Current and Future Supply Function of Mobile Care and Support Services in Austria

This report examines the current and future economic significance of mobile care services in Austria against the background of the imminent demographic change and possible political measures to change the care mix in formal care. On the one hand, the study shows the status quo of mobile services in the national and international context and, analogous to a number of recent WIFO studies, provides insight into the projected, Austria-wide scope of mobile services and care services as a whole up to the year 2050. On this basis, four policy scenarios (shift of the care mix in favour of inpatient care, 24-hour care or mobile services; relative increase of the potential for informal care) are used to quantify the effects of possible measures leading to structural shifts in the significance of the respective forms of care in different orders of magnitude. The concluding chapter contains a series of evidence-based conclusions and arguments that demonstrate the importance of mobile services as an integral part of an effective care system.