ABSTRACT
With the increasing number of foreigners residing in Korea, there is a need for further research on medical service satisfaction for this demographic. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the impact of medical service quality on customer satisfaction and revisit intention of foreigners in Korea during the COVID-19 pandemic. An online survey was conducted from 15 March to 15 May 2022 to gather data from foreign residents in Korea. A total of 201 questionnaires were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0 and Smart PLS3.0 for empirical analysis. The results of the study demonstrate that reliability, empathy, and COVID-19 regulations (excluding responsiveness, assurance, and tangibles) positively impact customer satisfaction with medical services. Additionally, customer satisfaction with medical services positively affects revisit intention. Furthermore, variables, such as nationality and medical department, show average differences. These findings suggest that hospitals should focus on COVID-19 prevention and the quality of medical services, while also taking into account unique characteristics, such as nationality and medical department. This study provides essential reference data for medical institutions exposed to infinite competition, informing management strategies to increase customer satisfaction and revisit intention during COVID-19. © 2023 by the authors.
ABSTRACT
Pandemic diseases spread globally causing psychological and physical destruction to people in the whole world. COVID-19 is one of these diseases that started in the twentieth century and affected different nations in terms of economical, educational, cultural, safety, health and other aspects. Residential spaces have become dramatically important to control these types of pandemics as it is considered an environment that meets the needs of the residents throughout the quarantine period. The paper aims at reshaping future architecture approaches that can be applied during the design concept, construction and operation phases of residential units. These approaches are concluded with regard to space design, building materials such as prefabricated shipping containers, thermal comfort and self-sufficiency. The researchers fetch the reasons of contrast between the spread of shipping containers from one side and its un-usage from the other side. Moreover, all future implementations will be reviewed to apply the most benefits of containers. The paper is an attempt to explore the uses of prefabricated shipping containers to create architectural spaces that has higher standards of safety towards diseases and it also serves several functions and human activities not only on the scale of an individual building but also on a larger scale (students housing). It presents a future solution for a building or a group of buildings which are structurally stable, healthy and environmentally friendly. © 2022 WITPress. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
– Much has been written about the potential effect of the COVID-19 crisis on residential mobility. To explore its effects in France, we reconstruct flows of mobility intentions based on owner and buyer estimates on the platform MeilleursAgents from January 2019 to September 2021, and we analyze, using logit and nested logit models, how the pandemic has changed the probability that individuals from both urban and rural intend to relocate. Our results show that, after a time of shock during the first lockdown in spring 2020, the desire to migrate, either to rural municipalities or to other catchment areas, increased as the pandemic and the restrictive measures continued, and was particularly pronounced after the end of the third and last lockdown. © 2022, Institut National de la Statistique et des Etudes Economiques. All rights reserved.
ABSTRACT
We examine differences in mobility outcomes between residents of highest and lowest socio-economic index (SEI) at the Census block group (CBG) level in nine major US cities prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. While low-SEI groups generally traveled shorter distances but visited more city-wide CBGs before the pandemic, high-SEI residents universally reduced their mobility to a greater extent during the pandemic. Although high-SEI residents were making more trips to parks and health-care providers, and fewer subsistence trips to retail stores already before the pandemic, COIVD-19 significantly widened these differences thereby exacerbating “mobility gaps” between low-SEI and high-SEI groups. We further examine how such “mobility gaps” can be mitigated by spatial advantages of home locations, controlling for political inclination. We find that living in better transit-served or more walkable neighborhoods generally benefited high-SEI residents more than low-SEI residents, with some variation across cities. This suggests that built environments not only impact mobility outcomes during “normal” times, but also influence how different socio-economic groups are able to adapt during times of crisis.
ABSTRACT
Major efforts have been invested in the UK Residential sector to meet the increasing housing demands, deliver sustainability, and improve its resiliency against many uncertainties. While data/information within the UK residential sector relating to location, sizes and volumes are annually updated, there is limited emphasis on the methods of construction that support meeting housing demands. Over the years, it has been recognised that the UK residential sector has been dominated by two methods of construction: timber frame and masonry. This study aims to holistically compare timber frames with masonry as the two domineering construction methods for the UK residential sector. The comparison will be based on build costs, preference and drivers by construction professionals, longevity and consumer confidence, and sustainability. The research methodology was developed based on applying mixed methods of quantitative data analysis of build costs and qualitative data assessment of semi-structured interviews. The findings showed that, from a build cost perspective, masonry methods of construction are a more cost-effective choice with major variation in material cost. However, although the masonry method of construction was more favoured, in many respects, small-in-size developers show more tendency to timber frames, as this is being rationalised by meeting sustainability targets. Practical implications show that the future of the residential sector in meeting the housing demands would heavily depend on Modern Methods of Construction (MMC), as it offers a more optimised mechanism;however, the uptake of this is considerably low. Future studies will enquire into pillars to make MMC efficient in the UK residential sector.
ABSTRACT
Access to adequate and appropriate transport options enables older people to continue as thriving community participants, to reach services and to maintain social connections. While transport needs are diverse, and tend to change over time, there is little information on current and future transport patterns, and the awareness, acceptance and adoption of new technologies. A national online survey was administered to current drivers in Australia. A sample of 705 drivers provided information on available travel modes and use of these modes, awareness of in-vehicle technologies and future use of vehicle technologies. The findings revealed high use of private vehicles, walking and taxis but little use of other travel modes (bicycles, motorcycles, rideshare, community services and public transport). Age, gender and residential location influenced the availability and use/potential use of some transport options. Overall awareness of in-vehicle technologies was generally low and particularly so amongst older and female participants. There was some appetite to use emerging technologies in the future. The findings inform the development of effective strategies and initiatives aligned with healthy ageing and wellbeing targets, increased sustainability, resilience and connectedness, creation of healthier travel choices and healthier environments to promote acceptance and use of a range of transport options and uptake of safer vehicles equipped with in-vehicle technologies to ultimately enhance safe and sustainable mobility of older road users.
ABSTRACT
The outbreak of SARS-COV-2 has led to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020 and caused over 4.5 million deaths worldwide by September 2021. Besides the public health crisis, COVID-19 affected the global economy and development significantly. It also led to changes in people's mobility and lifestyle during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to short-term changes, the drastic transformation of the world may account for the potentially disruptive long-term impacts. Recognizing the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic is crucial in mitigating the negative behavioral changes that directly relate to people's psychological and social well-being. It is important to stress that citizens and governments face an uncertain situation since nobody knows exactly how the viruses and cures will develop. Better understanding uncertainties and evaluating behavioral changes contribute to addressing the future of urban development, public transportation, and behavioral strategies to tackle COVID-19 negative consequences. The major sources of impacts on short-term (route, departure time, mode, teleshopping, and teleworking) and medium and long-term (car ownership, work location, choice of job, and residential location) mobility decisions are mostly reviewed and discussed in this paper.