Paying the Patient: Improving health using financial incentives
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Author
Karen Jochelson
Date
13.12.07
This work is the first in a series of papers on how people can be encouraged to adopt healthy behaviour. Input into these papers, through discussion and invited comment, will contribute to a final report at the end of 2008. This paper, identifying programmes based on both positive and negative incentives, finds that financial incentives are effective in encouraging people to perform clearly defined, time-limited, simple behavioural tasks, and also in encouraging participation in lifestyle programmes.However, healthier behaviour is not maintained and financial incentives are not effective when the behaviour change required is complex, for example, giving up smoking.
jo jackson | Occupational Health Adviser, PHC Ltd
14 Jan 08
It is interesting how it is thought that financial incentive will change people's behaviour. An individual will only cease smoking if he/she really wants to - the gain benefits are healthy ones and the same goes with weight - education and support on...
Lindley Owen | consultant in public health, Cornwall & Isles of Scilly PCT
2 Jan 08
Recently I was invited to address a group of first year geography undergraduates about the attractions of doing voluntary work helping people be more physically active. I was amazed to see over 100 students had turned up. Colleagues say I am not a...
Mike Kelly | Public Health Excellence Centre Director, NICE
21 Dec 07
Robert’s point about perverse incentives is important. There are two specific parts of the NICE Behaviour Change Guidance which help here. One relates to plotting the sequence of event in the chain of causation from action to outcome, including the...
Robert West | Professor, UCL
20 Dec 07
We also need to think about how incentives can be used to shape the behaviour of healthcare professionals and organisations, and avoid incentives becoming ‘perverse incentives’ – i.e. distorting practice in a way that is unhelpful. Unfortunately...
Harald Schmidt | Research Associate, LSE Health
13 Dec 07
Paying the Patient clearly illustrates the considerable complexity of the discussion about incentives for behaviour change in the healthcare context. Incentives can be used in prevention and treatment, with different implications. In the former case,...
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