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Self-care within a model for demand for medical care
N Bentzen1, T Christiansen, K M Pedersen
1Department of General Practice, Odense University, Denmark.
Social Science & Medicine (1982)
|January 1, 1989
Summary
This study models self-care within a health economic framework, introducing an episodic approach to demand for care. Health diaries effectively capture self-care behaviors, offering new insights into healthcare utilization.
Area of Science:
- Health Economics
- Health Services Research
- Epidemiology
Background:
- Self-care is a crucial component of healthcare utilization.
- Existing research often lacks a comprehensive economic perspective on self-care.
- Understanding the continuum from self-care to professional care is vital.
Purpose of the Study:
- To interpret self-care from a health economic viewpoint.
- To develop a novel model for demand for care incorporating self-care.
- To utilize an episodic approach for analyzing healthcare episodes.
Main Methods:
- Developed a four-part demand for care model including self-care.
- Employed an episodic approach, counting illness and treatment episodes.
- Conducted a Danish panel study using weekly health diaries from 2800 individuals.
Main Results:
- The new model allows separate demand modeling for different population groups.
- Health diaries proved effective in capturing less salient self-care events.
- Descriptive and regression analyses provided insights into self-care patterns.
Conclusions:
- The episodic approach is well-suited for studying self-care.
- Health diaries offer superior data collection for self-care research compared to retrospective surveys.
- This economic and episodic framework advances understanding of self-care within the broader care continuum.