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Sustainable Urban Homecare Delivery with Different Means of Transport

Author

Listed:
  • Norina Szander

    (Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, 5290 Šempeter-Vrtojba, Slovenia
    Faculty of Organisation Studies in Novo mesto, 8000 Novo Mesto, Slovenia)

  • Lorenzo Ros-McDonnell

    (Business Engineering Research Group, Polytechnic University of Cartagena, 30202 Cartagena, Spain)

  • María Victoria De-la-Fuente-Aragón

    (Business Engineering Research Group, Polytechnic University of Cartagena, 30202 Cartagena, Spain)

  • Robert Vodopivec

    (Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies, 5290 Šempeter-Vrtojba, Slovenia)

Abstract

Due to the increasing number of requests for homecare services, care institutions struggle to perform in urban traffic, which eventually makes travel times longer and less predictable and, therefore, leads to a declining service quality. Homecare delivery scheduling and planning tools must lead to efficient reliable routes that allow the nursing crew to make the least efforts and use the fewest institutional resources, and that consider urban sustainability goals. For the case study, a European city was selected with 58,000 people of whom 73 patients received long-term care at homes provided by 11 homecare nurses. While maximising patient satisfaction, a homecare planning algorithm considered many means of transport and minimised travel times. The study reduced the total nurses’ working hours/day by a bus and walking combination, and by comparing if nurses ride e-bikes, which respectively reduced ~35–44% of the total time that nurses spent travelling. This result is applicable to an urban environment where the public transport network is sufficient and biking is allowed on a reasonable number of roads. Better homecare management can support the efficient use of resources of health care institutions, high-quality home care and aspirations towards livable communities and sustainable development.

Suggested Citation

  • Norina Szander & Lorenzo Ros-McDonnell & María Victoria De-la-Fuente-Aragón & Robert Vodopivec, 2018. "Sustainable Urban Homecare Delivery with Different Means of Transport," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-12, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:10:y:2018:i:2:p:398-:d:130167
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

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    2. Lorenzo Ros-McDonnell & Norina Szander & María Victoria de-la-Fuente-Aragón & Robert Vodopivec, 2019. "Scheduling Sustainable Homecare with Urban Transport and Different Skilled Nurses Using an Approximate Algorithm," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 11(22), pages 1-14, November.
    3. Gang Du & Xinyue Li & Hui Hu & Xiaoling Ouyang, 2018. "Optimizing Daily Service Scheduling for Medical Diagnostic Equipment Considering Patient Satisfaction and Hospital Revenue," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(9), pages 1-23, September.

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