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1 – 10 of over 22000The purpose of this paper is twofold: firstly, to describe adult safeguarding in Sweden’s social services, and secondly, to analyse the changes in Sweden’s national policies…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is twofold: firstly, to describe adult safeguarding in Sweden’s social services, and secondly, to analyse the changes in Sweden’s national policies related to its adult safeguarding legislation and discuss the implications.
Design/methodology/approach
An analysis of two government bills was carried out inspired by the What’s the Problem Represented to Be approach.
Findings
The background and review procedure that is part of the obligation to report mistreatment in Sweden’s social services is described. The policy analysis shows a change from a rights-based discourse concerning the duty of staff to safeguard vulnerable service recipients’ rights, to a discourse on the obligation for staff to be part of systematic quality assurance. The most conspicuous change in the representation of the problem was attaching the problem descriptions to a lack of quality instead of a duty to protect.
Social implications
The implications of the reporting procedure are discussed in terms of a general lack of channels for service recipients and their family members to raise their own concerns about mistreatment. It is suggested that there ought to be more legal and transparent channels for service recipients and their family members to file complaints.
Originality/value
This paper provides an overview of adult safeguarding in Sweden’s social services, which to date has been lacking in the literature.
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Yakoub Benziane, Siong Hook Law, Anitha Rosland and Muhammad Daaniyall Abd Rahman
The purpose of this paper is to present a review of empirical evidence on the effectiveness of Aid for Trade (AfT) inflows and recommend new areas of interest concerning the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to present a review of empirical evidence on the effectiveness of Aid for Trade (AfT) inflows and recommend new areas of interest concerning the initiative other than its effect on trade performance.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper reviews a sample of 55 studies over the past 11 years. Besides, this paper categorised the reviewed empirical studies into three groups: the works concentrating on the trade performance effect; the works focusing on other economic factors effect; and the works concerning the allocation effect of these inflows. This paper also offers a detailed analysis of the multiple empirical methods, sources of data, coverage of the countries and forms of AfT inflows used in the reviewed literature.
Findings
Key findings indicated that AfT has overall produced a successful impact as reported by most studies. Moreover, it has been highlighted that the effectiveness of AfT may differ relying on multiple indicators: the category of AfT disbursements; income of the recipient country; the recipient country's geographical region; the amount of aggregate AfT as well as its main categories; the policy regulation and institutional quality of the recipient country; and the degree of liberalisation in the recipient country.
Originality/value
This paper is special in that it is the first to publish a comprehensive narrative analysis of 55 empirical pieces of evidence on the effectiveness of AfT over the past 11 years. It is also the first paper to review the previous literature regarding the effectiveness of AfT inflows on other non-trade outcomes, as well as trade outcomes in one single study. The outcome of the survey reveals new areas of interest in the effectiveness of AfT aside from trade performance.
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Therese Dwyer Løken, Marit Kristine Helgesen, Halvard Vike and Catharina Bjørkquist
New Public Management (NPM) has increased fragmentation in municipal health and social care organizations. In response, post-NPM reforms aim to enhance integration through service…
Abstract
Purpose
New Public Management (NPM) has increased fragmentation in municipal health and social care organizations. In response, post-NPM reforms aim to enhance integration through service integration. Integration of municipal services is important for people with complex health and social challenges, such as concurrent substance abuse and mental health problems. This article explores the conditions for service integration in municipal health and social services by studying how public management values influence organizational and financial structures and professional practices.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a case study with three Norwegian municipalities as case organizations. The study draws on observations of interprofessional and interagency meetings and in-depth interviews with professionals and managers. The empirical field is municipal services for people with concurrent substance abuse and mental health challenges. The data were analyzed both inductively and deductively.
Findings
The study reveals that opportunities to assess, allocate and deliver integrated services were limited due to organizational and financial structures as the most important aim was to meet the financial goals. The authors also find that economic and frugal values in NPM doctrines impede service integration. Municipalities with integrative values in organizational and financial structures and in professional approaches have greater opportunities to succeed in integrating services.
Originality/value
Applying a public management value perspective, this study finds that the values on which organizational and financial structures and professional practices are based are decisive in enabling and constraining service integration.
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Deborah Milinkovic, Jeremiah Hurley, Arthur Sweetman, David Feeny, Jean-Éric Tarride, Christopher J. Longo and Susan McCracken
This paper analyzes two types of potential intangible public-sector assets for consideration by public-sector accounting boards. Government investments in health and social…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper analyzes two types of potential intangible public-sector assets for consideration by public-sector accounting boards. Government investments in health and social programs can create two potential intangible assets: the intangible infrastructure used to deliver the health or social program and the enhanced human capital embodied in the recipients of program services. Because neither of these assets is currently recognized in a government's year-end financial statements or broader general-purpose financial reports (GPFR), these reports may underrepresent the government's true fiscal and service capacity.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper uses an international accounting standards framework to analyze: whether investments in health and social programs create intangible assets that meet the definition of an asset as set out by International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS), whether they are assets of the government and whether they are recognizable for the purpose of financial reporting.
Findings
The intangible infrastructure asset created to facilitate the delivery of health and social programs would often qualify as a recognizable asset of the government. However, the enhanced recipient human capital asset created through the delivery of health and social programs would, in most instances, not qualify as a recognizable asset of the government, though there likely would be benefits from reporting on it through GPFRs or other mechanisms.
Originality/value
This paper makes two contributions. First, it identifies a previously overlooked intangible asset – the infrastructure created to facilitate the delivery of health and social programs. Second, it presents an argument regarding why, even when it fails to generate a recognizable intangible asset to government, it would be valuable for government to report such investments in supplementary statements.
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Manzurul Alam and Stewart Lawrence
The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of empowerment practices within the disability support service (DSS) sector in New Zealand. The DSS framework is designed…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the implications of empowerment practices within the disability support service (DSS) sector in New Zealand. The DSS framework is designed as part of the public sector reform process to promote empowerment for people with disabilities so that they can lead independent lives in their communities.
Design/methodology/approach
Taking a qualitative and interpretive approach to fieldwork, this research seeks the actual lived experiences of the disabled as recipients of services offer by the state.
Findings
The empirical evidence suggests that a concept such as empowerment can be problematic, because it can be perceived as a manipulative strategy where empowerment principles may be only notionally applied when services are offered by following managerialist principles.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the understanding on relationships between service design, resources, and empowerment practices. Implementation of empowerment principles, however, depends on resources to create a support structure at the community level and an atmosphere where there is choice and flexibility for people with disabilities to access essential services.
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Monika Reichert, Gerd Naegele, Ruth Katz, Ariela Lowenstein and Dafna Halperin
To describe, analyze, and compare two long-term care (LTC) systems for elders in Germany and Israel.
Abstract
Purpose
To describe, analyze, and compare two long-term care (LTC) systems for elders in Germany and Israel.
Methodology
Secondary analyses of data on LTC beneficiaries, structure of service provision and content analyses of policy documents in a comparative perspective based on the Esping-Andersen welfare state typologies.
Findings
Descriptive background of demographic attributes in the two countries; discussion of LTC development laws which in Israel focuses on “aging in place” concept, where in-kind services are geared only to community-dwelling frail elders while in Germany it’s for community and institutionalized elders. Analyses of various service types provided their use, resources invested, and benefits incurred for frail elders and their family caregivers.
Practical and social implications
The advantages and shortcomings of the two systems were analyzed with recommendations for future developments. Such comparisons across nations can inform social policy debates in Germany and Israel as to how to prepare for population aging. The originality of such comparison can shed light on issues for LTC service development in other countries.
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Bach Quang Ho and Kunio Shirahada
The purpose of this paper is to develop a process model for the role transformation of vulnerable consumers through support services.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a process model for the role transformation of vulnerable consumers through support services.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on four years of participant observation at a community-based support service and in-depth interviews with the consumers. Visual ethnography was used to document the process of the consumers' role transformation through service exchanges.
Findings
The main outcome of this study is a consumer transformation model, describing consumers' role transformation processes, from recipients to generic actors. The model demonstrates that vulnerable consumers will transform from recipients to quasi-actors before becoming generic actors.
Social implications
Vulnerable consumers' participation in value cocreation can be promoted by providing social support according to their dynamic roles. By enabling consumers to participate in value cocreation, social support provision can become sustainable and inclusive, especially in rural areas affected by aging and depopulation. Transforming recipients into generic actors should be a critical aim of service provision in the global challenge of aging societies.
Originality/value
Beyond identifying service factors, the research findings describe the mechanism of consumers' role transformation process as a service mechanics study. Furthermore, this study contributes to transformative service research by applying social exchange theory and broadening service-dominant logic by describing the process of consumer growth for individual and community well-being.
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Cynthia A. Lengnick‐Hall, Vincentia (Cindy) Claycomb and Lawrence W. Inks
In recent years, both management and marketing fields have emphasized the importance of a customer orientation. In this project, a different set of lenses is adopted to examine…
Abstract
In recent years, both management and marketing fields have emphasized the importance of a customer orientation. In this project, a different set of lenses is adopted to examine customer orientation from the customer’s point of view. Customers can enact four specific roles that enable them to create a partnership with human services firms. Customers can be important resources for the firm. They can actively participate in the firm’s activities as co‐producers of the service. As buyers, customers can develop a relationship with a service organization, and as recipients they register evaluations of their encounter. Analysis of an extensive survey of customer perceptions and investments in a firm’s activities provided an outside‐in look at customer orientation. The results present clear evidence that customers can influence the outcomes they experience. Avenues for future research and practical opportunities for managers to capitalize on their relationships with customers are discussed.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate ethical implications of surveillance by means of the care software “I‐Care” in the Swedish home‐help service sector.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate ethical implications of surveillance by means of the care software “I‐Care” in the Swedish home‐help service sector.
Design/methodology/approach
A small‐scale interview study on home helpers' experiences of and reactions to the implementation of the care software “I‐Care” in their workspace has been conducted. The interview serves as the starting point for an ethical analysis of the impact of the care software “I‐Care” on key values within ethics: privacy, autonomy and equality.
Findings
The implementation and use case of surveillance capable technology in a home‐help service sector is assessed from the perspective of ethics. It is concluded that employees' level of awareness, access to sufficient and relevant information, as well as their chances of influencing surveillance conduct, are significant for their acceptance of the surveillance regime.
Originality/value
Surveillance in the home‐help service setting has been investigated from the perspective of ethnology and organizational studies but not, as here, from the perspective of ethics. Conditions for the ethical acceptance of workspace surveillance are suggested.
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