Skip to main content
  1. What is the Economic Survey on Home Care Services?
  2. What are its goals?
  3. Who is it aimed at?
  4. How do you get the directory of companies and local authorities?
  5. When is the fieldwork carried out?
  6. How is the survey conducted?
  7. Is it compulsory to reply to it?
  8. How well-protected is the survey information?
  9. When and where will I be able to find the results of the survey?
  10. Where can I get further information?

1. What is the Economic Survey on Home Care Services?

The Economic Survey on Home Care Services (EESAD) is an official operation which forms part of the current annual statistical action Programme (action 05 02 01), deployed by the Law on the 2017–2020 Statistical Plan for Catalonia. It is drawn up by the Statistical Institute of Catalonia (Idescat) in cooperation with the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Families.

This is the first survey and is therefore regarded as a pilot test.

2. What are its goals?

The main purpose of the survey is to obtain information on the activity and economic scope of home care services in Catalonia by means of two questionnaires, one designed for social service institutions and companies and the other for local authorities.

The specific objectives of the survey are as follows:

  • To provide financial information on the expenditure, income and capital operations related to these services.
  • To provide complementary structural information on the personnel and users and the volume of services provided.

3. Who is it aimed at?

The survey is aimed at two kinds of recipients:

  • Private and public institutions and companies specializing in the provision of these services.
  • Local authorities, the main agents in the allocation of resources for these services.

4. How do you get the directory of companies and local authorities?

The directory of home care services companies is obtained from the Register of social institutions, services and establishments of the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Families has been used to obtain the list of home care service companies. All the companies which perform these types of services have been taken from this Register.

To obtain data on the local authorities, the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Families has provided the unified Registry on the data of local authorities in Catalonia (basic areas of social services).

5. When is the fieldwork carried out?

The fieldwork will be carried out between September and December 2018.

6. How is the survey conducted?

The data collection is performed by means of the CAWI (Computer Assisted Web Interview) system, using an online questionnaire.

The institutions, companies and basic areas of the social services receive a letter from Idescat and the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs and Families, specifying the aims, characteristics and terms and conditions of the survey. They are also provided with a link to reply to the questionnaire online (and a username and password). The questionnaire must be answered within the specified period.

7. Is it compulsory to reply to it?

Given the public interest, established by the Parliament of Catalonia, of all the statistics included in the Statistical Plan of Catalonia, cooperation by both citizens and companies in responding to questionnaires is legally binding in order to ensure an appropriate number of responses and, in consequence, reliable statistical results (chapter 5 of the Statistical Law of Catalonia).

8. How well-protected is the survey information?

The individual information on the survey is protected by statistical secret under the terms set forth chapter 4 of the Statistical Law of Catalonia. This means that the individualised data contained on the questionnaires may not be made public or disclosed to any person or entity, not even public administration, with the exception of any person or entity that is also bound by obligations to respect statistical secret. In this regard, all the personnel of Idescat and other organisations participating in official statistics in Catalonia must take a solemn oath to preserve the confidentiality of this information, and they are subjected to severe punishment should they violate this oath.

Likewise, the obligation for statistical secret is also extended to the publication of the results, meaning that both Idescat and the other organisations forming part of the Statistical System of Catalonia must take special care to ensure that individual information cannot be deduced from the tabulated information that is published.

9. When and where will I be able to find the results of the survey?

The results will be disseminated in the second quarter of 2019 and will be available on the Idescat website.

10. Where can I get further information?

During the fieldwork period, a telephone number and email address are provided to deal with any queries which arise.

  • Telephone: 935 573 090
  • Email: serveissocials at idescat dot cat