PLANNING FOR BALANCE OF CARE OF THE ELDERLY: A COMMENT
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9485.1980.tb00933.x |
| Date | 01 November 1980 |
| Published date | 01 November 1980 |
| Author | MARTIN KNAPP |
0036
9292/80/0021021(8
$02.00
Scoiltsh
Journalof
Political
Ewnumy.
Vol.
27,
No.
3,
November
1980
0
1980
Scottish Economic
Society
PLANNING
FOR
BALANCE
OF
CARE
OF
THE ELDERLY: A COMMENT
MARTIN KNAPP’
Personal Social Services Research Unit, University
of
Kent
I
INTRODUCTION
In discussions of the planning of personal social services for needy individuals
the voice of the economist has been strangely muted. Care services for the
elderly, for the physically and mentally handicapped, for deprived and
depraved children, and for other needy individuals have primarily been the
day-to-day concern
of
the social worker and the academic preserve of the
social administrator. Until fairly recently the economic content of planning
statements and policy documents has been almost invariably limited to a
tabulation of expenditure figures and occasional vague reference to such
concepts as “economies of scale” and “costs and benefits”. Only since the
onset of recession in 1974 have policy makers felt a need to examine carefully
the economics
of
the personal social services in an attempt to obtain “value
for money”.
It
is against this changing background-an historical tradition of economic
ignorance and almost economic nihilism, but with a recent slight but signi-
ficant surge of interest-that Gavin Mooney’s recent article on ‘Planning for
balance of care of the elderly’ must be viewed (Mooney, 1978). Mooney
looks
at three services for the elderly---domiciliary services (including health
visiting, home help, meals on wheels), residential services (in old people’s
homes) and hospital services (in geriatric wards)-and presents an economic
framework which he confronts with evidence collected from a sample
of
elderly persons in Aberdeen. In this “Comment”
I
offer a few extensions to
Mooney’s most interesting model
of
care. These extensions concern the
measurement
of
output, the computation and comparison
of
costs, and the
meaning
of
“alternatives” and “margins” in care of the elderly. Some of
these extensions have only been made possible as a result of research con-
ducted and reported (often in unpublished form) since Mooney submitted
his original article. My comments should therefore be seen as developmental
and supportive rather than critical.
Date
of
reccipt
of
final manuscript
:
13
May
1980.
1
am grateful to Gavin Mooney
for
comments
on
an
earlier
version
of
this
“Comment”
which helped to clarify
a
number
of
points.
288
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