Process utility from providing informal care: the benefit of caring
Process utility from providing informal care: the benefit of caring
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DOI：
10.1016/j.healthpol.2004.12.008
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发表时间：
2005-09-28
期刊：
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Koopmanschap, MA
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Brouwer, WBF;van Exel, NJA;Koopmanschap, MA
尽管经济学通常以结果为导向，但人们经常认为过程也很重要。效用不仅来自结果，也来自实现结果的方式。在自愿的基础上提供护理可能特别与这种过程效用有关。在本文中，我们从提供非正式护理的角度讨论了过程效用。我们检验了这样一个假设，即非正式护理者不仅从非正式护理的结果（即患者得到充分照顾）中获得效用，而且从提供非正式护理的过程中获得效用。我们在荷兰护理人员（n = 950）的大样本的基础上提出了过程效用的经验证据。我们衡量过程效用的方法是在当前的情况下被照顾者被照顾者照顾和假设的情况下其他人接手照顾任务之间的幸福感差异，其他条件相同。患者和护理者特征、客观和主观护理者负担和生活质量的其他背景特征也被提出，并与过程效用有关。我们的结果表明，过程效用存在，是实质性的，因此在非正式护理的背景下很重要。几乎一半的照顾者（48.2%）从非正式照顾中获得积极效用，如果将非正式照顾任务交给其他人，平均幸福感会下降。多变量回归分析表明，过程效用尤其与护理人员特征（年龄、性别、总体幸福感、与患者的关系以及日常活动的困难程度）和主观护理人员负担有关，而它还取决于提供护理的小时数（客观负担）。这些结果加强了支持使用非正式护理的想法，但也加强了密切关注护理人员地位的想法。2004爱思唯尔爱尔兰有限公司版权所有。
Though economics is usually outcome-oriented, it is often argued that processes matter as well. Utility is not only derived from outcomes, but also from the way this outcome is accomplished. Providing care on a voluntary basis may especially be associated with such process utility. In this paper, we discuss the process utility from providing informal care. We test the hypothesis that informal caregivers derive utility not only from the outcome of informal care, i.e. that the patient is adequately cared for, but also from the process of providing informal care.We present empirical evidence of process utility on the basis of a large sample of Dutch caregivers (n = 950). We measure process utility as the difference in happiness between the current situation in which the care recipient is cared for by the caregiver and the hypothetical situation that someone else takes over the care tasks, all other things equal. Other background characteristics on patient and caregiver characteristics, objective and subjective caregiver burden and quality of life are also presented and related to process utility.Our results show that process utility exists and is substantial and therefore important in the context of informal care. Almost half of the caregivers (48.2%) derive positive utility from informal care and on average happiness would decline if informal care tasks were handed over to someone else. Multivariate regression analysis shows that process utility especially relates to caregiver characteristics (age, gender, general happiness, relation to patient and difficulties in performing daily activities) and subjective caregiver burden, whereas it also depends on the number of hours of care provided (objective burden).These results strengthen the idea of supporting the use of informal care, but also that of keeping a close eye on the position of carers. (c) 2004 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.