Influence of prior knowledge and experience on willingness to pay for home hospice services: a contingent valuation study

Home hospice services contribute to dying in dignity by addressing medical and social needs at the end of life. The respective monetary valuation in a sense of willingness to pay is not available yet. We aim to quantify the benefits of home hospice services to society using society's monetary valuation and examine the influence of prior knowledge and experience on willingness to pay for home hospice services. A nationwide cross-sectional contingent valuation study was conducted in Austria. We analyzed the impact of the determinants of interest on having a positive willingness to pay for home hospice services via multivariate Probit regression. Stated willingness to pay was analyzed using interval regression. Variable selection of potential influence factors and confounders was based on the literature. The variables of interest, prior knowledge of and experience with home hospice services, were represented by twelve related variables. We included 1262 respondents in the analysis. The two-part regression analysis showed a statistically significant positive impact on the probability of having a positive willingness to pay by prior knowledge of home hospice services, prior donations, and the wish of not dying alone. Prior donations also increase the level of willingness to pay. The probability of a positive willingness to pay was statistically significantly lower for respondents that stated to have experienced the death of more than ten close persons and perceived spending time with dying persons as burden than their respective counterparts. Our study provides evidence that information campaigns to increase the recognition and awareness of existing home hospice services could increase their perceived value in society.