Postal Service Reforms in Solomon Islands of the South Pacific: Evaluating Consequences for Public Service Delivery and Customer Satisfaction

The changing environment of the postal sector over the last decade has increased the urgency for governments worldwide to re-examine regulations governing how their public postal administrations operate. The need to increase service efficiency and quality is a critical strategic focus, given the increasing technological competition, rising operational costs, and changing customers' needs and expectations. There are many success stories, particularly from developed countries, highlighting improved service quality following corporatization of their public postal administration. This particular study revealed that reforms of the Solomon Islands postal service have had some positive influence on the level of customer satisfaction.     

Does User Co-Production of Public Service Delivery Increase Satisfaction and Trust? Evidence From a Vignette Experiment

Whereas it is assumed that involving users in the delivery of public services yields more positive evaluations of those services, this study shows that levels of satisfaction and trust are not necessarily positively affected by such user co-production. An experimental vignette design among students (n = 174) is used to analyze the differences concerning trust and satisfaction between co-produced and non-co-produced public services. In some cases, the results suggest, co-production actually leads to less satisfaction and trust. This might be explained by the self-serving bias, which states that co-producers take credit for success but blame service providers for failure.     

Inspections Services and Inter-Rater Reliability: Differentiating Professional Role Identities of Dutch Veterinary Inspectors

Inter-rater reliability is a prominent topic within inspection services. We address inter-rater reliability as a problem beyond the technical concern for improving regulatory instruments. We combine theories on professionalism and identity theory to deal with an issue overlooked in much of the literature on regulation and inter-rater reliability: the potentially diverging ways inspectors perceive their professional role. Studying veterinary inspectors in the Dutch food safety services, our focus is on how we can empirically differentiate between different role identities and how these identities diverge from ideal-typical expectations the organization holds of its inspectors.     

中国发展国际服务贸易的思考与法律完善

随着生产力的发展和全球信息化、网络化的发展,世界经济中心已向服务业倾斜,服务贸易的发展水平已经成为一个国家综合国力和影响力的体现.服务贸易将成为WTO新一轮谈判以及区域性经济合作谈判的主要议题,鉴于此,我们有必要探究国际服务贸易的法律渊源、内涵及对我国的利与弊.只有全面了解国际服务贸易的属性,才能逐步完善我国的服务贸易立法,才能在未来世界经济中打适中国服务品牌,传播中国文化,发展对外经济,充分迎接TPP的挑战.     

Resettle: a significant new step in an emerging pathway that manages risk and addresses need in high-risk personality disordered offenders on their release into the community

Abstract

This paper will describe an innovative UK service development, Resettle, which is designed to address the needs and risks of personality disordered offenders who are released into the community from prison and whose high risks of harm and re-offending are linked to their personality disorder (PD). All the cases worked with are subject to Multi-Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA). This non-residential, intensive community-based service is nationally funded jointly by the Department of Health and Ministry of Justice, originally as part of the Dangerous and Severe Personality Disorder (DSPD) programme for high-risk offenders. Resettle became operational in 2008. It is currently being independently evaluated via a randomised control trial that is due to complete in March 2013. Formal outcome data are, therefore, not yet available, however, the developing model of intervention based on experience and learning to date is described alongside the policy and service context for this area of work.     

Crime Victims and the Social Services: Social Workers' Viewpoint

The aim of this article is to analyse how social workers in the social services describe crime victims and their role in supporting these victims. Based on focus groups with social workers in the social services, it is established that social workers discriminate between a categorical understanding of crime victims and an assessment of individuals in need. The categorical understanding of crime victims is connected to weakness and innocence, and the discussions are constructed with a focus on women and children. However, when the social workers move beyond this idea and describe individual victims of crime they have met, they attribute a more complicated picture and acknowledge the complexity of crime and victimization. The social workers give themselves a vague role regarding support to victims of crime. They consider themselves as able to connect individuals in need with helping resources, but they do not regard themselves as resources in this area. According to the social workers, an individual should not receive support from the social services just because he or she is categorized by them as a victim of crime. One conclusion is that the category ‘crime victims’ has not gained acceptance among the social workers.     

A Targeted Approach to the Provision of Ubiquitous Healthcare Services for the Newly Retired

The purpose of this research is to discuss a targeted approach to health care provisions for the newly retired. This approach focuses on the application of specific services provided by the development of Web 2.0 technologies and an identification system that determines the needs of a community of newly retired. The paper examines the significance of this community and also discusses the steps required for the research. The first phase of the research which is covered here involves reviewing pervious literature to determine what information has been gathered about the subject. Once this has been accomplished that the researcher will investigate the defined community to determine what resources are in place and what additional resources need to be in put in place in order to help the community to continue to thrive. The final steps include implementing what services were found to be necessary for the continued growth of the community and a follow-up concerning the success of these services.     

公共服务领域中政府与NGO的合作困境及出路

本文就公共服务领域中政府与NGO的合作困境,分析制约政府与NGO合作关系的因素。可以看出,在我国社会转型期,构建政府与NGO之间互动合作关系是必然的发展趋势,但这是一个循序渐进的过程,不是单靠其中的一方就能完成的。所以,公共服务中政府与NGO关系的可持续发展之路在于构建两者的互动合作关系。     

Post-Hospital Medical Respite Care and Hospital Readmission of Homeless Persons

Medical respite programs offer medical, nursing, and other care as well as accommodation for homeless persons discharged from acute hospital stays. They represent a community-based adaptation of urban health systems to the specific needs of homeless persons. This article examines whether post-hospital discharge to a homeless medical respite program was associated with a reduced chance of 90-day readmission compared to other disposition options. Adjusting for imbalances in patient characteristics using propensity scores, respite patients were the only group that was significantly less likely to be readmitted within 90 days compared to those released to Own Care. Respite programs merit attention as a potentially efficacious service for homeless persons leaving the hospital.     

Community Service Providers' Conceptualizations of the Needs and Services of Depressed Rural Women

Abstract

Representatives from community and volunteer organizations (N = 37) in a rural region of Nova Scotia were interviewed on their views of the causes, prevention and treatment of depression in rural women. Utilizing a qualitative analysis, five themes were identified in their responses: the needs and stresses of women with depression; the problems of women in rural areas; obstacles and barriers to accessing services; the inadequacy of treatment services; and recommendations for improving prevention and treatment. The findings suggested that community service providers were consistent in their views of the needs and stresses of depressed women in rural areas and the kinds of services that would remedy them. Making community service providers aware of the consistencies in their views may promote more interagency cooperation and the development of community-centered approaches to the treatment of depression in rural women.