ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Health Economics
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1602617
This article is part of the Research TopicIntegrating Economics into Population Health: Assessing Policies and OutcomesView all 6 articles
The Economics of Home Support Services in Ireland: Exploring Complex Issues of Healthcare Sustainability and Ageing Populations
Provisionally accepted
- Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland
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Background: Home support is a critical yet under-recognised component of public health and ageing policy, with economic perspectives often overlooked in workforce and system planning. This paper explores the economics of home support services in Ireland, against a backdrop of increasing demand for home care driven by ageing populations and workforce supply challenges.Aims: To provide a comprehensive overview of the economic challenges faced by the home support sector in Ireland, particularly in relation to workforce sustainability, population health, and quality service delivery. To explore international best practices and case studies that can further inform the development of home support models.Method: Utilising both qualitative and quantitative population, labour force, and health service data, the analysis of the Irish context investigates three critical areas: 1) the rising demand and funding of home support, 2) cost comparisons with institutional care, and 3) the economic implications of workforce expansion. Systematic literature review of the international evidence used a structured search of electronic databases (Web of Science, MEDLINE, CINHAL) using key terms ('home support' 'workforce development' and 'economic or cost') to identify a range of recent (published 2015-2025) and relevant case studies to inform policy development.Findings indicate that Ireland's market-driven approach, heavily reliant on approved private providers, exacerbates issues like low wages, job insecurity, and high staff turnover, which negatively impact service quality. Implications for healthcare workforce policy include improving wages and working conditions, establishing career pathways and professional development, and increased government investment. Recommendations for policy include making strategic investments in workforce stability and better integration of home support with informal care systems to enhance service delivery.Policymakers can inform themselves about the economic considerations for developing a robust home support system in the context of ageing populations. Further research is needed into the assumptions and validity of financial decisions to ensure services are sustainable.
Keywords: home care, Home support, workforce development, Workforce economics, Aging Population
Received: 30 Mar 2025; Accepted: 14 May 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Morrow and Lynch. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Elizabeth Morrow, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Dublin, Dublin 2, County Dublin, Ireland
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