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COMING SOON: MSc Dissertation – Pairing Carers for Home Healthcare Routing and Scheduling

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The shop at Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts

The shop at Liverpool Institute of Performing Arts

Overview

What this project will ultimately become is still largely unknown; as of writing I've yet to finish exams, let alone begin meeting with my supervisor and conduct initial literature review. The project description is as follows:

Home healthcare routing and scheduling is the process of planning the daily activities of mobile care workers (nurses, therapists, or aides) to provide medical and social services to patients at their homes. It is a complex logistics challenge that extends the traditional Vehicle Routing Problem with Time Windows by adding constraints unique to healthcare. The process involves two main integrated tasks: Deciding when each patient visit should occur (scheduling) and determining the sequence of visits and the specific path each care worker takes between patients (routing).

Care managers must account for several real-world restrictions to ensure the plan is both feasible and high-quality

  • Time Windows: Many medical services (e.g., insulin injections) must happen within specific time frames.
  • Skill Matching: Carers must have the specific qualifications or certifications required for each patient's needs.
  • Continuity of Care: A goal to ensure patients are seen by the same carer consistently to build trust and improve outcomes.
  • Synchronization: Some tasks require two or more carers to arrive at the same location simultaneously (e.g., for lifting a patient).
  • Labor Regulations: Schedules must include mandatory breaks and adhere to maximum working hours.

    • Care providers often have to balance conflicting priorities:

  • Cost Efficiency: Minimizing total travel distance, fuel consumption, and staff overtime.
  • Patient Satisfaction: Reducing waiting times and respecting personal preferences.
  • Staff Well-being: Ensuring balanced workloads and minimizing excessive travel or "empty" time

    • In this project we look at the synchronization problem, where we have to decide which carers to pair for the day to visit all patients who need to be visited by two carers. This is a crucial first step of planning which influences all subsequent steps. We will explore both exact and heuristic approaches to solve the problem.

    Personal Reflection

    I'm excited for this project. I really like combinatorial problems, especially assignments, so the structure of the problem is exciting. The consideration of actual, operational constraints is always a stimulating challenge, so that's exciting. Mostly, though, I am excited to be doing something that (should) have a positive impact on the community. We'll see how it turns out, but I am quite excited for this one.

    Downloads

    Written Report (PDF)

    Under Construction (get it, like the image?)