A Research of Mixed Economy of Care: An Investigation of Domiciliary Care Services Users in Taiwan

Abstract

The policy of community care has been put into practice for more than ten years in Taiwan. The mixed economy of care is the main focus in its policy. There are two important meanings of the mixed economy of care-one is the mixed economy of paid and volunteer care services, another is the mixed economy of the informal and formal sectors. This research deals with these especially on domiciliary care service (DCS) in Taiwan Province. The database of this research consists of replies from 1464 elderly people who are living alone in Taiwan Province to answer questions about the extent of their satisfaction with the DCS. The different levels of satisfaction between paid and unpaid DCS workers and the relationship between the formal and informal sectors are revealed, in the research, with regard to respondents' satisfaction, some differences in mean satisfaction between different basic characteristics of respondents are evident. With the different types of care worker, those served by volunteer care workers score least in satisfaction and those served by part-time care workers have a lower satisfaction score than those served by full-time workers. According to the regression analyses, it reveals the existence of a supplementary effect but not a substitute effect between the formal sector and the informal sector in terms of DCS. In addition, a quasi-market model, or public-led provision may be identified in the mixed economy of care in the research.