Kate Levin, Jo Inchley, Dorothy Currie and Candace Currie
The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of the health promoting school (HPS) on adolescent well‐being.
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this paper is to examine the impact of the health promoting school (HPS) on adolescent well‐being.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from the 2006 Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children: WHO‐collaborative Study in Scotland were analysed using multilevel linear regression analyses for outcome measures: happiness, confidence, life satisfaction, feeling left out, helplessness, multiple health complaints (MHC) and self‐rated health.
Findings
Particularly high proportions of both boys and girls reported high life satisfaction and no MHC. For the majority of outcomes, mean proportions of young people reporting positive well‐being were greater for schools that had or were working towards HPS status compared with those that did not. The odds of young people in a HPS never feeling left out were significantly greater than those in a school with no HPS status (OR=1.54, with 95 per cent CI (1.03, 2.29) for boys, OR=1.60 (1.03, 2.50) for girls). Similarly, among girls, the odds of never feeling helpless were also significantly greater (OR=1.57 (1.07, 2.16)). However, the odds of excellent health were lower for girls in a HPS (OR=0.60 (0.38, 0.95)).
Research limitations/implications
The findings suggest that while achieving an atmosphere of inclusion in schools, the HPS may also have increased awareness of health among girls, but may not have had much influence on life satisfaction, confidence or happiness.
Originality/value
The mental well‐being of children and adolescents is a priority area for the World Health Organisation and the Scottish Government. This is a relatively new field with little research undertaken to date looking at the impact of HPS on mental well‐being.
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Kate A. Levin and Candace Currie
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between mother‐child and father‐child communication and children's life satisfaction, and the moderating effect of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the association between mother‐child and father‐child communication and children's life satisfaction, and the moderating effect of communication with stepparents.
Design/methodology/approach
Data from the 2006 Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children: WHO‐collaborative Study in Scotland (n=4,959) were analysed using multilevel linear regression analyses.
Findings
There was an association between both mother‐child and father‐child communication and young people's life satisfaction. Relationship with mother was particularly important, especially among girls. Among boys, not living in a traditional two‐parent family was a predictor of low life satisfaction, even when communication with one or more parents was easy. This effect was independent of economic disadvantage. The quality of the relationship with stepparents moderated these associations very slightly and in single father families only.
Research limitations/implications
Strategies at the population level are recommended to enhance an open atmosphere in the home where young people feel they are able to talk to their parents about things that are bothering them. Further work is needed to understand the needs of high risk groups such as boys living in single father households and girls living in single mother and step families.
Originality/value
The mental well‐being of children and adolescents is a priority area for the World Health Organization and the Scottish Government but is a relatively new field with little known and no measures as yet identified. This study considered the impact of determinants related to the family on adolescent life satisfaction. The context of lone father families, an often missed category, was considered, as was the moderating effect of step‐parents.
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Leslie M. Alexander and Candace Currie
Increasing numbers of young people use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for education, work and leisure activities. Research on ICT and Upper Limb Disorders (ULDs…
Abstract
Increasing numbers of young people use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for education, work and leisure activities. Research on ICT and Upper Limb Disorders (ULDs) in adults has shown that functional impairment, pain and discomfort in the upper limbs, neck and shoulder increases with frequency and duration of exposure to computer use. This paper reports secondary analyses of the Health Behaviour in School‐aged Children: WHO Collaborative Cross‐National Study (HBSC). Data from 11‐, 13‐ and 15‐year‐olds living in Scotland have been used to illustrate that extended periods of time spent computing are associated with neck/shoulder pain and headache. This is a topic which warrants a place on the Health Education agenda.
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Helen Dickinson, Iain Snelling, Chris Ham and Peter C. Spurgeon
The purpose of this paper is to explore issues of medical engagement in the management and leadership of health services in the English National Health Service (NHS). The…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore issues of medical engagement in the management and leadership of health services in the English National Health Service (NHS). The literature suggests that this is an important component of high performing health systems, although the NHS has traditionally struggled to engage doctors and has been characterised as a professional bureaucracy. This study explored the ways in which health care organisations structure and operate medical leadership processes to assess the degree to which professional bureaucracies still exist in the English NHS.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing on the qualitative component of a research into medical leadership in nine case study sites, this paper reports on findings from over 150 interviews with doctors, general managers and nurses. In doing so, the authors focus specifically on the operation of medical leadership in nine different NHS hospitals.
Findings
Concerted attention has been focussed on medical leadership and this has led to significant changes to organisational structures and the recruitment and training processes of doctors for leadership roles. There is a cadre of doctors that are substantially more engaged in the leadership of their organisations than previous research has found. Yet, this engagement has tended to only involve a small section of the overall medical workforce in practice, raising questions about the nature of medical engagement more broadly.
Originality/value
There are only a limited number of studies that have sought to explore issues of medical leadership on this scale in the English context. This represents the first significant study of this kind in over a decade.
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Claudio de Araujo Wanderley, John Cullen and Mathew Tsamenyi
The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) possesses an inherent duality, as it has been described as a carrier of institutions (i.e. the BSC is a “management ideology” or “mode of thinking”…
Abstract
Purpose
The Balanced Scorecard (BSC) possesses an inherent duality, as it has been described as a carrier of institutions (i.e. the BSC is a “management ideology” or “mode of thinking”) and a flexibly interpretive boundary object at the same time. This study examines how this inherent duality of the BSC may influence the unfolding rationales surrounding its implementation and use.
Design/methodology/approach
Empirical support for this investigation is gathered from an in-depth field study. The focal firm is a Brazilian electricity distribution company that transitioned from state to private ownership under hyper-regulation, and whose holding company experienced strategic and structural changes.
Findings
The study identified a misalignment between the characteristics of the firm (e.g. organizational logics) and the perceived BSC features. This misalignment initially produced tensions and institutional logics complexity for the organization forcing the BSC implementers to rationalize it to provide meaning regarding its implementation in the firm. The findings also show why and how the promoters of the BSC conducted its “strategy of translation” in order to disentangle and reassemble both the material and symbolic components of the BSC to facilitate its implementation and use. It was found that promoters of the BSC engaged in contextualization work, which featured two main actions: a combination of coupling and selective decoupling and a change of meaning.
Originality/value
This paper advances current understanding of the process of the unfolding rationales surrounding management accounting innovations (e.g. the BSC). The study shows that the BSC unfolds in more complex, time-related and simultaneous ways than has previously been reported in the literature. Moreover, the paper contributes by explaining how the management's rationales, relating to their historical understanding, perception of legitimation needs and social skills, contributed to the continuous unfolding of the BSC. In addition, four potentially interesting areas for further research were identified.
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K.P. Singh and Malkeet Singh Gill
The purpose of this paper is to explore the growth and development of periodical literature on Web 2.0 technologies and their other fields.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore the growth and development of periodical literature on Web 2.0 technologies and their other fields.
Design/methodology/approach
Bibliographic data of the articles published in the 13 leading peer‐reviewed journals are obtained from the Emerald database (www.emeraldinsight.com) directly using such keywords as “Web 2.0”, “blogs”, “wikis”, “RSS”, “social networking sites”, “podcasts”, “Mashup”, and multimedia sharing tools, i.e. YouTube and Flickr. The bibliographical surrogates such as author, title, subtitle, source, issue, volume, pages, etc. were recorded in MS‐Excel (2010) sheet for the analysis and interpretation of data. A bibliography of selected articles is provided.
Findings
The study found 206 research articles on the subject published in 13 leading library and information science journals of Emerald for period 2007‐2011. Further, the study found that 2009 was the most productive year with 69 articles. The study observed Online Information Review published 49 articles, and hence can be considered the core journal on the topic. Mike Thelwall from the UK was found to be the most prolific author, having authored or co‐authored five articles.
Research limitations/implications
The study was based on 206 research articles published during the years 2007‐2011. The study was restricted to this period because the Web 2.0 concept was originated during 2004‐2005 and the undertaken period has sufficient published literature on the topic.
Originality/value
The paper provides reliable and authentic information on the subject. This is the first study on this topic.