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1 – 10 of 495Aileen O’Reilly, Alanna Donnelly, Jennifer Rogers, Olive Maloney, Gillian O’Brien and Elizabeth Doyle
Measuring parent satisfaction is regarded as essential but there is a paucity of research reporting on parental satisfaction with community youth mental health services. This…
Abstract
Purpose
Measuring parent satisfaction is regarded as essential but there is a paucity of research reporting on parental satisfaction with community youth mental health services. This study aims to examine parent satisfaction with Jigsaw – a primary care youth mental health service.
Design/methodology/approach
A measure of parent satisfaction was developed and administered to parents in 12 Jigsaw services over a two-year period (n = 510, age range: 28 to 70 years) when young people and parents were ending their engagement with these services.
Findings
Overall, parents had high levels of satisfaction with Jigsaw and their level of satisfaction did not vary depending on the parent or young person’s age and/or gender. Examination of qualitative feedback revealed three overarching themes relating to growth and change in young people, parents and their families; strengths of the service and; suggestions for future service development. Analysis of the psychometric properties of the measure provided evidence for a two-factor structure examining satisfaction with the intervention and outcomes and service accessibility and facilities.
Originality/value
This study represents one of the first efforts to measure parent satisfaction with primary care youth mental health services. It has resulted in the development of a brief measure that can be more widely administered to parents engaging with primary care youth mental health services.
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Gillian Armstrong, Heather Farley, Jennifer Gray and Mark Durkin
To assess the potential for development in the agri‐food sector by investigating: consumer awareness of health‐enhancing foods; key influences on their perceptions of and…
Abstract
Purpose
To assess the potential for development in the agri‐food sector by investigating: consumer awareness of health‐enhancing foods; key influences on their perceptions of and attitudes towards these foods; their relevant purchasing behaviour in the context of the Northern Irish dairy products market. To develop recommendations for future segmentation and positioning strategies for health‐enhancing dairy foods.
Design/methodology/approach
Northern Ireland is a geographically discrete area of the United Kingdom, which relies heavily on the agri‐food industry in general, and the dairy sector in particular. A consumer questionnaire was adapted from previous studies. After two pilot studies with 30 and 50 consumers, 600 were administered face‐to‐face to a quota sample of male and female shoppers in six key supermarkets across Northern Ireland. Results were collated and analysed by SPSS. Descriptive parametric and non‐parametric statistics re‐reported in findings.
Findings
There is potential for the agri‐food industry to expand further, particularly in the case of added‐value food products, among which health‐enhancing foods should be treated as an important subset. However, a pre‐requisite is development of enhanced consumer segmentation and product positioning strategies.
Research limitations/implications
The findings and conclusions derive from one study of one specialist product type in one small national market. Generalisation should be possible, at least informally, but comparative studies are indicated.
Practical implications
The findings indicated a general lack of awareness of the health‐enhancing food concept and the level of (largely proven) health benefits of such products, which is a barrier to their wider adoption of these products. The key aims goals for marketing planners in this context are thus awareness generation and consumer education. The crucial segments of the general target audience and the core message to be conveyed, are both defined by the findings.
Originality/value
This study provides a research‐based foundation for a more proactive and informed marketing strategy in a particular context, potentially transferable to other market sectors and locations.
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Margaret Denny, John Wells and Jennifer Cunningham
The European Union's (EU) social and employment policy emphasizes that member states should develop workforce development policies that combat work‐related stress. Within the EU…
Abstract
Purpose
The European Union's (EU) social and employment policy emphasizes that member states should develop workforce development policies that combat work‐related stress. Within the EU, there are few comparative data on the psychosocial job strain characteristics and experiences of staff working in the vocational rehabilitative sector in mental health and intellectual disabilities. The purpose of this paper is to discuss a Leonardo Da Vinci‐funded project – The Reducing Occupational Stress in Employment Project (ROSE) – which aims to reduce stress amongst managers and support staff working in the mental health and intellectual disability occupational support sector across the EU.
Design/methodology/approach
This research paper reports the findings of a small‐scale across method study, using a cross‐sectional design and focus groups, on psychosocial job strain amongst managers and support workers in five European countries. Data were gathered through administration of the job content questionnaire (JCQ) and a series of focus groups.
Findings
Findings from the JCQ showed that just under 20 percent of the sample exhibited symptoms of job strain. Results from the focus groups indicated that the key stressors for workers were balancing work demands with time available to carry out tasks; poor communication within organizations; and feeling unsupported in one's work. In addition, it was found that there are no national or European data collected, at any level, upon which to base effective interventions to combat occupational stress and no effective mechanisms in the workplace to deal with occupational stress for professionals working in this sector.
Practical implications
Based on the findings, a web site was developed that provides helpful information to managers, trainers, and support workers to manage personal and organizational stressors and raises awareness of the issue within Europe and beyond.
Originality/value
The ROSE project is significant at this time considering the current thrust of EU policy initiatives on mental health, workplace stress and employee well‐being.
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Tina Hurley, Nora Hegarty and Jennifer Bolger
To describe the challenges involved in developing and delivering a pilot library skills course to a group of international bridging studies students from China and Pakistan. To…
Abstract
Purpose
To describe the challenges involved in developing and delivering a pilot library skills course to a group of international bridging studies students from China and Pakistan. To provide guidelines for other libraries who may be faced with similar challenges.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper documents the development and delivery of a pilot course for international students. The course described formed part of an accredited Critical Thinking & Research Skills module. The challenges of the project are described and a number of recommendations for its future development are outlined.
Findings
The project underlined the challenges involved in teaching library skills to international students. The main barrier that emerged throughout the course related to communication difficulties. Language levels amongst the group were poorer than anticipated. The group did display excellent IT skills, however, and enjoyed class work that actively engaged them in the learning process.
Research limitations/implications
The project is still at a pilot stage of development. The paper provides a short‐term view of one small academic library's experience of working with international students. No full‐scale student survey has been conducted to date.
Practical implications
This account of WIT Libraries experience of developing and delivering an accredited information skills course for the bridging studies group is likely to be a useful source of practical information for libraries in similar positions, of similar scale, faced with similar challenges.
Originality/value
Offers practical solutions for libraries in similar positions. The successful diversification of the traditional library role is likely to be of interest to all members of the library profession.
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Áine Dunne, Margaret‐Anne Lawlor and Jennifer Rowley
The purpose of this paper is to explore why young people use and participate in social networking sites (SNSs) with specific reference to Bebo.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore why young people use and participate in social networking sites (SNSs) with specific reference to Bebo.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative approach is employed in this paper with a view to exploring the uses and gratifications (U and G) that girls aged 12‐14 years, both seek and obtain from the Bebo SNS. The research is conducted in a school setting in Ireland.
Findings
The findings indicate that the participants are actively using Bebo for their own personal motives and gratifications in terms of presenting and managing a certain identity and persona in a social context. Furthermore, the relatively impersonal nature of the online environment is seen to especially facilitate the young participants in negotiating the practicalities and difficulties that can arise offline, in terms of forging identities and managing relationships.
Originality/value
U and G theory has attracted criticism in terms of a perceived limitation that it only serves to offer lists of reasons as to why audiences attend to the media, and furthermore, a perception that much of the extant U and G research has desisted from discerning between gratifications sought (GS) and gratifications obtained (GO). This paper affirms the appropriateness of the U and G theoretical approach in the context of online research. The authors conclude that SNS such as Bebo facilitate the participants in this paper in executing personal aims (for example, identity creation and management) with a view to obtaining certain gratifications (for example, peer acceptance). Therefore, a clear distinction but inextricable link is demonstrated between the GS and GO from participating in SNS.
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Jennifer Ireland, Helen Mary Correia and Tim Mark Griffin
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and describe the features of a new e‐learning quality framework developed for a large multi‐campus university. The framework is…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to introduce and describe the features of a new e‐learning quality framework developed for a large multi‐campus university. The framework is explicitly designed to improve the quality of e‐learning sites and the quality of online student learning, by developing the skills of the academics who design the sites.
Design/methodology/approach
This is a conceptual paper. It examines a range of existing models and literature on evaluative frameworks in e‐learning and positions the new framework within that context. It describes the features that distinguish the new framework from existing models and explains how these differences are tailored to develop the e‐learning design skills of academic staff and to encourage greater engagement with e‐learning quality initiatives across the university.
Findings
The paper identifies several features of the new framework that differ from other models and explains the inclusion of these features in terms of the support they provide for quality improvement at a university where academics are the main designers of e‐learning sites.
Originality/value
The paper makes a contribution to the literature on quality initiatives in e‐learning by introducing a new quality framework that differs in significant respects from other models. The rationale underpinning the inherently developmental design of this framework, as set out in this paper, may be useful to other universities where academics are the main designers of e‐learning sites.
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Sonnet Ireland and Jennifer Jackson
To examine the use of student workers in libraries, and to outline how a student worker training program can be designed and implemented. A review of published works (1978–2014)…
Abstract
To examine the use of student workers in libraries, and to outline how a student worker training program can be designed and implemented. A review of published works (1978–2014), which aims to provide information on training and using student workers for more advanced tasks. A description of the history of student workers in the reference department of the Earl K. Long Library, along with a detailed account of the training used to transform the Student Reference Assistant positions. Finally, a survey sent electronically to all Louisiana academic libraries to gather information on how other libraries use student workers. Many libraries rely on student workers for staff-level tasks. Libraries can use student workers to fill in staffing gaps, to a certain extent, as long as a proper training program is implemented. Research was limited to Louisiana academic libraries, so it is not a comprehensive view of student workers throughout the country. While there were a good number of respondents, the survey was not answered by representatives of each Louisiana academic library. A broader study of how student workers are used in libraries should be conducted in the future. Many libraries still rely on staff to do everything. This chapter will provide libraries with options for using student workers in more advanced ways. It also offers key guidelines to follow when forming a training program. Most research in this area focuses on training or assessing student workers and not on finding ways to use them to fill in staffing gaps.
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