Paddy O’Toole, Steven Talbot and Justin Fidock
Stories told in organisations are being used increasingly as a way of gaining greater insight into organisational culture, leadership and health. These insights should be…
Abstract
Stories told in organisations are being used increasingly as a way of gaining greater insight into organisational culture, leadership and health. These insights should be considered when organisational change is needed to improve effectiveness. This paper examines a method that combines data collection through a story elicitation process with intervention design that promotes change and learning within organisations. In this paper, we describe these processes in detail with a step‐by‐step account of how the authors implemented these processes in a research site. Our experience can act as a guide to other researchers undertaking similar projects. Evidence collected so far suggests that these processes can contribute to organisational change in an incremental way that engages people at various levels within an organisation.
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Julia Carins and Sharyn Rundle-Thiele
– The purpose of this paper is to report on a quantitative study of the food environment designed to measure aspects of support for healthy eating.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to report on a quantitative study of the food environment designed to measure aspects of support for healthy eating.
Design/methodology/approach
An ecological view of eating behaviour was taken by examining the food environment that surrounded a military population of interest. Food outlets (n = 34) were assessed using the Nutrition Environment Measures Survey in store (NEMS-S), Nutrition Environment Measures Study in restaurants (NEMS-R) and military Nutrition Environment Assessment Tool (mNEAT) instruments to determine how well food outlets supported healthy eating.
Findings
Despite better-than-average provision of healthy options on-base, the total environment surrounding the military base barely supports healthy eating. Average support to healthy eating was 45 per cent (NEMS) or 27 per cent (mNEAT) of support that could be measured. Individuals accessing this food environment would find few healthy alternatives, little information directing them to healthy choices and pricing and promotion that drives unhealthy eating behaviours.
Research limitations/implications
This study focused on one food environment; replication is recommended to establish foundation data for benchmarking outlets, and further develop these measures for Australian settings. Future studies may assess the media environment to further extend the ecological model used.
Practical implications
A method to measure the food environment is demonstrated which provides formative research insights for use when planning social marketing interventions. Consideration of these influences together with intra- and inter-personal influences offer the potential to better design social marketing healthy eating interventions, by addressing multiple levels within an ecological framework.
Originality/value
This paper answers calls for social marketers to consider the influence of the surrounding environment, using methods not previously used in Australian settings.