132,884 research outputs found
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Finding a way: long-term care homes to support dementia
An ageing demographic has increased the number of people with dementia. Although dementia is commonly
associated with memory loss, other early symptoms include difficulty with wayfinding. Dementia alters visuo-spatial
perception and the processes used to interpret the physical environment. The role of the design of the physical
environment for people with dementia has gained increased recognition. Despite this, design for dementia is often
overlooked, focusing on issues relating to physical impairment. This paper presents the results of a PhD study and aims to examine the role of the design of the physical environment in supporting wayfinding for people with dementia living in long-term care settings in Northern Ireland. Mixed methods combined the observation of wayfinding walks and conversational style interviews to elicit perspectives and experiences of residents with
dementia. The findings aim to promote well-being for those with dementia living in long-term care settings
Visualizing practical knowledge: The Haughton-Mars Project
To improve how we envision knowledge, we must improve our ability to see knowledge in everyday life. That is, visualization is concerned not only with displaying facts and theories, but also with finding ways to express and relate tacit understanding. Such knowledge, although often referred to as "common," is not necessarily shared and may be distributed socially in choreographies for working together—in the manner that a chef and a maitre d’hôtel, who obviously possess very different skills, coordinate their work. Furthermore, non-verbal concepts cannot in principle be inventoried. Reifying practical knowledge is not a process of converting the implicit into the explicit, but pointing to what we know, showing its manifestations in our everyday life. To this end, I illustrate the study and reification of practical knowledge by examining the activities of a scientific expedition in the Canadian Arctic—a group of scientists preparing for a mission to Mar
Asynchronous Remote Medical Consultation for Ghana
Computer-mediated communication systems can be used to bridge the gap between
doctors in underserved regions with local shortages of medical expertise and
medical specialists worldwide. To this end, we describe the design of a
prototype remote consultation system intended to provide the social,
institutional and infrastructural context for sustained, self-organizing growth
of a globally-distributed Ghanaian medical community. The design is grounded in
an iterative design process that included two rounds of extended design
fieldwork throughout Ghana and draws on three key design principles (social
networks as a framework on which to build incentives within a self-organizing
network; optional and incremental integration with existing referral
mechanisms; and a weakly-connected, distributed architecture that allows for a
highly interactive, responsive system despite failures in connectivity). We
discuss initial experiences from an ongoing trial deployment in southern Ghana.Comment: 10 page
Change, Choice, and Commercialization: Backpacker Routes in Southeast Asia
South-East Asia has the oldest and largest backpacker trails. This paper examines the geographies of such flows, drawing upon the largest survey to date of backpackers in Asia using qualitative research to survey the key changes from the 1970s to the 2000s. Backpacker trails have changed significantly and new routes have emerged including the ‘northern trail’ (Bangkok - Cambodia - Vietnam - Laos). It is to be expected that routes change as backpackers constantly seek new places, pioneering for later mass tourism. However, this paper suggests that using institutionalization as a framework, these changing trails and backpacker ‘choices’ can be seen as driven by growing commercialization and institutionalization. This then operates in combination with external variables (travel innovations - low cost airlines, and new transport networks); exogenous shock (political instability, terrorism); and growing regional competition from emerging destinations such as Vietnam and Cambodia
Labour market experiences of young UK Bangladeshi men: Identity, inclusion and exclusion in inner-city London
Detailed qualitative data are used to explore the processes perpetuatinglabour market disadvantage among young UK-Bangladeshi men living in central London. Strong forces of inclusion within the Bangladeshi community are found to interact with forces of exclusion from ‘mainstream’
society to constrain aspirations and limit opportunities. Though diverse forms of young Bangladeshi masculinity are found, a common pattern is heavy dependency on intra-ethnic networks. Negative experiences of and isolation from ‘mainstream’ society further reinforce reliance
on ‘our own people’. However, acute ambivalence towards belonging to a dense Bangladeshi community exists, exemplified in the widespread denigration of the restaurant trade. Many respondents express the desire to ‘break out’ and access new experiences. The findings support current
policy emphasis on ‘connecting people to work’ but highlight the more fundamental need to connect people across ethnic boundaries. The paper urges researchers to ‘unpack’ ethnicity to consider carefully what ethnic
identity implies in terms of access to resources and opportunities for different individuals in different contexts in order better to understand the diversity of labour market outcomes and the persistence of disadvantage
From anxiety to insight : the process of formulating a methodology in practice : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy at Massey University
Anthropologists do not have a Methodology that acknowledges their subjective experience during fieldwork, as scientific data. Yet an accurate presentation of Anthropology as a science, depends on inclusion of the person (ality) of the Anthropologist. This anomaly is both, the doorway to the creative element that defines Anthropology as a unique discipline in the Humanities, and the stumbling block of science in the twentieth century. George Devereux, a French Anthropologist and psychotherapist, initially explored the dimensions of this problem in the 1930's. His dual career enabled him to envisage a model, in which the anthropologist's integral part in the fieldwork was acknowledged. Although he recorded the development of this model during fieldwork around 1935, it remained unpublished till 1967, and is still largely unknown in the Humanities. The potential value has yet to be explored in the fieldwork situation. The primary aim of this thesis, is to record the experiential process of formulating a Methodology in the practice of fieldwork, using the key concept Devereux proposed: "the subjectivity inherent in all observation is the road to an authentic, rather than fictitious objectivity".(1967). Within the Scientific tradition, Methodology has been regarded as a prescription for doing fieldwork, rather than a distincitve tool for creating this unique basis of Anthropology. The challenge has been to identify the double bind this causes, between theory and practice, and to present a new approach to Methodology, that offers a practical way of being an Anthropologist. The person whose presence, in the final result, is critical if Anthropology is to reflect what it proposes to explore - the essence of humanity in a scientific manner
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Customer value creation in financial services
Customer value creation is allegedly at the centre of relationships between service recipients and service providers (such as financial service organisations in general, and commercial banks in particular). This research considers the role of customer value creation in the strategic response of banks to external changes in their growth opportunities. The analysis established that there had been changes in the framework in which banks' pursued synergy since 1980 (or 1990 in Mexican and 1992 in Estonian interviews). As a response to external change banks have created new synergies in the pursuit of greater growth and interviewees expected that changes in synergy creation should be reflected in banks' diversification and market positioning moves. New synergies required new capabilities and participants from all countries agreed that the current wave of change in synergy creation had carried through greater emphasis on customer profitability. All countries recorded a shift from a supply-oriented strategic stance to the development of skills to retain customers and even becoming a one-stop
financial service institution for their customers. However, greater emphasis on customer profitability was seldom followed by recognition of the key capabilities required for high customer value creation. This as most interviewees failed to provide an articulated account of how to achieve that profitability
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