Costs of complying with quality requirements in meal services for older adults
Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review
Standard
Costs of complying with quality requirements in meal services for older adults. / Jensen, Jørgen Dejgård.
In: Journal of Foodservice Business Research, Vol. 23, No. 3, 2020, p. 246-261.Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › peer-review
Harvard
APA
Vancouver
Author
Bibtex
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
T1 - Costs of complying with quality requirements in meal services for older adults
AU - Jensen, Jørgen Dejgård
PY - 2020
Y1 - 2020
N2 - Care of older adults, including meal service to home-dwelling individuals is under pressure for improving its resource utilization. There is concern for potential meal quality impacts of this development–and subsequently for the users’ food intake and nutritional status. The objective of the study is to examine the municipalities’ additional costs of initiatives to improve quality in the supply of meal services for the home-dwelling elderly. An economic optimization model was developed and used to determine the cost-minimizing meal production scheme under alternative specifications regarding production methods, ingredient sourcing, composition of dishes, menu variation, and delivery frequency for each municipality in Denmark, while taking heterogeneity of users into account. Alternative modifications to the quality standards within these dimensions have been analyzed. Results suggest that except for higher delivery frequency, the additional costs of the considered quality improvements are modest (1–5% of the current cost), whereas daily delivery would increase the cost by 10–15% in several municipalities. Despite relatively low additional costs, Danish municipalities may lack the economic incentive to undertake such quality improvements, because the additional costs cannot be passed on to the users; thus, municipalities will need to finance these costs by savings on other municipal services.
AB - Care of older adults, including meal service to home-dwelling individuals is under pressure for improving its resource utilization. There is concern for potential meal quality impacts of this development–and subsequently for the users’ food intake and nutritional status. The objective of the study is to examine the municipalities’ additional costs of initiatives to improve quality in the supply of meal services for the home-dwelling elderly. An economic optimization model was developed and used to determine the cost-minimizing meal production scheme under alternative specifications regarding production methods, ingredient sourcing, composition of dishes, menu variation, and delivery frequency for each municipality in Denmark, while taking heterogeneity of users into account. Alternative modifications to the quality standards within these dimensions have been analyzed. Results suggest that except for higher delivery frequency, the additional costs of the considered quality improvements are modest (1–5% of the current cost), whereas daily delivery would increase the cost by 10–15% in several municipalities. Despite relatively low additional costs, Danish municipalities may lack the economic incentive to undertake such quality improvements, because the additional costs cannot be passed on to the users; thus, municipalities will need to finance these costs by savings on other municipal services.
KW - costs
KW - delivery frequency
KW - Meal service
KW - older adults
U2 - 10.1080/15378020.2020.1734424
DO - 10.1080/15378020.2020.1734424
M3 - Journal article
AN - SCOPUS:85080135348
VL - 23
SP - 246
EP - 261
JO - Journal of Foodservice Business Research
JF - Journal of Foodservice Business Research
SN - 1537-8020
IS - 3
ER -
ID: 239814920