Patricia Grocott, Heather Weir and Mala Bridgelal Ram
The purpose of this paper is to address three topical themes: user involvement in health services research; determining the value of new medical technologies in patient care…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to address three topical themes: user involvement in health services research; determining the value of new medical technologies in patient care pathways, furthering knowledge related to quality in health and social care; and knowledge exchange between manufacturers, health service supply chain networks and device users. The model is being validated in a case study in progress. The latter is a “proving ground” study for a translational research company. Medical devices play a pivotal role in the management of chronic diseases, across all care settings. Failure to engage users in device development inevitably affects the quality of clinical outcomes. A model of user engagement is presented, turning unmet needs for medical devices into viable commercial propositions.
Design/methodology/approach
A case study investigating the perceptions of individuals with Epidermolysis Bullosa (EB), their lay and professional carers into unmet needs. EB is an inherited condition affecting the skin and mucosal linings that leads to blistering and wounds.
Findings
Qualitative data are being collected to generate understanding of unmet needs and wound care products. These needs are being translated into new design concepts and prototypes. Prototypes will be evaluated in an n=1 experimental design, generating quantitative outcomes data.
Originality/value
There are generalisations from the case study, and the model outlined. New products for managing EB wounds can logically benefit other groups. The model is transferable to other clinical problems, which can benefit from research and technological advances that are integral to clinical needs and care.
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Heather Richardson, Angela Payne, Emily Richardson, Myint Oo, Mandy Weir, Amy-Louise Byrne, Danielle Le Lagadec and Melanie Hayman
Residential Medication Management Reviews (RMMR) are a key component of safe, high-quality aged care service delivery. The RMMR is an interdisciplinary approach to medication…
Abstract
Purpose
Residential Medication Management Reviews (RMMR) are a key component of safe, high-quality aged care service delivery. The RMMR is an interdisciplinary approach to medication management that relies on collaboration, communication and integration of systems. Acting as an improvement opportunity, the purpose of this paper is to present findings from a regional study, aimed at assessing the impact of RMMR on falls and hospital admissions and identifies barriers to impactful research in this area.
Design/methodology/approach
A three-year retrospective quantitative longitudinal practice audit was conducted in a regional state-managed high-care residential facility in Queensland, Australia. Data was collected pre-RMMR and six months post-RMMR.
Findings
The data collected was insufficient to achieve statistical significance or demonstrate the impact of RMMR on health outcomes. Factors impeding the research included limited ability to collect the data due to the lack of integration of information systems and limited stakeholder engagement resulting in poor recruitment. This highlights the need for improvement in RMMR processes and practices, and indeed wider research collaboration in the aged care sector.
Research limitations/implications
Thís paper acts as a call to action to improve research and interprofessional collaboration in Australian aged care.
Originality/value
The aged care industry needs high-quality research to drive practice improvement and collaborative care and service delivery. This paper advocates for improvements in the aged care sector with respect to research engagement and communication pathways between service providers. Advancement in systems integration for information sharing, recruitment of participants and stakeholder engagement will support evidence-based practice and process change.
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Marion Crowley‐Henry and David Weir
Using narratives from four women following international careers in France, this paper seeks to offer an insight into the depth and complexity of career issues for women working…
Abstract
Purpose
Using narratives from four women following international careers in France, this paper seeks to offer an insight into the depth and complexity of career issues for women working in a foreign country.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a qualitative hermeneutic inductive research undertaking on international protean careers, using in‐depth interview data together with contextual information regarding the specificity of the location in question.
Findings
The concept of the protean career is highlighted in the findings. This concept is described as “having an ability to reform oneself” also referred to as “morphing”. The findings in this study demonstrate how the women in the sample had the proven capability of morphing their professional role over time due to circumstance.
Research limitations/implications
The findings are limited as they cannot be generalised to a wider population due to the small sample size. However, the aim was not to generalise, but to share an in‐depth collection of real‐life stories from women.
Practical implications
Careers are complex, even more so on an international level. Individual choices regarding career pathways require more individualised career management approaches within organisations.
Originality/value
This research adds to the limited extant European research on women and international careers from a qualitative perspective.
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In the contemporary US, pregnant women must navigate competing ideas about their bodies, including expectations for weight gain. Given that there are few social spaces where women…
Abstract
In the contemporary US, pregnant women must navigate competing ideas about their bodies, including expectations for weight gain. Given that there are few social spaces where women may gain weight without disapproval, pregnancy represents a period when women are allowed to put on weight. However, gaining weight means doing so within the context of the obesity “epidemic” and increased medical surveillance of the body. To explore how women navigate the medicalization of pregnancy weight, I draw on data from in-depth interviews with 40 pregnant and recently pregnant women. Findings indicate that women reframe the meaning of pregnancy weight as “baby weight,” rather than body weight. This allows them to view it as a temporary condition that is “for the baby,” while holding two concurrent body images – a pregnant and a non-pregnant version of themselves. Women also resist the quantification of their maternity weight, either by not keeping track or not looking at scales in the doctor’s office. Doing so prevented baby weight from turning back into body weight – a concrete and meaningful number on the scale. Such resistance to quantification is often accomplished with the help of doctors and healthcare professionals who do not explicitly discuss weight gain with their patients. These findings suggest that women rely on a variety of strategies to navigate the medicalization of pregnancy weight, and provides another lens through which to understand how and why women may make similar choices about other medicalized aspects of their pregnancy (or pregnancy experiences).
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The deadhead subculture – centered around the band Grateful Dead – has been active for 50+ years. Despite its longevity, academic work is sparse compared to other music…
Abstract
The deadhead subculture – centered around the band Grateful Dead – has been active for 50+ years. Despite its longevity, academic work is sparse compared to other music subcultures. Given its durability and resilience, this subculture offers an opportunity to explore subcultural development and maintenance. I employ a contemporary, symbolic interactionist approach to trace the development of deadhead subculture and subcultural identity. Although identity is a basic concept in subculture research, it is not well defined: I suggest that the co-creation and maintenance of subcultural identity can be seen as a dialectic between collective identity and symbolic interactionist conceptions of individual role-identity.
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This paper presents the outcomes of a small qualitative study investigating the experience of mental health practitioners working with dual diagnosis in an early intervention in…
Abstract
This paper presents the outcomes of a small qualitative study investigating the experience of mental health practitioners working with dual diagnosis in an early intervention in psychosis (EIP) team with a focus on the use of a specifically developed screening tool. Interviews were conducted with mental health professionals who were employed as care co‐ordinators within an EIP team. Grounded theory was adopted as a method for making sense of the data obtained. Six themes that emerged from the data are described: the importance of the cycle of change in treatment planning; service accountability and responsibility; the nature of psychotic illness; assumptions about substance use; confidence; and using the tool as part of the recovery process. These themes were discussed in relation to research surrounding psychosis, substance use and screening methods.Despite identifying the importance of a more integrated method of working with this complex service user group, gaps remain in practice. Modifications to the screening tool are recommended and a need for substance‐use‐specific interventions training for practitioners working within EIP services is identified.
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Abstract
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Heather Jane Lawrence, Norm O'Reilly, Alexandra Speck, Chris Ullrich and Kayla Robles
The objective of this paper is to respond to four research questions. The first two as how likely are college football season ticket holders to recommend (1) purchasing a similar…
Abstract
Purpose
The objective of this paper is to respond to four research questions. The first two as how likely are college football season ticket holders to recommend (1) purchasing a similar season ticket package and (2) attending a home football game, to a friend or colleague. The third question examines if there is a difference between advocacy toward purchasing season tickets as compared to advocacy toward game attendance. Finally, we identify what factors impact advocacy for college football season ticket holders.
Design/methodology/approach
An online survey of 57,240 season ticket holders from 69 different National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Division I Football Bowl Subdivision programs was undertaken. The data were analyzed to build a model of the drivers of advocacy in season ticket holders from a conceptual base of advocacy, trust and loyalty.
Findings
The identified drivers include both institutionally influenced factors and factors related to season ticket holder behaviors/demographics. The season ticket holder is arguably the highest level of fan for any sports organization from an affinity perspective and clearly the most important from a business perspective. This research argues that the season ticket holder should not only be the focus of ticket sales efforts but also leveraged as marketing advocates with the objective of attracting additional fans.
Originality/value
The value of this research is the large sample of data from season ticket holders of NCAA Division 1 football clubs and the resulting learning it provides to researchers and practitioners.