Comparing Crowdsourcing and Friendsourcing: A Social Media-Based Feasibility Study to Support Alzheimer Disease Caregivers

BACKGROUND: In the United States, over 15 million informal caregivers provide unpaid care to people with Alzheimer disease (AD). Compared with others in their age group, AD caregivers have higher rates of stress, and medical and psychiatric illnesses. Psychosocial interventions improve the health of caregivers. However, constraints of time, distance, and availability inhibit the use of these services. Newer online technologies, such as social media, online groups, friendsourcing, and crowdsourcing, present alternative methods of delivering support. However, limited work has been done in this area with caregivers. OBJECTIVE: The primary aims of this study were to determine (1) the feasibility of innovating peer support group work delivered through social media with friendsourcing, (2) whether the intervention provides an acceptable method for AD caregivers to obtain support, and (3) whether caregiver outcomes were affected by the intervention. A Facebook app provided support to AD caregivers through collecting friendsourced answers to caregiver questions from participants' social networks. The study's secondary aim was to descriptively compare friendsourced answers versus crowdsourced answers. METHODS: We recruited AD caregivers online to participate in a 6-week-long asynchronous, online, closed group on Facebook, where caregivers received support through moderator prompts, group member interactions, and friendsourced answers to caregiver questions. We surveyed and interviewed participants before and after the online group to assess their needs, views on technology, and experience with the intervention. Caregiver questions were pushed automatically to the participants' Facebook News Feed, allowing participants' Facebook friends to see and post answers to the caregiver questions (Friendsourced answers). Of these caregiver questions, 2 were pushed to crowdsource workers through the Amazon Mechanical Turk platform. We descriptively compared characteristics of these crowdsourced answers with the friendsourced answers. RESULTS: In total, 6 AD caregivers completed the initial online survey and semistructured telephone interview. Of these, 4 AD caregivers agreed to participate in the online Facebook closed group activity portion of the study. Friendsourcing and crowdsourcing answers to caregiver questions had similar rates of acceptability as rated by content experts: 90% (27/30) and 100% (45/45), respectively. Rates of emotional support and informational support for both groups of answers appeared to trend with the type of support emphasized in the caregiver question (emotional vs informational support question). Friendsourced answers included more shared experiences (20/30, 67%) than did crowdsourced answers (4/45, 9%). CONCLUSIONS: We found an asynchronous, online, closed group on Facebook to be generally acceptable as a means to deliver support to caregivers of people with AD. This pilot is too small to make judgments on effectiveness; however, results trended toward an improvement in caregivers' self-efficacy, sense of support, and perceived stress, but these results were not statistically significant. Both friendsourced and crowdsourced answers may be an acceptable way to provide informational and emotional support to caregivers of people with AD

“I can do everything but see!” – How People with Vision Impairments Negotiate their Abilities in Social Contexts

This research takes an orientation to visual impairment (VI) that does not regard it as fixed or determined alone in or through the body. Instead, we consider (dis)ability as produced through interactions with the environment and configured by the people and technology within it. Specifically, we explore how abilities become negotiated through video ethnography with six VI athletes and spectators during the Rio 2016 Paralympics. We use generated in-depth examples to identify how technology can be a meaningful part of ability negotiations, emphasizing how these embed into the social interactions and lives of people with VI. In contrast to treating technology as a solution to a ‘sensory deficit’, we understand it to support the triangulation process of sense-making through provision of appropriate additional information. Further, we suggest that technology should not try and replace human assistance, but instead enable people with VI to better identify and interact with other people in-situ

Issues relating to behaviour, wellbeing and the environment

As issues of environmental degradation intensify, the interdependency between humans and the natural environment is coming more and more into focus. In particular, questions about the importance of environmental quality for human wellbeing and about how to mitigate the serious negative impacts humans are having on the environment are of ever-increasing significance. The current work addresses these issues in four empirical papers, split into two separate parts. The first section focuses on the first question, exploring the links between air quality and individual wellbeing. Paper 1 presents a spatially detailed analysis of the relationship between air pollution and a range of measures of subjective wellbeing (SWB), providing a rich picture of how the air pollution individuals are exposed to relates to how they feel. Paper 2 uses mediation analysis to investigate the behavioural production process which converts air pollution into ill-being, providing insights into the role of physical activity and visits to the outdoors play as mediators. The second part of this thesis addresses the second question. Paper 3 investigates the relationship between proenvironmental behaviour (PEB) and a range of SWB measures, shedding light on the wellbeing consequences of PEB for the individual undertaking it and providing insights into strategies to encourage it. Paper 4 tests two interventions which target electricity consumption in a hall of residence in London, providing evidence of an effective approach to reduce individuals’ environmental impact. Taken together, the results of the papers present evidence of psychological and environmental win-wins which can arise from living in and helping to create a better natural environment

Understanding and Engaging Online Audiences

Social media has turned all of us into potential authors of content. This phenomenon has further facilitated the formation of new dynamic audiences -- all of whom center on the data we share. Although there have been several related analyses, most research assumes that the online audience is only an observer. This has led to the design of platforms that are adaptations of traditional marketing tools wherein audiences are surveyed and categorized anonymously and content authors have minimal interaction with them. The types of collaborations produced by such tools are limited.This research recognizes that the internet has transformed how authors and audiences operate. The thesis explores the dynamics of this emerging ecosystem, from authors, who share personal content with friends and family, to citizen reporters who collaborate with audiences to oppose drug cartels. The thesis demonstrates how to incorporate the understanding of these dynamics into the design of novel platforms. The thesis does this via individual case stories of such systems, for instance the prototype system “Hax,” which dynamically allows people to visualize relevant audiences for sharing and collaborating, or the tool Botivist, which dynamically recruits and assembles collective efforts with online audiences. The thesis discusses how, together, we can create a future where platforms produce a true symbiosis between authors and audiences to facilitate collective efforts

Public service motivation and volunteering.

This thesis is a collection of essays that addresses the challenge of understanding the relationship between public service motivation and volunteering. Set in the backdrop of increased corporate and public sector social responsibility, I first examine the theoretical rationale behind public service motivation (PSM). I address the debate of how it affects volunteer behavior through the concept of volunteering intensity. As individuals often have preconceived notions as to how their values match with an organization, I integrate the theory of Person- Organization fit (P-O Fit). The model is quantitatively tested in four studies using data sets of individuals who have a history of volunteering in the Southwest region of UK and Italy. In the first study, I confirm that individuals with high levels of PSM report exerting greater volunteering intensity or effort. The second study examines how PSM differs across homogenous and heterogeneous samples of Millennials. In the third study, I find limited support for the presumption that individuals who are coerced into volunteering exert less effort then their non-coerced counterparts. In the final study, I explore if PSM has different outcomes in relation to time, frequency and volunteering intensity. Together, this collection of papers are interwoven around the discussions concerning using PSM as a motivator to volunteer. These studies have implications that can impact policies such as the UK Work Program, mandated volunteering in school and organizational social responsibility programs. The findings also have practical implications for HR managers that are highlighting social responsibility as part of their employer branding process. Additionally, volunteer coordination managers across sectors can benefit from how these studies improve our understanding of PSM and P-O fit in the volunteering context. Finally, from an academic viewpoint, I contribute to debates surrounding the third wave of PSM research