Years of the research: 2014
Country: Romania
Language: Romanian
Keywords:
Abstract:
The project aimed to develop a methodology to assess the performance attained by public and private providers of social and health care services. The research started with a desk research concerning concepts like performance, performance measurement and performance management in social care field. In the second stage of the project, it was developed a methodology to assess the performance, based on consultations with providers and policy makers. Identifying the factors that determine the performance of providers within the social assistance field gives substance to strategies related to active aging and long-term care.
Researchers:
Type of research: regional
Target group: Public and private providers of social services for elderly; Beneficiaries of social services
Sample:
Desk research in the first phase, then a qualitative research in the second phase. In response to the current national guidelines, in the second stage of the project it was developed a methodology to assess the performance, based on consultations with social and health care providers and policy makers. A questionnaire based survey was used to collect data and information. The instrument was developed after consultations with policy makers (local and central policy makers in the fields of social assistance and health care) and public and private providers. The themes of the focus-groups were: organisational performance (understanding, key factors), performance measurement, indicators, collection of data, financial sustainability, available resources, the role beneficiaries in performance measurement process, organisational processes, growth and organisational development, . The themes of the interviews were: public resources allocated in the field of health and social assistance, labour force, factors determining the performance, performance measurement. 3 expert interviews with local representatives of public authorities in the fields of social assistance and health care and 2 expert interviews with representatives of central authorities from the same fields. 2 FGs with public and private providers (a total of 15 managers) took place between 29.09.-9.10.2014. Based on the information collected through desk research, interviews and FGs a questionnaire was developed The methodology was tested among providers (public and private) of such services from the Bucharest-Ilfov region. The target group of the survey was composed of managers of institutions providing socio-medical services for the elderly. Data collection took place between 6.10-29.10. 2014. The projected sample comprised a total of 80 accredited units providing socio-medical services and health care for the elderly in the region Bucharest-Ilfov (according to the General Directorate of Social Assistance of the Ministry Labour, Family and Social Protection for the Elderly). Only 40 suppliers participated in the field survey, therefore, the response rate was 50%. The questionnaire included 10 themes and 35 indicators plus socio-demographic data.
Aims/Objectives/Background:
The specific objectives are: To clarify some concepts regarding the performance of public and private socio-medical services; To identify the factors that influence the performance of socio-medical service providers; To identify the most appropriate indicators and the most appropriate methods/models to assess the performance of such providers; To develop a methodology that allow the evaluation of performance regardless the type of provider; To make policy recommendations to favor performance improvements of providers. Recent studies regarding the separation between the user and provider (Malley and Fernandez, 2010) raised the question of how to properly assess the social services in terms of performance, efficiency and effectiveness. In the case of public providers the factors that contribute mostly to performance measurement are the limited financial and human resources, the need for transparency of the public bodies’ activities, and the social impact. All these factors, together with the recognition of the rights of beneficiaries favored the development and implementation of methods to measure organizational performance. In case of public providers of social services the changes induced by economic and financial crisis (limited budgetary resources, the shortage of labor force employed) have amplified the need for performance measurement. For NGOs, the concept gets an even higher degree of complexity, since the main goal of these organizations is to generate an impact at the community level (Medina-Borja and Triantis, 2011). This goal is achieved by attracting public and private financial resources and income generation through the development of projects and the provision of social services. A few studies conducted at national level covered the subject of how to measure the performance in social work. Performance in this field is affected by external factors and internal/organizational factors. In the first category, the level of public resources allocated for the social assistance sector, as well as the available labor force resources are the most important. Organizational factors include the available human resources, the material and financial resources, the relationship with suppliers and beneficiaries, the organizational culture, the existence of an organizational structure to allow expression of innovative ideas. At national level, the social assistance field has gone through many changes over the past decade. Changes were determined by the need to adapt to the realities and requirements of social services at European level and, on the other hand were driven by the necessity to adapt to the economic and budgetary restrictions as a result of the financial crisis. In 2011 changes of the legal framework brought clarification on the types of social services and providers of services for the elderly. Recently, the institutionalized services are increasingly demanded.
Findings/outcome/conclusion/research questions:
As managers of public and private services have considered that the economic situation is the factor that affects to a large extent the organizational performance. Other factors were the human resources and the level of bureaucracy. The success of the performance measurement process mainly depends on the interest of managers, on the skills and competencies of staff with responsibilities in collecting, computing and reporting performance data and on the financial resources. The human resources performance is deemed largely reflected in the results obtained by the organization. Along with these, the relationship with beneficiaries and other categories of stakeholders (family, organizations representing the interests of older people, funders, community as a whole, etc.) are considered very relevant to express the level of results. The responses have showed a low level of knowledge and application of methods and techniques to measure the performance. In case of those who did use tools and methods of performance measurement, validation is done primarily through discussions with employees or participation in conferences and seminars. During the performance assessment process, mainly employees, beneficiaries and their families and experts are involved. Indicators such as costs related to quality, costs related to human resources, return on investment and attracted sponsorship value are used to measure financial results. To measure non-financial results managers have indicated indicators like: the level of satisfaction among beneficiaries and employees, quality of services. In the course of the research, data collected showed that the system cannot function effectively without adequate staff (in terms of quantity and quality) and this requires adequate human resources management decisions. Secondly, training for public and private managers in performance measurement and managers is required. However, there is still little interest from providers to use as indicators of management performance indicators to evaluate the quality of life of beneficiaries.
Publication/reports: 2 research reports in Romanian language, available at request: 1. 'Nivelul actual al cunoaşterii şi practicilor privind perfomanţa în organizaţiile ce furnizează servicii socio-medicale destinate vârstnicilor'/'State of the art regarding performance in organisations providing social and health care services for elderly' 2. 'Performanţa în organizaţiile ce furnizează servicii socio-medicale destinate vârstnicilor din regiunea Bucureşti-Ilfov'/'Organisational performance among public and private social and health care services form Bucharest-Ilfov region' 2 articles presented in international conferences: Ghenţa M., Mladen L., 'The Partnership between the Public Authorities and NGOs: An Effective Way of Covering the Need for Social Services in Romania' at The International Conference on Economic Sciences and Business Administration (ICESBA 2014) – 24.10.2014, Bucharest, Romania. Available online at: http://icesba.eu/RePEc/icb/wpaper/ICESBA2014_19GHENTA_P152-159.pdf. Ghenţa M., 2014, 'Rolul sectorului non-profit în furnizarea serviciilor sociale'/'The role of non-profit sector in the provision of social services', at International Conference”Puterea de a fi altfel”, 30-31.10.2014, Timişoara, Romania, 2014
Online publication/reports/links:
http://icesba.eu/RePEc/icb/wpaper/ICESBA2014_19GHENTA_P152-159.pdf
Financed by: Ministry of National Education – National Authority for Scientific Research (ANCS)
Contact person: Mihaela Ghenţa, ghenta@incsmps.ro
Copyright
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