A discrete choice experiment to explore carer preferences

Abstract

This paper describes a case study to test the applicability of the Discrete Choice Experiment (DCE) method to assess the preferences of carers of people with dementia. The focus of enquiry was home care provision. Design/methodology/approach A multi-method approach was adopted for this pilot study. A literature review identified key characteristics of home care for dementia. This informed consultations with lay representatives. Key attributes of home care for the DCE were identified and formed the basis for the schedule. Twenty-eight carers were recruited by two voluntary organisations to complete the DCE. A multinomial logistic regression model was used to analyse the data. Findings Seven attributes of home care for people with dementia were identified from the consultation. Use of the DCE approach permitted the identification of those most important to carers. Despite the modest sample, statistically significant findings were reported in relation to five of the attributes indicating their relevance. Lay involvement in the identification of attributes contributed to the ease of administration of the schedule and relevance of the findings. Originality/value This study demonstrated the utility of a DCE to capture the preferences of carers of people with dementia and thereby gather information from carers to inform policy, practice and service development. Their involvement in the design of the schedule was critical to this process.

Measuring the patient experience in community mental health services for older people: A study of the Net Promoter Score using the Friends and Family Test in England

“…At an interpersonal level, it is known that communication with care workers has the potential to either reinforce or compromise an older person's identity and selfhood, especially in the context of cognitive decline, depending on how it is delivered . Indeed, for patients with dementia and their carers, preference studies have indicated that continuity of care is prioritised above other features, supporting the argument that relational aspects of care are crucial to wellbeing in this population.…”

Preferences for attributes of long-term care in dementia: a scoping review of multi-criteria decision analyses

“…The oldest included study was published in 2010 (Nieboer et al 2010) and seven of the ten studies were published in 2017 or afterwards (Chester et al 2017;Chester et al 2018;Fahey et al 2017;Jasper et al 2018;Kampanellou et al 2019;Teahan et al 2021;Walsh et al 2020). Four studies were conducted in the United Kingdom (Chester et al 2017;Chester et al 2018;Jasper et al 2018;Kampanellou et al 2019), three in Ireland (Fahey et al 2017;Teahan et al 2021;Walsh et al 2020), two in the Netherlands (Groenewoud et al 2015;Nieboer et al 2010), and one in Japan (Sawamura et al 2015). It should be noted that the publications from the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands were conducted by the same institutions and/or partially by the same individuals.…”

“…In nine of the ten included studies, a DCE experiment was conducted (Chester et al 2017;Chester et al 2018;Groenewoud et al 2015;Jasper et al 2018;Kampanellou et al 2019;Nieboer et al 2010;Sawamura et al 2015;Teahan et al 2021;Walsh et al 2020), and in one study, the method of CA was applied (Fahey et al 2017).…”

“…In seven of the ten studies, the surveys exclusively focused on persons with dementia, with three studies not specifying the severity of the disease (Chester et al 2017;Groenewoud et al 2015;Teahan et al 2021), two studies including early-stage dementia (Walsh et al 2020;Chester et al 2018), and the remaining two studies focusing on persons with later stage dementia (Fahey et al 2017;Kampanellou et al 2019). Three studies did not focus on persons with dementia alone.…”

Using discrete choice experiments to elicit the service preferences of people with mild intellectual disability: An exploratory study

“…When considering the preferences of people with dementia and cognitive impairment, DCEs have traditionally been conducted with proxies (e.g. carers) rather than consumers themselves (Arora et al., 2019; Chester et al., 2017; Ratcliffe et al., 2019). More recently, DCEs have been successfully applied in aged care settings including older people with mild cognitive impairment and mild dementia (Kaambwa et al., 2015; Milte et al., 2019).…”