Service Policy Research Articles

Where’s the beef?: the politics of health care reform in South Korea

Background: In February 2024, the South Korean government released a policy proposal for healthcare reform, with one of the main pillars being increased medical school admissions. This policy has sparked intense opposition from the physicians’ top association. Most importantly, interns and residents—the bedrock of the medical workforce in Korean hospitals—began to leave en masse. Consequently, a medical crisis emerged, in which many medical and surgical procedures were delayed.Current Concepts: According to studies on comparative health policy and systems, the crisis could be attributed to the unique characteristics of the Korean healthcare system, in which the administration and doctors have failed to establish a substantive dialogue through which policy options are examined and deliberated. These dynamics necessitated the establishment of an institutional space for interest group politics, causing both to suffer from a lack of action repertoires. The stalemate we witness reflects the enduring patterns of the same issue.Discussion and Conclusion: To ensure the success of the current initiative, institutional arrangements must be established in which policymakers and physicians make a credible commitment to each other. Alternatives, for instance, include reactivating and regularizing the Health and Medical Services Policy Deliberation Committee, which could pave the way for establishing a venue where key stakeholders can discuss future agendas, such as how to ensure improved accessibility to “essential” care and mitigate its subnational variation, thereby creating a long-term vision for new health system governance in South Korea.

Understanding the expansion of social control and helping professionals as unwilling agents of the state: The passing of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act in the United States

Abstract It is widely known that those in the helping professions are mandated to report suspected incidences of child maltreatment. However, few are aware of the historical resistance to mandated reporting that helping professionals demonstrated before the passing of the Child Abuse Prevention and Treatment Act (CAPTA) of 1974 and the associated federal mandates that compelled helping professionals to engage in mandated reporting, oftentimes against their will. By analysing historical policy documents through a grounded theory approach, the authors identified three themes that describe the rationale for the passage of CAPTA: (1) identifying national evidence of child abuse; (2) resistance to intrusion of the helping professional-client relationship; and (3) the necessity of immunity waivers for those who reported instances of child abuse and misdemeanor punishment for those who failed to report such instances. In light of conversations around abolishing or reforming child protective services, it is important to understand how the first federal child protective services policy in the United States originated and how these regulations embedded social control into the foundation of the helping professional-client relationship, thus turning helping professionals into unwilling agents of the state. Implications of mandated reporting, including introducing a penal aspect to the helping professional-client relationship, are also explored.

‘If you are feeling alone and you are not feeling safe, it impacts everything’: a mixed-methods exploration of international students’ accommodation, subjective wellbeing and mental health help-seeking

BackgroundThe international education sector is important not only to Australian society, but also to the national economy. There are growing concerns about the potential wellbeing challenges facing international students in their host country, owing to acculturative stress; including loneliness, isolation and experiences of racism. Risks include poor mental health and decreased likelihood to access support due to stigma, language and cultural barriers, not knowing where to seek help, and poor mental health knowledge.MethodsThis study explored students’ perceptions of their accommodation, subjective wellbeing (through the Personal Wellbeing Index, [‘PWI’]), mental health help-seeking and individual engagement with evidence-based everyday health promotion actions (informed by the ‘5 Ways to Wellbeing’ model) through an online survey (N = 375) and three online focus groups (N = 19). A mixed-methods approach using descriptive statistics, ANOVA, regression analysis and thematic analysis, were used.ResultsThe PWI of international students in the survey was observed to be substantially lower (M = 60.7) than that reported for the Australian population (M = 77.5). Accommodation impacted on wellbeing (loneliness, belonging, connectedness) in a number of different ways including through location, safety, and shared accommodation. In terms of help-seeking, international students noted a number of barriers to accessing support for mental health: cost of accessing support, language and cultural barriers, lack of information on where to find support and stigma.ConclusionsIn the discussion, implications of the findings are considered, including that more could be done to shape policy and practice in service and facility provision around wellbeing, connectedness, and help-seeking for mental health support of international students.

Catalyzing the Success of Implementation of After-School Physical Activity Program in Primary School under the “Double-Reduction” Policy

The implementation of “Double-Reduction" policy creates a suitable external environment for the further development of after-school physical education services. In this study, literature review, questionnaire and interview methods are used as the main research methods to investigate the development status of after-school physical education services in urban primary schools in Guilin under the “double-reduction" policy environment, and to analyze and discuss the main influencing factors of after-school physical education services, such as coverage, contents, form and duration, participation and service mode, as well as quality and evaluation. The results revealed that: Under “double-reduction" policy, the after-school PE service coverage of primary schools in Guilin needs to continue to expand, and should strive to reach full coverage; Parents and students have strong demand for diversified after-school PE services, but there is a shortage of PE teachers, insufficient benefit guarantee for teachers to participate in after-school services, and the lack of quality and evaluation system. The paper suggests that relevant government departments should formulate after-school PE service policies to strengthen guidance, integrate high-quality after-school PE resources to participate in after-school service by purchasing services, strengthen the motivation of PE teachers to participate in after-school service, construct a reasonable after-school PE service evaluation system, and improve the quality of after-school PE service.

Platform policy and online abuse: Understanding differential protections for public figures

Public figures are subject to high rates of online abuse than everyday users. This article presents findings from a study on digital platforms’ higher threshold for protecting public figures in contrast to everyday users. Presenting a summary of extant literature on the experience, impact and harms of online abuse of public figures, we analyse 31 platform terms of service and related policies to understand the extent to which platforms openly differentiate between public figures and other users. We focus on platforms’ use of ‘newsworthiness’ and ‘public interest’ to justify the differential threshold. Using a cultural-informed approach, we analyse platforms’ reliance on ‘newsworthiness’ and ‘public interest’ justifications to argue that these justifications are utilised without regard for the histories, risk assessment, ethics and labour-intensive processes in which the concepts of newsworthiness and public interest became familiar among more traditional media forms such as news organisations.

Implementation of Public Service Policy through Online Media and Drive Thru at the Bogor City Population and Civil Registration Office

The implementation of public service policies through online media is a service to facilitate the public in managing population documents. With this service, people do not need to queue at the Bogor City Disdukcapil office. This service policy is a form of application of presidential regulation number 95 of 2018 concerning online-based government systems. The purpose of this study is to determine the process of implementing service policies through online drive thru media at Disdukcapil Bogor City and the impact resulting from this policy. This research uses qualitative methods. Data was collected by interviews, observation and documentation. The data is then analyzed by data reduction, data presentation and conclusions. The results showed that the process of implementing public service policies through online drive thru at the Bogor City Disdukcapil which was seen from the dimensions of communication, resources, disposition and bureaucratic structure had been carried out well. However, there are obstacles in the communication dimension, this is because there are still quite a lot of people who do not know and do not understand about the use of services through online drive thru media. On the other hand, this policy has had a positive impact. This can be seen from the fact that there are also many people who use services through online drive thru media. The implications of research on the implementation of public service policies through the online drive-thru media Disdukcapil Bogor City are theoretically good, but the resulting impact has not been maximized.

National Quality Policy and Strategy of the Health Services in Health Systems of Developing Countries: A Scoping Review.

It has always been argued that countries should not be inactive about the quality of health services. Therefore, a clear policy needs to be created regarding how quality of health services should be. The present scoping review was aimed to identify and map the available evidence regarding the National Quality Policy and Strategy (NQPS) of the health services in health systems of developing countries, graphically and tabularly. We followed the published methodological guidance of the Joanna Briggs Institute reviews. Also, we employed a narrative thematic synthesis integrated with the systematic analysis using the World Health Organization's approach of NQPS, and the multiple-streams framework of Kingdon. We included 33 records that met the inclusion criteria; these records were published between 2010 and 2019. Meanwhile, government documents were the most frequent records (61%). Zimbabwe, Indonesia, and Sudan were the most frequent locations (each one 8%). The Ministry of Health was in charge of the ultimate responsibility for developing the NQPS in all identified countries. Besides, 82% of the countries were in the development phase of NQPS formulation, and convergence of three streams was observed in Indonesia, Sudan, and Tanzania. It seems that the African countries were informed about their quality issues, and the need for having NQPS have been more popular with them. We recommend that future research focuses on examining NQPS in terms of prioritizing in the agenda-setting phase of the policy-making cycle, and also, document analysis of all identified NQPS based on the core eight interdependent elements related to the NQPS approach.

Relevant aspects to be included in a national strategic plan for water services

Highlights Governments bear the responsibility for shaping sustainable and inclusive public policies for water services. A robust and comprehensive vision is crucial for water services, embodied in a holistic public policy. A holistic approach must encompass institutional, legal, technical, economic, financial, and social dimensions. Addressing both the current issues and the emerging challenges in the water sector is essential. It is necessary to align national strategic plans for water services with the strategic plans of local water utilities.

Experience and Perspective: Population Administration Services in Delta City

Policy implementation is an important indicator that has a major influence on the success of policies related to public issues. This study aims to analyze and explain the implementation of population administration service policies in Sidoarjo Regency. The basic concept used is Edwards III's policy implementation theory. This qualitative research uses a purposive sampling technique. Data were collected using interviews, observation, and documentation. Data analysis used interactive Miles, Huberman, and Saldana. The research results show that population administration service policies in Sidoarjo Regency have demonstrated adequate quality, but still require innovation and development to increase reliability, speed and management innovation. In Tulangan District, there are obstacles in communication due to the lack of service flow boards and inconsistencies in service times. Meanwhile in Porong District, population administration requirements are good with competent officers, clear service flow boards, and high consistency of service times. Human resources in Porong District are considered good and fast, while in Tulangan District they are quite good. Regarding disposition, both sub-districts provide services according to the needs of their residents. However, regarding the bureaucratic structure, Tulangan District has good SOPs, while Porong District experiences problems in the unclear distribution of the main tasks and functions of village officials.

Library Services During COVID-19 Pandemic

This study aimed to review how an academic library in Puerto Rico supported the demands of technology-assisted education during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study identified the challenges of providing virtual library services during public health emergencies. Likewise, librarians described their experiences with virtual reference services. The study uses a case study as a research design. Data collection was through a virtual focus group. The results indicate that the main challenges were technology availability issues, fragile Internet infrastructure, a lack of digital skills for remote work, and vulnerabilities in leadership and institutional planning. Librarians identified weaknesses in the technological infrastructure and staff skills as challenges during emergencies. This research helps generate more knowledge about the impact of digital services from Puerto Rican academic libraries in support of technology-assisted education initiatives during the COVID-19 pandemic. Furthermore, understanding librarians' perspectives regarding challenges and needs during emergencies helps develop new service policies and strengthen procedures to improve working conditions for these professionals.

Inovasi Model Kebijakan dalam Meningkatkan Kualitas Layanan Kemahasiswaan: Suatu Tinjauan Literatur

This article or writing aims to discuss or find out about a problem that arises in the literature review of thirty journals related to the quality of student services so that later a policy model or framework can be provided to answer existing problems. The problems found in the literature review are focused on public services or student services. To approach this problem, Edward's theory is used as a reference, which consists of four variables, namely those related to communication, resources, disposition, and bureaucratic structure variables. Then the data is taken or collected through literature study or analysis of the thirty journals and then analyzed qualitatively. This study concludes that the Student Service Policy Model Innovation produces a model consisting of five alternative policy concepts or a mixture of public service models and public policy implementation models, namely Improving Financial Management, Development of Infrastructure and Digital Services, Improvement of Administrative Services, Improvement of Assurance and Empathy Aspects and Optimization of Library Services.

Perceptions On Nurses' Preparedness For Flooding Disasters: A Qualitative Study

Preparedness is a series of activities carried out to anticipate disasters through organization and through appropriate and effective measures with the expected result being a significant reduction in the risk and losses caused by disasters. This study aims to explore nurses' perceptions regarding readiness to respond to disasters, nurses' preparedness in facing disasters, the role of nurses in disasters, obstacles and support in providing disaster nursing services. A descriptive qualitative approach was used in this study. Purposive sampling was used to select 10 nurses for focus group discussions and four nurses for in-depth interviews. Data were collected from January to February 2024 and analyzed using content analysis. Readiness to respond to disasters includes two subcategories: disaster experience and reasons to immediately respond to disasters. Health workers' preparedness in facing disasters consists of four subcategories: early warning, collaboration, resources, development of specific training. The role of health workers in disasters consists of two subcategories: preparedness stage and response stage. In addition, obstacles and support in providing disaster services consist of two subcategories: obstacles experienced and support needed in providing nursing services when a disaster occurs. The findings of this study can serve as a basis for developing disaster preparedness enhancement programs for nurses and other health professionals. The results of the study can also be used as important evidence to encourage disaster health service policies in an effort to reduce risks caused by disasters with the involvement of stakeholders.

Identifying the service and social policy needs, gaps, barriers and enablers for grandparent carers

Identifying the service and social policy needs, gaps, barriers and enablers for grandparent carers

Subarachnoid Haemorrhage Incidence Pattern Analysis with Circular Statistics.

Knowledge about biological rhythms of diseases may not only help in understanding the pathophysiology of diseases but can also help health service policy makers and emergency department directors to allocate resources efficiently. Aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhage (SAH) has high rates of morbidity and mortality. The incidence of SAH has been attributed to patient-related factors such as characteristics of aneurysms, smoking, and hypertension. There are studies showing that the incidence of aneurysmal SAH appears to behave in periodic fashions over long time periods. However, there are inconsistencies in the literature regarding the impact of chronobiological factors such as circadian, seasonal, and lunar cycle factors on the occurrence of SAH. In this study, we focused on the analysis of a temporal pattern of SAH (infradian rhythms) with a novel approach using circular statistical methods. We aimed to see whether there is a circular pattern for the occurrence of SAH at all and if so, whether it can be related to known temporal patterns based on available literature. Our study did not support the notion that aneurysmal subarachnoid haemorrhages occur on any specific day in a cycle with specific lengths up to 365 days including specific weekdays, full moon, equinoxes, and solstices. Hence, we found no relationship between SAH incidence and timing. Study in larger populations using similar circular statistical methods is suggested.

Effect of payment for forest ecosystem services on forest conservation practices in Vietnam

Payment for forest ecosystem services (PFES) policy is a prevalent strategy designed to establish a marketplace where users compensate providers for forest ecosystem services. This research endeavours to scrutinise the impact of PFES on households’ perceptions of forest values and their behaviour towards forest conservation, in conjunction with their socio-economic circumstances and their communal involvement in forest management. By incorporating the social-ecological system framework and the theory of human behaviours in environmental conservation, this study employs a structural equations model to analyse the factors influencing individuals’ perceptions and behaviours towards forest conservation. The findings indicate that the payment of PFES significantly increases forest protection behaviour at the household level and has achieved partial success in activating community mechanisms to guide human behaviour towards forest conservation. Furthermore, it has effectively leveraged the role of state-led social organisations to alter local individuals’ perceptions and behaviours towards forest protection.

Priority setting: Development of the South Australian Aboriginal Chronic Disease Consortium RoadMap for Action.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (Aboriginal) people in South Australia are overburdened by cardiovascular disease, diabetes and cancer. The South Australian Aboriginal Chronic Disease Consortium (Consortium) was established in June 2017 as a collaborative partnership to lead the implementation of three state-wide chronic disease plans using a strategic approach to identifying key priority areas for action. In 2017-2018, the Consortium Coordinating Centre facilitated a priority setting process, which involved extensive consultation, including a prioritisation survey and stakeholder workshops. The Consortium's Aboriginal Community Reference Group was instrumental in leading the identification of priorities for action. The Consortium RoadMap for Action identified seven across-plan priorities and six condition-specific priorities. It acknowledged that: strengthening social and emotional well-being is central to improving health outcomes; prevention and early detection, acute management and ongoing management are all components of the continuum of care; and improving access to services, strengthening the workforce, and monitoring and evaluation are required across the continuum of care. Widespread implementation failure in the past across the health system and health services implementation and research translation highlights the value of the Consortium approach and its commitment to implementing the state-wide chronic disease plans in a collaborative manner. The Consortium relies on and fosters cross-sectoral alignment, with all key players including all public, private and Aboriginal Community Controlled health services, to progress its priorities and aspirations to improve health outcomes for Aboriginal people using evidence-based strategies. SO WHAT?: Rigorous and transparent priority setting processes that bring together research, clinical practice, health services operations, policy and community perspectives can foster intersectoral collaboration and partnership and support the implementation of shared priorities.

Public Service Policy in The Form of Civil Registration

Purpose: to determine and analyze the implementation of public services at the Population Service and the obstacles to implementing public services at the Population and Civil Registration Service of North Toraja Regency. Methode: juridical-normative sourced from primary and secondary materials which are analyzed qualitatively by describing descriptively the results of the relevant data and cases studied. Research results: the implementation of public services in issuing population documents in North Toraja Regency has not been optimal, this can be seen in three things, including: population registration, civil registration and population document data. The public service process in issuing population documents has not been fully implemented by residents, the data exchange that occurs in population documents and the many procedures for public services in issuing population documents that are not implemented, and the obstacles to implementing public services at the Population and Civil Registration Service of North Toraja Regency , namely legal basis aspects, institutional aspects, human resource (HR) constraints, lack of budget, and low public awareness, as well as lack of socialization regarding government regulations. Research implications: Public services in civil registration make it easier for the government to register every citizen in an orderly and orderly manner, increasing the recruitment of competent and proportional resources will support good and sustainable services. Originality/value: In the above context, the government is expected to prioritize effective services and recruit competent employees in the field of public services.

Upaya Kinerja Pemerintah Desa dalam Pelayanan Publik di Desa Kuwolu Kecamatan Bululawang

This research explores the optimization of village government performance efforts in providing public services in Kuwolu Village, Bululawang District. The main focus of the study is on the adoption of technology, responsiveness to changes in societal values, the implementation of Law Number 25 of 2009 concerning Public Services, and community participation. The research results indicate that the adoption of technology has a positive impact on improving administrative efficiency, although challenges in digital literacy still need to be addressed. Responsiveness to changes in societal values is a critical point in formulating service policies that align with local expectations. Law Number 25 of 2009 provides clear direction, but its implementation requires in-depth understanding and adaptation to local conditions. The improvement of service quality and administrative efficiency remains the main focus, with active community participation as a vital instrument. Cross-sectoral collaboration and institutional cooperation are identified as assets to create synergy in service provision. Inclusive steps through training programs and digital literacy are solutions to overcome disparities and unequal access. This research creates an overview of the performance efforts of village governments in facing the dynamics of public services in the era of digital transformation and changes in societal values. It is hoped that these findings can provide guidance for other village governments in creating effective and responsive public service systems amid contemporary challenges.

Quality evaluation of nutrition policies in early childhood education and care services in Nerang, QLD.

Food environments in early childhood, such as early childhood education and care services, influence the development of dietary patterns and behaviours that traverse into adulthood, where they affect health and longevity. Nutrition policies are mandatory in early childhood education and care services in Australia and can positively or negatively shape the food environment. However, the quality of such nutrition policies is unknown. This study aimed to evaluate the comprehensiveness and strength of nutrition policies of early childhood education and care services among services participating in a university-community alliance in South East Queensland. Early childhood education and care services (n = 12) in Nerang, Queensland, Australia, participated in a cross-sectional study evaluating the comprehensiveness and strength of nutrition policies across four domains (Nutrition Education, Nutrition Standards, Promoting Healthy Eating and Communication and Evaluation) of the Wellness in Child Care Assessment Tool. Nutrition policies evaluated in this study had median total comprehensiveness scores of 55 (out of 100) and median total strength scores of 19 (out of 100). 'Nutrition Education' had the highest median scores for comprehensiveness (67 out of 100) and strength (33 out of 100), while 'Nutrition Standards' had the lowest comprehensiveness score (41 out of 100), and 'Communication and Evaluation' had the lowest strength score (0 out of 100). All services have a nutrition policy, but there are opportunities to enhance both the content and linguistic strength of statements within policies related to nutrition domains. SO WHAT?: There is a clear need to improve the comprehensiveness and strength of written statements in nutrition policies across all four domains, particularly 'Nutrition Standards' and 'Communication and Evaluation'.

Balance of work and personal life in the perception of civil servants of the metropolitan megalopolis

The article presents the results of a sociological study to identify the peculiarities of the perception of work-life balance by modern civil servants of the metropolitan megalopolis. As the empirical basis the materials of questionnaires and interviewing carried out by the authors in 2022 in several ministries of the city of Moscow were used. Using modern methods of textual data analysis, the authors visualise with the help of a word cloud the answers of respondents to an open-ended question about their subjective understanding of work-life balance. Such terms as "time", "opportunity" and "family" prevail in the interpretation of the interviewed civil servants, that allows to find out what meaning civil servants put into the concept of work-life balance. Thus, being a subjective phenomenon, this concept is primarily associated with the proportional distribution of time for family and work. Based on the results of the questionnaire survey, the authors distinguish two groups of civil servants who do and do not experience a sense of work-life balance and analyse their socio-demographic characteristics, life priorities, attitude to work, assessments of time resources and level of satisfaction with various life spheres. Representing subjective assessments, the authors note that just over half of the civil service employees surveyed do not experience work-life balance. Statistical analysis showed that the selected groups do not have significant socio-demographic differences. It was also found that civil servants, who differently assess the presence of work-life balance, do not differ significantly in determining the leading life priorities, putting family and work in the foreground. However, statistically significant links were found between subjective indicators of work-life balance and peculiarities of differentiation of work and personal problems, assessment of sufficiency of time for everyday practices and satisfaction with private life. It was found that the state of imbalance is more characteristic of people who note the influence of work on personal affairs, experience a lack of time for everyday private life and are not satisfied with its main components. The interviewing focused on a group of external factors that relate to the conditions of employment, which is important to consider in matters of personnel policy and work organisation in the public service. The obtained materials allowed to consider the existing working regime from the point of view of civil servants, to discuss initiatives for its improvement, opportunities and limitations of remote work.