This is the fifth workshop of our six-part series within the Center’s Patient-Centered Economic Impacts Project. This virtual workshop focused on the economic impacts of stress that patients, families, and caregivers experience as they navigate complex and chronic health conditions. While research focused on the financial burden of healthcare exists, this workshop shifted the lens to examine how the stress of navigating the healthcare system—independent of direct financial costs—can itself have economic implications. Stress—emotional, physical, and financial—is not just a human burden but an economic one. The goal of the workshop was to better understand how this form of stress affects individuals, families, and the broader healthcare system, and explore approaches to account for the financial impacts of stress in research and decision-making.
