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Article
Publication date: 16 September 2013

Angela Newton, Anne Beales, Daniela A. Collins and Thurstine Basset

This paper outlines the concept of service user leadership and both describes and reflects on an accredited training programme that enables mental health service users to take a…

Abstract

Purpose

This paper outlines the concept of service user leadership and both describes and reflects on an accredited training programme that enables mental health service users to take a leadership role.

Design/methodology/approach

The authors argue for a service user leadership approach and the training programme is reviewed by previous participants

Findings

Service users can take on a leadership role if they are given suitable and relevant training and development opportunities. Service user led training can be transformational.

Practical implications

Commissioners of mental health services should consider how to support service user leadership programmes, which can reach places and achieve outcomes that traditional mental health services are unable to attain.

Originality/value

The concept of service user leadership is relatively new and the training programme described in this paper is both original and highly valued by participants with many significant outcomes.

Details

The Journal of Mental Health Training, Education and Practice, vol. 8 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1755-6228

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 August 2010

Asefeh Asemi, Zahra Kazempour and Hasan Ashrafi Rizi

This paper aims to urge the new culture of assessment of the quality of library services among Iran academic libraries and to assess the overall services quality of libraries from…

2103

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to urge the new culture of assessment of the quality of library services among Iran academic libraries and to assess the overall services quality of libraries from the users' perspectives based on the LibQUAL model.

Design/methodology/approach

In this survey researchers used the LibQUAL model to assess service quality in the central libraries in engineering and technical governmental universities in Tehran city. For gathering data of libraries users, researchers used the LibQUAL questionnaire in a non‐electronic format and translated into Farsi.

Findings

It was found that library users were dissatisfied with their library building. But these libraries performed very well in the information control dimension. Furthermore, the examination of users' expectations showed that the proposition “Employees who are consistently courteous” was most important, and “Employees who instill confidence in users” had less importance.

Originality/value

Using the LibQUAL Survey has helped the university libraries in Iran to better serve their main user groups, and for the first time researchers used the non‐electronic format of LibQUAL questionnaire in the survey.

Details

The Electronic Library, vol. 28 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0264-0473

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 December 2004

Susan Nancarrow, Anna Johns and Wesley Vernon

This paper discusses the practicalities and limitations of establishing a service user consultation group to guide service developments, based on the evaluation of a podiatry…

Abstract

This paper discusses the practicalities and limitations of establishing a service user consultation group to guide service developments, based on the evaluation of a podiatry patient panel in South Yorkshire. It describes the specific difficulties in recruiting a representative panel of service users, and the gradual acculturation of the panel from a group of challenging activists to unpaid members of the podiatry department.

Details

Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 12 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1476-9018

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1999

Fenella Starkey

SERVICE USER PARTICIPATION IN housing and support is an important issue in national services. Nonetheless, research has found wide variations in the levels of service user

Abstract

SERVICE USER PARTICIPATION IN housing and support is an important issue in national services. Nonetheless, research has found wide variations in the levels of service user participation in housing and support schemes. This paper reports on a case study evaluation of approaches to service user participation in housing and support, drawing out key requirements: for flexible approaches to service user participation, to embed service user participation within organisations, for independent facilitation, and the importance of the participation process.

Details

Housing, Care and Support, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-8790

Article
Publication date: 26 May 2010

Stephanie Sexton

Service user involvement has been spoken and written about for many years in a variety of settings, and is generally considered a good thing. A number of elements of service user

153

Abstract

Service user involvement has been spoken and written about for many years in a variety of settings, and is generally considered a good thing. A number of elements of service user involvement have been much debated, including the extent to which service users can realistically be involved in shaping services, who counts as a service user, and how service users can be included when the processes involved in commissioning can be complex and technical. This article considers some of the key issues concerning user involvement in strategic and other commissioning arising from research commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation. The findings prompt those who are engaged with service user involvement to consider how culture may be as important as, if not more important than, structure when engaging with service users in service design and delivery.

Details

Housing, Care and Support, vol. 13 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1460-8790

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 March 2005

Virginia Minogue, Jean Boness, Ann Brown and John Girdlestone

There are many examples of consumer involvement in NHS research but few studies have examined the impact of this on service development or the research process. This study…

5012

Abstract

Purpose

There are many examples of consumer involvement in NHS research but few studies have examined the impact of this on service development or the research process. This study, involving service user and carer researchers working alongside professional researchers, aimed to examine the development of one service user and carer research group in a mental health Trust.

Dersign/methodology/approach

The research involved a review of existing literature on consumer involvement in research, a review of user involvement in research in South West Yorkshire Mental Health NHS Trust, a survey of consumers and NHS staff in the Trust, and a skills audit and training needs analysis of consumers.

Findings

The study identified the range and extent of consumer involvement and the impact of this on consumers and the Trust. Service users and carers were involved in a range of projects, mainly on the level of consultation or collaboration. The benefits for consumers were principally on a personal level and included gaining knowledge and experience, improved sense of well‐being, self esteem, and confidence. The benefit for the Trust was in having a service user perspective and focus. However, there is a tendency to omit service users from planning and setting priorities.

Practical implications

The study pointed to the need to build the evidence base on consumer involvement in research, particularly in terms of how consumers can impact on setting research priorities and selecting appropriate methods. It identifies the need for more training for consumers and for NHS staff and for a more coherent strategy.

Originality/value

This article will be of value to anyone who is at the start or in the early stages of their journey of consumer involvement. It identifies some of the practical issues faced by consumers and staff in working collaboratively, but also points to the benefits for all the stakeholders.

Details

International Journal of Health Care Quality Assurance, vol. 18 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0952-6862

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 16 November 2011

Nick Dent

The purpose of this paper is to describe the operation of a review into service user involvement within mental health services, which was led by service users using appreciative…

241

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe the operation of a review into service user involvement within mental health services, which was led by service users using appreciative enquiry (AE).

Design/methodology/approach

The paper gives a descriptive account of the operation of the project and highlights the barriers to its success and how these were addressed. The project itself used AE methods to overcome some of the challenges to engaging service users around improvement activity. The approach was different to the conventional application of AE as people were engaged individually through interviews and their views generalised collectively by the service user team conducting the interviews.

Findings

The project findings are reported through considering the recommendations made as a result of the work but the wider aims of challenging power relationships and developing service user leadership are also discussed.

Practical implications

The paper suggests that replicating and developing the use of AE driven by service users is a positive tool in empowering recipients of mental health services.

Social implications

The author suggests that this method could be a valuable tool in meeting the current UK Government policy of empowering local communities to take greater control of public service provision.

Originality/value

This project is an example of enabling leadership to arise from the grassroots of an organisation, turning the conventional concept of leadership on its head and challenges senior staff as to who might know best about how to improve services. It represents a novel approach to taking forward the empowerment agenda widely supported in Western democracies.

Details

International Journal of Leadership in Public Services, vol. 7 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1747-9886

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 13 June 2016

Danping Ren, JiJun Zhao and Jinhua Hu

User-oriented seamless service handoff is prosperous in the ubiquitous computing environment. This paper aims to present an open architecture for the user-oriented seamless service

Abstract

Purpose

User-oriented seamless service handoff is prosperous in the ubiquitous computing environment. This paper aims to present an open architecture for the user-oriented seamless service handoff across heterogeneous platforms. The migration of service environment is the key to implement the user-oriented service handoff. A distributed service handoff scheme based on the binary sensor network and context-aware middleware has been proposed.

Design/methodology/approach

To validate this scheme, a test-bed has been constructed in the lab environment.

Findings

The experimental results show that the proposed scheme can reduce the service handoff delay compared to the centralized scheme.

Originality/value

The experimental results show that the scheme can reduce the delay of service handoff compared to the traditional centralized scheme.

Details

World Journal of Engineering, vol. 13 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1708-5284

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 April 2008

Emma Miller, Margaret Whoriskey and Ailsa Cook

There is currently much policy emphasis on both partnership working between health and social services in the UK and on the outcomes delivered by services. This article provides…

Abstract

There is currently much policy emphasis on both partnership working between health and social services in the UK and on the outcomes delivered by services. This article provides an account of two consecutive projects centred on these two themes. The first project, at the University of Glasgow, sought to address the lack of evidence about the outcomes delivered to service users by partnerships. Following from this project, the Joint Improvement Team of the Scottish Government commissioned the researchers to develop a toolkit to involve users and unpaid carers in performance management in community care in Scotland. The remit of this second project expanded during 2007 as it became linked with the development of the emerging National Outcomes Framework for community care in Scotland. This article outlines the outcomes‐based piloting work currently under way in Scotland.

Details

Journal of Integrated Care, vol. 16 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1476-9018

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 12 January 2015

Waqar Ahmed, Muhammad Shahid Soroya and Ghulam Fareed Malik

The purpose of this paper is to study of services of front desk staff using SERVQUAL aims to measure the perception and expectations of the library users. The librarians, keeping…

1550

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to study of services of front desk staff using SERVQUAL aims to measure the perception and expectations of the library users. The librarians, keeping in view the expectations will get an idea that how much the services should be improved while the users will have an idea that what they want, and what are they provided with. In additions, the difference between the perception and expectations of the male library users and female library users is explored to give an idea to the librarians that what dimension of the services they need to explore.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative research method was used to conduct this study. The SERVQUAL instrument was used to measure the levels of perception and expectation through a structured questionnaire at the five points Likert scale. The tool was used with the permission of the author Berry et al. (1985). All the libraries of affiliated medical college with the University of Health Sciences were the population for this study. Through random sampling technique, 20 questionnaires per medical colleges were filled by the students of medical colleges. In total, 202 questionnaires returned and were analyzed after data entry in Statistical Package for Social Science version 19.

Findings

Mean of the total respondents indicate that the improvement in all the five dimensions of the service quality is required as the expectations found to be higher in all the five dimensions as compared to the perceptions. Perceived values are higher among female library users, so the library front desk staff requires increasing the perceived values of male users through improving their services to male library users. While comparing the expectations between male and female users, the results indicate that male library users want more responsiveness and reliability from the staff.

Research limitations/implications

This study measures the perceptions and expectations of the student library users of the medical college affiliated with University of Health Sciences, Lahore. Only main libraries excluding the small departmental libraries are included in this study. This study can be generalized in other private medical colleges as well as other researchers can study further in their own environment.

Practical implications

The results indicate that the expectations are higher. Keeping in view, the librarians will work to meet the expectations of the users. The expectation of the female users are higher in tangibility and empathy dimensions, while the male users expect more in reliability, responsiveness and assurance dimensions. In short, all the results showed that the expectations were higher than the perceptions. Keeping this study in view, the librarians can improve their weak areas of front desk staff services to meet the expectations of the users.

Originality/value

It is the first study of its type to measure the service quality of front desk staff. The service quality of front desk staff is never been measured in medical colleges using SERVQUAL in Lahore. The results of this study provide the guidelines to satisfy library users. The difference between the perception and expectations provides librarians and library managers with a road map to develop the service quality of front desk staff to meet the expectation level of the user’s for their satisfaction. This study can be generalized to the medical colleges other than Lahore.

Details

Library Management, vol. 36 no. 1/2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0143-5124

Keywords

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