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Quality Services (quality + services)
Selected AbstractsTHE TIMING OF DELINQUENT BEHAVIOR AND ITS IMPLICATIONS FOR AFTER-SCHOOL PROGRAMS,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2001DENISE C. GOTTFREDSON Research Summary: This study examines self-reports from two samples to assess the timing of delinquency. Results imply that the after-school hours are a time of elevated delinquency, but that the peak is modest compared with that observed in official records. Additionally, children who are unsupervised during the after-school hours - the primary target population for after-school programs - are found to be more delinquent at all times, not only after-school. Policy Implications: This finding suggests that factors (including social competencies and social bonding) in addition to inadequate supervision produce delinquency during the after-school hours and that the effectiveness of after-school programs for reducing delinquency will depend upon their ability to address these other factors through appropriate and high quality services. [source] The role of training and technical assistance in supporting the delivery of high quality services in Early Head StartINFANT MENTAL HEALTH JOURNAL, Issue 1-2 2002Tammy L. Mann Training and technical assistance services have been an integral part of the fabric of support that Early Head Start (EHS) programs have utilized as they have worked to implement quality programs. In the same way that EHS has continued to evolve with increased program expansion, so too have the training and technical assistance support services. This article examines that nature of the early system of support and notes challenges that EHS programs faced during their first year of funding and the impact of these challenges on training and technical assistance support. The present day system is composed of a network of national and regional providers and federal staff working in partnership to support EHS programs. The nature of this network is described and recommendations for future areas of emphasis for training and technical assistance support are offered. ©2002 Michigan Association for Infant Mental Health. [source] The utilization of e-government services: citizen trust, innovation and acceptance factors,INFORMATION SYSTEMS JOURNAL, Issue 1 2005Lemuria Carter Abstract. Electronic government, or e-government, increases the convenience and accessibility of government services and information to citizens. Despite the benefits of e-government , increased government accountability to citizens, greater public access to information and a more efficient, cost-effective government , the success and acceptance of e-government initiatives, such as online voting and licence renewal, are contingent upon citizens' willingness to adopt this innovation. In order to develop ,citizen-centred' e-government services that provide participants with accessible, relevant information and quality services that are more expedient than traditional ,brick and mortar' transactions, government agencies must first understand the factors that influence citizen adoption of this innovation. This study integrates constructs from the Technology Acceptance Model, Diffusions of Innovation theory and web trust models to form a parsimonious yet comprehensive model of factors that influence citizen adoption of e-government initiatives. The study was conducted by surveying a broad diversity of citizens at a community event. The findings indicate that perceived ease of use, compatibility and trustworthiness are significant predictors of citizens' intention to use an e-government service. Implications of this study for research and practice are presented. [source] Personal mobility support in future service architecturesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS, Issue 9 2001P. P. Demestichas Abstract Support for personal mobility will be among the key factors for success in the competitive communications market of the future. This paper proposes enhancements to the personal mobility support capabilities of service architectures. The TINA service architecture is used as a reference, even though our approach is applicable to other models as well. Our starting point is a business case that falls into the realm of personal mobility. The aim of the business case is to enable users that are found outside their home domain to access services by choosing the best visited retailer, i.e. the one offering adequate quality services in the most cost-efficient manner. In the sequel the following key issues are addressed. First, the introduction of the additional functionality that is required for supporting the business case, and the realisation through appropriate service components. Second, the integration of the new service components in the standard TINA service architecture. Third, the detailed description of a version of the logic of the new components. In this last respect, we formally state, mathematically formulate and solve problems related to the visited retailer selection. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Current situation of German care homesINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OLDER PEOPLE NURSING, Issue 4 2008Barbara Klein Dipl-Soz, Dr. Phil Aim., The aim of this paper is to explore the situation of and current developments in the German care home sector. Background., Germany, like other Western countries, faces demographic change and subsequently tries to develop structures and processes to achieve a care system which can tackle the increasing number of people in need of care with a variety of quality services. Policy strives to set up structures and instruments to enhance the quality of service provision. Discussion., Figures show that the structures in the care sector are changing in favour to increased privatization of homes, a slight increase in size and improved building structures. In order to tackle the expected changes, a mix of low and high skilled qualification and new job profiles arise in the care sector. Other changes to be observed are the development of new living arrangements and the utilization of new technologies to support the care process. Conclusion., This contribution looks at the socio-demographic changes in care, the statutory developments and the structures of care homes as well as current discussions on future developments. [source] Care Standards in Homes for People with Intellectual DisabilitiesJOURNAL OF APPLIED RESEARCH IN INTELLECTUAL DISABILITIES, Issue 3 2008Julie Beadle-Brown Background, National minimum standards for residential care homes were introduced following the Care Standards Act 2000 in response to concern about the lack of consistency and poor quality services. These standards are intended to reflect outcomes for service users and to be comprehensive in scope. Method, This study compared ratings made by care standards inspectors with research measures for 52 homes for people with intellectual disabilities serving 299 people. The research measures focused on the lived experience of residential care, including engagement in meaningful activity, choice and participation in activities of daily living. They also included measures of related care practices and organizational arrangements. Results, The research measures were in general significantly correlated with each other. Most of the care standards ratings were also correlated with each other. However, only two of 108 correlations between care standards and research measures were significant. Possible reasons for this are discussed. Conclusions, This study confirms that the review of national minimum standards and modernization of inspection methods recently announced by the Department of Health and the Commission for Social Care Inspection are timely and appropriate. [source] Incentives and the Efficiency of Public Sector-outsourcing ContractsJOURNAL OF ECONOMIC SURVEYS, Issue 5 2005Paul H. Jensen Abstract., Outsourcing the provision of traditionally publicly provided services has become commonplace in most industrialized nations. Despite its prevalence, there still is no consensus in the academic literature on the magnitude (and determinants) of expected cost savings to the government, nor the sources of those savings. This article considers the arguments for (and against) outsourcing and then examines the empirical evidence pertaining to whether any observed savings occur and whether they persist over time. In addition, we examine the existing evidence for the ,redistribution hypothesis' and the ,quality-shading hypothesis', which critics have used to argue that outsourcing lowers government expenditure by lowering wages and conditions and/or lower quality services. Finally, we consider the impact of contract design on outsourcing outcomes. While the power of incentives is a strong theme in economics, recent work has suggested that high-powered incentives may be suboptimal for many public sector services, because they may crowd out intrinsic motivation, particularly in instances where agents are highly motivated. We discuss the implications of this insight for the efficiency of public sector outsourcing. [source] Performance measures in tax administration: Chile as a case studyPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION & DEVELOPMENT, Issue 2 2005Pablo Serra Abstract The article proposes a set of tax administration performance measures and contrasts them with measures actually used by the Chilean tax administration agency. The goals assumed for the tax administration agency (TA) are to maximize tax revenue collection and provide quality services to taxpayers. Ideal performance measures (PMs) would measure the deviation of actual outcome from a best-practice standard, given the value of all variables affecting organisation performance that are outside management control. The key challenge is to build and calculate these best-practice outcomes. In Chile the PM in use, for the first goal, is the ratio of actual to potential tax revenue collection. This PM does adjust revenue collection for variations in the tax structure and rate, but it fails to control other variables that affect performance such as the TA budget and per capita income. The PM in use, for the second goal, is taxpayer satisfaction measured through sample surveys. This seems the appropriate PM, as quality of taxpayer services depends directly on the TA efforts to improve them. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Meeting the Health Care Needs of a Rural Hispanic Migrant Population With DiabetesTHE JOURNAL OF RURAL HEALTH, Issue 3 2004Loretta Heuer PhD ABSTRACT: Context: There is a need for models of health care that provide accessible, culturally appropriate, quality services to the population of Hispanic migrant farmworkers at risk for or diagnosed with diabetes. Purposes: The purposes of this study were to describe the Migrant Health Service, Inc (MHSI), Diabetes Program, the conceptual model on which it is based, and 4 types of outcomes achieved over a 3-year period. Methods: Types and amounts of medical services and education were studied. Qualitative data obtained from program records and documents were analyzed to determine the nature of the program. Quantitative data were used to measure outcomes of the program. Findings: The multiplecomponent MHSI Diabetes Program is addressing economic, cultural, and language barriers experienced by the target population. The program provides a continuum of health services and education that meet American Diabetes Association (ADA) Clinical Practice Recommendations on diabetes. The program exposes regional health care professionals and university students from numerous academic disciplines to Hispanic farmworker culture. Conclusions: Evidence-based program management, patient care, and program evaluation are traits of this program, which offers accessible, culturally appropriate, quality health services and education to Hispanic farmworkers. The multicomponent program model has high potential for positively impacting the health of the target population. [source] THE EFFECTS OF ORGANIZATIONAL FORM IN THE MIXED MARKET FOR FOSTER CAREANNALS OF PUBLIC AND COOPERATIVE ECONOMICS, Issue 2 2010Jeremy Thornton ABSTRACT,:,This paper uses proprietary quality of care data to examine the consequences of organizational form in privatized US foster care services. The contract failure hypothesis generically proposes that nonprofits should provide higher quality services, relative to for-profits, when output is costly to observe. Advocates argue that the nonprofits offer important consumer protections when public services are contracted to private agencies. Contrary to expectations, we find that nonprofit firms do not offer higher quality services. We explore the possibility that monitoring efforts by state regulators or competition among foster care agencies effectively mitigate the influence of organizational form in this particular mixed market. [source] Assessment of the effect of psychosocial support during childbirth in Ibadan, south-west Nigeria: A randomised controlled trialAUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS AND GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 2 2009Imran O. MORHASON-BELLO Objective: To assess the effect of psychosocial support on labour outcomes. Methodology: A randomised control trial conducted at the University College Hospital Ibadan, Nigeria, from November 2006 to 30 March 2007. Women with anticipated vaginal delivery were recruited and randomised at the antenatal clinic. The experimental group had companionship in addition to routine care throughout labour until two hours after delivery, while the controls had only routine care. The primary outcome measure was caesarean section rate. Others included duration of active phase, pain score, time of breast-feeding initiation and description of labour experience. Multivariable analyses were used to adjust for potential confounders. The level of statistical significance was set at 5%. Results: Of the 632 recruited, 585 were eventually studied: 293 and 292 were in experimental and control groups, respectively. Husbands constituted about two-thirds of the companions. Women in the control group were about five times more likely to deliver by caesarean section (95% confidence interval (CI) 1.98,12.05), had significantly longer duration of active phase (P < 0.001), higher pain scores (P = 0.011) and longer interval between delivery and initiation of breast-feeding (P < 0.001). However, those in experimental group had a more satisfying labour experience (odds ratio 3.3 95% CI 2.15,5.04). Conclusion: Women with companionship had better labour outcomes compared to those without. It is desirable to adopt this practice in our health-care settings as an alternative strategy to provide comparable quality services to would-be mothers in labour. [source] Creating Public Value in E-Government: A Public-Private-Citizen Collaboration Framework in Web 2.0AUSTRALIAN JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION, Issue 2010Glenn Hui Whether dealing with Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), or with other forms of service provision and delivery, public managers face difficulties in responding to ever-growing demands for more and better quality services. The question of how to do more, but without doing more of the same, can perhaps be answered partially through the use of some of the recently developed and innovative tools that build on Web 2.0 and by the application of Citizen Relationship Management. This article discusses a simple input-output Public-Private-Citizen Collaboration (PC2) framework which reflects the collaborative interactions through which public and private stakeholders can exchange and process information with citizens. The framework highlights the need for genuine involvement of the public and suggests that by utilising new Web 2.0-based tools citizens can participate both in the processes of creating and crafting web-based content and in enhancing service design. If used in relation to PPPs such tools may very well be able to help governments access much needed information so as to both better visualise and actualise public value in PPP-based service delivery. [source] | ||||||||||||||||