What Should Be Considered When Evaluating the Quality of Home Care? A Survey of Expert Opinions on the Evaluation of the Quality of Home Care in Japan

Seungwon Jeong, Yusuke Inoue, Yasuyuki Arai, Hideki Ohta and Takao Suzuki
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Seungwon Jeong: Department of Community Welfare, Niimi University, Niimi 718-8585, Japan
Yusuke Inoue: Faculty of Health and Welfare Science, Okayama Prefectural University, Soja 719-1197, Japan
Yasuyuki Arai: Iki-iki Clinic Yuki, Yuki 307-0001, Japan
Hideki Ohta: Medical Clinics of ASMss Group, Oyama 323-0014, Japan
Takao Suzuki: Department of Social Science, National Center for Geriatrics and Gerontology, Obu 474-8511, Japan

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 4, 1-9

Abstract: Intending to obtain scientific evidence to use in developing indicators for evaluating the quality of home care, we surveyed doctors, nurses, and other home care professionals to determine the points they consider to be essential in evaluating home care. We investigated all 901 clinics registered to the National Association of Medical Institutions Supporting Home Care and a random sample of 600 Visiting Nurse Service stations registered to the National Association for Visiting Nurse Service in Japan. A total of 539 questionnaire responses were received (response rate: 35.9%). In this study, a factor analysis revealed four factors to be considered when evaluating the quality of home care: (1) patients’ and family members’ level of satisfaction, (2) home care process, (3) structure of home care, and (4) medical outcomes. The factor of the satisfaction of patients and family members identified in the present study was not considered in previous studies for evaluating the quality of care in Japan. Satisfaction is the point of difference in goals between hospital-based care and home care, and it requires different measurement indicators. Home care professionals expect to help relieve the physical and psychological burden felt by the patient and their family. Thus, on the evaluation indicators of quality of home care, their perspectives from the present study are valuable.

Keywords: evaluating the quality of home care; home care; quality of care (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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