Public provision of four-wheeled walkers: contingent valuation study of economic benefit.

Full Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To quantify the economic value of publicly provided four-wheeled walkers as judged by recipients in Queensland, Australia. METHOD: Contingent valuation study using willingness-to-pay approach. A sample of 49 Australian older adults who received a publicly funded four-wheeled walker in the past 3 months completed the survey via telephone. A discrete choice bidding response format with a randomly selected starting bid was employed to glean valuations. RESULTS: This approach yielded only one non-response, and one zero dollar response. The mean (standard deviation) valuation provided was $ A 290 ($ A 167), which was $ A 84 in excess of the price paid by the public provider agency to purchase the equipment. Starting bid was significantly associated with values provided. CONCLUSION: The current public provision program of four-wheeled walkers is likely to generate net societal benefit. These findings coupled with arguments based on equity build a moderate case for the continuation of this program.

Author information

Author/s: Haines, Terry (T); Brown, Cassandra (C); Morrison, Jan (J);

Affiliation: The University of Queensland and Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Australia. terrence_haines(-atsign-)health.qld.gov.au

Journal and publication information

Publication Type: Journal Article

Journal: Australasian journal on ageing (Australas J Ageing), published in Australia. (Language: eng)

Reference: 2008-Sep; vol 27 (issue 3) : pp 161-4

Dates: Created 2008/08/20; Completed 2008/09/30;

PMID: 18713177, status: MEDLINE (last retrieval date: 2/18/2009, IMS Date: )

Sourced from the National Library of Medicine. Abstract text and other information may be subject to copyright.

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