Willingness to pay for flexible working conditions of people with type 2 diabetes: discrete choice experiments

Seeking Good Work in the COVID-19 Recovery: Shifting Priorities and Employment Choices Among Workers

OBJECTIVE

Disruption to working lives spurred by the COVID-19 pandemic may shape people's preferences for future employment. We aimed to identify the components of work prioritized by a UK sample and the employment changes they had considered since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.

METHODS

A nationally representative longitudinal household survey was conducted in Wales at two time points between 2020 and 2021.

RESULTS

Those in poorer health prioritized flexibility and were more likely to consider retiring. Those with limiting preexisting conditions or low mental well-being were more likely to consider becoming self-employed. Those experiencing financial insecurity (including those with high wage precarity or those furloughed) were more likely to consider retraining, becoming self-employed, or securing permanent employment.

CONCLUSIONS

Ensuring flexible, secure, and autonomous work is accessible for individuals facing greater employment-related insecurity may be key.

Exploring the Health Impacts and Inequalities of the New Way of Working: Findings From a Cross-Sectional Study

OBJECTIVE

The aim of the study is to provide insights into the working Welsh adult population's perceptions of the health impacts of working from home (WFH), their ability to WFH, and their WFH preferences.

METHODS

Data were collected from 615 working adults in Wales between November 2020 and January 2021 in a household survey.

RESULTS

More than 45% of those able to WFH reported worsened mental well-being and loneliness. Working from home worsened the diets, physical activity, smoking, and alcohol use of those in poorer health. Approximately 50% were able to WFH, although individuals living in more deprived areas, in atypical employment or with precarious income, were less able to WFH. Nearly 60% wanted to WFH to some capacity.

CONCLUSIONS

The new way of working introduces new challenges to preserving workforce mental well-being, regulating health behaviors, and tackling inequalities. Hybrid models and targeted health support could make WFH healthier and more equitable.

Sports injury type and psychological factors affect treatment period and willingness-to-pay: Cross-sectional study

This study aimed to describe the sport injuries of elite collegiate athletes, and to examine the influence of career length, past injuries, and psychological factors on the treatment period and willingness to pay (WTP) for treatment.A survey was conducted among students of the Department of Physical Education, Korea National Sport University. Results were interpreted through frequency analysis and multiple linear regression analysis.All students currently in training (n = 624, mean age 21 ± 2 years) participated in this study. 12-month prevalence of sports injuries was 56%. The locations of the most common and severe injuries were the knee, ankle, and back. The most frequent types of common injury were sprain, ruptured ligament, and bruising. The location of injuries varied according to the sports discipline. The treatment period was influenced by sports discipline, career length, location, and type of injury, and fear of further injuries. Treatment period was associated with the reason for fear of injuries, and WTP was influenced by fear of further injuries.Our study suggests that specific management plans for athletes based on disciplines, past injuries, and their emotional responses to previous injuries are required for rehabilitation and return to sports following treatment.

Willingness to pay for flexibility at the workplace for people with diabetes and chronic disease: a discrete choice experiment in a population of workers in Denmark

Background

The number of people of working age suffering from chronic disease is increasing. Chronic diseases such as diabetes can cause negative work-related consequences in the form of early retirement or absenteeism. Providing flexible workplace accommodations may enable the person with diabetes to retain their position in the labor market. However, the successfulness of such accommodations depends largely on the perceptions of those not suffering from diabetes. The purpose of this study was to examine preferences of a population of workers in Denmark for flexibility at the workplace, for people with diabetes and for people with chronic disease in general, measured as their willingness to pay (WTP).

Methods

Respondents were drawn from online panels and randomized to answer an online survey regarding flexibility at the workplace for people with diabetes or chronic disease in general. One thousand one hundred and three respondents were included in the analysis. Based on discrete choice experiments included in the survey, we analyzed WTP for five flexibility attributes: part-time, customizing job description, additional break with pay and time off for medical visits with and without pay. We further examined perceptions of the employer’s responsibility to ensure workplace flexibility for five different specific chronic diseases including diabetes. Finally, we analyzed differences in WTP for flexibility across subgroups.

Results

Respondents’ WTP was significantly higher for chronic disease in general compared to diabetes for the possibility of part-time (81€/month vs. 47€/month, p < 0.001) and customizing job description (58€/month vs. 41€/month, p = 0.018) attributes, as well as for the overall average (49€/month vs. 36€/month, p = 0.008). Ensuring workplace flexibility for patients with a specific chronic disease other than diabetes (cancer, heart disease, arthritis and COPD) was to a higher degree considered a responsibility of the employer. Average WTP for flexibility varied across subgroups, consistently yielding a larger amount for chronic disease in general.

Conclusions

The population examined in this study are willing to pay less for flexibility at the workplace for people with diabetes compared to people with chronic disease in general. This finding was evident in terms of specific flexibility attributes and on average across subgroups.

Electronic supplementary material

The online version of this article (10.1186/s12889-019-6919-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.