Understanding client satisfaction in elderly care: new insights from social resource theory
- PDF / 658,514 Bytes
- 9 Pages / 595.276 x 790.866 pts Page_size
- 13 Downloads / 157 Views
ORIGINAL INVESTIGATION
Understanding client satisfaction in elderly care: new insights from social resource theory Ali Kazemi1 · Petri J. Kajonius1 Accepted: 2 November 2020 © The Author(s) 2020
Abstract Social resource theory suggests that social interaction can be conceived as resource transaction or exchange with behaviours falling within six fundamental resource categories (i.e. love, status, information, money, goods, and services) organised along two underlying dimensions: particularism–universalism and concreteness–abstractness. With the purpose of extending knowledge about quality of care, this study adopts a novel approach in that it describes and categorises care behaviours using social resource theory instead of using single instances of care behaviour. The categorisation is further used to predict client satisfaction in care services targeting older people. Daily interactions between care staff and older persons were observed in two different residential care facilities using a structured non-participant observation design. The data were analysed using principal component analysis, correlation, and regression analysis. The results confirmed the hypothesis that satisfaction with care services is predicted by resource transactions that are high on the underlying dimensions of particularism and abstractness. Thus, the resource categories of love and status (resource categories high on particularism and abstractness) were shown to be strong predictors of client satisfaction. The use of social resource theory is a novel and appropriate approach to examine person-centred care and satisfaction with care. Also, in addition to addressing potential problems in previous self-report studies on care staff behaviour, the observational technique was highly practical to this service area where dealing with clients not always able to provide feedback directly. Keywords Social resource theory · Resource theory of social exchange · Person-centred care · Elderly care · Quality of care · Nurse–client interaction · Socioemotional resources
Introduction The fragile state of physical health and the associated vulnerability (i.e. needing assistance/care dependency) that comes with high age is an inevitable fact of older residents’ lives in residential care facilities, and this underscores the importance of maintaining and protecting the right of older people to a dignified life and well-being in elderly care (The National Board of Health and Welfare 2012). In fact, the ultimate goal of care is to ameliorate the quality of life in older persons. Mayeroff (1999) asserts that the essence of Responsible editor: Susanne Iwarsson. * Ali Kazemi [email protected] 1
Division of Psychology, Education, and Sociology, Department of Social and Behavioural Studies, University West, 461 86 Trollhättan, Sweden
caring is to initiate a promotive process of well-being and satisfaction in care recipients by focusing on their capabilities. It has also been found that treating the older person with respect and dignity and safeguarding their
Data Loading...
