Tim Shaw, Deborah McGregor, Sue Sinclair, Robert Sutherland, Ana Munro and Jackie Ross
Cancer care is complex and an integrated cancer pathway involves many health professionals in a variety of care settings using many skills. The widely distributed and…
Abstract
Purpose
Cancer care is complex and an integrated cancer pathway involves many health professionals in a variety of care settings using many skills. The widely distributed and heterogeneous nature of the cancer workforce raises significant challenges with respect to professional development. Cancer Learning is a government-funded initiative designed to provide access to a wide range of quality online learning resources for all health care professionals involved in the care of cancer patients and their families. The purpose of this paper is to discuss these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
A multi-phase project, led by a consortium of national stakeholders in cancer care, informed the design, build, and deployment of Cancer Learning; an online, evidence based, information and learning portal to support professional development of health professionals across the continuum of cancer care in Australia. An action research approach allowed for an iterative process of ongoing dynamic evaluation and improvement of this workforce improvement resource.
Findings
The National Government Agency, Cancer Australia's Cancer Learning online hub has been supporting the professional development requirements of cancer care professionals since the site deployment in 2007. Since launch, site usage continues to grow and evaluations have been positive. Time constraints of health professionals continue to be a major barrier to sustained online learning participation.
Originality/value
This research recount of the development and implementation of an Australia first national online learning initiative highlights the rigorous approach undertaken for the delivery of a quality evidence-based resource for the professional development of all health professionals involved in the delivery of cancer care.
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Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and…
Abstract
Looks at the 2000 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference held at the University of Cardiff in Wales on 6/7 September 2000. Spotlights the 76 or so presentations within and shows that these are in many, differing, areas across management research from: retail finance; precarious jobs and decisions; methodological lessons from feminism; call centre experience and disability discrimination. These and all points east and west are covered and laid out in a simple, abstract style, including, where applicable, references, endnotes and bibliography in an easy‐to‐follow manner. Summarizes each paper and also gives conclusions where needed, in a comfortable modern format.
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Kelsey Griffen, Oscar Lederman, Rachel Morell, Hamish Fibbins, Jackie Curtis, Philip Ward and Scott Teasdale
This paper aims to examine student exercise physiologists (EPs) and student dietitians’ confidence regarding working with people with severe mental illness (SMI) pre- and…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine student exercise physiologists (EPs) and student dietitians’ confidence regarding working with people with severe mental illness (SMI) pre- and post-practicum in a mental health service.
Design/methodology/approach
This single-arm, quality improvement project included students completing practicum within a lifestyle programme embedded in mental health services. Student EPs completed 100 h of practicum across 15 weeks as part requirement for their Bachelor of Exercise Physiology degree and student dietitians completed six weeks full-time (40 h/week) for the part requirement of their Master of Nutrition and Dietetics. Students completed the Dietetic Confidence Scale (terminology was adapted for student EPs) pre- and post-practicum.
Findings
In total, 27 student EPs and 13 student dietitians completed placement and returned pre- and post-practicum questionnaires. Pre-practicum confidence scores were 90.8 ± 17.1 and 86.9 ± 18.9 out of a possible 140 points for student EPs and student dietitians, respectively. Confidence scores increased substantially post-practicum for both student EPs [mean difference (MD) = 29.3 ± 18.8, p < 0.001, d = 1.56] and dietitian students (MD = 26.1 ± 15.9, p = 0.002, d = 1.64). There were significant improvements in confidence across all domains of the confidence questionnaire for both EPs and dietitian students.
Originality/value
There is a research gap in understanding the confidence levels of student EPs’ and student dietitians’ when working with people with mental illness and the impact that undertaking a practicum in a mental health setting may play. To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore student EP and student dietitian confidence in working with people with SMI pre- and post-practicum in a mental health setting.
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Lori Moore, Billy McKim and Jackie Bruce
Without feedback from members and former members, professional organizations run the risk of being stalemated. This study sought to explore perceptions of current and former…
Abstract
Without feedback from members and former members, professional organizations run the risk of being stalemated. This study sought to explore perceptions of current and former members of the Association of Leadership Educators (ALE) related to the organization and the climate within the organization. No statistical differences were found in the perceptions of dues paying and non-dues paying members related to the climate of ALE as measured by the Team Climate Inventory (TCI); however, perceptions of both groups were fairly neutral. Open-ended questions were asked to elaborate, enhance, and clarify findings. Five themes emerged as successes achieved by ALE including the members, the ALE annual conference, information and idea sharing, networking, and the Journal of Leadership Education. Five themes also emerged as challenges facing the organization including a lack of direction or identity, recruitment and retention issues, lack of cohesion, lack of communication, and lack of participation.
Using the perspectives of dramaturgy and symbolic interactionists like George Herbert Mead and Carl Couch this study focuses on paid sex work in the hypermodern, virtual world of…
Abstract
Using the perspectives of dramaturgy and symbolic interactionists like George Herbert Mead and Carl Couch this study focuses on paid sex work in the hypermodern, virtual world of Second Life. Using seventeen semi-structured interviews and six months of ethnographic fieldwork, I find that the employment of sexual scripts, carrying off a successful erotic scene, and the creative use of communication and embodiment are highly valued in escorts’ performance of Second Life sex work. Escorts craft an online persona that is a digital representation of the self, which is manifested in the embodiment of their digital body or avatar. In addition to digital representations of the physical self, Second Life allows for multiple methods of computer-mediated communication, and escorts are able to re-embody the first life body through the trading of first life pictures, voice cybersex, and web cam cybersex. The data allow the conclusion that most escorts are unwilling to re-embody the first life body for reasons of personal safety and the desire to restrict access to the first life self. I find, however, that there is a porous boundary between first life and Second Life in which the first life self comes through in the Second Life persona. In the concluding remarks, I explore the implications this study has for the negotiation of privacy for new social media actors who are reluctant to fully disclose their lives yet perform a persistent, archived persona for friends and followers on the Internet. This study contributes to a small, but growing, body of literature on Second Life and expands the existing work on embodiment and privacy in the digital realm.
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Jackie L.M. Tam, Piyush Sharma and Namwoon Kim
This paper aims to examine the role that personal cultural orientations play in customer attributions in intercultural service encounters.
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to examine the role that personal cultural orientations play in customer attributions in intercultural service encounters.
Design/methodology/approach
A conceptual model was developed depicting the relationships between service delivery outcome, personal cultural orientations and customer attributions. Data were collected from 640 Chinese and Western customers using scenario-based experiments in a restaurant context to assess the hypothesized relationships in the model.
Findings
The findings show that compared to service delivery success, customers tend to hold service employee and firm responsible for service delivery failure rather than themselves and cultural differences. Moreover, personal cultural orientations partially moderated the influence of the service delivery outcome on customer attributions.
Research limitations/implications
Future research could adopt different methodologies such as critical incident techniques and surveys to replicate the study.
Practical implications
Service firms are recommended to design programs to influence customer attributions such as “customer education programs” and “customer appreciation programs” to achieve high customer satisfaction.
Originality/value
This study examines the differences in customer attributions between successful vs unsuccessful service delivery. It also sheds light on the potential moderating role of personal cultural orientations on the relationship between service delivery outcome and customer attributions.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically the impact of improvement in service‐delivery quality on customer satisfaction and repeat patronage, in the context of…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate empirically the impact of improvement in service‐delivery quality on customer satisfaction and repeat patronage, in the context of health services.
Design/methodology/approach
A longitudinal study of patients at a health care centre in Hong Kong assessed the effect of quality improvements made in response to the findings of its first phase, with respect to patient satisfaction and intention to revisit. Data were collected by questionnaire‐based interviews with more than 1,000 patients visiting the centre.
Findings
Exploratory factor analysis, varimax rotation and t‐tests show that basing a service quality improvement programme on feedback from the patient survey did improve satisfaction and intention to revisit. Conclusions include the importance of management commitment to quality for effective outcomes.
Research limitations/implications
The results are based on the responses of clients of a single health centre, during surveys conducted outside the premises in real time, and can be generalized to other settings only with due caution.
Originality/value
Empirical evidence is provided of the positive impact of quality improvement on patient satisfaction and revisit intention in a real situation.
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Jackie Rodgers and Ruth Townsley
Organisations need to think about how to share information with people with learning difficulties. This paper draws on findings from a recent research project to inform the…
Abstract
Organisations need to think about how to share information with people with learning difficulties. This paper draws on findings from a recent research project to inform the commissioning of easier information. Its aim is to promote more effective information provision and the best possible value for money.