This monograph sets out a comparative analysis between the strictly monetary costs of healthcare and disease and the non-monetary costs, in particular the subjective costs of loss of autonomy and decision-making power on the part of sufferers themselves, and the time consumed due to the effects of the disease on sufferers and the persons around them. It also analyses the time evolution of certain indicators decisive in anticipating the social problems and demand likely to arise in coming years.

The work starts from a study of the foremost systemic information sources on health, disease and the healthcare sector (Spain’s National Statistics Office [INE] and Ministry of Health and Consumption), as well as surveys conducted by different institutions (research institutes CIS, CIRES and CSIC inter alia) on such issues as social demand and needs, health, time allocation, the social reality of Spain, household and domestic inequality and assistance for the elderly.The analysis of invisible costs is set against traditional health sector cost analyses (National Accounts, health service consumption). Over thirty different data sources are managed in this process, a dozen of them surveys which have been subject to a thoroughgoing review.

The conclusion drawn is that monetary budgets and resources, however important they are strategically, should not be viewed as the only relevant parameters for the upkeep of a nation’s health.In sum, this work will stand as an obligatory reference for researchers in the fields of health economy, sociology and public policy, health and social services professionals, specialists in medium- and long-term risk assessment and experts on dependence. Its target readership also extends to a broad sector of representatives, associations and organizations dealing with those directly or indirectly affected by diseases and disabilities, and to a wider public interested in the human and social aspects of illness and health.This new edition updates the version published by the BBVA Foundation in 1999, by adding an analysis of the empirical sources emerging up to 2001.