Preferences of Caregivers of People with Dementia for Respite Care: A Discrete Choice Experiment

Abstract

Taking care of people with dementia is stressful for informal caregivers. Respite care can provide a break for them. But it is often underused, and its acceptability can be low in China. One reason is that it fails to meet their needs. This study aimed to explore the preference of caregivers of people with dementia for respite care services. A discrete choice experiment was used. Attributes and levels of respite care were informed by a literature review and expert consultations. A fractional factorial design was used to reduce the number of choice sets. A questionnaire survey was conducted in Tianjin, China. A mixed logit model was used to compute coefficients for attributes and levels. Respite care packages differed in five attributes, which were content, provider, duration, frequency, and cost. 322 caregivers completed valid discrete choice experiment questionnaires. All five attributes were statistically significant. Two most preferred attributes were “providers” (coefficient 1.297, $p<0.001$ ) and “frequency” (coefficient 1.169, $p<0.001$ ). Caregivers prefer highly qualified service providers and frequent respite care. The desirable respite care for caregivers would be assistance with personal care for people with dementia which was provided by an experienced worker with attitudes of understanding and respect towards people with dementia more than 3 times per week regularly and more than 4 h every time with a lower cost. This study offered new information on Chinese dementia caregivers’ preferences for respite care. Policymakers should pay attention to the frequency and quality of providers when designing respite care to improve service uptake and ultimately lighten the burden on caregivers of people with dementia.