Lesley Baillie, Eileen Sills and Nicola Thomas
People who are living with dementia are core health service users, but there are ongoing concerns about the quality of their care and the need for improved education of healthcare…
Abstract
Purpose
People who are living with dementia are core health service users, but there are ongoing concerns about the quality of their care and the need for improved education of healthcare staff. The purpose of this paper is to report a qualitative study that investigated staff perspectives on an ethnodrama (“Barbara’s Story”) which was used to educate an entire health service workforce and promote a person-centred approach to care.
Design/methodology/approach
The study used a qualitative, longitudinal design with focus groups held with clinical (nurses, allied health professionals, medical) and non-clinical staff. In Phase 1 there were ten focus groups (n=67 participants) and one individual interview. In Phase 2 there were 16 focus groups (n=77 participants) and three individual interviews.
Findings
Barbara’s Story raised awareness of dementia, engaged staff emotionally and prompted empathetic responses and improved interactions. The project’s senior leadership, whole organisation and mandatory approach were well-supported, with a perceived impact on organisational culture. The project helped to embed practice developments and initiatives to support person-centred care. Barbara’s Story is now well-integrated into the organisation’s practices, supporting its sustainability in use.
Originality/value
Whilst there are increasing resources for educating about dementia, there are fewer evaluations, particularly for large-scale educational initiatives, and a lack of focus on long-term effects. The study findings indicate that education about dementia can be delivered to a whole workforce in a sustainable manner, to prompt empathy, raise awareness, support person-centred care and impact on individual behaviour and organisational culture.
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Barbara Knowles describes how she came to be involved in The Well, an arts co‐operative in Norwich founded and run by people with experience of mental health problems.
Linda Cardoso, João Pedro Da Ponte and Marisa Quaresma
To understand how lesson study (LS) can promote the development of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of prospective primary teachers. More specifically, to know what PCK…
Abstract
Purpose
To understand how lesson study (LS) can promote the development of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) of prospective primary teachers. More specifically, to know what PCK prospective primary teachers develop during LS and how this development occurs.
Design/methodology/approach
Following a qualitative approach, this study took place in a teacher education institution where a LS was carried out during the last semester of the academic year with the participation of two prospective teachers, a teacher educator, a cooperating teacher and a researcher.
Findings
The results suggest that prospective teachers may develop PCK when they participate in LS, regarding lesson planning (goals and lesson plan), task design, students' difficulties and solving strategies, whole-class discussions and observation of student learning. This development occurs through the engagement in LS activities that allow prospective teachers to deepen their knowledge.
Originality/value
This study investigates how the development of prospective teachers' PCK occurs during LS, providing knowledge about how different activities of the LS help develop different aspects of PCK.
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Beatrice Godwin and Fiona Poland
The purpose of this paper is to examine the self-experience of people with moderate to advanced dementia. While people with dementia are widely assumed to lose their sense of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the self-experience of people with moderate to advanced dementia. While people with dementia are widely assumed to lose their sense of self, emotions are preserved long into dementia and some can still discuss their lives, enabling exploration of respondents’ own self-conceptualisation of experience.
Design/methodology/approach
Ten people, purposively sampled, living in long-term residential or nursing care. A mixed methods design with Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis approach used semi-structured empathetic interviews to explore their experience and continuing goals, using supplementary information from family and others to contextualise core data. Data analysis identified emerging themes and superordinate concepts.
Findings
Sustained well-being and resistant ill-being emerged as major themes. Findings demonstrated continuity in sense of self, moral awareness and diversity of emotional reactions to living with dementia, associated with their emotional capital.
Research limitations/implications
The sample was small and limited to well- and moderately funded care homes. How to provide such support in less-well-funded homes needs further research as do reasons for resistant ill-being in advanced dementia.
Practical implications
Findings suggest care provision for people with advanced dementia which acknowledges individual feelings may support their sustained well-being. Psychological assessments should take closer account of multiple factors in individuals’ situations, including their emotional capital.
Social implications
Findings suggest everyday care of people with advanced dementia, may sustain their sense of self, well-being and emotional capital.
Originality/value
By empathically facilitating in-depth expression of individuals’ feelings and views, this research illuminates the personal self-experience of advanced dementia, hitherto little explored.
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Beth S. Horowitz and Vicki Saunders
SheEO, established in 2015, is a new ecosystem empowering female entrepreneurs with funding, advice, and support. Based on the philosophy of Radical Generosity, and in four…
Abstract
SheEO, established in 2015, is a new ecosystem empowering female entrepreneurs with funding, advice, and support. Based on the philosophy of Radical Generosity, and in four countries with plans to go global in the next decade, SheEO Ventures are crowd-funded and crowd-selected by women and focus on social impact to improve lives and change the world. Early results demonstrate the model’s effectiveness, both financially and in terms of social impact, as well as its global potential.
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David Knights and Vedran Omanović
The purpose of this paper is to challenge the dominance of the mainstream discourse and practice of diversity management (DM) by identifying and problematizing three distinct but…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to challenge the dominance of the mainstream discourse and practice of diversity management (DM) by identifying and problematizing three distinct but related issues that it encompasses: first, its tendency to displace all alternative approaches; second, its general neglect of the social-historical context and third, its almost exclusive focus on the business case rationale for supporting diversity.
Design/methodology/approach
Employing ethnographic research methods, the empirical material was collected in an international manufacturing corporation based in Sweden. It consists of three different, but interconnected approaches: archival research, interviews and observations.
Findings
The paper shows that in neglecting power, identity, intersectionality and the changing socio-historical context of diversity, a well-meaning corporate diversity programme tended to obscure ethnic and age-related disadvantages at work.
Research limitations/implications
The limitations of this research relate largely to its dependence on a single case study and the limited focus on diversity as it affected able-bodied, white male immigrant workers. A broader study of the multiplicity of types of discrimination and ways in which diversity is managed in a range of countries and organizations could facilitate a more in-depth exploration of these issues and arguments.
Originality/value
Although not entirely new, the three arguments that have been drawn upon to discuss, analyse and illustrate DM through our data have rarely been brought together in one theoretical and empirical study.
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Cathy McGouran and Andrea Prothero
This paper aims to explore the impact intentional non-consumption has on consumer practices, the resulting consumption experiences and meanings attached to the actions of…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to explore the impact intentional non-consumption has on consumer practices, the resulting consumption experiences and meanings attached to the actions of participants and what is learned from this relative to voluntary simplicity, most specifically when participants are asked to become voluntary simplifiers versus volunteering to do so.
Design/methodology/approach
A phenomenological approach was applied utilising unstructured interviews and autoethnography. Data were analysed through the theoretical lens of voluntary simplicity within the contexts of contemporary Irish consumer culture and the collapse of the Celtic Tiger.
Findings
The study highlights findings in four key areas: self-imposed parameters of intentional non-consumption and subsequent voluntary simplicity categories; motivations, practices and experiences of participants; the role intentional non-consumption plays relative to personal satisfaction, fulfilment and happiness; and how participant consumption practices reverted to “normal” once the study was complete.
Research limitations/implications
This study focuses on an all-female group of participants; future research is warranted that explores the issue from a male perspective.
Social implications
Findings are of particular interest to policy makers seeking to develop initiatives that reduce consumption practices and contribute to discussions that explore the role of consumption in modern society – in particular the wide-ranging debate on whether consumption leads to happiness and how consumers might be persuaded to consume in a more sustainable manner.
Originality/value
This study adopts an innovative methodology that explores voluntary simplicity and contributes to an understanding of consumption culture by exploring what happens when consumers are asked to reduce their consumption and become voluntary simplifiers. An extension of Huneke’s definition of voluntary simplicity is offered, which recognises the role non-material consumption plays in consumption practices, and explores voluntary simplicity relative not only to individuals’ values and beliefs, as discussed in the literature, but also to their lifestyle activities and wider sociocultural and institutional factors.
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Jie Ren, Huimin Zhao, Jinchang Ren and Shi Cheng
Effective and robust motion estimation with sub-pixel accuracy is essential in many image processing and computer vision applications. Due to its computational efficiency and…
Abstract
Purpose
Effective and robust motion estimation with sub-pixel accuracy is essential in many image processing and computer vision applications. Due to its computational efficiency and robustness in the presence of intensity changes as well as geometric distortions, phase correlation in the Fourier domain provides an attractive solution for global motion estimation and image registration. The paper aims to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In this paper, relevant sub-pixel strategies are categorized into three classes, namely, single-side peak interpolation, dual-side peak interpolation and curve fitting. The well-known images “Barbara” and “Pentagon” were used to evaluate the performance of eight typical methods, in which Gaussian noise was attached in the synthetic data.
Findings
For eight such typical methods, the tests using synthetic data have suggested that considering dual-side peaks in interpolation or fitting helps to produce better results. In addition, dual-side interpolation outperforms curve fitting methods in dealing with noisy samples. Overall, Gaussian-based dual-side interpolation seems the best in the experiments.
Originality/value
Based on the comparisons of eight typical methods, the authors can have a better understanding of the phase correlation for motion estimation. The evaluation can provide useful guidance in this context.