Amanda J. Wilson, Catherine Staley, Brittney Davis and Blair Anton
Progress toward health equity is necessary to reduce health disparities, and health literacy is key to achieving this goal. Because libraries provide access to knowledge and…
Abstract
Purpose
Progress toward health equity is necessary to reduce health disparities, and health literacy is key to achieving this goal. Because libraries provide access to knowledge and insights about their communities, they are effective partners in advancing health equity and implementing programs to reduce health disparities. A literature review on library programs and activities that focus on promoting health equity was conducted.
Design/methodology/approach
A literature review on library programs and activities concerning health equity and social determinants of health was conducted. Relevant literature was identified from searches of databases, library publications and grey literature.
Findings
The authors found 224 eligible sources and many types of libraries advancing health equity. Libraries frame their role in advancing health equity through external programs in three ways: (1) providing access to high-quality health information, (2) delivering health literacy training and resources and (3) connecting their communities with community health services. Libraries also advance health equity by focusing on internal library operations and providing research services focused on cultural humility and competence as they apply to health care.
Originality/value
This literature review will help the National Library of Medicine (NLM) develop a strategy to support libraries advancing health equity through information made available by programs and activities of NLM and the Network of the National Library of Medicine.
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Catherine Arnott Smith, Alla Keselman, Amanda J. Wilson and M. Nichelle Midón
Consumer health literacy is a necessary skill in all facets of library work, from reference desk to programming to website development. In this chapter, the authors present key…
Abstract
Consumer health literacy is a necessary skill in all facets of library work, from reference desk to programming to website development. In this chapter, the authors present key terms in the domain of health literacy; challenges and controversies in research and public library practice; and findings from a recent study of public library workers meeting consumer health information needs. Finally, the authors present examples of National Library of Medicine (NLM) initiatives for public libraries and public librarians focusing on bridging health literacy gaps. Socially disadvantaged groups who are the most affected by health disparities tend to be those who are lower-income, have less education, and are not White. The combined effects of environment and socioeconomic status mean that these communities have particular, highly local challenges in addressing their health issues, as individuals and as a population. Health literacy can serve as the enabling factor in obtaining quality health information, navigating healthcare, and seeking better health. To support the public, NLM and its National Network of Libraries of Medicine have placed a strategic emphasis on public libraries in order to develop long-term partnerships. The goals of these partnerships are to support staff development and programming, and to promote resource-sharing about programs and activities focusing on health information. Public libraries are everywhere and open to all. This makes them the ideal community agency to reach out to the public and implement national information initiatives.
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Men are often considered by the health care system to be a disengaged accessory when it comes to family planning. In reality they act as an equal part in the reproductive…
Abstract
Men are often considered by the health care system to be a disengaged accessory when it comes to family planning. In reality they act as an equal part in the reproductive equation. Despite qualitative research suggesting some men currently do take primary responsibility for family planning, men are further marginalised being classed as an irrational variable in large national datasets. Reports ignore men in general by failing to record basic demographics, for example, age is not captured and ethnicity has two options: white and non-white. This leaves little ability to analyse men's family planning knowledge, attitudes and beliefs. Technological advancements have resulted in new forms of male contraceptive methods reaching phase III testing (from pills to gels), and the market is moving towards diversified options that will allow even more men to take primary contraceptive responsibility. Other advancements include the sexual enhancement product Viagra becoming available over the counter, and reproductive wellbeing apps have been created to allow men to test their fertility at home. Without research to understand the ever-changing landscape for men we are ill-prepared to understand what these new products and advancements mean for men's role. Using various forms of publicly available online data and previous empirical research, this chapter will review men's response to new contraceptives, sexual enhancement products, and reproductive wellbeing apps. The results will be discussed in relation to updating the Subjective Expected Utility (SEU) Theory, the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the integrated developmental and decision-making contraceptive models used by health psychologists.
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Catherine Demangeot and Amanda J. Broderick
A customer’s visit to a retail website is a critical “moment of truth” during which contemporary retailers attempt to simultaneously, during a single web navigation, capture…
Abstract
Purpose
A customer’s visit to a retail website is a critical “moment of truth” during which contemporary retailers attempt to simultaneously, during a single web navigation, capture customers’ attention, build rapport, and prompt them to act. By showing how to capture customer commitment over the course of a single website visit, the concept of customer website engagement, defined as “the process of developing cognitive, affective and behavioural commitment to an active relationship with the website”, addresses strategic concerns. Drawing from literature on engagement, the purpose of this paper is to consider how retail websites can engage customers during the course of a website navigation. A conceptual model of website customer engagement underpinned by relationship marketing and communication knowledge, shows how perceptions of the website’s exploration and sense-making potential can activate consumer engagement, and is then empirically tested.
Design/methodology/approach
Using survey data, measures of the four dimensions of engagement (interaction engagement, activity engagement, behavioural engagement, and communication engagement) and of three drivers are developed and validated. The model is tested empirically (n=301) using structural equation modelling.
Findings
The results support the process conceptualisation of engagement, which identifies organismic as well as conative stages, and show the distinct roles played by perceptions of informational exploration, experiential exploration and sense-making in activating engagement.
Practical implications
The study provides online retailing practice with an organising framework enabling online retailing managers to consider how, depending on their product category and their size, they might (re)design their website to optimally produce customer engagement.
Originality/value
The study contributes to online marketing and retailing knowledge by showing the relevance of the concept of engagement as it pertains to customers’ single navigations on retail websites, and by empirically showing, through a parsimonious model, how engagement can be activated and unfold.
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Amanda Jane Davies, Antony Stephenson, Belinda Briggs and Douglas Allan
Literature and research are emerging in an effort to contribute to strategy development and implementation to address these challenges. Currently, there is no readily identified…
Abstract
Purpose
Literature and research are emerging in an effort to contribute to strategy development and implementation to address these challenges. Currently, there is no readily identified study that combines examination of both academic and grey (i.e. media, government, and non-government reports) literature in a recent time frame (2019–2023) focused specifically on identification of the factors that influence attrition and retention rates; or detailed studies that have evaluated the implementation of strategies to address these challenges within the law enforcement and policing employment field. The study presented in this article seeks to add to the body of knowledge informed by recent (2019–2023) literature and in parallel offer insight into the critical areas of influence to be considered by police and law enforcement decision-makers.
Design/methodology/approach
The study utilised the PRISMA-P concept for systematic reviews as a general guide for identifying appropriate literature which revealed a total of 37 academic peer-reviewed articles and 21 grey literature documents contributing to identification of five overarching areas influencing attrition and retention.
Findings
The study identified the following factors contributing to attrition and retention: Job satisfaction and organisational factors; Supervision; Work-life balance; Recruitment, Training and Officer expectations; Financial compensation and job alternatives. There are differences in factors between this study and previous studies, i.e. recruitment strategies related to officer expectations was identified as a contributing factor. These additional factors offer a further contribution to future policy and strategy deliberations and implementations to address the workforce levels within police agencies.
Research limitations/implications
Future research endeavours may include examining the outcomes of strategic endeavours addressing the five core influencing factors for retention of law enforcement and police officers.
Practical implications
The identification of these five factors drawn from the literature review offers potential direction/areas of concentration for law enforcement and policing agencies to direct their efforts in addressing retention and attrition of staff.
Originality/value
Currently, there is no readily identified study that (a) combines examination of both academic and grey (i.e. media, government and non-government reports) literature in a recent time frame (2019–2023) focused specifically on identification of the factors that influence attrition and retention rates; or detailed studies for addressing these challenges within the law enforcement and policing employment field. The study presented in this article seeks to address this gap in the literature and in parallel offer insight into the critical areas of influence to be considered by police and law enforcement decision-makers.
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Patient satisfaction is measured at all levels of the Australian health system. However, these activities are not guided by formal national policy, nor is there a uniform approach…
Abstract
Patient satisfaction is measured at all levels of the Australian health system. However, these activities are not guided by formal national policy, nor is there a uniform approach to measuring patient satisfaction. While the reasons for exploring patient satisfaction are widely supported and can be easily documented, the construct of patient satisfaction itself remains ambiguous. Although health practitioners frequently refer to patient satisfaction when evaluating health care services; it is not clear if practitioners share a clear perspective or understanding about the meaning of the construct. Exploring the practitioner’s own understanding of what is meant by patient satisfaction is a critical first step before any comparative analysis between the practitioners’ understanding, the dimensionality of measurement tools, and the beliefs of the consumer can be conducted. This paper explores Australian health practitioners’ understanding of patient satisfaction. A convenience sample of 29 staff representing 17 hospitals from across Australian States and Territories consented to participate in a series of focus groups. Systematic ethnographic summary and content analysis revealed 15 themes which health practitioners considered important in making a patient’s hospital stay satisfactory. However, health practitioners, even those involved with measuring patient satisfaction, struggled to either define patient satisfaction or clarify what the phenomenon meant empirically. While hospitals commonly report the outcomes of evaluating patient satisfaction, this research suggests that the value of such reports in everyday practice may be limited by confusion and ambiguity.
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The purpose of this paper is to highlight both the value and critiques of Erving Goffman’s conceptualization of stigma as well as the emotion work needed to learn the lessons it…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to highlight both the value and critiques of Erving Goffman’s conceptualization of stigma as well as the emotion work needed to learn the lessons it has to teach.
Methodology/approach
I use a personal narrative grounded in my experience as a member of the “wise” category (the mother of a young woman with cerebral palsy) and observations of the reactions of my disabled students as a vehicle for taking the reader inside the experience of the trials and tribulations of reading Goffman as a member of “marked” social categories and the more humanizing experience of reading Spencer Cahill’s work.
Findings
There remains much to be learned from reading Goffman’s Stigma. In many ways his work has set the stage for approaches to the study of disability that we are still discovering. Learning these lessons through is made difficult by the de-humanizing perspective Goffman brings to the work. He clearly locates himself and his readers in the category of “we the normals” who see the stigmatized as “not quite fully human.” For disabled students and scholars and their families, reading Goffman requires a good deal of emotion management. Reading Spencer Cahill’s work can help in that process. Goffman presents disabled students and scholars and their family members with confirmation of what we know to be true about our marked and not quite human status in the eyes of others and in the process gives us our “own.” Cahill helps us all see ourselves in the strangeness that is inside social life. There is great value in both.
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Amanda Kirby, W. Huw Williams, Betony Clasby, Nathan Hughes and Mary Ann Megan Cleaton
This paper aims to examine the relationship between patterns of functioning in four domains (attention and concentration; social and communication; coordination and organisation;…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the relationship between patterns of functioning in four domains (attention and concentration; social and communication; coordination and organisation; and literacy and numeracy) in women in prison. Also, to consider potential associations between functioning and previous Neurodevelopmental Disorder (NDD) diagnoses, previous mental health diagnoses and history of head injury, self-harm and attempted suicide.
Design/methodology/approach
Women in one Scottish prison were invited to participate; 87 consented. Women were screened for functional difficulties and asked about their relevant educational and medical history.
Findings
Half of participants reported difficulties in one or more domains. All possible combinations of functional difficulties were found. Only eight women reported previous NDD diagnoses. Functional difficulties were significantly associated with history of self-harm, history of attempted suicide and mental health diagnoses. In total, 32% of women reported at least one head injury, but this was not significantly associated with functional difficulties.
Research limitations/implications
The sample was comparatively small and questions were self-report. Analyses were based on within-cohort comparisons due to a lack of appropriate general population data.
Practical implications
There is a clear need for timely, practical and comprehensive profiling of females in the Justice System. Current systems do not appear to adequately identify women with functional difficulties or other adversity. Greater use of interdisciplinary working and shared training is indicated, as is a move from categorical diagnostic systems towards dimensional approaches.
Originality/value
This study is the first to investigate associations between difficulties associated with NDDs, mental health difficulties and head injury in women in prison.