| Abstract: | The purposes of this study were to identify home care service users' and providers' perception of home care service quality, to explore its influential factors, and to analyze the gap between them. The samples include 112 home care workers and 218 service users from a home care service unit in Nantou-County. A structured questionnaire is used to collect data. Among service users, 200 valid questionnaires are collected, and the response rate is 91.7%. As to home care workers, the valid questionnaires received are 109, and the response rate is 97.3%. According to the results, the service users' perception of the five dimensions of home care service quality can be ranked from the highest to the lowest as assurance, responsiveness, reliability, empathy and tangibility, that is to say, "assurance" is the most powerful dimension of service quality. The mean value for the services was between 4.06-4.72. The item with the highest mean is "I have confidence in the home care services provided by the home care workers." On the other hand, the one with the lowest mean is "The home care workers can take my best interests into consideration."In addition, the service providers' perception of the five dimensions of home care service quality can be sorted from the highest to the lowest as assurance, empathy, responsiveness, reliability and tangibility. The results indicate that "assurance" is the most influential dimension of service quality. The mean value for the services was between 4.08-4.54. The item with the highest mean is "The service users have confidence in the home care services I provide." On the contrary, the one with the lowest mean is "The home care workers can perform the services accurately from the first time." Home care service users' and providers' attributes will lead to significant differences in the perception of home care service quality. It is found that there is no difference in the perception of home care service quality between these two parties. The findings of this study can serve as references for home care service units to improve their service quality, to increase in-service education opportunities for home care workers and to promote benefits for home care service users. |
