title: Caring for relatives with dementia: willingness-to-pay for a reduction in caregiver's burden.
abstract: Informal care constitutes a large percentage of total care for patients with dementia. Providing care for cognitively impaired individuals is stressful and demanding. This study applies the contingent valuation method to estimate the willingness-to-pay of informal caregivers for a reduction of their burden. In 109 face-to-face interviews, caregivers with demented relatives stated their willingness-to-pay for three hypothetical treatments of the patient. Results suggest that caregiver's disutility from burden is considerable. On average, caregivers are willing to pay 2200 Swiss Francs (US$1500) per year for a reduction of their burden level from moderate to low. Therefore, interventions which combat the negative consequences of caregiving have great potential to yield a social net benefit.
authors.affiliation: Socioeconomic Institute, University of Zurich, Hottingerstrasse 10, CH-8032 Zurich, Switzerland. mkoenig@soi.unizh.ch
authors.forename: Markus
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: König
authors.forename: Albert
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wettstein