An explanation from customers’ perspectives for difficulties in developing nursing-home service in Vietnam – A study in Ho Chi Minh City

Even though the demand for a nursing home is increasing, it is not easily-accepted in Vietnam because of cultural traditions which nomally link to morality, affection, relational cohesion, responsibility, relatives’ and friends’ opinions, etc. According to a study conducted by the Health Strategy and Policy Institute in 2012, Vietnamese people think that no one takes care of their parents better than children. That might be the reason why nursing home services have not developed well in Vietnam. This study aims to (1) explore attributes of nursing home preventing Vietnamese customers from using this service, and (2) explore the connections between these attributes and values of individuals through consequences from these attributes. The mean-end-chain theory with a soft-laddering interview is the method employed to conduct the study. Participants are persons who are responsible for making decisions related to nursing home matters, including elder people and ones having elder people in their families and being responsible to send their parents/grandparents to the nursing homes. The research findings show that there are 15 attributes of nursing home service, which drive to 4 values through 9 consequences, preventing Vietnamese customers from using this service. The result from the HVM states that there are three significant A-C-V linkages to explain what attributes and how they influence customers (perceived) values. The study also proposes some suggestions to promote nursing home service and encourage Vietnamese customers to accept this kind of service.