Improving long-term care services: insights from high-reliability organizations

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maryam Memar Zadeh ◽  
Nicole Haggerty
Keyword(s):  
Management Practices ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
High Reliability ◽  
High Reliability Organizations ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Traditional Management ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Management Approaches

Purpose Long-term care (LTC) organizations have struggled to protect their vulnerable clients from the ravages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Although various suggestions on containing outbreaks in LTC facilities have gained prominence, ensuring the safety of residents is not just a crisis issue. In that context, the authors must reasses the traditional management practices that were not sufficient for handling unexpected and demanding conditions. The purpose of this paper is to suggest rethinking the underlying attributes of LTC organizations and drawing insight from the parallels they have to high-reliability organizations (HROs). Design/methodology/approach The authors analyzed qualitative data collected from a Canadian LTC facility to shed light on the current state of reliability practices and culture of the LTC industry and to identify the strengths and weaknesses of the traditional management approaches. Findings To help the LTC industry develop the necessary crisis management capacity to tackle unexpected future challenges, there is an urgent need for adopting a more systemic top-down approach that cultivates mindfulness, learning and resilience. Originality/value This study contributes by applying the HRO theoretical lens in the LTC context. The study provides the LTC leaders with insights into creating a unified effort at the industry level to give rise to a high-reliability-oriented industry.

Access to long-term care: perceptions and experiences of older Dutch people

2015 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 83-93 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lisette Schipper ◽  
Katrien G. Luijkx ◽  
Bert R. Meijboom ◽  
René Schalk ◽  
Jos M.G.A. Schols
Keyword(s):  
Older People ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Care Access ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Access Service ◽  
The Difference

Purpose – Despite the current focus on demand-based care, little is known about what clients consider important when they have a request for formal long-term care services. The paper aims to discuss this issue. Design/methodology/approach – Questions about the access process to care services were added to the “Senior Barometer”, a Dutch web-based questionnaire that assesses the opinion of older people about different aspects in life. The questionnaire surveyed both people who already requested care services (“users”), and people that did not (“future clients”). Findings – The results show a significant difference in what people expect to be the first step from what users actually did, when requesting formal care services. In addition, there was a significant difference on how “users” and “future clients” rated several access service aspects. Research limitations/implications – The results give valuable information on how both “users” and “future clients” value the access process. The findings also provide valuable input for organizations providing long-term care for older clients about the important issues that have to be considered when organizing the access process. Originality/value – This study shows what older people in the Netherlands find important during the access process to care and this has not been explored before. The difference between what “users” and “future clients” find of importance in the care access process suggests that it is difficult for people to foresee what will be important once the need for care arrives, or where they will turn to with a request for care services.

Long-term care in Spain: a reform failure or the regulation of a development path?

2020 ◽  
Vol 40 (11/12) ◽  
pp. 1301-1317
Author(s):  
Manuel Aguilar-Hendrickson
Keyword(s):  
Long Term Care ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Baby Boom ◽  
Reform Process ◽  
Governance Arrangement ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The Impact

PurposeSpain departed from the Southern European tradition of residual long-term care services with the 2006 reform. The paper aims to present the main traits of the reform and its implementation, explores the reasons that may explain why the reform happened and to which extent and why it fell short of expectations.Design/methodology/approachThe article draws on available literature on the reform and on administrative data to present a complex and nuanced view of the reform process and its limits.FindingsThe reform was actually a measure to enhance and rationalize a preexisting process of social care services development, rather than the creation of a completely new care system. A rapid increase in female labor market participation since the 1990s and the looming demands of a late baby-boom and the subsequent fertility crash appear to be two key factors that explain both the previous development and its bolstering by the reform. The budgetary constraints of the Great Recession and governance problems, linked to a complex and sometimes dysfunctional multilevel governance arrangement, help to understand why the reform bogged down. Nevertheless, the overall balance is more nuanced, and significantly more services are provided 12 years after the reform.Originality/valueWhile many assessments of the reform have been negative, putting it into a larger context of social care development, the 2006 Dependency Act has contributed to a significant increase in expenditure and coverage. The impact of budgetary restrictions has been important, but other factors, such as governance arrangements, may explain more of the problems of the implementation.

The use of long-term care services by the Dutch elderly

2000 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 513-531 ◽  
Author(s):  
France Portrait ◽  
Maarten Lindeboom ◽  
Dorly Deeg
Keyword(s):  
Long Term Care ◽  
Term Care ◽  
Care Services

Organizing across borders

2005 ◽  
Vol 48 (5) ◽  
pp. 643-653 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Holden
Keyword(s):  
Case Studies ◽  
Long Term Care ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Term Care ◽  
User Choice ◽  
Care Services ◽  
Organization Of Care ◽  
The Uk

Internationalized providers of care services face competing incentives and pressures relating to profit and quality. Case studies of corporate providers of long-term care in the UK demonstrate that their mode of organization has important implications for both user choice and the organization of care work. French Les fournisseurs internationalisés sont soumis à des pressions et à des incitatifs concurrentiels pour produire des profits et de la qualité. Des études de cas portant sur les fournisseurs institutionnels d'assistance à long terme au Royaume-Uni révèlent que leur mode d'organisation a d'importantes répercussions tant au niveau du choix des bénéficiaires qu'au niveau de l'organisation du travail d'assistance. Spanish Los prestadores transnacionales de servicios se enfrentan con incentivos que compiten entre sí y con la tensión entre calidad y ganancia. Se estudian unoscasos de prestadores de cuidados de larga duración en el Reino Unido. Estos demuestran que el modo de organización tiene consecuencias importantes, tanto para opciones abiertas al usuario como para la organización de los cuidados.

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