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The Economic Cost and Burden of Informal Caregiving for the Inpatient: The Case of Lemlem Karl Hospital, Maichew, Ethiopia

Received: 29 November 2019     Accepted: 16 April 2020     Published: 29 April 2020
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Abstract

The objective of this study is to present new empirical findings about the economics of informally supplied health care with special emphasis on the labor market-related opportunity cost and to measure the burden of informal caregiving for the inpatient at Lemlem Karl hospital, Maichew, Ethiopia. The study employs ordinary list square and ordered logit method of regression. In addition, the study also employed measurement mechanisms like; opportunity cost, proxy good and Zarit Burden Scale. The mean time spent on informal caregiving was 73.18 hours/4.1days and the mean cost of informal caregiving for the inpatient at Lemlem Care Hospital by using the opportunity cost and proxy good valuation method is 689.56birr (23.74$) and 724.653 birr (24.5$) per 4.1 days respectively. The study also measures caregiver’s burden level by using Zarit Burden Scale and the result depict that of the total respondents 51 (38.06%) affected by moderate caregiving burden and followed by 41 (30.60%) of the respondents with little caregiving burden. To reduce the cost and burden of principal informal caregivers and to fill this gap the following policy recommendations are made based on the findings of the study and the experience of the rest of the world. Enable informal caregivers to balance personal and social life with care responsibilities through respite care, develop and deploy a national caregiving strategy and the strategy should at a minimum include three policies; (a) Policy Related to Workplace Accommodation; (b) Financial Assistance policy; (c) Investment in informal caregiving research and development related projects.

Published in International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment (Volume 5, Issue 2)
DOI 10.11648/j.ijeee.20200502.11
Page(s) 14-23
Creative Commons

This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.

Copyright

Copyright © The Author(s), 2020. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Economic Cost, Informal Care, Burden, Opportunity Cost, Inpatient, Proxy Good and Ethiopia

References
[1] Emofe Diameta (2018). The Burden Experience of Formal and Informal Caregivers of Older Adults with Hip Fracture in Nigeria. SAGE Open Nursing. Volume 4: 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1177/2377960818785155.
[2] Margaret Bevans, etal (2012). American Medical Association. All rights reserved. JAMA, January 25, 2012—Vol 307, No. 4. CME available online at www.jamaarchivescme.com and questions on p 415. CME available online at www.jamaarchivescme.com and questions on p 415.
[3] Emily McCullaghetal, 2005. Determinants of Caregiving Burden and Quality of Life in caregivers of stroke patients. Journal of American Heart Association. https, Strok 2005; 36: 2181-2186, https://doi.org/10.1161/01.STR.0000181755.23914.53.
[4] Himmelweit, S. and Land, H. (2011) ‘Reducing gender inequalities to create a sustainable care system. Kurswechsel, 4p. 49-63.
[5] Gould. D. (2004). Family caregivers and the healthcare system. The cultures of caregiving: conflict and. The John Hopkins University Press pp5-34.
[6] Leonard I. etal (1990). Caregiving and the Stress Process: An Overview of Concepts and Their Measures. The Gerontologist. New York University Pres70 Washington Square South New York, NY 10003.
[7] Bernard van den Berg; Werner B. F. Brouwer; Marc A. Koopmanschap. (2004). Economic Valuation of Informal Care: An Overview of Methods and Applications. The European Journal of Health Economics, Vol. 5, No. 1, 36-45. Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3570100.
[8] Friedemann & Griffin (2013). Economic and Health Outcomes of Unpaid Caregiving: A Framework from the Health and Social Sciences. Minnesota population center. Working paper No. 2013-10.
[9] Ethel M Brinda et al. (2014). Cost and burden of informal caregiving of dependent older people in a rural Indian community. BMC Health Services Research 14: 207. http://www.biomedcentral.com/1472-6963/14/207.
[10] Alain & Bérengère (2015). Economics of the Iceberg: Informal Care Provided to French Elderly with Dementia. VALUE IN HEALTH 18 (2015) 368 – 3 7 5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jval.2015.01.002.
[11] Nijboer etal (1999). Determinants of Caregiving Experiences and Mental Health of Partners of Cancer Patients. American Cancer Society.
[12] William H. Greene (2003). Econometric analysis, Upper Saddle River, New Jeresy 07458.
[13] Godhead, A., & McDonald, J. (2007). Informal Caregivers Literature Review: A report prepared for the National Health Committee. Victoria: Health Services Research Centre, Victoria University of Wellington.
[14] Bettio, F., &Verashchagina, A. (2010). Long-Term Care for the elderly. Provisions and providers in 33 European countries. Luxembourg: Publications Office of the European Union.
[15] Bernard H. (2011). The Value and Costs of Informal care, paper submitted to the Commission on Funding of Care and Support.
[16] Kurasawa etal. (2012), “Factors Influencing Caregivers’ Burden among Family Caregivers and Institutionalization of In-home Elderly People Cared for by Family Caregivers,” Environmental Health and Preventive Medicine, 17 (6), pp. 474-483. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12199-012-0276-8.
Cite This Article
  • APA Style

    Habtamu Legese, Ayenew Endalew, Kidist Tibebu, Desalew Mossie. (2020). The Economic Cost and Burden of Informal Caregiving for the Inpatient: The Case of Lemlem Karl Hospital, Maichew, Ethiopia. International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment, 5(2), 14-23. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeee.20200502.11

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    ACS Style

    Habtamu Legese; Ayenew Endalew; Kidist Tibebu; Desalew Mossie. The Economic Cost and Burden of Informal Caregiving for the Inpatient: The Case of Lemlem Karl Hospital, Maichew, Ethiopia. Int. J. Econ. Energy Environ. 2020, 5(2), 14-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeee.20200502.11

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    AMA Style

    Habtamu Legese, Ayenew Endalew, Kidist Tibebu, Desalew Mossie. The Economic Cost and Burden of Informal Caregiving for the Inpatient: The Case of Lemlem Karl Hospital, Maichew, Ethiopia. Int J Econ Energy Environ. 2020;5(2):14-23. doi: 10.11648/j.ijeee.20200502.11

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  • @article{10.11648/j.ijeee.20200502.11,
      author = {Habtamu Legese and Ayenew Endalew and Kidist Tibebu and Desalew Mossie},
      title = {The Economic Cost and Burden of Informal Caregiving for the Inpatient: The Case of Lemlem Karl Hospital, Maichew, Ethiopia},
      journal = {International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment},
      volume = {5},
      number = {2},
      pages = {14-23},
      doi = {10.11648/j.ijeee.20200502.11},
      url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeee.20200502.11},
      eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ijeee.20200502.11},
      abstract = {The objective of this study is to present new empirical findings about the economics of informally supplied health care with special emphasis on the labor market-related opportunity cost and to measure the burden of informal caregiving for the inpatient at Lemlem Karl hospital, Maichew, Ethiopia. The study employs ordinary list square and ordered logit method of regression. In addition, the study also employed measurement mechanisms like; opportunity cost, proxy good and Zarit Burden Scale. The mean time spent on informal caregiving was 73.18 hours/4.1days and the mean cost of informal caregiving for the inpatient at Lemlem Care Hospital by using the opportunity cost and proxy good valuation method is 689.56birr (23.74$) and 724.653 birr (24.5$) per 4.1 days respectively. The study also measures caregiver’s burden level by using Zarit Burden Scale and the result depict that of the total respondents 51 (38.06%) affected by moderate caregiving burden and followed by 41 (30.60%) of the respondents with little caregiving burden. To reduce the cost and burden of principal informal caregivers and to fill this gap the following policy recommendations are made based on the findings of the study and the experience of the rest of the world. Enable informal caregivers to balance personal and social life with care responsibilities through respite care, develop and deploy a national caregiving strategy and the strategy should at a minimum include three policies; (a) Policy Related to Workplace Accommodation; (b) Financial Assistance policy; (c) Investment in informal caregiving research and development related projects.},
     year = {2020}
    }
    

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  • TY  - JOUR
    T1  - The Economic Cost and Burden of Informal Caregiving for the Inpatient: The Case of Lemlem Karl Hospital, Maichew, Ethiopia
    AU  - Habtamu Legese
    AU  - Ayenew Endalew
    AU  - Kidist Tibebu
    AU  - Desalew Mossie
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    PY  - 2020
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    DO  - 10.11648/j.ijeee.20200502.11
    T2  - International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment
    JF  - International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment
    JO  - International Journal of Economy, Energy and Environment
    SP  - 14
    EP  - 23
    PB  - Science Publishing Group
    SN  - 2575-5021
    UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ijeee.20200502.11
    AB  - The objective of this study is to present new empirical findings about the economics of informally supplied health care with special emphasis on the labor market-related opportunity cost and to measure the burden of informal caregiving for the inpatient at Lemlem Karl hospital, Maichew, Ethiopia. The study employs ordinary list square and ordered logit method of regression. In addition, the study also employed measurement mechanisms like; opportunity cost, proxy good and Zarit Burden Scale. The mean time spent on informal caregiving was 73.18 hours/4.1days and the mean cost of informal caregiving for the inpatient at Lemlem Care Hospital by using the opportunity cost and proxy good valuation method is 689.56birr (23.74$) and 724.653 birr (24.5$) per 4.1 days respectively. The study also measures caregiver’s burden level by using Zarit Burden Scale and the result depict that of the total respondents 51 (38.06%) affected by moderate caregiving burden and followed by 41 (30.60%) of the respondents with little caregiving burden. To reduce the cost and burden of principal informal caregivers and to fill this gap the following policy recommendations are made based on the findings of the study and the experience of the rest of the world. Enable informal caregivers to balance personal and social life with care responsibilities through respite care, develop and deploy a national caregiving strategy and the strategy should at a minimum include three policies; (a) Policy Related to Workplace Accommodation; (b) Financial Assistance policy; (c) Investment in informal caregiving research and development related projects.
    VL  - 5
    IS  - 2
    ER  - 

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Author Information
  • Department of Economics, College of Business and Economics, Haramaya University, Dire Dawa, Ethiopia

  • Department of Economic, College of Business and Economics, Raya University, Maichew, Ethiopia

  • Department of Accounting & Finance, College of Business and Economics, Raya University, Maichew, Ethiopia

  • Department of Chemistry, College of Natural and Computational Science, Raya University, Maichew, Ethiopia

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