Search results

The aim of this study was to investigate the factors which define and predict the satisfaction of first-time residential clients of architects in Nigeria using Lagos as a case study.

The study was based on the notion that satisfaction of first-time residential clients with architectural services is a combination of satisfaction with service, design and relationship qualities as well as reputation of the architect. A cross-sectional survey of randomly selected first-time residential clients of architects in the study area was conducted using pre-tested questionnaire as the principal data gathering instrument. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, factor and regression analyses.

Of the seven factors identified, the factors which best define the satisfaction of the first-time residential clients were personalization of service, reliability of, confidence inspired by and personality of the architect. The best predictors of the satisfaction of the first-time residential clients of architects in Nigeria varied with the nature of service. However, it was observed that the experience of the architect cut across all service types as a significant predictor of client satisfaction.

Only residential clients were considered in the study. Other categories of clients may be considered in further studies.

There is need for architects to consider the nature of services provided in their quest to satisfy their first-time residential clients.

Previous studies have focused on experienced and mostly public sector clients. This study provides empirical data on the factors that influence the satisfaction of first-time private clients who engaged the services of architects for their personal homes.

This paper reviews evidence about the relationships between NHS services and nursing and residential homes in England and Wales. Since the transfer in 1993 of responsibility for funding nursing and residential home care for less affluent older people to local authority social services departments, nursing and residential care has been widely assumed to constitute part of ‘social care’ services. This obscures the fact that residents of nursing and residential care homes frequently have substantial and complex healthcare needs. While some of these healthcare needs may be met through the care provided within homes themselves, most will require substantial contributions from NHS medical, nursing, pharmaceutical and other services. The National Service Framework for Older People (Department of Health, 2001) prioritises reinvestment in intermediate care services, building on the expectation in The NHS Plan (Department of Health, 2000a) that residential and nursing homes will play a major role in the development of these services. This expectation has been further reinforced by the Concordat with the private and voluntary healthcare provider sector (Department of Health, 2000b). However there is little evidence about the NHS services which are currently provided to nursing and residential homes, nor about the capacity of mainstream NHS services to meet the projected development of intermediate care services within the independent institutional sector. This paper reviews the evidence which is available and highlights some of the priorities which primary care groups in England (local health groups in Wales) will need to consider if they are to develop integrated and good quality services for frail older people.

The purpose of this study is to examine supply network designs that large service organisations use in the residential-FM sector to respond to the organising requirements of their operating environments.

The study is theoretically grounded in the well-established literature on the organisational design and structural contingency theory. Utilising a framework of generic organising problems proposed by Miles and Snow (1978) and a multiple-case study design, the study elaborates how large service organisations organise and manage their supply networks in the Finnish residential-FM sector.

The study identifies four supply network designs that organisations use for responding to the organising problems inherent in the property and resident services domains in the residential-FM sector. These include regional production organisation, horizontal decentralisation, environment stabilisation and demand – supply pooling, reflecting the type of the service-market domain and the organisation’s service strategy.

The study contributes to the facilities management literature by expanding the field of inquiry from the commercial real estate sector into the emerging field of professional residential facility services. In particular, the study adds to the discussion on supply strategies and design, offering a service provider perspective to the organisation of service supply in housing.

Hong Kong implements a policy for the aging population involving the core themes of “aging in place as the core,” “institutional care as backup” and “continuum of care.” Encouraging elders to live independently at home is a top priority, and elders who are not able to live at home independently are provided with various residential care services, namely Hostels for the Elderly, Homes for the Aged, Care and Attention (C&A) Homes for the Elderly and Nursing Homes (NHs). The purpose of this paper is to analyze the adoption of the publicly funded model of providing residential care services of elderly in Hong Kong.

The paper analyzes the current conundrum encountered by elders in residential care services and makes recommendations. A comprehensive literature review was conducted covering relevant government reports, academics' journal papers and nongovernmental organizations’ reports concerning residential care service of elderly from 1965 to present.

Subsidized residential care homes for the elderly (RCHEs) clearly outperform private RCHEs in terms of space and staff provisions, but the supply of subsidized RCHEs cannot meet the demand. Hence, between 2007 and 2018, the average waiting time was 33 months for NHs and that for C&A homes was 23 months. Several viable measures to meet the demand are purchasing Enhanced Bought Place Schemes (EBPSs) from private RCHEs, subsidizing elders who opt for living in private RCHEs by providing them with Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (CSSA) and residential care service voucher (RCSV) and subsidizing elderly applicants who opt for living in RCHEs in Guangdong. However, these viable measures are problematic because of the inadequate quality of EBPSs and private RCHEs, which is attributed to the costing arrangement of public and private RCHEs that were established in the colonial period. The brief history of RCHEs also indicates a deviation from the original policy aim, namely aging in place, which was introduced in the Green Paper on Services for the Elderly in 1977.

The supply and quality of community and home care services should be thoroughly examined; effective community and home care services can prevent and even delay unnecessary institutionalization. Another complementary solution is to devise a long-term plan for residential care services. To address disparities in quality standards in different RCHEs, adopting the combination of punitive and compliance models such as conducting frequent inspections and implementing an accreditation system for private RCHEs is imperative.

Although the principle of “aging in place” originated in 1977, the institutionalization rate 6.8% of elders was unexpectedly high in Hong Kong and even surpassed the Asian counterparts. It necessities to rethink how to implement policy concerning long-term care services of elders.

This research explores perceptions of knowledge management processes held by managers and employees in a service industry. To date, empirical research on knowledge management in the service industry is sparse. This research seeks to examine absorptive capacity and its four capabilities of acquisition, assimilation, transformation and exploitation and their impact on effective knowledge management. All of these capabilities are strategies that enable external knowledge to be recognized, imported and integrated into, and further developed within the organization effectively. The research tests the relationships between absorptive capacity and effective knowledge management through analysis of quantitative data (n = 549) drawn from managers and employees in 35 residential aged care organizations in Western Australia. Responses were analysed using Partial Least Square-based Structural Equation Modelling. Additional analysis was conducted to assess if the job role (of manager or employee) and three industry context variables of profit motive, size of business and length of time the organization has been in business, impacted on the hypothesized relationships.

Structural model analysis examines the relationships between variables as hypothesized in the research framework. Analysis found that absorptive capacity and the four capabilities correlated significantly with effective knowledge management, with absorptive capacity explaining 56% of the total variability for effective knowledge management. Findings from this research also show that absorptive capacity and the four capabilities provide a useful framework for examining knowledge management in the service industry. Additionally, there were no significant differences in the perceptions held between managers and employees, nor between respondents in for-profit and not-for-profit organizations. Furthermore, the size of the organization and length of time the organization has been in business did not impact on absorptive capacity, the four capabilities and effective knowledge management.

The research considers implications for business in light of these findings. The role of managers in providing leadership across the knowledge management process was confirmed, as well as the importance of guiding routines and knowledge sharing throughout the organization. Further, the results indicate that within the participating organizations there are discernible differences in the way that some organizations manage their knowledge, compared to others. To achieve effective knowledge management, managers need to provide a supportive workplace culture, facilitate strong employee relationships, encourage employees to seek out new knowledge, continually engage in two-way communication with employees and provide up-to-date policies and procedures that guide employees in doing their work. The implementation of knowledge management strategies has also been shown in this research to enhance the delivery and quality of residential aged care.

In Scotland residential units for children remain largely in the hands of local authorities. A reluctance to plan for and use such services as a positive choice results in many children being placed as a last resort. Two research studies gathered data over a six‐month period and considered seven local authorities' admissions to children's units, allowing for in‐depth exploration of the manner in which children are being placed in residential care. The studies revealed a significant number of children aged under 12 being admitted to residential care, many placements of a very short duration, poor evidence of placement planning, substantial numbers of sibling groups being separated and admitted to different residential care settings and many instances of residential placements being used when not the preferred option. The implications of the findings are discussed and possible solutions offered as to how the residential sector can be developed to achieve the wide range of roles it is currently expected to fulfil.

The purpose of this chapter is to examine the consequences of closing institutions for people with disabilities and accommodating them in Supported Residential Services. Issues that had been raised by an advocacy movement included shortcomings in privacy, dignity, control and meaningful activity in institutions, which led to their closure. The study applied a quality of life measurement which was commensurate with the ethical paradigms of welfare, autonomy and communitarianism to investigate whether community living in supported residences produced fulfilling lives and better outcomes than the institutions they replaced. Twenty-seven people with a disability and/or mental health issue in Supported Residential Services in Victoria, Australia were interviewed using the ‘Lehman Quality of Life Questionnaire’. An investigation into the Quality of Life of one group of de-institutionalised residents revealed that issues remain. People in the Supported Residences appear to be no better off than when they were in institutions. The study identified that it was common for a resident to have no phone, no friends outside the residence, little or no family contact, no disposable money and no job. However, since there was no research conducted before de-institutionalisation, the impact of the policy change is difficult to determine. Applying ethical measures, such as the Capabilities approach, reveals that issues remain. Practical implications from this study are first, that positive measures need to be added to de-institutionalisation to achieve satisfactory outcomes and second, that policy makers would be better informed and likely more effective if data were collected before and after significant changes.

The aim of this study is to explore the influence of personal attributes, namely, gender, age, education and income, on the perception of facilities management (FM) services for residential buildings.

Collected through an interview survey, the personal particulars of the users of a typical residential estate in Hong Kong and their perceived importance and performance levels of five main aspects of FM services were analyzed using the analytic hierarchy process and statistical analyses.

The weighted performance ratings of the services, which are products of interaction between perceived importance and perceived performance, showed perfect rank correlations across user groups with different personal attributes. As for the shares contributed to the services’ overall weighted performance, the largest differences were associated with the security and leisure and landscape aspects rated between the users with tertiary education and those without.

The findings that male adults, users with tertiary education and those with earning capacity tended to give more consistent responses can serve as a reference for determining the target amount of samples in similar surveys in future. Further work is needed to research into how the method of this study may be adapted for use in investigating FM services for other types of buildings or the same type of buildings in other places.

The approach taken in scrutinizing the performance contributions of the services, which helps to identify any improvements needed, can be used to evaluate FM services for similar residential buildings.

The study results provide an understanding of the influence of personal attributes on perception of FM services.

The present range and character of child‐care services in Britain have evolved erratically over a long period of time. Structured by a succession of Acts of Parliament, shaped and re‐shaped by the changing pattern of social values, needs and expectations, current provision is both complex and comprehensive. Statutory and voluntary bodies now provide preventive services, shelter and treatment for both the deprived and the delinquent, for the able‐bodied and the handicapped, for infants and for adolescents. Often this care will be provided in the child's own home or in a foster home, but at any one time roughly 40 per cent of the 120,000 children and young persons that are today the responsibility of local authorities will be resident in a children's home.

This article outlines the support system in Flanders, which is generally the best organised region in Belgium with regard to services for people with learning disabilities. Although Belgium is known internationally for its community care for people with mental health problems in Geel, this article shows that, in contrast, a very specialised care system has developed for people with intellectual disabilities. In an attempt to do better than the medical model of the old psychiatric institutions, a network of mostly residential facilities has been organised, starting from the special school system. This was supposed to make sure that certain children and adults received the protection, care and support they needed, taking into account their problems in adapting to the expectations of an industrial and post‐industrial society. The current situation in Belgium shows that this system of specialised, categorical services seems to be very hard to change, although a paradigm shift towards more inclusive service models can be observed.