Challenges for Preventive Digital Stress Management Systems - Identifying Requirements by Conducting Qualitative Interviews

Personal health depends on physical factors as well as on the subject’s behavior and lifestyle. Stress is the cause of numerous diseases unless it is in balance with sufficient relaxation and rest. Nowadays, continuous stress and, as a consequence, a burnout are steadily increasing, thus the need for prevention and stress management is growing too. Digital technologies allow for new methods of stress management to prevent burnout. However, the requirements for such systems remain largely unexplored. This work closes this research gap by offering a qualitative requirement survey and its analysis. For this purpose, 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted from four different perspectives (health insurance companies, care providers, private sector and users), which allowed to derive the requirements for successful digital stress management systems. These can be divided into three categories: Human Centricity, Medicine and Technology

Supply chain risk assessment approach for process quality risks

Purpose- The purpose of the paper is to proactively analyse and mitigate root causes of the process quality risks. The case study approach examines the effectiveness of the fuzzy logic approach for assessing the product and process related failure modes within global supply chain context. Design/Methodology/approach- The case study of a printed circuit board company in China is used as a platform for conducting the research. Using data triangulation, the data is collected and analysed through interviews, questionnaires, expert opinions and quantitative modelling for drawing useful insights. Findings- The fuzzy logic approach to FMEA provides a structured approach for understanding complex behaviour of failure modes and their associated risks for products and processes. Supply Chain Managers should conduct robust risk assessment during the design stage to avoid product safety and security risks. Research Limitations/implications- The research is based on a single case study. Multiple cases from different industry sectors may support in generalising the findings. Originality/Value- The study attempts to mitigate the root causes of product and processes using fuzzy approach to FMEA in supply chain network

Identifying Barriers that Affect Patients Access to their Patient Portals and MHealth Applications

Technological advances have generated new resources that allow patients to be more involved in their healthcare. As different innovations find their way into the informatics sector of healthcare, patients experience some challenges as they try to adopt these innovations. One particular innovation in healthcare has been the use of patient portals to promote patient engagement, which will encourage patients to take on a more active role in their healthcare. This study focused in exploring the barriers in the access of MyChart portal at Baptist Memorial Care Corporation and, to some extent, how to handle this problem. An online survey questionnaire was sent to 22 randomly selected support agents and face-to-face interviews were scheduled with 5 of these participants. Data obtained from the 19 respondents who responded to the questions and the five interviewees revealed that the major barrier to patient portal access is the lack of computer or phone skills. At the same time, proxy access problems were identified as another challenge

A Mixed-Methods Study to Investigate the Awareness by Pilgrims and the Saudi Authorities of Health Risks Arising From the Hajj Pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia

One of the most important factors in developing preventative measures is awareness of health risks among public authorities and the public themselves. The coronavirus pandemic of 2020-2023 has exposed significant weaknesses in public health systems that need to be addressed, although research has so far been limited with respect to studies that have explored the perceptions of both the public and authorities about the uptake of preventative health measures. As it is the host of the annual Hajj pilgrimage, Saudi Arabia offers a good case study of the health management of one of the biggest mass gatherings in the world. Although the health strategy here usually involves an array of preventative measures, the uptake among pilgrims is extremely low. As a case study exploring the factors that determine uptake, the Hajj pilgrimage is approached in this dissertation using a mixed methodology for the collection of data from the officials of the Hajj and the individuals who participate in it. Some 280 participants were canvassed in the quantitative study. The findings are that 94% considered the Hajj to be safe and limited themselves to taking pre-travel advice on health, while 70% of the respondents reported the diversity of the pilgrims to be the main factor threatening health outcomes. Overall, the study reported a significant shortfall in pilgrims’ perception of the health risks associated with the Hajj pilgrimage. Qualitative research was then utilised to collect data from 17 Hajj officials, using semi-structured interviews followed by thematic analysis. The key themes that emerged in the analysis include, first, the safety of the Hajj as perceived by Saudi officials; secondly, in the face of health risks, how the safety of pilgrims is maintained by Saudi officials; thirdly, avoiding the health risks of the Hajj pilgrimage; fourthly holding training sessions for the Hajj workers; fifthly, the pilgrims’ awareness of health risks; sixthly, the education of pilgrims about health risk in their individual countries; and finally, the use of new technologies to raise the pilgrims’ awareness about health instructions and measure their satisfaction regarding the outcomes

Modeling of causes and consequences of human error in mining processes design: A qualitative study

This research was funded by the Hamedan University of Medical Sciences and Health Services and grant number 140008257113.Peer ReviewedObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::3 - Salut i BenestarObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::8 - Treball Decent i Creixement EconòmicObjectius de Desenvolupament Sostenible::9 - Indústria, Innovació i InfraestructuraPostprint (published version

Risk Assessment as a Tool for Mobile Plant Operators for Sustainable Development: Lessons from the Western Australian Mining Industry

Mobile plant is used extensively not only in the Western Australian (WA) Mining Industry but internationally as well. The use of mobile plant has inherently high risk and every year is associated with a significant number of workplace fatalities and injuries. Prior to this research being conducted there was no specific data published related to mobile plants incidents and fatalities for the Western Australian mining industries. The aim of this research was to improve the safety performance of mobile plant operators in the Western Australia (WA) mining industry by identifying the causes of mobile plant incidents reported to Resources Safety between 1/1/2007 and 31/3/2020

Developing a system for health and safety enhancement and automation in construction sites

The construction industry forms an important element within the economic activities and is known to be challenging and dangerous. Erroneously construction site accidents were accepted as unavoidable. The existing work health and safety protocols goals were not to cut risk but to provide risk assessment by understanding the types of risks associated with various activities and setting out rules and procedures to manage them and cut their impact. This study attempts a proactive approach to construction site health and safety by anticipating the hazards associated with a planned daily work activity and providing on site the relevant training and safety instructions. This was achieved by integrating the project’s digital design with site images processing and analysis. Digital image processing applies signal processing algorithms to images and videos resulting in extracting useful information from them. An essential and critical issue in the field of computer vision is the object’s recognition methods which should be capable of finding the partial occlusion of objects. Knowledge management systems archive and locate the required information and make it available to the relevant destination quickly and efficiently. It can also provide access to information in other construction sites and to the design team. This management system helps to save the gained experience and make it available to the project or other similar projects. The Building Information System was introduced as a system in which the objectives of this study can be incorporated leaving the door open to incorporate other project management activities. The possible solutions for the identified health and safety business problem were analysed in order to arrive at the best solution suitable to the objectives of the study. The end users ‘needs obtained from the distributed questionnaire and the project’s functional requirements were considered in order to create a model that will achieve their goals in an efficient manner. An activity diagram and a user case diagram based on the UML language were generated. Based on them a computerized model (CONSTRUCTION AUTOMATA) was developed to identify risks associated with specific work activities and provide the relevant safety instructions and training to mitigate them. The model automatically produces safety reports to record and serve as a knowledge management base for future reference thus eliminating possible human errors. The computer program was tested with available site images from an existing project and it proved to deliver its outputs according to its design. The developed model was then demonstrated to a selected group of relevant professionals and was seen to score well with ease of use mark of (6.17) and effectiveness as a health and safety tool mark of (6.37) out of a total mark of (10)

Strategies for Applying Electronic Health Records to Achieve Cost Saving Benefits

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009 authorized the distribution of about $30 billion incentive funds to accelerate electronic health record (EHR) applications to improve the quality of care, safety, privacy, care coordination, and patients\u27 involvement in healthcare. EHR use has the potential of saving$731 in costs for hospitals per patient admission; however, most hospitals are not applying EHR to reach the level at which cost savings are possible. The purpose of this single case study was to explore strategies that IT leaders in hospitals can use to apply EHR to achieve the cost saving benefits. The participants were IT leaders and EHR super users at a large hospital in Texas with successful experience in applying EHR. Information systems success model formed the conceptual framework for the study. I conducted face-to-face interviews and analyzed organizational documents. I used qualitative textual data analysis method to identify themes. Five themes emerged from this study, which are ensuring information quality, ensuring system quality, assuring service quality, promoting usability, and maximizing net benefits of the EHR system. The findings of this study included four strategies to apply EHR; these strategies include engaging training staff, documenting accurately and in a timely manner, protecting patient data, and enforcing organizational best practice policies to maximize reimbursement and cost savings. The findings of this study could contribute to positive social change for the communities because EHR successful application includes lower cost for hospitals that may lead to the provision of affordable care to more low-income patients

Adult Children\u27s Perceptions Of Critical Caregiving Conversations With Their Aging Parents: A Pilot Study

The purpose of this qualitative pilot study was to describe adult children\u27s perceptions of critical caregiving conversations between themselves and their aging parents; barriers to these conversations; factors that facilitate these conversations; and the support from health care providers that adult children believe would help facilitate critical caregiving conversations between themselves and their aging parents. The overall purpose was to increase understanding of family communication processes that promote health as families age. Focus group interviews using a semi-structured interview guide were conducted with 16 adult children with caregiving experience of their aging parents. Data analysis was conducted utilizing Leininger\u27s phases of Ethnonursing analysis and facilitated by use of QSR NVivo software for qualitative data analysis. Three themes emerged from the data: (1) navigation of caregiving in aging families, (2) negotiation of caregiving in aging families, and (3) coordination of caregiving in aging families. Study findings indicate the need to engage families and communities together as they navigate, negotiate, and coordinate caregiving conversations with aging adults. The findings of this study can be used for further nursing research on factors that influence family caregiving communication, and help nurses more effectively target communication interventions within the wider community

Addressing the balance between preventive and consequences-reducing measures regarding avoiding drifting into failure while increasing resilience in municipalities

On New Year’s Day 2020, Stavanger Municipality incorporated Finnøy and Rennesøy municipalities. With this merger came additional challenges for the risk management of the municipality. A comprehensive risk and vulnerability assessment (CRVA) was conducted to obtain a more accurate risk picture for the newly merged municipality. This assessment is used as a data source for investigating the main topic of this thesis: “Addressing the balance between preventive and consequences-reducing measures regarding avoiding drifting into failure while increasing resilience in municipalities.” In addition to the Stavanger CRVA (2019b), supporting theories and concepts on risk governance, risk management, barrier management strategies, barrier balance, systems thinking, and drifting into failure are described to assist in investigating the main topic. A qualitative research study consisting of two parts is conducted. The first area of interest is the new measures proposed in the Stavanger CRVA (2019b), resulting from their gap analysis, as access to all existing measures is unavailable. The authors have classified these measures for their preventive and consequence-reducing qualities. In addition, the measures have been classified by barrier element type; organizational, operational, technical, and citizen action. These classification results represent the municipality's distribution of measures, departmental accountability, and critical societal functions. The second area is a document search to support this research, including Norwegian laws and regulations, national publications, Stavanger municipality meeting minutes, and budget reports relevant to the Stavanger CRVA (2019b). Results from the data and document search, combined with the theory and concepts, are used to investigate the main topic, and answer the four research questions posed in this thesis: 1. What is the current distribution between the proposed preventive and consequence-reducing measures in Stavanger Municipality? 2. Should the measures balance be different from today, and if so, why? 3. How can the measures balance be adjusted to provide a better fit for Stavanger Municipality? and 4. Is a holistic approach useful for adjusting the balance in complex organizations? It was identified that most of the proposed measures in the Stavanger CRVA (2019b) were preventive. These measures do not represent the overall distribution of measures in Stavanger municipality since an overview of existing measures was unavailable. There is also uncertainty surrounding the implementation of the proposed measures. Most of these measures are identified as organizational using the Barrier Memorandum by the Petroleum Safety Authority of Norway as a guide. While it is challenging to address barrier balance in Stavanger Municipality, for many reasons described in this thesis, relevant observations have been made on the relations between balance, barriers, resilience, systems thinking and drifting into failure. A key finding is that barrier management used in a municipal setting can increase focus on barrier element types, their interactions, and viewing the system holistically. Another key finding is that focusing on the emerging properties of barrier interaction can lead to drifting into failure, but this can be avoided through increased focus on developing resilience in the system