Correction to: Prevention Science (2018) 19:716–727
10.1007/s11121-018-0918-1
In the article, ‘A Cost Analysis of School-Based Lifestyle Interventions’, we calculated the societal costs of two school-based lifestyle interventions: ‘the Healthy Primary School of the Future’ and ‘the Physical Activity School’. Unfortunately, it became clear to us that the cost calculation for the Physical Activity Schools was not entirely correct.
It was stated that the length of the school day was extended at Healthy Primary Schools of the Future and at Physical Activity Schools to facilitate the implementation of activities. The length of the school day was valued in the cost calculations as it might result in increased productivity of primary caregivers (e.g. more possibilities for work). However, at Physical Activity Schools the length school day did not became longer in comparison to control schools.
As a sensitivity analysis we excluded the value of the extended school day. This was done as the value of this cost item is highly uncertain (e.g. gains in productivity of primary caregivers could be offset by potential utility losses). The results of this sensitivity analysis are therefore now representative of the updated base-case results for the Physical Activity Schools. Table 2 represents the costs of HPSF and PAS for the first year of implementation. When excluding the value of the extended school day for PAS, the costs amounted to €505 per child per year or €3.16 per child per day. In the hypothetical steady state, the costs were €346 per child per year or €2.16 per child per day (Table 3).
In the article, we concluded that the costs for the education sector were fully compensated for the Physical Activity School and almost fully compensated for the Healthy Primary School of the Future by the savings within the household sector. Based on the updated calculations, we conclude that a small investment is required for the delivery of the Physical Activity School (€2.16 per child per day for the Physical Activity School and €0.96 for the Healthy Primary School of the Future).
[1] Oosterhoff, M., Bosma, H., van Schayck, O.C.P., Joore, M.A. (2018). A cost analysis of school-based lifestyle interventions. Prevention Science, 19, 716–727.
Table 2.
Per child costs of HPSF and PAS for the first year after implementation
| Cost items for the first year after implementation | Time investment | Volume (per school) | Unit price | Stakeholder perspective | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education | Household & leisure | Labour & social security | Healthcare | Societal perspective | |||||||||
| HPSF | PAS | HPSF | PAS | HPSF | PAS | HPSF | PAS | HPSF | PAS | ||||
| Personnel | |||||||||||||
| Program coordinator | Coordination | 4 schools: 1 FTE | €112,000 / FTE 1 | €84 | €84 | ||||||||
| School project leaders | Coordination | HPSF: 0.5 FTE; PAS: 0.4 FTE | €65,000 / FTE 1 | €97 | €78 | ||||||||
| Volunteers | Assisting during lunch break and activities |
Financial compensation: HPSF: €12,645 1 PAS: €8145 1 |
€38 | €24 | €53 A | €17 A | |||||||
|
Time investment HPSF: 12 volunteers, 1 h/day, 4 days/week (upper grades 5 days/week), 40 weeks PAS: 7 volunteers, 1 h/day, 3 days/week (upper grades 4 days/week), 40 weeks |
Time investment €14 / hour 4 |
||||||||||||
| Primary caregivers | Per child fee for supervision during lunch break | 4 times / week, 40 weeks | €1 / day not charged to carers 1 | €160 | €160 | €-160 | €-160 | ||||||
| Parental evaluation committee | 5 times / year, 1 h, 10 persons | €14/ h 4 | €2 | €2 | |||||||||
| Value of the extended school hours |
0.5 h freed-up, 4 times / week 2 children / household |
€14 / hour 4 | €-562 | ||||||||||
| Beneficiaries of unemployment benefits | Preparing lunches as part of reintegration to the labour market | 1 person, 15 h/week | NA E | ||||||||||
| External parties from the leisure sector | Giving workshops | €6675 1 | €20 | €20 | €0 B | €0 B | |||||||
| Cross-discipline coordinators from the local government | Organizing activities | 1 FTE / 4 schools | €50,000 / FTE 1 | €37 | €37 | €0 C | €0 C | ||||||
| Pedagogical staff from childcare partners | Guiding lunch break and activities |
HPSF: 12 persons, 2 h/day, 4 days/week (upper grades 5 days/week), 40 weeks PAS: 8 persons, 1.5 h/day, 3 days/week (upper grades 4 days/week), 40 weeks |
€65,000/ FTE 1 | €524 | €204 | €0 D | €0 D | ||||||
| Materials | |||||||||||||
| Transport | €7097 3 | €21 | €21 | ||||||||||
| Accommodations | 1 h, 4 days/week | €17.5/h 3 | €8 | €8 | |||||||||
| Food (including personnel from caterer) | HPSF: 4 times / week, 40 weeks |
Cost: €2.46 / child / day 3 Offset: €-1.86 / day 5 |
€394 F | €-298 F | |||||||||
| Curriculum materials | 1 set per year | €2500 / school 1 | €7 | €7 | |||||||||
| Monitoring equipment | 1 survey | €1200 / survey 1 | €4 | €4 | |||||||||
| Total costs | |||||||||||||
| Net costs (per child/year) | €1394 | €647 | €-965 | €142 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €429 | €505 | |||
| Personnel | €959 | €606 | €-667 | €-142 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €292 | €464 | |||
| Materials | €434 | €41 | €-298 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €137 | €41 | |||
| Net costs (per child/day) | €8.71 | €4.04 | €-6.03 | €-0.89 | €0.00 | €0.00 | €0.00 | €0.00 | €2.68 | €3.16 | |||
HPSF = Healthy Primary School of the Future; PAS = Physical Activity School; FTE = full-time equivalent.
Discrepancies between the sum of cost items may be due to rounding.
1Budget ‘the Healthy Primary School of the Future’
2Productivity costs of paid labour (Zorginstituut Nederland 2015)
3Accounting data ‘the Healthy Primary School of the Future’
4Productivity costs of unpaid labour (Zorginstituut Nederland 2015)
5Household expenses on children’s lunches (NIBUD 2017)
6 Minimum wage (“Minimumloon 2016”)
7Unemployment benefits (Rijksoverheid 2016)
8Income tax (Belastingdienst 2016)
AValue of time investment minus financial compensation
B-DFinancial contributions fully compensated the time investments
EAssumed that offsets due to the reintegration of beneficiaries only applied to the steady state
FFood costs are a positive cost to the education sector and a negative cost to the household sector
Table 3.
Per child costs of HPSF and PAS for a hypothetical steady state
| Cost items for the steady state | Activities | Volume (per school) | Unit price | Stakeholder perspective | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Education | Household & leisure | Labour & social security | Healthcare | Societal perspective | |||||||||
| HPSF | PAS | HPSF | PAS | HPSF | PAS | HPSF | PAS | HPSF | PAS | ||||
| Personnel | |||||||||||||
| Program coordinator | Coordination | 4 schools: 0.25 FTE A | €112,000 / FTE 1 | €21 | €21 | ||||||||
| School project leaders | Coordination | 0.25 FTE A | €65,000 / FTE 1 | €49 | €49 | ||||||||
| Volunteers | Assisting during lunch break and activities |
Financial compensation: HPSF: €12,645 1; PAS: €8145 1 |
€38 | €24 | €53 B | €17 B | |||||||
|
Time investment HPSF: 12 volunteers, 1 h/day, 4 days/week (upper grades 5 days/week), 40 weeks PAS: 7 volunteers, 1 h/day, 3 days/week (upper grades 4 days/week), 40 weeks |
Time investment €14 / hour 4 |
||||||||||||
| Primary caregivers | Parental evaluation committee | 5 times / year, 1 h, 10 persons | €14/ h 4 | €2 | €2 | ||||||||
| Value of the extended school hours |
0.5 h freed-up, 4 times / week 2 children / household |
€14 / hour 4 | €-562 | ||||||||||
| Beneficiaries of unemployment benefits | Preparing lunches as part of reintegration to the labour market | 1 person, 15 h/week |
Income level: €1525 / month 6, Unemployment benefits: €1320 / month7; €8.80 / hour 6 Income taxes: 36.55% 8 |
€-3 C | €0 | €-22 C | €0 | ||||||
| External parties from the leisure sector | Giving workshops | €6675 1 | €20 | €20 | €0 D | €0 D | |||||||
| Pedagogical staff from childcare partners | Guiding lunch break and activities |
HPSF: 12 persons, 2 h/day, 4 days/week (upper grades 5 days/week), 40 weeks PAS: 8 persons, 1.5 h/day, 3 days/week (upper grades 4 days/week), 40 weeks |
€65,000/ FTE 1 | €524 | €204 | €0 E | €0 E | ||||||
| Materials | |||||||||||||
| Food (including personnel from caterer) | HPSF: 4 times / week, 40 weeks |
Cost: €2 / child / day A Offset: €1.86 / day 5 |
€320 F | €0 | €-298 F | €0 | |||||||
| Curriculum materials | 1 set per year | €2500 / school 1 | €7 | €7 | |||||||||
| Monitoring equipment | 1 survey | €1200 / survey 1 | €4 | €4 | |||||||||
| Total costs | |||||||||||||
| Net costs (per child/year) | €982 | €328 | €-807 | €18 | €-22 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €153 | €346 | |||
| Personnel | €651 | €317 | €-510 | €18 | €-22 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €120 | €335 | |||
| Materials | €331 | €11 | €-298 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €0 | €33 | €11 | |||
| Net costs (per child/day) | €6.14 | €2.05 | €-5.05 | €0.11 | €-0.13 | €0.00 | €0.00 | €0.00 | €0.96 | €2.16 | |||
HPSF = Healthy Primary School of the Future; PAS = Physical Activity School; FTE = full-time equivalent.
Discrepancies between the sum of cost items may be due to rounding.
1Budget ‘the Healthy Primary School of the Future’
2Productivity costs of paid labour (Zorginstituut Nederland 2015)
3Accounting data ‘the Healthy Primary School of the Future’
4Productivity costs of unpaid labour (Zorginstituut Nederland 2015)
5Household expenses on children’s lunches (NIBUD 2017)
6 Minimum wage (“Minimumloon 2016”)
7Unemployment benefits (Rijksoverheid 2016)
8Income tax (Belastingdienst 2016)
ASteady state assumption
BValue of time investment minus financial compensation
CHousehold: income level minus unemployment benefits; social security: savings from unemployment benefits and earnings from income taxes
D-EFinancial contributions fully compensated the time investments
FFood costs are a positive cost to the education sector and a negative cost to the household sector
Footnotes
The online version of the original article can be found at 10.1007/s11121-018-0918-1
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