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Table 5 The fifteen most frequent cost types in crowdfunding campaigns

From: Medical crowdfunding in a healthcare system with universal coverage: an exploratory study

Rank

Cost type

Number

(%)

Comment on the cost type

1

Therapy

90

(23.68%)

Individuals frequently asked for financial support to cover costs of alternative therapy (n = 11), rehabilitation (n = 9), innovative therapy (n = 5), immune therapy including micro-immune therapy (n = 5), physiotherapy (n = 4), Adeli-therapy (n = 4), dance therapy (n = 3), stem cell infusion therapy (n = 2), and other infusion therapies (n = 2).

2

Living expenses

77

(20.26%)

Highly diverse funding request related to everyday life.

3

Support for an institution

39

(10.26%)

In Germany, youth centres and institutions engaged in elderly care and cancer care were the most popular targets of donations. In almost half of the cases, funding was requested for an institution in developing countries (n = 18), typically for establishing health centres, for supporting the volunteer work of various medical professionals, and for easing the life of the most needy (hungry, disabled, seniors, refugees).

4

Equipment to facilitate mobility

37

(9.74%)

Electric wheelchairs (n = 7), handicapped accessible homes (n = 8), handicapped accessible cars (n = 12), prostheses and orthopaedic equipment (n = 7), and special needs bike (3) were the most frequently demanded by individuals. Underlying conditions varied greatly, from cancer and genetic disorder to paresis and sport injury.

5

Medication

30

(7.89%)

Medication was frequently requested by patients suffering from cancer (n = 13), genetic disorder or rare disease (n = 3) and injuries (n = 3).

6

Animal-assisted therapy

26

(6.84%)

Assistance dogs trained to aid a disabled individual were highly demanded (n = 11). Most in demand were guide dogs to assist the blind or visually impaired, but medical alert dogs and psychiatric service dogs were also on the wish list. Dolphin therapy, an intervention involving dolphins, was popular among families with severely disabled children (n = 10). Several campaigns aimed to cover the costs of equine-assisted therapy, typically with horses, to improve physical and mental health of children (n = 7).

7–8

Treatment-related travel cost

25

(6.58%)

These costs were frequently requested by cancer patients (n = 8), and by individuals experiencing difficulties while travelling due to their prosthesis and orthosis (n = 3), their disability (n = 3) or a recent accident (n = 3).

7–8

Surgery

25

(6.58%)

In almost half of the cases financial support was requested for a foreigner, for a patient not covered by the German health insurance system (n = 11). Surgery abroad was requested only in three cases (n = 3). Insured individuals requested funding either for innovative surgery or for interventions declined by the health insurance fund (e.g. hair transplant, abdominal sweating). The underlying condition varied greatly, from heart, eye and back surgery to kidney and hair transplants. Donations were also asked for surgery to treat headache, abnormal sweating and pseudarthrosis.

9

Excess fat/skin removal

24

(6.32%)

The underlying condition was either lipoedema (n = 19) or being overweight (n = 5). As research on lipoedema is limited [81]; as of now the only treatment that seems to be effective in reducing the build-up of fatty tissue is a procedure called tumescent liposuction. Until recently these liposuction interventions were excluded from the list of services financed by statutory health insurance and thus from the list of private health insurance companies [82]. Individuals typically turned to crowdfunding either to avoid the bureaucratic procedure of application or after their application was declined.

10

Patient education

18

(4.74%)

In educational crowdfunding campaigns individuals typically asked for financial support to increase knowledge about specific health problems such as mental disorder, lipoedema, female genital mutilation, hand and finger disease, or healthy lifestyle.

11–13

Research

15

(3.95%)

Research projects covered a wide array of health conditions, such as cancer (n = 4), multiple sclerosis (n = 4), genetic disorders and rare diseases (n = 4), epilepsy (n = 2), chronic fatigue syndrome (m = 1), and Alzheimers disease (n = 1).

11–13

Dental or orthodontal treatment

15

(3.95%)

In the majority of cases, funding was requested for dental treatment not included in the health insurance plan of individuals. In some cases treatments were related to losing teeth as a result of the side effects of cancer treatment (n = 3) or accident (n = 2).

11–13

Holidays, presents

15

(3.95%)

Donations with the aim of pleasing family members or friends suffering from a disease or disorder. In the majority of cases they aimed to collect money for a surprise holiday, in a few cases for a unique present, such as a T-shirt of the patient’s favourite football club.

14

Treatment-related accommodation

14

(3.68%)

Covering treatment-related accommodation costs typically abroad.

15

Medical aids and devices

13

(3.42%)

Any kind of aid, device or material aimed to be used for medical purposes. Among others, the wish list included special needs chair (n = 3), bed for disabled people (n = 1), blood glucose tester (n = 1), blood gas analyser (n = 1), defibrillator device (n = 1), chemicals for sterilization (n = 1), and antibody-drug conjugate (n = 1).

  1. Note: In the remaining cases, individuals requested donations for plastic surgery (n = 9, 2.37%); healthcare education and training (n = 7, 1.84%); health-related legal procedures (n = 6, 1.58%); in vitro fertilization (n = 5, 1.32%); and gender change (n = 4, 1.05%)