Services Standards: Defining the Core Consumer Elements ... - ANEC

Hans-W. Micklitz
7. Impact on standardisation of services
Measured against the six core consumer elements, a review of the available
European standards in the field of tourism services shows poor results. Not
even a single core consumer element has been addressed. The first two,
education and skills, as well as equipment and premises, have at least been
taken into consideration. Some positive incentives have been set with regard to
the third core consumer element, the pre-contractual stage. For the remainder
there is not much to report. Most of the categories have been neglected.
III.
Current practices in standardisation of services for the elderly
The CEN/CENELEC Guide 6 for standard developers to address the needs of
older persons and persons with disabilities does not really deal with the services
the elderly and the disabled need in residential homes or with accommodation
provided for elderly and disabled. The major purpose of Guide 6 is to provide
assistance for standard developers if they design products – and to some extent
services, which are to be used by the elderly and the disabled. In this respect a
major part of Guide 6 is meant to weigh and classify the different abilities and to
transpose them into a set of factors that might help standardisers in drafting
information, labelling, instructions and warnings (table 1 of Guide 6), packaging:
opening, closing, use and disposal (table 2 of Guide 6), materials (table 3 of
Guide 6), installation (table 4 of Guide 6), user interface, handling, control and
feedback (table 5 of Guide 6), maintenance, storage and disposal (table 6 of
Guide 6), built environments (buildings, table 7 of Guide 6).
The DIN 77800 on ‘Quality requirements for providers of “assisted living for the
elderly”’ can only be understood against the economic background of the
project. Elderly people, who do not yet need care but have enough resources to
spend their lives in a relatively wealthy environment under the auspices of
private companies who manage their daily life and offer help if it is needed,
constitute an important market. The DIN project is legitimated by the lack of
binding rules on assisted living and absence of institutions which survey the
market. The DIN project will close that gap by setting out quality standards for
that particular age group. It lays down very detailed rules on the service to be
provided as well as on the contractual relationship itself.
Beyond the national level, two feasibility studies are under way which might
lead to a European set of standards in this field. The AFNOR project No. 4
deals with services provided to resident people. The origins of the project can
be found in NF X 50-056 on ‘Services aux personnes à domicile’. However,
there is a strong component of providing care to people who need it at home.
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