support services or financial assistance
The analysis of the carers’ preferences for different types of support services found that while all carers valued nursing services, preferences for other services varied over the palliative process. Domestic help, transport and coordination of treatment and information sharing were important at the earlier phase, while help with personal care and respite became the priority as the care recipient’s condition deteriorated (results published in CHERE Working Paper 2007/12).
Investigation of the carers’ preferences regarding financial assistance found that some carers were unwilling to accept financial support instead of services. Among carers supporting a patient with relatively low care needs, fewer older carers would trade services for financial support; among carers supporting a patient with high care needs, those who had been providing care for a short period were less likely to trade. A cost benefit analysis of support services is expected to be completed in 2010.
The study also examined the health related quality of life (HRQOL) of the informal carers and found that over one third reported worse health than one year ago and that the carer’s HRQOL was associated with the patient’s care needs (paper accepted for publication in the Journal of Pain & Symptom Management).
Funding source
NH&MRC Program Grant
CHERE staff
Jane Hall, Patsy Kenny, Stephanie Knox
Collaborators
Denzil Fiebig1, Deborah Street2, Ishrat Hossain3, Sharon Wiley4, Susan Bray5, Betty Servis6, Siggi Zappart7, Pauline Davis8
- School of Economics, UNSW
- School of Mathematical Sciences, UTS
- Qatar University (formerly CHERE)
- Sacred Heart Palliative Care Service, St Vincent’s Hospital
- Community Palliative Care, SSWAHS
- Central Sydney Community Nursing Service
- Centre for Health Equity Training Research & Evaluation SSWAHS (formerly CHERE)
- Community Palliative Care SSWAHS (formerly CHERE)
