Nonprofit and for-profit home carein israel:Clients’ assessments

Clients’ assessments of differences between nonprofit and for-profit organizations delivering home care services to Israel’sfrail elderly were studied. No significant differences were foundbetween nonprofit and for-profit providers with respect to organizational efficiency; speed of placement and replacement of home careworkers; responsiveness to clients’ complaints; and supervision ofcare plans, schedules, and service delivery. Systematic differenceswere found, however, in clients' perceptions of workers employedby nonprofit versus for-profit service providers. Tie differences relatedto the home care workers’ adaptation to clients’ needs and wants;how well workers delivered services; and how satisfied clients were with the services received. Indications are that the relatively high efficiency of nonprofit organizations can largely be attributed to theperformance of their home care workers.