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for choosing the appropriate configuration. A segmentation approach towards demand
(standardization of demand options) and a modular setup of supply (standardization
of supply options) assisted in this. The creation of generic modular care packages, to be
further fine-tuned in the specification process, made the configurations workable for
employees while still enabling customization opportunities for clients. The proposed
design configurations provide insight into how the needs of individual clients can be
translated into a demand-based supply of care and services. In this, modularity might
support the feasibility and attractiveness of the various design options.
Together, Chapters 2 and 3 provided conceptual grounding for further empirical
exploration of modularity in care and service provision to elderly people living
independently. The methodology for the empirical part of this study is described in
Chapter 4
. The chapter presents the design and set-up of our case study research. We
obtained data from four cases in the field of long-term care for the elderly. In each
case organization we set up our data collection around the total care process. This
process is the primary process of each organization and consists of several sub-stages
and sub-processes. It starts when an elderly client enters the care organization for the
first time and ends when the client leaves the organization because of recovery or
death. Roughly speaking, the total care process consists of needs assessment and care
package specification, care package delivery, and care package reconfiguration. In our
data analysis, we related various aspects and practices of modularity to different phases
of the care process and, as such, gained insight into particularities of modularity in
the context of long-term care for the elderly. Insights, findings and results from the
different perspectives taken are described in Chapters 5 to 8.
Chapter 5
addresses the research question ‘How does modularity manifest itself in
the specification and construction of demand-based care and service packages for
independently living elderly?’ and provides insight into how individual care and
service components are mixed and matched. Based on our case research we showed
that the specification of appropriate components for each client and the subsequent
configuration of customized care and service packages took place in two phases:
partly before and partly during care delivery. Early client involvement allowed for a
combination of standard components that have a relatively low level of customization,
whereas late client involvement allowed for adaptation of these components resulting
in a higher level of customization. On the basis of our results, we propose that
modularity theory should distinguish between the creation of modular offerings
in care provision versus their creation in goods production, since our findings are
the exact reverse of the state-of-the art knowledge in manufacturing modularity. A
possible explanation for the differences between manufacturing and care modularity
lies in the real-time element of care and related service provision. This implies
that the client (as well as the care professional) only fully realizes what he gets at
Modular
Care Provision