This article dicusses the individual's choice to engage in informal
care as an issue for economic evaluation. Traditional methods used in economic
evaluation studies for valuing time spent on informal care are discussed and
an alternative method is put forward that incorporates the quality of life of
caregivers as an outcome measure to represent the effects on caregivers. The
methodological issues concerning the valuation of informal caregivers'
time are becoming more important as new drugs and other health care
technologies are introduced for patients with diseases that are typically
associated with informal care.