Abstract
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Siu Mee Cheng and Cristina Catallo
A conceptual framework for collaboratively based integrated health and social care (IHSC) integration is proposed to aid in understanding how to accomplish IHSC.
Abstract
Purpose
A conceptual framework for collaboratively based integrated health and social care (IHSC) integration is proposed to aid in understanding how to accomplish IHSC.
Design/methodology/approach
This model is based on extant literature of successfully IHSC initiatives.
Findings
The model aims to identify enabling integration factors that support collaborative integration efforts between healthcare and social services organizations. These factors include shared goals and vision, culture, leadership, team-based care, information sharing and communications, performance measurement and accountability agreements, and dedicated resources and financing. It also identifies factors that act as external influencers that can support or hinder integration efforts among collaborating organizations. These factors are geographic setting, funding models, governance structures, and public policies. These factors are intended to ensure that a realist lens is applied when trying to understand and explain IHSC.
Originality/value
This model is intended to provide a framework to support research, policy and implementation efforts.
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Siu Mee Cheng and Cristina Catallo
The purpose of this paper is to develop a case definition of integrated health and social services initiatives that serve older adults, and will provide characteristics to aid in…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to develop a case definition of integrated health and social services initiatives that serve older adults, and will provide characteristics to aid in the identification of such initiatives. The case definition is intended to ease the identification of integrated health and social care initiatives.
Design/methodology/approach
A limited search was undertaken of both scientific and gray literature that documented and/or examined integrated health and social services initiatives. In addition, literature on well-documented and generally accepted integrated healthcare and social services models that reflect collaborations from healthcare and social services organizations that support older adults was also used to develop the case definition.
Findings
The case definition is as follows: healthcare organizations from across the continuum of care working together with social services organizations, so that services are complementary and coordinated in a seamless and unified system, with care continuity for the patient/client in order to achieve desired health outcomes within a holistic perspective; the initiatives comprise at least one healthcare organization and one social care organization; and these initiatives possess 18 characteristics, grouped under 9 themes: patient care approach; program goals; measurement; service and care quality; accountability and responsibility; information sharing; culture; leadership; and staff and professional interaction.
Research limitations/implications
A limitation of this study is that the characteristics are based on a limited literature search. The quality of some of the literature both gray and published was not definitive: information on how they undertook the literature search was not provided; exclusion and inclusion criteria were not included; and there was insufficient detail on the design of the studies included. Furthermore, the literature reviews are based on integrated initiatives that target both seniors and non-senior’s based services. The cross-section of initiatives studied is also different in scale and type, and these differences were not explored.
Practical implications
The case definition is a useful tool in aiding to further the understanding of integrated health and social care initiatives. The number of definitions that exist for integrated health and social care initiatives can make it confusing to clearly understand this field and topic. The characteristics identified can assist in providing greater clarity and understanding on health and social care integration.
Originality/value
This study provides greater coherence in the literature on health and social care integration. It aids in better framing the phenomenon of healthcare and social services integration, thereby enhancing understanding. Finally, the study provides a very useful and concrete list of identifying characteristics, to aid in identifying integrated health and social care initiatives that serve older adults.
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Ronald J. Burke and Esther R. Greenglass
Examines the effects of hospital restructuring and downsizing on components of psychological burnout experienced by a predominantly female sample of hospital‐based nursing staff…
Abstract
Examines the effects of hospital restructuring and downsizing on components of psychological burnout experienced by a predominantly female sample of hospital‐based nursing staff. Collects data from 1,362 staff nurses using anonymous questionnaires Considers three components of psychological burn‐out: emotional exhaustion, cynicism and prfessional efficacy. Includes three blocks of predictors: personal demographics, work situation characteristics, and three different measures of demands resulting from a restructuring experience. Concludes the experience of hospital restructuring and downsizing was consistently related to a high level of emotional exhaustion and cynicism, controlling for personal demographic and work situation characteristics.
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Esther Julia Korkor Attiogbe, Hannah Acquah, Rejoice Esi Asante and Emelia Sarpong
This paper investigates the influence of employees’ extra-role and in-role behaviours on customer service alongside the moderating role of gender.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper investigates the influence of employees’ extra-role and in-role behaviours on customer service alongside the moderating role of gender.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper employs the theory of behavioural intentions, cross-sectional survey design and quantitative approach to collect the data from 426 purposively sampled workers and customers of oil marketing companies. The data were analysed using descriptive statistics, correlation and the hierarchical regression model in SPSS.
Findings
The results indicate that employees’ extra-role behaviour has a significant positive effect on customer service while employees’ in-role behaviour has no significant effect on customer service. It is also established that gender of staff can significantly moderate the relationship between extra-role behaviour and customer service such that the behaviour of female staff has greater effect on customer service than their male counterparts. However, the gender of staff has no moderating effect on the relationship between in-role behaviour and customer service.
Practical implications
The findings imply that female staff should be allowed to directly engage customers more often than male staff to promote superior customer service. Managers should continuously improve upon the behaviour of employees through orientations, workshops and mentoring. Behaviour stimuli such as awards, appreciations and recognition for best workers would have to be encouraged to induce employees to act beyond their prescribed-roles.
Originality/value
This study is the first to investigate how staff behaviours (in-role and extra-role) impact customer service, with gender of the employees as a moderator. This paper contributes to literature by empirically confirming the differential influence of employees’ extra role and in-role behaviours on customer service and the effectiveness of gender as a moderator on the relationship between extra-role behaviour and customer service from a developing country perspective and an industry where there is dearth of research.
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Io Vassiliadou, Esther Tolani, Lindsay Ip, Abigail Smith and Iliatha Papachristou Nadal
Recent models of care incorporate service user involvement within the development and sustainability of a quality improvement project. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate…
Abstract
Purpose
Recent models of care incorporate service user involvement within the development and sustainability of a quality improvement project. The purpose of this paper is to demonstrate the significance of working with patients and members of the public for the integration of psychosocial care into long-term condition (LTC) management.
Design/methodology/approach
Research shows that mental health difficulties are more prevalent in people with LTC. The three Dimensions for Long-term Conditions (3DLC) is a patient-centred multidisciplinary service which integrates psychological and social care into the usual physical care. Thematic analysis was conducted on the discussions of the two patient and public involvement workshops that were facilitated by the service. The workshops included healthcare professionals, patients with LTC and their carers.
Findings
Several themes and subthemes emerged which highlighted the importance of discussing and treating mental health in a physical health setting, the challenges that both the patients and healthcare professionals encounter and the ways in which an integrated care service may address these barriers. The findings show that there was an emphasis on patient-centeredness, accessibility of services and the need for better communication.
Practical implications
People with LTC can be empowered to better self-manage their condition, whilst having access to all types of care, physical, social and psychological. By involving service users in the implementation process of the 3DLC service, the components of an effective integrated service are delineated.
Originality/value
The service users have identified barriers and facilitators of integrating a biopsychosocial model in care pathways. This has helped the 3DLC team to further develop the model to ensure improvements in condition-specific outcomes, quality of life and healthcare utilisation.
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Michael Levine‐Clark and Esther Gil
The purpose of this paper is to identify the utility of Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar as citation analysis tools for the social sciences.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to identify the utility of Web of Science, Scopus and Google Scholar as citation analysis tools for the social sciences.
Design/methodology/approach
The 25 most‐accessed articles in 163 social sciences journals are searched in three citation databases.
Findings
Web of Science has long been the only tool for citation analysis. Scopus and Google Scholar, while still new to the market, are complementary to Web of Science and in some cases can provide a more nuanced view of the importance of scholarly articles in the social sciences.
Practical implications
As libraries struggle to provide the best tools to their users, they may wish to consider the freely‐available Google Scholar as a substitute or complement to expensive databases such as Web of Science and Scopus.
Originality/value
Most analyses of citation databases have focused on the sciences. Because this study examined the social sciences literature, it has expanded on the research available on Web of Science, Google Scholar and Scopus.
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Em Pijl‐Zieber, Brad Hagen, Chris Armstrong‐Esther, Barry Hall, Lindsay Akins and Michael Stingl
Nurses and other professional caregivers are increasingly recognising the issue of moral distress and the deleterious effect it may have on professional work life, staff…
Abstract
Nurses and other professional caregivers are increasingly recognising the issue of moral distress and the deleterious effect it may have on professional work life, staff recruitment and staff retention. Although the nursing literature has begun to address the issue of moral distress and how to respond to it, much of this literature has typically focused on high acuity areas, such as intensive care nursing. However, with an ageing population and increasing demand for resources and services to meet the needs of older people, it is likely that nurses in long‐term care are going to be increasingly affected by moral distress in their work. This paper briefly reviews the literature pertaining to the concept of moral distress, explores the causes and effects of moral distress within the nursing profession and argues that many nurses and other healthcare professionals working with older persons may need to become increasingly proactive to safeguard against the possibility of moral distress.
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Tim Tenbensel, Linda Chalmers and Esther Willing
Over the last decade there has been considerable debate about the merits of targets as a policy instrument. The purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation of two…
Abstract
Purpose
Over the last decade there has been considerable debate about the merits of targets as a policy instrument. The purpose of this paper is to examine the implementation of two health targets that were cornerstones of New Zealand health policy between 2009 and 2012: immunisation rates for two-year-olds, and time to treatment, discharge or admission in hospital emergency departments.
Design/methodology/approach
For each policy target, the authors selected four case-study districts and conducted two waves of key-informant interviews (113 in total) with clinical and management staff involved in target implementation.
Findings
Despite almost identical levels of target achievement, the research reveals quite different mixes of positive and negative implementation consequences. The authors argue that the differences in implementation consequences are due to the characteristics of the performance measure; and the dynamics of the intra-organisational and inter-organisational implementation context.
Research limitations/implications
The research is based on interviews with clinical and management staff involved in target implementation, and this approach does not address the issue of effort substitution.
Practical implications
While literature on health targets pays attention to the attributes of target measures, the paper suggests that policymakers considering the use of targets pay more attention to broader implementation contexts, including the possible impact of, and effects on related services, organisations and staff.
Originality/value
The research focuses specifically on implementation consequences, as distinct from target success and/or changes in clinical and health outcomes. The paper also adopts a comparative approach to the study of target implementation.