Population assessment of the quality of state social services in the Republic of Buryatia (based on field research)

Social service in the system of social protection of the population: theoretical, methodological and financial aspects

This report provides an overview of the Ordinance on the Quality of Social Services in Bulgaria, as well as the essence of the Program for the Development of the Quality of Social Services, in the context of the regulatory framework. The concepts of control, monitoring, evaluation of the quality and efficiency of social services, as well as good practices are considered. The Ordinance on the Quality of Social Services defines the standards for the quality of social services; the criteria for fulfilling the quality standards of social services; the basic principles for the development by social service providers of programs for the development of the quality of the social services they provide; the methods for monitoring the quality of social services and the order for control, monitoring and evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of social services. To what extent the new standards and criteria for the quality of social services are known and applied, with a view to their implementation in practice and improvement of interaction with users of social services.

This article is based on a research with a three-prong objectives. The first is to examine the connection between the attitudes of the social workers and their work execution quantified using PMT. The second is to investigate the connection between the performance measurement with the quality of the social services. The third is to analyze the link between social workers’ attitudes and the quality of social services. The essence is to explain the interconnection between the quantifiable measurements and the more subjective or qualitative attitudes vis-à-vis the quality of the social services rendered. The methodology employed is sequential explanatory research, whereby the quantitative data of 14 social workers from Sunshine Social Work Service Centre in Dezhou City, China will be explained by the qualitative deliberations. The results show that the first hypothesis that social workers oppose performance evaluation (PMT) is not supported while performance evaluation results directly impact social service project quality though it is not as significant as the attitude of social workers to achieve quality of social services. This suggests that the scientific rationality of current PMTs still requires improvement while positive attitudes of social workers towards performance evaluation contribute to achieving good outcomes in social service projects.

PurposeFollowing the emergence of Web 2.0 technologies, social commerce has been viewed as an inseparable part of today’s business environment. Social commerce is a recent version of e-commerce, which has rapidly become a new interesting field for both practitioners and academics. To improve social commerce success, managers should be aware of what encompasses social commerce quality, how consumers sense it and how it is assessed. Though, despite the importance of social commerce, designing of scales for measuring the social commerce quality has rarely been explored. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to develop a new scale for measuring the social commerce service quality comprehensively.Design/methodology/approachTo obtain the research objective, in the first step, a comprehensive literature review along with focus group discussions was conducted to theoretically conceptualize service quality dimensions and measures. Then, for evaluating the proposed scale via social commerce customers, the survey method was used. Finally, the verified measures were weighted and ranked using fuzzy analytic hierarchy process.FindingsThe findings showed that social commerce service quality is a hierarchical and multidimensional construct consisting of six key dimensions including information quality, social interaction quality, design quality, functional quality, social trust/security and social support.Research limitations/implicationsThe study results assist managers to improve the quality of social commerce services through increasing the awareness of customers’ perceptions and expectations concerning social service quality. They further help managers to understand systematically all dimensions of social commerce service quality, which may lead to reduce the risk of social commerce adaptation failure and consequently increase the customers’ satisfaction.Originality/valueThe role of service quality in acceptance and success of social commerce has been emphasized by many academics and practitioners. However, review of the previous literature shows that inadequate studies in this field have been conducted so far. The main contribution of this study is conceptualization and development of a validated scale for measuring the social commerce service quality. This scale provides a useful instrument for researchers who wish to measure the service quality of social commerce and for managers who want to improve the perceived quality of their services.

УДОСКОНАЛЕННЯ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЇ НАДАННЯ СОЦІАЛЬНИХ ПОСЛУГ СПЕЦІАЛІСТАМ ФАРМАЦІЇ

After having analyzed the quality assessment models, it has become clear that EQUASS quality system in the EU countries is recognized as the most suitable one in the social sector. In order to collect empirical data, in 2017 quantitative study was carried out. The method of the research was a questionnaire survey. The quality of social services is assessed and the questionnaire is based on the EQUASS methodology. This methodology reveals the strengths and weaknesses of services. EQUASS system and the questionnaire prepared includes 10 quality principles: 1. Leadership; 2. Personnel; 3. Rights; 4. Ethics; 5. Partnership; 6. Participation; 7. Personal orientation; 8. Complexity; 9. Performance orientation; 10. Continuous improvement. All the principles enlisted are based on the European Quality Assurance System in Social Services. Research subjects – employees of social welfare institutions providing long-term/ short-term social care services for the elderly in Lithuania according to the list of occupations of employees in the field of social services (2014). The research involved 105 heads of institutions, 122 social workers, 36 employment specialists and 78 social work assistants working in social care institutions providing services for the elderly people. The SPSS data processing program is used to analyze the research data. The results of the research showed that according to the subjective assessment of the research participants, in general the overall level of service quality in social care institutions working with elderly people is quite high. The quality of social care home care services is mostly related to orientation to person, leadership, rights and ethics, and, to a lesser extent, to complexity, personnel, performance orientation, continuous improvement and participation, and the least to the partnership. Care homes employees of different positions similarly evaluate the overall quality, the response rates vary slightly. The vast majority of respondents indicate that social services provided in their care institutions are sufficient. A majority of respondents evaluate the general and special services very well and well. The analysis of the results of the research revealed that according the vast majority (85.6%) of the research subjects, the quality of the social services provided by the institution can be improved; the heads of the institutions hold this opinion considerably more often than the employees of other posts.

[straipsnis, santrauka, reikšminiai žodžiai lietuvių kalba; santrauka ir reikšminiai žodžiai anglų kalba]
 Straipsnyje socialinės globos paslaugų kokybė analizuojama viešųjų paslaugų organizavimo ir vertinimo kontekste, atsižvelgiant į institucinės globos pertvarkos aspektus. Atskleisti pagrindiniai iššūkiai, su kuriais susiduria socialinės globos įstaigos, dirbančios su senyvo amžiaus asmenimis. Empiriniams duomenims surinkti 2017 m. atliktas kiekybinis tyrimas. Tyrimo metodas – anketinė apklausa. Socialinių paslaugų kokybė vertinta ir klausimynas sudarytas remiantis EQUASS metodika. Tyrimo nustatyta, kad, subjektyviu tiriamųjų vertinimu, bendras paslaugų kokybės lygmuo socialinės globos įstaigose, dirbančiose su senyvo amžiaus asmenimis, apskritai yra gana aukštas.

The article considers the theoretical and practical aspects of the social order tool’s implementation and realization in the social service system at the regional level. It has been proven that the basic conditions that will contribute to a positive social effect from the a social order introduction into the social service system are: the social order institutionalization, effective and coordinated information and com- munication interaction between the social order subjects, ensuring realization of the competitive system openness and availability principles in social order, the civil society’s local institutions’ development. Based on this, the main criteria of social order’s social efficiency as a tool to improve the social services efficiency at the regional level are highlighted: 1) the social services accessibility criterion (the territoriality principle); 2) the social services quality criterion; 3) the transaction and minimize costs’ criterion; 4) social justice criteria; 5) social responsibility criterion. The main social order advantages in the social services field are: improving targeting, social services accessibility and recipients’ coverage by them; social services’ entities providing competitive selection, competition in the market is a powerful incentive to constantly improve the quality and services efficiency; budgetary social expenditures optimization, savings and involvement additional resources in the social sphere; ensuring in development procedures openness and targeted social programs’ transparency imple- mentation; countering corruption and protectionism; increasing the initiative level, activity and control by the public in the social sphere; increasing social security of the population, promoting social harmony; civil soci- ety development through its participation in the social ordering process and taking on social responsibility. So, the following mechanisms can be distinguished in the social order as a tool to improve the social services efficiency: 1) engaging to management of social service institutions and directly to rendering social services at the level of territorial community by public organizations; 2) creating conditions for the competitive environment during the social competition; 3) optimization of the budgetary funds’ use in the social services system. The study’s results prove that a social order introduction into the social services system at the regional level is based on the following provisions: first, a high awareness’ level by social order entities of the need for interaction between the state, business and civil society in the process of modernizing the existing social services system; secondly, the social order in the social services system should be used by introducing social monitoring of the social services’ quality and identifying the local communities’ actual needs; thirdly, the main conditions that will contribute to a positive social effect from a social order introduction into the social service system are: the social order institutionalization, effective and coordinated information and communication between the social order’s subjects interaction, ensuring the implementation of the openness principles and the competitive social order system availability, a local civil society institutions’ development.

The article discusses the need to reform the social services system and train social workers in Ukraine in the context of European integration. The main emphasis is placed on the importance of implementing European quality standards, in particular the European Quality Framework for Social Services. The study compares approaches to quality assurance with the European Framework, with particular emphasis on inclusivity, collaboration, and safety. An analysis of the implementation of the European framework for the quality of social services was carried out on the example of Ireland, emphasizing the voluntary nature of its use in EU member states and the individual approach of each country to the assessment of the quality of social services. The main focus is devoted to the study of the professional training of future social workers and their ability to provide high-quality social services. The need for future social work professionals to develop key competencies such as communication, empathy, management skills, and cultural competence has been identified. The integration of European standards into social work education remains a problem, so the authors emphasize the importance of adapting educational programs for training specialists using various approaches, such as project-oriented learning, case-based learning, supervision, problem-oriented learning, practical training in field conditions, simulation, and role-playing games, research projects, digital platforms, and interdisciplinary courses. These approaches contribute to the formation of a wide range of competencies that meet modern challenges and requirements of European standards. The importance of a systematic approach to the integration of European standards into educational programs for improving the quality of social services in Ukraine is emphasized.

The authors analyze the current situation in the social service system in Russia. Trends in the main indicators for social services for the elderly are analyzed based on the statistical forms of Rosstat for 2012–2016. Situation in social service system in Russia is compared with the modern trends in the system of long-term care. The article identify that two divergent trends affect state social services. On the one hand, outpatient social care, long term care, social services market are developing. On the other hand, economic struggles of recent years have led to reduction of staff and areas of work, the workload increase and the lack of resources for breakthrough. The authors note that the creation of a comprehensive system of support for relatives caring for elderly, the strengthening of cooperation between medical and social service institutions, the development of federal methodological recommendations for social services need assessment would improve the accessibility and quality of social services and improve the life quality of older persons.

The relevance of the study is dictated by the requirements of the modern labor and education markets and their correspondence to educational and professional standards, by the need to increase both the level of professional qualifications and the competence of social workers to improve the quality of social services. The purpose of this paper is to identify the levels of professional competence and qualification of the acting heads of the organizations of the social sphere and to define the problems and solutions related to improving the skills of managers of social organizations. The results were obtained by factor analysis as well as by analyzing the devised questionnaires, the results of testing and certification. The study was conducted by the author in the frameworks of the project “Improving the efficiency and quality of services in the field of social services on the basis of an independent assessment of the level of manager skills, human resources managers of organizations of social sphere of the Chelyabinsk region”. The clarifications on the application of the new Federal Law of 12.28.2013, N 442 are given. The law “Basics of social services for the citizens of Russian Federation” was put into action in connection with the introduction of an independent assessment of the quality of social services and the need to upgrade the skills of employees and the acting heads of the social sphere based on professional standards. For the first time to determine the qualification level of employees in social sphere the professional standard is used. The results of the qualification certification of heads of organizations in metropolis social sphere based on their experience and level of education are analyzed. On the basis of an individual professional profile a modular training program for advanced training is offered. Its purpose is to develop competences that the heads in social sphere lack. The program allows providing better quality of management of personnel development in social service organizations.

The article carries out a scientific analysis of the concept, characteristic features, types and mechanisms of providing administrative services in the field of social protection. The current state of the mechanism for the provision of social services in Ukraine and the prospects for reforming this sphere in the future are considered. It is noted that the legal provision of social services in Ukraine is based on several key legal acts and strategic documents. This is, in particular, the Law of Ukraine «On Social Services», which defines the basic principles, types, procedure of providing social services and is aimed at creating a competitive market of social services and ensuring their availability for all citizens. The strategy for the development of the social services system for the period until 2025 defines strategic directions and tasks for improving the quality of social services, including decentralization, standardization and quality monitoring. The legal provision of social services also includes a number of state social standards and guarantees established by laws and other normative legal acts, which standards determine the minimum amounts of social benefits, pensions and other types of social assistance. Social protection is characterized as a system of economic, social, legal, and organizational measures that provides able-bodied people and citizens with appropriate conditions for improving their well-being at the expense of personal labor contributions, and the disabled and socially vulnerable strata of the able-bodied population - guarantees in the use of public consumption funds, material support, tax reduction. Various approaches to the classification of administrative services of a social nature based on legislative and scientific-theoretical principles are highlighted. The mechanism for providing administrative services of a social nature is revealed. It has been established that administrative services are provided by subjects of administrative service provision directly and through centers for the provision of administrative services or through the Unified State Portal of Administrative Services. It is emphasized that reforming social services in Ukraine is an important direction of state policy aimed at improving the quality and availability of social services for citizens.

The paper presents the results of assessing the need for social services in Panevėžys City Municipality from the providers’ perspective. It is noted that the city has ambitions to become the most important gateway to the northeast of Lithuania. However, at the same time, it is one of the regions in Lithuania most affected by demographic changes. As the population age structure changes, so are the needs of the established population structure. The growing number of older people is also shifting the priorities for allocating society’s resources in the areas of economics, politics, social solidarity, health care, and social ecology, which implies the need to ensure the volume, composition, and quality of social services. The results of a survey of the population on the quality and demand for social services in the municipality, initiated by the municipality of Panevėžys, characterised the state of social services as not fulfilling expectations. In the context of the development of services, this study aims to assess the situation in the social services field from the providers’ point of view. The objectives of the study are focused on revealing the attitudes of social service providers towards the quality of services provided and the need for new services. The methods of data collection were interviews, and descriptive content analysis was used for processing. As a result of the research, the position on the supply of social services in Panevėžys City Municipality was divided. On the one hand, it was acknowledged that over the last 3 years, changes were observed in the city regarding the scope and structure of social services, although, in many cases, determined by changes in the external environment. In this sense, the growing role of the municipality as a change initiator was also mentioned. On the other hand, the shortage of specialists in certain areas, the workload, emotional burnout, lack of motivation of the staff, inefficient administration of social services and lack of interinstitutional cooperation and coordination have been identified as fundamental issues to be tackled, which are linked to the quality of the services that are being called into question. The study has shown a particular need to extend the scope of home care to social care and social care to daycare, intensifying short- and long-term social care. There is no clear need to expand the scope of social institutions. In terms of supply, the declared approach is to differentiate between institutions based on their capacity to ensure quality, considering the volume of activities, competencies, resources, and potential if there is a need for new social services in the city. The need for new social service providers has emerged.

The image, i.e. perception of the social services’ activities supporting population is one of the important aspects of functioning of such organizations. The aim of the image formation is creating, maintaining and strengthening positive public opinion concerning the system of social protection of population and the quality of social services. The purposeful formation of positive image becomes an essential task for social services and experts since it defines the degree of public confidence in the state. The article presents the analysis of the public social services’ image through the lens of the trust factor. The authors identify the following indicators to determine the level of confidence: evaluation ofquality of services by population, demand for various types of social services, confidence of the interaction between citizens and state social services’ experts. In order to identify the evaluation given by St. Petersburg residents to the quality of received services in the city social and in-demand services, the SPSU opened Resource Center “Center for Sociological and Internet Research” has conducted phone surveys in July, 2012 and repeatedly in summer of 2013. 1005 respondents participated in the 2012 phone survey, and 1002 — in 2013. The unified tool (a questionnaire jointly developed by the authors and the Resource Center’s experts) was applied in the research. The collected data are analyzed in the article. Refs 15. Tables 3.

The specialists from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security of the Republic of Lithuania, municipalities, child rights protection service, social care organisations were participating in the discussion about the quality of social services and quality management. The content, function, implementation and control of the standards for social services were discussed.