11 research outputs found
A Future Vision For The Engineering Design Environment: A Future Sociotechnical Scenario
No full textThis paper presents a future vision for the working practices of designers within a manufacturing organisation. By its very nature the engineering design environment is highly distributed in nature and is characterised by a large number of information sources, which together with the designers forms a complex sociotechnical system. In discussions with designers it is apparent that changes are required to this environment to reflect the changes in the design process and organisations. We have developed a scenario that incorporates many of the features requested by designers and managers to improve the design environment. The scenario sets out a route map for the development of technical and social tools that aid the designer
A qualitative study of shift handover practice and function from a socio‐technical perspective
No full textMindfulness training for smoking cessation in adults participating in Alcoholics Anonymous
No full textPurpose: Smoking is the leading cause of preventable disease. Smokers die an average of ten years earlier than individuals who do not smoke. Over 34 million adults in the United States smoke. The goal of this study is to use mindfulness training to increase smoking cessation rates.
Methods: This quality improvement study examined the effectiveness of mindfulness training exercises and smoking cessation rates in adults who attended an alcoholics anonymous meeting in Central New Jersey. Participants completed a pre-test and were then taught how to use mindfulness training exercises when the urge to smoke a cigarette arises. After four weeks of using mindfulness training, the same participants completed a post-test to examine whether mindfulness training exercises aided in smoking cessation.
Results: This study showed that the mean number of cigarettes smoked in a day decreased from 17.5 to 14.77 (n=44, p=<0.001, 95% CI) after mindfulness training exercises were used. There was a 15.58% change in the number of cigarettes smoked after using the mindfulness training exercises. 70.4% of participants in this study found mindfulness training helpful in smoking cessation.
Implications: This study showed a statistically significant reduction in the number of cigarettes smoked after mindfulness training exercises. Mindfulness training was more effective with individuals who have smoked for five years or less. Habit and stress were shown to be the main reasons why individuals in this study smoked. There was no correlation between living with a smoker and cessation rates.D.N.P.Includes bibliographical reference
'Cascades, torrents & drowning’ in information: Seeking help in the contemporary GP practice in the UK
No full textThis paper responds to the Alpine Rendez-Vous (ARV) ‘crisis’ in technology enhanced learning (TEL). It takes a contested area of policy, rapid change in the National Health Service (NHS), and documents the responses to ‘information overload’ by group of General Practitioners Practices in the North of England. Located between the spaces identified by Traxler and Lally as ‘competitive industrialisation’ and Web 1.0, and the consumer/ customer focus and ubiquitous ownership enabled by portable and devices and web 2.0, in this work we see the parallels of the responses of publicly funded bodies moving towards privatisation as part of a neo-liberal agenda. Interviews with health professionals revealed marginalized spaces for informal learning in their workplaces; and a desire to build a community that would enable them to overcome the time/space barriers to networking. The EU Learning Layers Integrating Project develops mobile and social technologies that unlock and enable peer production within and across traditional workplace boundaries. Through the health professional narratives, we capture insights into their daily life, enable the articulation of their needs for an online ‘Help-Seeking’ networking service, underpinned by their desire to consult what Vygotsky calls ‘the more capable peer’
Web-based discussion forums reveal the person-centered relevance and importance of tinnitus
No full textAn increasing number of health researchers are recognizing the benefits of crowdsourcing. Web-based discussion forums are well suited for collecting qualitative research data with tinnitus participants and forum posts can be evaluated using thematic analysis. The present study reports an innovative use of such qualitative data contributed by a group of 148 people with tinnitus and tinnitus professionals through the crowdsourcing platform Tinnitus Talk. While the primary research question was focused on defining symptom concepts, discussions were broad-ranging and extended far beyond this topic. Thematic analysis of the discussion conducted by two analysts identified three novel emerging themes and these were not pre-planned according to the moderator's script. These were (i) the lived experience of tinnitus, (ii) perspectives on interventions for tinnitus, and (iii) the experience of participating in a web discussion forum. These unexpected themes contribute to a richer and more in-depth understanding of tinnitus seen through the eyes of those who experience it on a daily basis. Findings are important since spontaneous themes presumably reflect issues that are of personal relevance and importance to the participants. They therefore give insights into future research directions and have implications for patient-centered counseling strategies that could be effective in clinic.</p
An International Pediatric-Onset Opsoclonus-Myoclonus Ataxia Syndrome Registry and Clinical Research Network: Development, Progress, and Vision
No full textDesigning Scalable Informal Learning Solutions with Personas: A Pilot Study in the Healthcare Sector
No full textDriven by ever shorter cycles of innovation, organizations and individuals nowadays have to acquire, understand and apply new knowledge in shorter periods of time [1]. Much of this rapid learning appears to be achieved by workers learning on the job and from colleagues - informal learning rather than learning from traditional, curriculum-based training [2]. Mobile technology could potentially provide support to this informal learning as it can provide scalable and flexible learning tools that can be used at any time across a variety of locations: at home, on different work sites, during travel [3]. However, designing learning technology that can support such unstructured, creative and expertise-driven informal learning is challenging, especially as there are likely to be great variations across employees in terms of their perceptions, experiences and expectations regarding technology [4]. These expectations and experiences may also differ from those of the developers and designers. Yet it is the match between user requirements and functionalities that lies at the heart of a successful learning technology. In Learning Layers we are exploring how creating and using Personas may help to design scalable technology for supporting informal learning in healthcare.</p
Going beyond your personal learning network, using recommendations and trust through a multimedia question-answering service for decision-support: A case study in the healthcare.
No full textSocial learning networks enable the sharing, transfer and enhancement of knowledge in the workplace that builds the ground to exchange informal learning practices. In this work, three healthcare networks are studied in order to understand how to enable the building, maintaining and activation of new contacts at work and the exchange of knowledge between them. By paying close attention to the needs of the practitioners, we aimed to understand how personal and social learning could be supported by technological services exploiting social networks and the respective traces reflected in the semantics. This paper presents a case study reporting on the results of two co-design sessions and elicits requirements showing the importance of scaffolding strategies in personal and shared learning networks. Besides, the significance of these strategies to aggregate trust among peers when sharing resources and decision-support when exchanging questions and answers. The outcome is a set of design criteria to be used for further technical development for a social semantic question and answer tool. We conclude with the lessons learned and future work
A Defence of Informational Structural Realism
No full textThis is the revised version of an invited keynote lecture delivered at the 1st Australian Computing and Philosophy Conference (CAP@AU; the Australian National University in Canberra, 31 October – 2 November, 2003). The paper is divided into two parts. The first part defends an informational approach to structural realism. It does so in three steps. First, it is shown that, within the debate about structural realism (SR), epistemic (ESR) and ontic (OSR) structural realism are reconcilable. It follows that a version of OSR is defensible from a structuralist-friendly position. Second, it is argued that a version of OSR is also plausible, because not all relata (structured entities) are logically prior to relations (structures). Third, it is shown that a version of OSR is also applicable to both sub-observable (unobservable and instrumentally-only observable) and observable entities, by developing its ontology of structural objects in terms of informational objects. The outcome is informational structural realism, a version of OSR supporting the ontological commitment to a view of the world as the totality of informational objects dynamically interacting with each other. The paper has been discussed by several colleagues and, in the second half, ten objections that have been moved to the proposal are answered in order to clarify it further
A Consensus on Stroke: Early Supported Discharge
No full textBackground and Purpose-Research evidence supporting Early Supported Discharge (ESD) services has been summarized in a Cochrane Systematic Review. Trials have shown that ESD can reduce long-term dependency and admission to institutional care and reduce the length of hospital stay. No adverse impact on the mood or well-being of patients or carers has been reported. With the implementation of many national and international stroke initiatives, we felt it timely to reach consensus about ESD among trialists who contributed to the review. Methods-We used a modified Delphi approach with 10 ESD trialists. An agreed list of statements about ESD was generated from the Cochrane review and three rounds of consultation completed. ESD trialists rated statements regarding team composition, model of team work, intervention, and success. Results-Consensus of opinion (>75% agreement) was obtained on 47 of the 56 statements. Multidisciplinary, specialist stroke ESD teams should plan and co-ordinate both discharge from hospital and provide rehabilitation in the community. Specific eligibility criteria (safety, practicality, medical stability, and disability) need to be followed to ensure this service is provided for mild to moderate stroke patients who can benefit from ESD. Length of stay in hospital, patient and carer outcome measures and cost, need to be routinely audited. Conclusions-We have created a consensus document that can be used by commissioners and service providers in implementing ESD services. Our aim is to promote the use of recommendations derived from research findings to facilitate successful implementation of stroke services nationally and internationally. (Stroke. 2011;42:1392-1397.
