This paper presents empirical findings from the comparison between two principal preference elicitation techniques: discrete choice experiments and profile-based best-worst scaling. Best-worst scaling involves less cognitive burden for respondents and provides more information than traditional...

This article describes an approach to measuring outputs of social care that is intended to reflect changes in quality and outcomes over time. The approach is applied using available data on services for older people, illustrating both the potential and some of the challenges of putting it into...

A variety of contract types are used in the placement of elderly people in residential and nursing care homes in the UK. Contracts vary according to how and when providers are paid. Among other things, prices can be made contingent on the total quantity of service to be purchased and on...

This article uses 2 years worth of data from 150 English local authorities to quantify the extent to which local variations in social care resources are associated with variations in performance of the acute sector, and particularly on the rates of hospital delayed discharges and hospital...

Individual or personal budgets are part of a growing international trend to encourage greater choice and control over social care services at a time of financial austerity. The authors' evaluation of individual budgets found that levels of allocated resources reflected a range of factors,...

Increasingly, health economists are required to work across sectors when evaluating options for improving health, health care and well-being. Social care is a key sector which is both influenced by and influences the use and outcomes of health services. This paper reports on a developing...