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Table 2 VBHC’s instrumental perception of health care neglects health care’s intrinsic ‘gift-value’

From: Value based competition in health care’s ethical drawbacks and the need for a values-driven approach

In a quiet street in a small town, two women live next door to each other. Both have an elderly father suffering from dementia. Both neighbours have full-time, well-paid jobs. Unfortunately, their jobs are currently under pressure because of the care their fathers need. Woman A) hires 24/7 home care for her father, so she can keep on working, and he receives the care he needs. Woman B) decides to work part-time for three days, so she can take care of her father five days a week. Woman A) is proud as she tells her neighbour that the home care organization she hired, scores best in several rankings she found on the internet. Woman B) wonders how the care she gives to her own father would be valued in such a ranking. Moreover, as soon as she hears the price her neighbour pays for professional care, she feels as if her voluntary ‘gift’ to her father is trivialised and reduced to its cash equivalent.