Can we do better? Economic analysis of human resource investment to improve home care service for the elderly in Serbia.

BACKGROUND: Social services aimed at the elderly are facing great challenges caused by progressive aging of the global population but also by the constant pressure to spend funds in a rational manner. PURPOSE: This paper focuses on analyzing the investments into human resources aimed at enhancing home care for the elderly since many countries have recorded progress in the area over the past years. The goal of this paper is to stress the significance of performing an economic analysis of the investment. METHODS: This paper combines statistical analysis methods such as correlation and regression analysis, methods of economic analysis, and scenario method. RESULTS: The economic analysis of investing in human resources for home care service in Serbia showed that the both scenarios of investing in either additional home care hours or more beneficiaries are cost-efficient. However, the optimal solution with the positive (and the highest) value of economic net present value criterion is to invest in human resources to boost the number of home care hours from 6 to 8 hours per week and increase the number of the beneficiaries to 33%. CONCLUSION: This paper shows how the statistical and economic analysis results can be used to evaluate different scenarios and enable quality decision-making based on exact data in order to improve health and quality of life of the elderly and spend funds in a rational manner.

Economic analysis of social services for the elderly in Serbia: two sides of the same coin.

According to demographic trends, the ratio of senior citizens in the overall population of the Republic of Serbia is rising. This generates the need to create socially acceptable and economically sustainable models for the protection of the elderly. The goal of this paper is to stress the necessity of analyzing and evaluating the efficiency of social protection services aimed at senior citizens. The first part of the paper underlines the need for economic analysis of these services; while the second part features the analysis of the two most frequently provided services for the elderly in Serbia: admission to social protection institutions and home care for senior citizens. Based on the research results, the paper also provides a comparative overview of the efficiency of the services mentioned. This overview clearly confirms that both services prove to be economically justifiable from a social perspective; nevertheless, it also indicates that the cost of home care per user is considerably lower than the cost of putting a senior citizen into a nursing home. After presenting and discussing the results of the studies, the paper also offers recommendations aimed at enhancing the development and sustainability of the social protection system for the elderly in Serbia.