Anna Hallberg, Ulrika Winblad and Mio Fredriksson
The build-up of large-scale COVID-19 testing required an unprecedented effort of coordination within decentralized healthcare systems around the world. The aim of the study was to…
Abstract
Purpose
The build-up of large-scale COVID-19 testing required an unprecedented effort of coordination within decentralized healthcare systems around the world. The aim of the study was to elucidate the challenges of vertical policy coordination between non-political actors at the national and regional levels regarding this policy issue, using Sweden as our case.
Design/methodology/approach
Interviews with key actors at the national and regional levels were analyzed using an adapted version of a conceptualization by Adam et al. (2019), depicting barriers to vertical policy coordination.
Findings
Our results show that the main issues in the Swedish context were related to parallel sovereignty and a vagueness regarding responsibilities and mandates as well as complex governmental structures and that this was exacerbated by the unfamiliarity and uncertainty of the policy issue. We conclude that understanding the interaction between the comprehensiveness and complexity of the policy issue and the institutional context is crucial to achieving effective vertical policy coordination.
Originality/value
Many studies have focused on countries’ overall pandemic responses, but in order to improve the outcome of future pandemics, it is also important to learn from more specific response measures.
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Catrine Kostenius, Josef Hallberg and Anna-Karin Lindqvist
The use of modern technology has many challenges and risks. However, by collaborating with schoolchildren, ideas to effectively promote health and learning in school can be…
Abstract
Purpose
The use of modern technology has many challenges and risks. However, by collaborating with schoolchildren, ideas to effectively promote health and learning in school can be identified. The purpose of this paper is to examine how a participatory approach can deepen the understanding of how schoolchildren relate to and use gamification as a tool to promote physical activity and learning.
Design/methodology/approach
Inspired by the concept and process of empowerment and child participation, the methodological focus of this study was on consulting schoolchildren. During a two-month period, 18 schoolchildren (10-12 years old) participated in workshops to create game ideas that would motivate them to be physically active and learn in school.
Findings
The phenomenological analysis resulted in one main theme, “Playing games for fun to be the best I can be.” This consisted of four themes with two sub-themes each. The findings offer insights on how to increase physical activity and health education opportunities using serious games in school.
Originality/value
The knowledge gained provides gamification concepts and combinations of different technological applications to increase health and learning, as well as motivational aspects suggested by the schoolchildren. The findings are discussed with health promotion and health education in mind.
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Margaret Hodgins and Patricia Mannix McNamara
The purpose of this paper is to explore the lived experiences of workplace ill-treatment of administrative and technical staff in the higher education sector, with a particular…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the lived experiences of workplace ill-treatment of administrative and technical staff in the higher education sector, with a particular focus on organisational response.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative interpretative phenomenological research design was employed. Using non-random, purposive sampling strategies nine self-selecting participants from three of the seven universities in the Republic of Ireland were interviewed in person. Data were analysed thematically employing the Pietkiewicz and Smith’s (2012) four-stage data analysis model.
Findings
Thematic analysis yielded four main themes: micro-political nature of bullying, cynicism about the informal response, the formal procedures exacerbate the problem and significant and adverse health impact. Participant narratives engender the lived experience for the reader.
Research limitations/implications
As participants were self-selecting respondent bias is acknowledged.
Practical implications
The findings of this study add to the accumulating evidence that organisations are failing to address workplace bullying.
Social implications
In failing to protect employees, the adverse health difficulties experienced by targets of bullying are further exacerbated.
Originality/value
While the literature yields much in terms of types of behaviours and impact, and argues for anti bullying policies and procedures in the workplace, what is evident is the selective organisational use of policy and procedures and inherent biases in place which expose a reluctance to effectively protect dignity and respect in the workplace.
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Peter Hallberg, Nina Hasche, Johan Kask and Christina Öberg
This paper extends the discussion on stability and change through focus on specific relationship characteristics. Quality management systems prescribe established routines for…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper extends the discussion on stability and change through focus on specific relationship characteristics. Quality management systems prescribe established routines for supplier selection and monitoring, and may thereby designate the nature and longevity of customer–supplier relationships. The purpose of this paper is to describe and discuss the effects of quality management systems on stability and change in different forms of customer–supplier relationships.
Design/methodology/approach
A number of illustrative examples based on participatory data and interviews help to capture different types of customer–supplier relationships (private/public; certified/non-certified) related to quality management systems.
Findings
While certified customers in most sectors only need to prove that their suppliers have procedures in place, many customers equate this with requiring that their suppliers should be certified. The paper further shows that customers replace deeper understandings for their suppliers’ procedures with the requirement that they be certified.
Originality/value
The paper contributes to the existing literature through integrating quality management systems literature with the business network approach. For business network studies, the discussion on quality management systems as constricting regimes is interesting and provides practical insights to the business network studies as such quality management systems increase in importance and spread.
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Katerina Cerna, Alexandra Weilenmann, Jonas Ivarsson, Hans Rysedt, Anna Sigridur Islind, Johan Lundin and Gunnar Steineck
The purpose of this study is to understand the activities in nurses’ work practices in relation to the design process of a self-monitoring application.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to understand the activities in nurses’ work practices in relation to the design process of a self-monitoring application.
Design/methodology/approach
A design ethnographic approach was applied in this study.
Findings
To solve the problem of translating highly qualitative phenomena, such as pain, into the particular abstract features of a self-monitoring application, design participants had to balance these two aspects by managing complexity. In turn, the nurses’ work practices have changed because it now involves a new activity based on a different logic than the nurses’ traditional work practices.
Originality/value
This study describes a new activity included in nurses’ work practices when the nurses became part of a design process. This study introduces a novel way on how to gain a deeper understanding of existing professional practice through a detailed study of activities taking place in a design process. This study explores the possible implications for nurses’ professional practices when they participate in a self-monitoring application design process.
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Ilona Toth, Sanna Heinänen and Anna-Maija Nisula
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of personal resources on knowledge workers’ job engagement in the contemporary economy. Work itself and work environments…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the impact of personal resources on knowledge workers’ job engagement in the contemporary economy. Work itself and work environments are currently undergoing fundamental changes. As such, the focus of engagement research is shifting to an interest in personal resources and the psychological capital of knowledge workers.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper proposes a theoretical model based on a modern interpretation of the conservation of resources theory concerning the relationship between personal resources (self-efficacy, organization-based self-esteem and satisfaction with life) in relation to the three dimensions of job engagement (physical, emotional and cognitive). The proposed model is tested with structural equation modelling (LISREL).
Findings
The results from the analysis of data collected from Finnish university graduates (N = 103) show that the three dimensions of job engagement are strongly influenced by organization-based self-esteem and satisfaction with life but, surprisingly, not by self-efficacy.
Practical implications
Through understanding the impact of personal resources on knowledge workers’ job engagement, organizations can enhance their human relations management practices and develop better support mechanisms for their knowledge workers.
Originality/value
This paper provides empirical evidence for the influence of personal resources on knowledge workers’ job engagement. There is a lack of empirical studies on knowledge workers’ job engagement in the contemporary economy. The changing nature of the way work is being carried out in the contemporary economy raises the importance of personal resources as a key resource for knowledge workers’ job engagement.
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Katie Warner, Saskia Keville, Jemma Hockley and Amanda Ludlow
This research indicates females with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have a diverse clinical presentation compared to males. Furthermore, females with ASD are often diagnosed…
Abstract
Purpose
This research indicates females with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) have a diverse clinical presentation compared to males. Furthermore, females with ASD are often diagnosed later and typically experience greater levels of mental health difficulties. Evidence suggests that clinic-based verbal interventions for ASD have limited efficacy; therefore, alternative therapies, such as equine-assisted therapies (EATs), are gaining recognition. The purpose of this study was to directly explore the experiences of females with an ASD who have undertaken EAT.
Design/methodology/approach
Five female participants with a diagnosis of ASD were recruited from two equine therapy centres. Participants were aged between 15 and 30 years and undertook semi-structured interviews, which were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis.
Findings
Three superordinate themes emerged: the difficult experience of the social world, the process of EAT and the emotional impact of horses.
Originality/value
Directly exploring the experiences of females with ASD highlights benefits from engaging therapeutically with horses, building confidence and independence to transferring this into more effective social communication with other people. Offering emotion-focused therapeutic complementary interventions for females with ASD should be forefronted to help remediate the impact of difficult and sometimes traumatic earlier experiences in the social world. This requires increased funding for EAT, combined with larger-scale research projects to evaluate this.
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Thomas Davies, Holly Eva Ryan and Alejandro Milcíades Peña
Opening the special issue on global protest and democracy since 2011, this article surveys the key dimensions of the debate. It provides a critical overview of significant protest…
Abstract
Opening the special issue on global protest and democracy since 2011, this article surveys the key dimensions of the debate. It provides a critical overview of significant protest events in the post-2011 period and explores a range of the analytical tools that may be used to understand them, before proceeding to identify, disaggregate, and draw into question some of the major claims that have emerged in literature on the post-2011 mobilizations. The articles contained within this volume are then outlined, revealing the novel and nuanced insights provided by the contributors with respect to the post-2011 protests’ composition, mobilization forms, frames, democratic practices, and interrelationships with other actors in pursuit of democratic reform. The article concludes with a discussion of the opportunities for further research into protest and democracy.
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Kia Ditlevsen and Annemette Nielsen
The purpose of this paper is to provide knowledge on barriers to preventive action on early childhood overweight in non-western migrant families. It investigates the underlying…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to provide knowledge on barriers to preventive action on early childhood overweight in non-western migrant families. It investigates the underlying understandings of the parental role in relation to weight control present in health-care professionals and in families.
Design/methodology/approach
The study is based on qualitative interviews with parents who are engaged in interventions aimed at helping them and their children to adopt a healthier life style, and on interviews with health-care professionals.
Findings
This study shows that the participating parents, all low SES and living under different forms of insecurity, perceived their parental task for the present as creating well-being for their children, and they were, therefore, reluctant to enforce dietary changes. The health-care professionals, in contrast, considered the need for change through a perspective on future risks.
Research limitations/implications
The results are based on a rather small sample and the link between insecurity, family dynamics and health practice needs further research.
Originality/value
The participating parents represented a group that is rarely included in scientific research and the study, therefore, contributes valuable knowledge on health behavior in ethnic minority families. The empirical analysis provides new insights for health professionals regarding the suitability of the universal model of parental feeding styles. It illuminates the implications of implicitly applying this model in health interventions which involve vulnerable categories of parents such as refugees to western societies.