an article by AR Mubarak (Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia) and Steve Quinn (Swinburne University of Technology Faculty of Science Engineering and Technology, Melbourne, Australia) published in Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society Volume 17 Issue 1 (2019)
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the association between internet addiction and problem behaviours on social networking sites (SNS) using the general strain theory (Agnew, 1992).
Design/methodology/approach
Using the purposive sampling method, a survey was conducted, which collected data from 414 college students studying in two public universities in South Australia. The Delphi method was used to develop the questionnaire used for the survey.
Findings
'Results of this research indicated a significant association between internet addiction and problem behaviours on SNS. Respondents who had engaged in problem behaviours on SNS had high internet addiction test scores (Young, 1998). On the basis of this finding, the present research argues that the general strains associated with the suffering of newly emerging challenges such as internet addiction might contribute to victimisation and deviant and problem behaviours on SNS in specific and possibly in cyberspace in general.
Research limitations/implications
Results of the present study need to be interpreted cautiously due to many limitations it has. This research is a cross-sectional study, which might not adequately explain the associations between internet addiction and problem behaviours on SNS. Longitudinal studies involving larger samples might have added significant value to this study. The present study uses purposive sampling technique, which has limited its generalizability, and its findings may not be generalised to large populations.
Originality/value
Limited information is available pertaining to the association between problem behaviours on SNS and internet addiction. The present study is a pioneering effort, which argues that rapid popularity of SNS is likely to increase internet addiction and the frustration of not getting proper treatment for their internet addiction might lead to deviant behaviours on SNS.
Showing posts with label healthcare. Show all posts
Showing posts with label healthcare. Show all posts
Tuesday, 2 April 2019
Friday, 1 February 2019
The Impact of Management Consultants on Public Service Efficiency
an article by Ian Kirkpatrick (Warwick Business School, UK), Andrew J Sturdy and Gianluca Veronesi (University of Bristol) and Nuria Reguera Alvarado and Antonio Blanco-Oliver (Universidad de Sevilla, Spain) published in Policy & Politics Volume 47 Number 1 (January 2019)
Abstract
Public sector organisations often make use of management consultants in policy implementation, but we know little about the outcomes.
The paper reports one of the first quantitative evaluations of the impact of consulting advice on efficiency of public sector organisations.
We employ an extensive dataset covering English NHS acute care hospital trusts over a four-year period. Based on PCSEs estimations, the findings show a significantly positive relationship between consulting expenditure and organisational inefficiency.
These results lend support to critical accounts of management consulting, highlighting the need for organisations to be circumspect in deciding whether and how to use these services.
Abstract
Public sector organisations often make use of management consultants in policy implementation, but we know little about the outcomes.
The paper reports one of the first quantitative evaluations of the impact of consulting advice on efficiency of public sector organisations.
We employ an extensive dataset covering English NHS acute care hospital trusts over a four-year period. Based on PCSEs estimations, the findings show a significantly positive relationship between consulting expenditure and organisational inefficiency.
These results lend support to critical accounts of management consulting, highlighting the need for organisations to be circumspect in deciding whether and how to use these services.
Monday, 24 December 2018
An East–West comparison of healthcare evaluations in Europe: Do institutions matter?
an article by Tamara Popic (Institute for Social and Political Sciences, University of Lisbon, Portugal) and Simone M. Schneider (Max Planck Institute for Social Law and Social Policy, Germany) published in Journal of European Social Policy Volume 28 Issue 5 (December 2018)
Abstract
Differences in welfare attitudes of Eastern and Western Europeans have often been explained in terms of legacies of communism.
In this article, we explore evaluations of healthcare systems across European countries and argue that East–West differences in these evaluations are explained by differences in the current institutional design of healthcare systems in the two regions.
The empirical analysis is based on the fourth round of the European Social Survey, applying multilevel and multilevel mediation analysis. Our results support the institutional explanation. Regional differences in healthcare evaluations are explained by institutional characteristics of the healthcare system, that is, lower financial resources, higher out-of-pocket payments, and lower supply of primary healthcare services in Eastern compared to Western European countries.
We conclude that specific aspects of the current institutional design of healthcare systems are crucial for understanding East–West differences in healthcare evaluations and encourage research to further explore the relevance of institutions for differences in welfare state attitudes across socio-political contexts.
Abstract
Differences in welfare attitudes of Eastern and Western Europeans have often been explained in terms of legacies of communism.
In this article, we explore evaluations of healthcare systems across European countries and argue that East–West differences in these evaluations are explained by differences in the current institutional design of healthcare systems in the two regions.
The empirical analysis is based on the fourth round of the European Social Survey, applying multilevel and multilevel mediation analysis. Our results support the institutional explanation. Regional differences in healthcare evaluations are explained by institutional characteristics of the healthcare system, that is, lower financial resources, higher out-of-pocket payments, and lower supply of primary healthcare services in Eastern compared to Western European countries.
We conclude that specific aspects of the current institutional design of healthcare systems are crucial for understanding East–West differences in healthcare evaluations and encourage research to further explore the relevance of institutions for differences in welfare state attitudes across socio-political contexts.
Friday, 21 December 2018
What's worse than drug addiction? The cruelty of drug treatments.
a post by Maia Szalavitz for the Big Think blog
Drug treatment centers pose potential threats to drug addicts.
and you will discover that the post is primarily an advert for a book. I think I might try it -- maybe, just may be, I will get some tip on living with an alcoholic without murder or suicide being the end,
Drug treatment centers pose potential threats to drug addicts.
- Many drug treatment centers are run as for-profit institutions. Making a buck off of treating people's addictions often runs counter to actually helping addicts.
- Some Chinese drug centers are experimenting with removing an addict's nucleus accumbens, which saps them of their ability to feel pleasure.
- The solution to drug addiction may be creating better drugs to use, says author and journalist Maia Szalavitz.
and you will discover that the post is primarily an advert for a book. I think I might try it -- maybe, just may be, I will get some tip on living with an alcoholic without murder or suicide being the end,
Friday, 19 October 2018
Subsidising long-term care: Lessons from subsidy expansions and cuts
a column by Joan Costa-i-Fon for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Many European countries are revisiting how best to finance long-term care, balancing financial sustainability and the economic welfare of households.
Using examples of Spain and Scotland, this paper demonstrates that an expansion of public funding for long-term care has an effect on caregiving choices, household finances, and hospital care. Unconditional or cash subsidies may entail a ‘caregiving moral hazard’, but both cash and care subsidies can bring savings to the health system by reducing the frequency and intensity of hospitalisation.
Continue reading
Many European countries are revisiting how best to finance long-term care, balancing financial sustainability and the economic welfare of households.
Using examples of Spain and Scotland, this paper demonstrates that an expansion of public funding for long-term care has an effect on caregiving choices, household finances, and hospital care. Unconditional or cash subsidies may entail a ‘caregiving moral hazard’, but both cash and care subsidies can bring savings to the health system by reducing the frequency and intensity of hospitalisation.
Continue reading
Thursday, 30 August 2018
Innovating for a cause: the work and learning required to create a new approach to healthcare for homeless people
an article by Alison Fuller and Rebecca Taylor (Institute of Education, UCL, London, UK), Susan Halford and Kate Lyle (University of Southampton), and Anne-Charlotte Teglborg (ESCP Europe, Paris, France) published in Journal of Education and Work Volume 31 Number 3 (April 2018)
Abstract
Innovation occupies a pivotal place in our understanding of knowledge-based economies, and this is raising questions about sources of innovation, how it originates, and the role played by employees, work practices and learning.
This paper explores these issues through case study research into a new approach to providing healthcare for homeless people in England, and by bringing together conceptual insights from the employee-driven innovation literature, and more broadly from social and practice-based learning theory and organisational theory.
Applying these perspectives to our case enables illumination of the innovation as a process – not an event – and as an ongoing set of organisational practices that transcend their origins. Through our analysis we argue that the notion of ‘a cause’ is helpful in elucidating the impetus and the commitment to making the innovation happen (and go on happening).
Our findings are presented under three themes: ‘establishing a cause’, ‘organising for innovation’, and ‘innovative capability in practice’.
Building on these, we have identified five key inter-related dimensions which help conceptualise the work and learning that it took to create and (re-)enact the innovation and that we suggest may have relevance for understanding and characterising other employee-led innovations in and perhaps beyond healthcare.
Abstract
Innovation occupies a pivotal place in our understanding of knowledge-based economies, and this is raising questions about sources of innovation, how it originates, and the role played by employees, work practices and learning.
This paper explores these issues through case study research into a new approach to providing healthcare for homeless people in England, and by bringing together conceptual insights from the employee-driven innovation literature, and more broadly from social and practice-based learning theory and organisational theory.
Applying these perspectives to our case enables illumination of the innovation as a process – not an event – and as an ongoing set of organisational practices that transcend their origins. Through our analysis we argue that the notion of ‘a cause’ is helpful in elucidating the impetus and the commitment to making the innovation happen (and go on happening).
Our findings are presented under three themes: ‘establishing a cause’, ‘organising for innovation’, and ‘innovative capability in practice’.
Building on these, we have identified five key inter-related dimensions which help conceptualise the work and learning that it took to create and (re-)enact the innovation and that we suggest may have relevance for understanding and characterising other employee-led innovations in and perhaps beyond healthcare.
Wednesday, 18 April 2018
Here’s Why Human Rights in Healthcare Are Needed More Than Ever
a post by Ruth Campbell for Rights Info: Human Rights News, Views & Info
Image Credit: Ken Treloar / Unsplash
My Grandpa is getting old. Last year after a particularly bad fall, he spent four months in hospital.
The tall, slim man with coal black hair who used to be able to haul a whole sheep on his back across the family steading can’t move as quickly as he used to. His memory has been getting worse and worse – although he can still recall with alarming precision all of the grammar rules he learned at school.
When he was born in 1928, it would still be two whole decades before anyone had even heard of the NHS. His mother gave birth to him at home, with no doctor present so they didn’t have to pay for it.
A Growing Impact in Healthcare
He’ll be 90 this year, and has lived through medical, technological, and social changes which have revolutionised healthcare.
He’s seen diseases eradicated, hip replacements, heart transplants, IVF, medical technology advancing at a rate unfathomable for someone born in a house without electricity.
What he might not realise – indeed he might be the first to tell you, despite my best efforts, that human rights are only for terrorists and criminals – is that he’s also been witness to the growing impact of human rights in healthcare throughout his lifetime.
Continue reading
Image Credit: Ken Treloar / Unsplash
My Grandpa is getting old. Last year after a particularly bad fall, he spent four months in hospital.
The tall, slim man with coal black hair who used to be able to haul a whole sheep on his back across the family steading can’t move as quickly as he used to. His memory has been getting worse and worse – although he can still recall with alarming precision all of the grammar rules he learned at school.
When he was born in 1928, it would still be two whole decades before anyone had even heard of the NHS. His mother gave birth to him at home, with no doctor present so they didn’t have to pay for it.
A Growing Impact in Healthcare
He’ll be 90 this year, and has lived through medical, technological, and social changes which have revolutionised healthcare.
He’s seen diseases eradicated, hip replacements, heart transplants, IVF, medical technology advancing at a rate unfathomable for someone born in a house without electricity.
What he might not realise – indeed he might be the first to tell you, despite my best efforts, that human rights are only for terrorists and criminals – is that he’s also been witness to the growing impact of human rights in healthcare throughout his lifetime.
Continue reading
Sunday, 18 March 2018
Biting the hand that heals: mistreatment by patients and the well-being of healthcare workers
an article by Aysegul Karaeminogullari, Berrin Erdogan and Talya N. Bauer (Portland State University, Oregon, USA) published in Personnel Review Volume 47 Issue 2 (2018)
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between stress due to mistreatment by patients and caregivers’ own well-being indicators (anxiety, depression, and behavioral stress indicators). Based on predictions consistent with the job demands-resources model, it is anticipated that satisfaction with job resources would moderate the relationship between mistreatment by patients and well-being indicators.
Design/methodology/approach
Hypotheses were tested with a sample of 182 employees in a leading training and research university hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. Results were partially replicated for a separate sample of 122 healthcare workers. Data were collected using the survey methodology.
Findings
The findings suggest that patient injustice is positively related to depression and behavioral stress indicators when satisfaction with job resources is high. Results illustrate that satisfaction with job resources has a sensitizing, rather than a buffering, role on the relation between mistreatment by patients, depression, and behavioral stress indicators, negatively affecting employees with higher levels of satisfaction with job resources.
Originality/value
Organizational justice researchers recently started recognizing that in addition to organizational insiders, organizational outsiders such as customers and patients may also be sources of fair and unfair treatment. Based on this stream of research, unfair treatment from outsiders is associated with retaliation and a variety of negative employee outcomes. The study extends the currently accumulated work by examining how mistreatment from care recipients relates to healthcare workers’ own health outcomes.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the relationship between stress due to mistreatment by patients and caregivers’ own well-being indicators (anxiety, depression, and behavioral stress indicators). Based on predictions consistent with the job demands-resources model, it is anticipated that satisfaction with job resources would moderate the relationship between mistreatment by patients and well-being indicators.
Design/methodology/approach
Hypotheses were tested with a sample of 182 employees in a leading training and research university hospital in Istanbul, Turkey. Results were partially replicated for a separate sample of 122 healthcare workers. Data were collected using the survey methodology.
Findings
The findings suggest that patient injustice is positively related to depression and behavioral stress indicators when satisfaction with job resources is high. Results illustrate that satisfaction with job resources has a sensitizing, rather than a buffering, role on the relation between mistreatment by patients, depression, and behavioral stress indicators, negatively affecting employees with higher levels of satisfaction with job resources.
Originality/value
Organizational justice researchers recently started recognizing that in addition to organizational insiders, organizational outsiders such as customers and patients may also be sources of fair and unfair treatment. Based on this stream of research, unfair treatment from outsiders is associated with retaliation and a variety of negative employee outcomes. The study extends the currently accumulated work by examining how mistreatment from care recipients relates to healthcare workers’ own health outcomes.
Wednesday, 31 January 2018
How policy shapes long-term care arrangements
a column by Daniel Barczyk and Matthias Kredler for VOX: CEPR’s Policy Portal
Ageing societies and the increase in female labour force participation are putting pressure on governments to take a more active role in caring for the elderly. Using European and US data, this column investigates the responses of families to long-term care policy. The results suggest that care arrangements are strongly influenced by policy, and highlight the importance of accounting for informal care when evaluating reform proposals.
Continue reading
Ageing societies and the increase in female labour force participation are putting pressure on governments to take a more active role in caring for the elderly. Using European and US data, this column investigates the responses of families to long-term care policy. The results suggest that care arrangements are strongly influenced by policy, and highlight the importance of accounting for informal care when evaluating reform proposals.
Continue reading
Tuesday, 5 December 2017
Bread for All review – how Britain is regressing to the early 19th century
an article by Stefan Collini published in the Guardian
St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, in 1939. Before the NHS, many people could not afford even basic medical care. Photograph: Kurt Hutton/Getty Images
Kingsley Wood, the Tory chancellor of the exchequer in the wartime coalition government, grudgingly conceded in 1943 that he would “rather give money for education than throw it down the sink with Sir William Beveridge”. Beveridge had certainly designed a very big sink. His formidably technical 300-page report, Social Insurance and Allied Services, published in 1942, laid out an ambitious system of social security that built on, but went well beyond, the mosaic of services that had grown up piecemeal over the previous half century or more. The report was a surprising bestseller: 100,000 copies were sold in the first four weeks.
The government was reluctant to endorse such a disruptive and expensive scheme, but most public opinion was strongly on Beveridge’s side. In a familiar attempt to scare the electorate, the Daily Telegraph misquoted Beveridge saying that his report was taking the country “half-way to Moscow”. In reality, he was taking it no further east than Whitechapel and Poplar, the social laboratories in which so much late-Victorian and Edwardian thinking about the best means to relieve poverty had been incubated.
Continue reading this fascinating review. The changes happened in my lifetime but I was too young to appreciate them at the time. One thing I do notice though is that the political conservatism that I grew up with is nothing like the Tory Party as it now is.Bread for All: The Origins of the Welfare State is published by Allen Lane. To order a copy for £17 (RRP £20) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
St Bartholomew’s Hospital, London, in 1939. Before the NHS, many people could not afford even basic medical care. Photograph: Kurt Hutton/Getty Images
Kingsley Wood, the Tory chancellor of the exchequer in the wartime coalition government, grudgingly conceded in 1943 that he would “rather give money for education than throw it down the sink with Sir William Beveridge”. Beveridge had certainly designed a very big sink. His formidably technical 300-page report, Social Insurance and Allied Services, published in 1942, laid out an ambitious system of social security that built on, but went well beyond, the mosaic of services that had grown up piecemeal over the previous half century or more. The report was a surprising bestseller: 100,000 copies were sold in the first four weeks.
The government was reluctant to endorse such a disruptive and expensive scheme, but most public opinion was strongly on Beveridge’s side. In a familiar attempt to scare the electorate, the Daily Telegraph misquoted Beveridge saying that his report was taking the country “half-way to Moscow”. In reality, he was taking it no further east than Whitechapel and Poplar, the social laboratories in which so much late-Victorian and Edwardian thinking about the best means to relieve poverty had been incubated.
Continue reading this fascinating review. The changes happened in my lifetime but I was too young to appreciate them at the time. One thing I do notice though is that the political conservatism that I grew up with is nothing like the Tory Party as it now is.Bread for All: The Origins of the Welfare State is published by Allen Lane. To order a copy for £17 (RRP £20) go to bookshop.theguardian.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.
Wednesday, 29 November 2017
Learning to cope with stressful organisational change
an article by Roy K. Smollan (Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand) published in International Journal of Work Organisation and Emotion Volume 8 Number 2 (2017)
Abstract
Organisational change can exacerbate pre-existing levels of work stress and employees need to cope with the new stressors as well as the old.
A qualitative study was conducted in a New Zealand healthcare authority where a number of major restructurings and other changes had occurred. The findings show that the coping strategies used before, during and after change varied over time as new demands were faced.
While the choice of strategies was influenced by personality, emotional intelligence and social identity, specific stressors needed tailored coping strategies.
The lessons the participants learnt from coping with stressful organisational change included relying on their own strengths, taking problem-solving action, managing their thoughts and emotions and accessing support networks.
Managers have a key role to play in anticipating when organisational change may elicit stress and in helping those affected to cope with it.
Abstract
Organisational change can exacerbate pre-existing levels of work stress and employees need to cope with the new stressors as well as the old.
A qualitative study was conducted in a New Zealand healthcare authority where a number of major restructurings and other changes had occurred. The findings show that the coping strategies used before, during and after change varied over time as new demands were faced.
While the choice of strategies was influenced by personality, emotional intelligence and social identity, specific stressors needed tailored coping strategies.
The lessons the participants learnt from coping with stressful organisational change included relying on their own strengths, taking problem-solving action, managing their thoughts and emotions and accessing support networks.
Managers have a key role to play in anticipating when organisational change may elicit stress and in helping those affected to cope with it.
Wednesday, 25 October 2017
How to allocate scare resources without discriminating against people with disabilities
an article by Tyler M. John, Joseph Millum and David Wasserman (Clinical Center Department of Bioethics, Bethesda, Maryland, USA) published in Economics & Philosophy Volume 33 Issue 2 (July 2017)
Abstract
One widely used method for allocating health care resources involves the use of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) to rank treatments in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained. CEA has been criticized for discriminating against people with disabilities by valuing their lives less than those of non-disabled people. Avoiding discrimination seems to lead to the 'QALY trap': we cannot value saving lives equally and still value raising quality of life. This paper reviews existing responses to the QALY trap and argues that all are problematic. Instead, we argue that adopting a moderate form of prioritarianism avoids the QALY trap and disability discrimination.
Full text (PDF) please note copyright conditions
Abstract
One widely used method for allocating health care resources involves the use of cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) to rank treatments in terms of quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs) gained. CEA has been criticized for discriminating against people with disabilities by valuing their lives less than those of non-disabled people. Avoiding discrimination seems to lead to the 'QALY trap': we cannot value saving lives equally and still value raising quality of life. This paper reviews existing responses to the QALY trap and argues that all are problematic. Instead, we argue that adopting a moderate form of prioritarianism avoids the QALY trap and disability discrimination.
Full text (PDF) please note copyright conditions
Saturday, 30 September 2017
Europe leads the way in assistive robots for the elderly
an article by Robert Bogue (Independent Consultant, Okehampton, UK)
published in
Industrial Robot: An International Journal Volume 44 Issue 3 (2017)
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide details of European research projects and product developments involving robots that can assist the ageing population.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an introduction, the role of assistive robots and research into the nature of the human–robot interaction are considered. The paper then discusses a selection of European research projects and a number of companies producing or developing assistive robots. Finally, brief conclusions are drawn.
Findings
In recognition of the fact that the growing, ageing population has needs that place an unsustainable burden on carers and healthcare providers, Europe is investing heavily in assistive robots. Many European Union-funded, collaborative projects have been conducted and several continue today which build on the extensive body of earlier research. Significant progress is being made, and assistive robot research has moved on from purely technological developments to field trials involving real people in realistic environments. Several products exist or are at an advanced stage of development and have often benefited or arisen from these projects. Europe is in a very strong position to capitalise on this emerging market opportunity.
Originality/value
This provides a detailed insight into European assistive robot development activities.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to provide details of European research projects and product developments involving robots that can assist the ageing population.
Design/methodology/approach
Following an introduction, the role of assistive robots and research into the nature of the human–robot interaction are considered. The paper then discusses a selection of European research projects and a number of companies producing or developing assistive robots. Finally, brief conclusions are drawn.
Findings
In recognition of the fact that the growing, ageing population has needs that place an unsustainable burden on carers and healthcare providers, Europe is investing heavily in assistive robots. Many European Union-funded, collaborative projects have been conducted and several continue today which build on the extensive body of earlier research. Significant progress is being made, and assistive robot research has moved on from purely technological developments to field trials involving real people in realistic environments. Several products exist or are at an advanced stage of development and have often benefited or arisen from these projects. Europe is in a very strong position to capitalise on this emerging market opportunity.
Originality/value
This provides a detailed insight into European assistive robot development activities.
Tuesday, 14 March 2017
The welfare myth of them and us
via Policy Press: a blog post
Read the complete preface to the second edition of John Hill’s influential Good times, bad times below. This ground-breaking book uses extensive research and survey evidence to challenge the myth that the population divides into those who benefit from the welfare state and those who pay into it – ‘skivers’ and ‘strivers’, ‘them’ and ‘us’.
“Good times, bad times was completed in 2014. A great deal has happened in UK politics and policy since then, not least the election of a majority Conservative government led by David Cameron in May 2015, the result of the referendum in June 2016 for Britain to leave the European Union, and the subsequent appointment of Theresa May as Prime Minister in July 2016.
Through all of this, the issues discussed in this book have remained central. One of its themes is the way that our lives are ever-changing.
Sometimes this is simply because we get older, we form – and dissolve – marriages and other partnerships, children are born, and they leave home.
But it is also because we move in and out of work, change and lose jobs, and what comes in from work and other sources can change not just from year to- year with our careers, but also from month-to-month, or even day-to-day, in ways highlighted by the spread of ‘zero hours contracts’.
Our needs – for education and for health and social care – change as we grow older, but also with the fluctuations in our state of health.
Continue reading
Read the complete preface to the second edition of John Hill’s influential Good times, bad times below. This ground-breaking book uses extensive research and survey evidence to challenge the myth that the population divides into those who benefit from the welfare state and those who pay into it – ‘skivers’ and ‘strivers’, ‘them’ and ‘us’.
“Good times, bad times was completed in 2014. A great deal has happened in UK politics and policy since then, not least the election of a majority Conservative government led by David Cameron in May 2015, the result of the referendum in June 2016 for Britain to leave the European Union, and the subsequent appointment of Theresa May as Prime Minister in July 2016.
Through all of this, the issues discussed in this book have remained central. One of its themes is the way that our lives are ever-changing.
Sometimes this is simply because we get older, we form – and dissolve – marriages and other partnerships, children are born, and they leave home.
But it is also because we move in and out of work, change and lose jobs, and what comes in from work and other sources can change not just from year to- year with our careers, but also from month-to-month, or even day-to-day, in ways highlighted by the spread of ‘zero hours contracts’.
Our needs – for education and for health and social care – change as we grow older, but also with the fluctuations in our state of health.
Continue reading
Friday, 19 August 2016
Rural and remote communities, technology and mental health recovery
an article by
Oliver K. Burmeister (Charles Sturt University, Bathurst, Australia) and Edwina Marks (Barkly Regional Council, Tennant Creek, Australia)
published in Journal of Information, Communication and Ethics in Society Volume 14 Issue 2 (2016)
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how health informatics can underpin the successful delivery of recovery-orientated healthcare, in rural and remote regions, to achieve better mental health outcomes. Recovery is an extremely social process that involves being with others and reconnecting with the world.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretivist study involving 27 clinicians and 13 clients sought to determine how future expenditure on ehealth could improve mental health treatment and service provision in the western Murray Darling Basin of New South Wales, Australia.
Findings
Through the use of targeted ehealth strategies, it is possible to increase both the accessibility of information and the quality of service provision. In small communities, the challenges of distance, access to healthcare and the ease of isolating oneself are best overcome through a combination of technology and communal social responsibility. Technology supplements but cannot completely replace face-to-face interaction in the mental health recovery process.
Originality/value
The recovery model provides a conceptual framework for health informatics in rural and remote regions that is socially responsible. Service providers can affect better recovery for clients through infrastructure that enables timely and responsive remote access whilst driving between appointments. This could include interactive referral services, telehealth access to specialist clinicians, GPS for locating clients in remote areas and mobile coverage for counselling sessions in “real time”. Thus, the technology not only provides better connections but also adds to the responsiveness (and success) of any treatment available.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore how health informatics can underpin the successful delivery of recovery-orientated healthcare, in rural and remote regions, to achieve better mental health outcomes. Recovery is an extremely social process that involves being with others and reconnecting with the world.
Design/methodology/approach
An interpretivist study involving 27 clinicians and 13 clients sought to determine how future expenditure on ehealth could improve mental health treatment and service provision in the western Murray Darling Basin of New South Wales, Australia.
Findings
Through the use of targeted ehealth strategies, it is possible to increase both the accessibility of information and the quality of service provision. In small communities, the challenges of distance, access to healthcare and the ease of isolating oneself are best overcome through a combination of technology and communal social responsibility. Technology supplements but cannot completely replace face-to-face interaction in the mental health recovery process.
Originality/value
The recovery model provides a conceptual framework for health informatics in rural and remote regions that is socially responsible. Service providers can affect better recovery for clients through infrastructure that enables timely and responsive remote access whilst driving between appointments. This could include interactive referral services, telehealth access to specialist clinicians, GPS for locating clients in remote areas and mobile coverage for counselling sessions in “real time”. Thus, the technology not only provides better connections but also adds to the responsiveness (and success) of any treatment available.
Monday, 29 December 2014
The quality of healthcare jobs: can intrinsic rewards compensate for low extrinsic rewards?
an article by Jennifer Craft Morgan (Georgia State University), Janette Dill (University of Akron) and Arne L Kalleberg (University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill) published in Work Employment & Society Volume 27 Number 5 (October 2013)
Abstract
Frontline healthcare worker jobs are among the fastest growing occupations in the USA.
While many of these are ‘bad jobs’ with low pay and few benefits, the intrinsic nature of frontline work can also be very rewarding. This article examines the influence of extrinsic job characteristics (e.g. wages and benefits) versus intrinsic characteristics (e.g. meaningful tasks) on job satisfaction and intent to stay with one’s current employer.
This article uses a mixed-methods approach, drawing on survey data collected from frontline workers and organisations in a variety of healthcare settings, as well as interview and focus group data from frontline workers to contextualise and interpret the findings in the multi-level models. The results indicate that both intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics are significant predictors of job satisfaction, but only extrinsic characteristics help explain intent to stay with the employer.
Abstract
Frontline healthcare worker jobs are among the fastest growing occupations in the USA.
While many of these are ‘bad jobs’ with low pay and few benefits, the intrinsic nature of frontline work can also be very rewarding. This article examines the influence of extrinsic job characteristics (e.g. wages and benefits) versus intrinsic characteristics (e.g. meaningful tasks) on job satisfaction and intent to stay with one’s current employer.
This article uses a mixed-methods approach, drawing on survey data collected from frontline workers and organisations in a variety of healthcare settings, as well as interview and focus group data from frontline workers to contextualise and interpret the findings in the multi-level models. The results indicate that both intrinsic and extrinsic characteristics are significant predictors of job satisfaction, but only extrinsic characteristics help explain intent to stay with the employer.
Monday, 8 December 2014
Crisis has affected supply and demand in healthcare
a Eurofound Press Release 19 November 2014
In the wake of the economic and financial crisis, many European governments have cut spending on healthcare services. At the same time, unemployment, financial strain and reduced prevention have increased the need for certain healthcare services, while falling disposable income has made access to healthcare more difficult for many EU households.
This report identifies the groups most likely to face barriers to healthcare as a consequence of the crisis, including a number of new groups that have been generally overlooked by policymakers.
It suggests a range of policy pointers, including the need to consider mitigating measures in tandem with policy reform, and suggests policymakers and service providers might consider reviewing crisis responses once financial pressures on EU Member States begin to ease.
Continue reading
In the wake of the economic and financial crisis, many European governments have cut spending on healthcare services. At the same time, unemployment, financial strain and reduced prevention have increased the need for certain healthcare services, while falling disposable income has made access to healthcare more difficult for many EU households.
This report identifies the groups most likely to face barriers to healthcare as a consequence of the crisis, including a number of new groups that have been generally overlooked by policymakers.
It suggests a range of policy pointers, including the need to consider mitigating measures in tandem with policy reform, and suggests policymakers and service providers might consider reviewing crisis responses once financial pressures on EU Member States begin to ease.
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Tuesday, 9 October 2012
The Healthy Lifeworks Project: the role of organisational health in the personal health of employees
an article by Steven Smith and Francis Schryer Lebel (Saint Mary’s University, Halifax, Canada), Lydia Makrides (Creative Wellness Solutions Inc, Tantallon, Canada), Jane Allt (Strategic Support Services, Nova Scotia Public Service Commission, Halifax), Duff Montgomerie, (Nova Scotia Department of Health Promotion and Protection), Jane Farquharson, (The Heart and Stroke Foundation of Nova Scotia, Halifax), M.J. MacDonald, (Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia) and Claudine Szpilfogel, (Research Power Inc, Dartmouth, Canada) published in International Journal of Workplace Health Management Volume 5 Issue 3 (2012)
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present the results of a three-year comprehensive workplace initiative which provided an unprecedented opportunity to explore the potential relationship between organisational health, stress, and health outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 325 employees participating in a comprehensive workplace wellness intervention taking place in a large governmental organisation. Organisational health was measured using a 16-item measure of organisational health indicators and a four-item measure of health culture. Personal health outcomes were assessed using 12 indicators: personal wellness profile, health age, blood pressure, nutrition, fat intake, fibre intake, alcohol use, fitness, smoking status, cancer risk, stress, and good health practices.
Findings
Analyses indicated that after controlling for gender and age, organisational health was associated with increased personal wellness, lower health age, better overall nutrition, reduced fat intake, increased fibre intake, reduced alcohol consumption, increased fitness, reduced cancer risk, lower stress, and more positive health practices. For several outcome measures, organisational health had a stronger impact on personal health for men. Personal health of correctional workers and youth workers was most influenced by organisational health. Finally, stress mediated the relationship between organisational health and health outcomes for all measures of wellness except for alcohol consumption.
Originality/value
Organisational health is often overlooked by employers when considering the personal health of employees. Interventions aimed at influencing organisational health (generally considered a low cost intervention) can have beneficial influences on personal health.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to present the results of a three-year comprehensive workplace initiative which provided an unprecedented opportunity to explore the potential relationship between organisational health, stress, and health outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from 325 employees participating in a comprehensive workplace wellness intervention taking place in a large governmental organisation. Organisational health was measured using a 16-item measure of organisational health indicators and a four-item measure of health culture. Personal health outcomes were assessed using 12 indicators: personal wellness profile, health age, blood pressure, nutrition, fat intake, fibre intake, alcohol use, fitness, smoking status, cancer risk, stress, and good health practices.
Findings
Analyses indicated that after controlling for gender and age, organisational health was associated with increased personal wellness, lower health age, better overall nutrition, reduced fat intake, increased fibre intake, reduced alcohol consumption, increased fitness, reduced cancer risk, lower stress, and more positive health practices. For several outcome measures, organisational health had a stronger impact on personal health for men. Personal health of correctional workers and youth workers was most influenced by organisational health. Finally, stress mediated the relationship between organisational health and health outcomes for all measures of wellness except for alcohol consumption.
Originality/value
Organisational health is often overlooked by employers when considering the personal health of employees. Interventions aimed at influencing organisational health (generally considered a low cost intervention) can have beneficial influences on personal health.
Saturday, 17 May 2008
An emerging career no one knows about
via TechRepublic Blogs by Toni Bowers on 24 April
Helping to automate hospital record-keeping is an up-and-coming (and lucrative) career choice.
Read the full article
Hazel's comment:
Toni writes about IT-related topics -- nursing informatics was the only job she found on Yahoo! Education recently which was IT related. I tried to check our what the other jobs were and found a) that Yahoo! Education seems to be very US-centric and b) careers information in any sense that we would understand was decidedly thin on the ground.
I could not, however, leave it there and spent rather more time than was sensible on one post -- BUT, celebrate with a cuppa, I found useful information on the original job title at Health Career Net -- and it's based in the UK despite calling it a Career Center. I've been away from the front-line for too long now to judge on the accuracy of the career articles but they "looked OK".
One little peeve -- the site is not set out in columns which means that if you are, as I am, using a wide screen then reading the article is rather like watching Wimbledon!
Helping to automate hospital record-keeping is an up-and-coming (and lucrative) career choice.
Read the full article
Hazel's comment:
Toni writes about IT-related topics -- nursing informatics was the only job she found on Yahoo! Education recently which was IT related. I tried to check our what the other jobs were and found a) that Yahoo! Education seems to be very US-centric and b) careers information in any sense that we would understand was decidedly thin on the ground.
I could not, however, leave it there and spent rather more time than was sensible on one post -- BUT, celebrate with a cuppa, I found useful information on the original job title at Health Career Net -- and it's based in the UK despite calling it a Career Center. I've been away from the front-line for too long now to judge on the accuracy of the career articles but they "looked OK".
One little peeve -- the site is not set out in columns which means that if you are, as I am, using a wide screen then reading the article is rather like watching Wimbledon!
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