National University of Ireland, Maynooth
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The Role of Connected Health Technologies in Supporting the Psychosocial Wellbeing and Quality of Life of People Living with and Beyond Cancer
Get PDFThe number of people living with and beyond cancer (PLWBC) has been steadily increasing in recent years. This growth brings a parallel rise in the demand for ongoing care for the physical and psychosocial challenges associated with cancer diagnosis and treatment. However, access to care and support is limited. Connected Health (CH), defined as the use of technology to gather, analyse, and interpret user data to improve health outcomes, offers a promising solution for bridging healthcare gaps and expanding access to vital support services. While CH holds potential for improving cancer survivorship care, limited evidence exists on how CH interventions are experienced and adopted by PLWBC in Ireland. This thesis examines the potential of CH to support the psychosocial wellbeing and Quality of Life (QoL) of PLWBC, guided by three key objectives namely (i) to examine the role of CH in supporting psychosocial well-being and QoL of PLWBC, (ii) to identify the factors influencing the adoption and utilization of CH technologies among PLWBC and (iii) to explore the barriers and facilitators to CH implementation within the Irish context of cancer survivorship.
This research comprises six interconnected studies to achieve these objectives. Study 1, a systematic literature review and meta-analysis (n = 33 studies), establishes the positive but mixed impact of CH interventions on psychosocial outcomes, in particular anxiety and depression symptoms, and QoL in PLWBC. Study 2, a secondary data analysis of the US-based, population level Health Information National Trends Survey, focused on individuals who self-identified as having has a cancer diagnosis (n = 626). This study identified factors associated with CH use among PLWBC, offering a broad population-level snapshot of access, usage and potential digital disparities, and provided a macro-context for more focused Irish-based studies that followed. The subsequent empirical studies (studies 3a, 3b, and 4) utilised the setting of the Cancer Thriving and Surviving (CTS) programme, a nationwide cancer survivorship programme in Ireland, to explore the PLWBC’s experiences with its online delivery. Study 3a (n = 44) utilised a mixed methods cross sectional design and demonstrated high usability and user satisfaction with CH technologies to deliver the programme in its online format, while also highlighting varying motivations for CH, and the need for tailored approaches. A further analysis of this dataset (Study 3b) revealed that unmet needs may remain among PLWBC even after participating in the programme, highlighting the importance of
providing ongoing care and support to this cohort. Study 4 (n = 43) utilising a cross sectional post-test design compared post programme outcomes and experiences between participants who completed the CTS programme online versus in-person, examining modality preference and associated psychosocial outcomes. Results showed that both modalities are well received and could be utilised in supporting psychosocial wellbeing QoL in PLWBC. This study also highlighted the influence of individual, contextual and geographical factors on delivery mode selection and experience, rather than treating CH as a neutral or uniform medium. Finally, drawing upon insights from the preceding quantitative studies, the fifth study, a qualitative descriptive study, uses in-depth interviews with PLWBC (n=15) to provide richer insights into their lived experiences, challenges and enablers of CH, adding depth and personal context to the preceding studies. Findings showed that, while convenience and improved access to support are highly valued, digital divide concerns and the impersonal nature of virtual interactions are notable barriers to CH use.
Taken together, this research demonstrates the potential of CH technologies in expanding access to survivorship support while also acknowledging the limitations, complexities and contextual factors that influence their adoption and impact in practice. This research underscores the need for personalised, patient-centric CH services that directly address the identified barriers while leveraging facilitating factors. These findings offer valuable insights into improving the adoption and utilisation of CH technologies, ultimately enhancing the accessibility of care and support for PLWBC. This is particularly crucial in the Irish context, where rapid digitalization presents a significant opportunity to improve patient outcomes
Spectral boundary of the asymmetric simple exclusion process: Free fermions, Bethe ansatz, and random matrix theory
Get PDFIn nonequilibrium statistical mechanics, the asymmetric simple exclusion process (ASEP) serves as a paradigmatic example. We investigate the spectral characteristics of the ASEP, focusing on the spectral boundary of its
generator matrix. We examine finite ASEP chains of length L, under periodic boundary conditions (PBCs) and
open boundary conditions (OBCs). Notably, the spectral boundary exhibits L spikes for PBCs and L + 1 spikes
for OBCs. Treating the ASEP generator as an interacting non-Hermitian fermionic model, we extend the model
to have tunable interaction. In the noninteracting case, the analytically computed many-body spectrum shows a
spectral boundary with prominent spikes. For PBCs, we use the coordinate Bethe ansatz to interpolate between
the noninteracting case to the ASEP limit and show that these spikes stem from clustering of Bethe roots. The
robustness of the spikes in the spectral boundary is demonstrated by linking the ASEP generator to random
matrices with trace correlations or, equivalently, random graphs with distinct cycle structures, both displaying
similar spiked spectral boundaries
Assessing the Market Orientation of Higher Education Institutions in Ireland.
Get PDFThere is a link between market orientation (MO) and higher education institution (HEI) performance. However, conceptualisations of MO in a HEI context are limited in their development. A review of the literature provides a specific higher education conceptualisation. This conceptualisation is utilised to undertake a content analysis of the strategic plans of six HEIs in Ireland. The data can be interpreted as identifying the MO of the HEIs. Furthermore, the MO of different HEI types as well as individual HEIs was determined. This paper provides a conceptual framework to assess the MO of HEIs that can provide guidance on future actions to enhance performance
From Toxic Industries to Green Extractivism: Rural Environmental Struggles, Multinational Corporations and Ireland’s Postcolonial Ecological Regime
Get PDFIn this article, we analyse the political ecology of Ireland’s industrial landscape in the current era
of digital capitalism, which has been posited as the primary engine of an oncoming “green” eco-modernisation via smart technologies. As our research has found over the past several years (see
Bresnihan and Brodie 2021a, 2021b, 2023), far from representing benevolent contributors to the
planetary transition away from fossil fuels, digital corporations are poised to become primary
beneficiaries by funnelling accumulation through green transition strategies into and through their
proprietary infrastructures. In what follows, we unravel the ways in which this does not represent
a necessarily new development in Ireland, but rather a historical and continuous transition within
Irish environmental governance that facilitates the accumulation strategies of multinational
companies via a model of foreign direct investment (FDI)-led state development. In so doing, the
Irish state not only participates in these activities as they implicate Irish territory within these global
extractive regimes, it also enrols Irish land, labour and infrastructure into them in geographically
uneven ways. But, at the same time, there have been a multitude of historical and contemporary
examples of civil society objection and outright popular resistance to this development model,
representing points of friction at which environmental contradictions are negotiated and contested
across local communities and the state in often ambivalent way
CROSSDRO: Cross-sectoral Drought Impacts in Complex European Basins
Get PDFDroughts are pervasive and hazardous events that impact multiple domains, including agriculture, water resource management, ecological management, infrastructure, waterway navigation and forestry. A drought in Ireland in 2018, had severe socio-economic and environmental impacts across sectors: agriculture suffered from reduced grass growth, fodder shortages and decreased crop yields, peatlands faced increased wildfire risk and ecological degradation and water management was challenging amid supply issues. In addition, canals, waterways, and rivers experienced weed growth, navigation problems, fishing restrictions and reduced fish health and forestry saw increased tree deaths, especially in peatland plantations. The CROSSDRO project collated a network of river flow gauges across Europe, covering the period 1962–2017, for the analysis of hydrological drought
Language affects endorsement of misconceptions about bilingualism
Get PDFABSTRACT
Bilingualism is associated with a number of false beliefs, myths and
misconceptions, which carry implications for bilingual education and
policymaking. While the language used, often in the media, to express
such misconceptions may have become more subtle, a negative bias
remains and is arguably more difficult to detect and defend against.
The current study examined the endorsement of common
misconceptions by bilingual and monolingual participants as a function
of the phrasing used to construct the misconception statements.
Participants (N = 103; 47% bilingual) completed an online survey
comprising common misconceptions about bilingualism as well as filler
items, rating their agreement with the statements using a 7-point
Likert-type scale. The phrasing of the misconceptions was varied such
that participants read either a strongly worded or weakly worded
version of the statements. The results showed that participants gave
higher ratings of the statements in the weakly worded condition. While
overall the average endorsement of the misconceptions was low, 82%
of participants agreed with at least one misconception and 29% agreed
with half the statements or more. There was no significant difference
between monolinguals’ and bilinguals’ ratings. The findings suggest
that misconceptions about bilingualism remain prevalent and are
readily detectable when worded ambiguously
Being before God: Fabro’s Thomistic approach to Kierkegaard’s Theological Anthropology
Get PDFIn this article, I uncover a point of contact between Cornelio Fabro’s philosophical theology and Søren Kierkegaard’s theological anthropology. I survey how Fabro’s metaphysical account of the human person as a created ‘synthesis’ between the infinite and finite, also invites a soteriological account of the call of Christian discipleship. My wider argument is that Fabro unearthed a structural feature in Kierkegaard’s theological approach to free creation from nothing, human subjectivity, suffering, and freedom that mapped on to Fabro’s philosophical theology of participation. In doing so, Fabro recovered the missing metaphysical and soteriological elements of Kierkegaard’s theological emphasis on the task and goal of selfhood beyond the atheistic existentialist stereotypes of God-denial, acosmic individualism, and self-annihilation. Often construed as polar opposites, I claim that Thomistic philosophy and Kierkegaard’s existential approach can be juxtaposed fruitfully as sharing an important point of departure with free creation from nothing. In short, Fabro’s creative link between Kierkegaard and Thomas Aquinas affords a unique theological development in post-Kantian approaches to the topic of existential freedom
Going Global? Defining, Characterising and Constructing Global Citizenship
Get PDFThis article shares the rationale and outcomes of a research project, titled ‘Going Global’, which was funded by the Irish Research Council’s New Foundations fund resourced by Irish Aid. The project held two regional workshops with personnel in the development and global citizenship education (GCE) fields, one in Belfast and one in Dublin. The workshops had three objectives: to gather views from participants on the meaning and content of global citizenship; to provide theoretical input to inform these discussions; and to enable participants to envisage more practice-grounded means to construct global citizenship in their work. The main finding from the project is that workshop participant attitudes to global citizenship range from the pragmatic, through the agnostic to the sceptical, but that none of these positions are mutually exclusive. Rather, it is recommended that global citizenship be treated as a provisional rather than a materially realised conceptual placeholder, enabling greater discussion and debate on the concept. Such debate should be around some key paradoxes identified by participants in this project including: the lack of a global state to guarantee rights; the perceived Eurocentricity of the concept; and depoliticised, technocratic and individualised biases in dominant conceptualisations of it. Greater conceptual exploration around such paradoxes in the sector could help tease out these positions further for professionals in the field, facilitating a deeper connection with the concept among them
Why are librarians up in arms over ebooks?
Get PDFOpinion: lack of available stock, high prices and onerous terms and conditions mean ebooks currently offer poor value for readers and libraries
Collateral Damage: the Body and the Environment in post-2003 Iraqi fiction
Get PDFThis research maps an aesthetic turn/or shift in Iraqi fiction that occurred after the 2003 US-led invasion and the fall of Saddam Hussein’s Baathist regime. I class this as an experimental turn in the aesthetics of the Iraqi novel that builds on the social realism more prevalent in the pre-2003 Iraqi novel. Post-2003 fiction shares similarities with pre-2003 fiction in that it has been produced either during, or in the aftermath, of a long duration of coloniality/neocoloniality, and is oftentimes inflected, thematically, with the physical environment. Post-2003 Iraqi fiction builds on its pre-2003 forebears in its other-than-realist dislocations of pre-2003 Iraqi social realism, where narratives that are seemingly grounded within realism are punctuated with speculative tropes, as in Frankenstein in Baghdad by Ahmed Saadawi, or with a fragmented narrative punctuated with moments of unreality, as in The Corpse Washer, by Sinan Antoon. These texts share similarities in their preoccupation with the environment and the body; “the body” in this instance signifies the corporeal body/body politic or national body/and the text as a body. In this context, the thesis reads the engagement with Iraq’s natural resources–trees, water and oil–in the two texts in terms of aesthetic and formal techniques of representing violence that impacts the body and the environment in interconnected ways