This paper presents a three-step conceptual framework that can be used to structure the care-related capacity planning process in a nursing home context. The proposed framework provides a sound practical vehicle to organise client-centred care without overstretching available capacity. Within this framework, an MILP for shift scheduling and a Genetic Algorithm (GA) for task-scheduling are proposed. To investigate the performance of the proposed framework, it is benchmarked against the current situation. The results show that considerable improvements can be achieved in terms of efficiency and waiting time. More specifically, it is shown that very modest waiting times can be achieved without exceeding available capacity, despite the fluctuations in care demand across the day.
Keywords: Nursing homes; capacity planning framework; client-centred care; genetic algorithm; mixed integer linear programming.
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