Internet of Things enabled sedentary behaviour change in office workers: development and feasibility of a novel intervention (WorkMyWay)

Sedentary behaviour (SB) without breaks is associated with adverse health outcomes. The prevalence of prolonged sitting at work among office workers makes a case for SB interventions to target this setting and population. Everyday mundane objects augmented with microelectronics and ubiquitous computing represent a novel mode of delivery for behaviour change interventions enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT). However, there is insufficient research to guide the design of interventions delivered with smart objects. This research addresses this gap by developing WorkMyWay, a workplace SB intervention delivered with IoT-enabled office objects (e.g. smart water bottles and cups), and evaluating its feasibility and acceptability in an 8-week “in-the-wild” study. This thesis made 4 contributions across the disciplines of behavioural medicine and human-computer interactions (HCI). The first contribution is the development of the WorkMyWay intervention, which is informed by findings from a systematic scoping review of prior research in this field (Chapter 3), a diary-probed interview study with 20 office workers (Chapter 4), and a series of technology audit, prototyping, human-centred design, and requirement engineering processes (Chapter 5). Findings from the feasibility study (Chapter 6) suggest that despite technical issues with the data connection, participants perceive high value of WorkMyWay in changing their SB. The intervention is potentially implementable in office-based workplaces, as long as connectivity issues are fixed. Recommendations are made on improvements and a series of future studies in accordance with the Medical Research Council’s guidance on complex intervention development and evaluation. Second, this thesis deepens the theoretical understanding of SB change, by following the Behaviour Change Wheel framework (including the COM-B model, theoretical domain framework, and taxonomies of Behaviour Change Techniques (BCT)) throughout intervention design and evaluation. The intervention contents are specified using the BCT taxonomies (Chapter 5) and informed by the first published COM-B analysis of office worker’s prolonged sitting behaviour at work (Chapter 4). This allows the feasibility study (Chapter 6) to contribute to theory development by matching the interview questions and psychological measures (e.g. strength of habit) with the BCTs (e.g. action planning, prompts and cues) and associated theoretical underpinnings (e.g. goal accessibility). It also allows implementation issues to be considered in light of how well those theories and theory-informed BCTs can work in real-life settings. Third, this thesis makes a methodological contribution by documenting an interdisciplinary approach to develop a digital behaviour change intervention and a model for applying and developing theories of behaviour change in the wild. This helps address the challenge identified in Chapter 3, by bridging the gap between HCI and behavioural medicine, and catalyse the process of feeding technological innovations downstream to health practice and intervention research. Fourth, this research contributes to the HCI literature by proposing a 2×2 matrix framework to guide the design of technology for sustainable behaviour change. On one hand, the framework unifies some of the existing visions and concepts about ubiquitous computing and applies them to the context of behaviour change, by considering the type of cognitive process (automatic versus reflective, based on the dual process model) through which a persuasive design influences the behaviour. For another, the framework considers the required dosage of their technology intervention to maintain the behaviour, or the distribution of changes between the physical world and the human cognition

Emerging technologies and their impact on regulatory science

There is an evolution and increasing need for the utilization of emerging cellular, molecular and in silico technologies and novel approaches for safety assessment of food, drugs, and personal care products. Convergence of these emerging technologies is also enabling rapid advances and approaches that may impact regulatory decisions and approvals. Although the development of emerging technologies may allow rapid advances in regulatory decision making, there is concern that these new technologies have not been thoroughly evaluated to determine if they are ready for regulatory application, singularly or in combinations. The magnitude of these combined technical advances may outpace the ability to assess fit for purpose and to allow routine application of these new methods for regulatory purposes. There is a need to develop strategies to evaluate the new technologies to determine which ones are ready for regulatory use. The opportunity to apply these potentially faster, more accurate, and cost-effective approaches remains an important goal to facilitate their incorporation into regulatory use. However, without a clear strategy to evaluate emerging technologies rapidly and appropriately, the value of these efforts may go unrecognized or may take longer. It is important for the regulatory science field to keep up with the research in these technically advanced areas and to understand the science behind these new approaches. The regulatory field must understand the critical quality attributes of these novel approaches and learn from each other's experience so that workforces can be trained to prepare for emerging global regulatory challenges. Moreover, it is essential that the regulatory community must work with the technology developers to harness collective capabilities towards developing a strategy for evaluation of these new and novel assessment tools

Study on open science: The general state of the play in Open Science principles and practices at European life sciences institutes

Nowadays, open science is a hot topic on all levels and also is one of the priorities of the European Research Area. Components that are commonly associated with open science are open access, open data, open methodology, open source, open peer review, open science policies and citizen science. Open science may a great potential to connect and influence the practices of researchers, funding institutions and the public. In this paper, we evaluate the level of openness based on public surveys at four European life sciences institute

Symptoms in Relationship to Life Events (Stress, Social Supports, Life Experiences Survey, I-E Locus-Of-Control, Mmpi).

Although there is considerable evidence to support the contributions of life event stress to subsequent psychological and physical symptoms, the correlations reported between obtained stress scores and illness measurements have been low. This study was undertaken to improve prediction of physical and psychological complaints subsequent to life event stress by more comprehensive measurement of life event characteristics and by assessment of locus of control, social supports, and somatization as moderating variables in the life stress-illness process. An overview of psychosomatic medicine was given and the relevant life event research was reviewed. Fifty undergraduate students completed the experimental version of the Life Experiences Survey (LES), Rotter\u27s Internal-External Control of Reinforcement Scale (I-E Scale), the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), and the Interview Schedule for Social Interaction (ISSI). Subjects then completed psychological and somatic complaint checklists (modified SCL-90-R, modified Wahler Physical Symptoms Inventory) every four weeks for a three month period. Pearson product-moment correlations were calculated, providing an intercorrelation matrix for all independent and dependent variables, and multiple regression analyses were used to determine the best predictive models. Results did not support the first hypothesis that inclusion of the four idiographic subscales of the experimental LES (desirability, change, anticipation, control) would improve prediction of psychological and/or physiological complaints over the counting of event occurrences. Statistically significant improvement in prediction was found when the measures of social support (AVAT, ADAT%, AVSI, and ADSI scales of the ISSI), locus of control (I-E Scale), and somatization (HS and HY scales of the MMPI) were added to LES scores in an heirarchical regression analysis. However, a more parsimonious and powerful predictive model was derived using a simultaneous stepwise regression analysis: This model consisted of the HS and I-E scales and the change and desirability subscales of the LES. Social support measures were not correlated with either criterion variable nor with any of the predictor variables. These results were discussed in relation to previous studies concerning life event stress, social supports, somatization, and locus of control in relation to health. The clinical implications of this study were also discussed

Internet of Things enabled sedentary behaviour change in office workers: development and feasibility of a novel intervention (WorkMyWay)

Sedentary behaviour (SB) without breaks is associated with adverse health outcomes. The prevalence of prolonged sitting at work among office workers makes a case for SB interventions to target this setting and population. Everyday mundane objects augmented with microelectronics and ubiquitous computing represent a novel mode of delivery for behaviour change interventions enabled by the Internet of Things (IoT). However, there is insufficient research to guide the design of interventions delivered with smart objects. This research addresses this gap by developing WorkMyWay, a workplace SB intervention delivered with IoT-enabled office objects (e.g. smart water bottles and cups), and evaluating its feasibility and acceptability in an 8-week “in-the-wild” study. This thesis made 4 contributions across the disciplines of behavioural medicine and human-computer interactions (HCI). The first contribution is the development of the WorkMyWay intervention, which is informed by findings from a systematic scoping review of prior research in this field (Chapter 3), a diary-probed interview study with 20 office workers (Chapter 4), and a series of technology audit, prototyping, human-centred design, and requirement engineering processes (Chapter 5). Findings from the feasibility study (Chapter 6) suggest that despite technical issues with the data connection, participants perceive high value of WorkMyWay in changing their SB. The intervention is potentially implementable in office-based workplaces, as long as connectivity issues are fixed. Recommendations are made on improvements and a series of future studies in accordance with the Medical Research Council’s guidance on complex intervention development and evaluation. Second, this thesis deepens the theoretical understanding of SB change, by following the Behaviour Change Wheel framework (including the COM-B model, theoretical domain framework, and taxonomies of Behaviour Change Techniques (BCT)) throughout intervention design and evaluation. The intervention contents are specified using the BCT taxonomies (Chapter 5) and informed by the first published COM-B analysis of office worker’s prolonged sitting behaviour at work (Chapter 4). This allows the feasibility study (Chapter 6) to contribute to theory development by matching the interview questions and psychological measures (e.g. strength of habit) with the BCTs (e.g. action planning, prompts and cues) and associated theoretical underpinnings (e.g. goal accessibility). It also allows implementation issues to be considered in light of how well those theories and theory-informed BCTs can work in real-life settings. Third, this thesis makes a methodological contribution by documenting an interdisciplinary approach to develop a digital behaviour change intervention and a model for applying and developing theories of behaviour change in the wild. This helps address the challenge identified in Chapter 3, by bridging the gap between HCI and behavioural medicine, and catalyse the process of feeding technological innovations downstream to health practice and intervention research. Fourth, this research contributes to the HCI literature by proposing a 2×2 matrix framework to guide the design of technology for sustainable behaviour change. On one hand, the framework unifies some of the existing visions and concepts about ubiquitous computing and applies them to the context of behaviour change, by considering the type of cognitive process (automatic versus reflective, based on the dual process model) through which a persuasive design influences the behaviour. For another, the framework considers the required dosage of their technology intervention to maintain the behaviour, or the distribution of changes between the physical world and the human cognition

Teaching the teachers of teaching : tertiary teacher education in Papua New Guinea

This thesis is centred upon the development, implementation and evaluation of the Bachelor of Education (Tertiary) BEd T. program at the University of Papua New Guinea, which aims to promote quality teacher educators. The program has its in rationale cognitive development theory, research on approaches to learning and the literature concerning adult and teacher development in the Melanesian context.\ud The theoretical position adopted is that teacher development is a form of adult development and the promotion of quality teacher educators, a function of higher stages of development. Consequently, the intervention curriculum had two major expectations: to improve the level of cognitive development; to improve the quality of potential teacher educators.\ud The following evolved as research questions.\ud • What factors influence the learning of Papua New Guinea teachers undertaking higher education?\ud • Does the experience of the special curriculum promote greater cognitive development than increased general education at the University?\ud • What is the perceived impact of the BEd T. students in the teachers' colleges?\ud • What are the contextual factors that influence college lecturers' teaching and students' learning?\ud No one research methodology was considered appropriate to address these research questions because the theoretical position required a combination of qualitative and quantitative data. The methodology adopted was multi - disciplinary in scope and used structures from the following perspectives: ethnographic; illuminative evaluation; case study; quasi experimental.\ud The research concluded that:\ud The biggest single factor that influenced teachers' learning at university is their own misconceived expectations of learning compared with university expectations. This is exaccrbated by learning through English as a second language, where the main problem is the lack of conceptual equivalence between western and Melanesian epistcmologies.\ud It was also found that the intervention curriculum did promote significantly greater cognitive development in the BEd T. students, as measured by the Student Process Questionnaire who in turn were perceived to be making a strong positive impact in the teachers' colleges. However the fullness of impact appears to be potentially muted by the mechanistic curriculum operating in the colleges, as well as by the conservative bureaucratic administrative practices of Government agencies. \u

Pratiques interprofessionnelles de physiothérapeutes qui oeuvrent dans le secteur privé au Québec auprès de personnes présentant de la douleur lombaire

La collaboration entre intervenants a été fortement encouragée au cours des dernières décennies afin d’améliorer l’efficacité et l’efficience des services de santé. À ce jour, on en sait toutefois peu sur les pratiques interprofessionnelles des physiothérapeutes du secteur privé. Cette thèse avait trois objectifs principaux qui se sont traduits par la réalisation d’une étude à devis mixte qualitatif/quantitatif comportant trois volets. Le premier volet, qualitatif descriptif, avait pour objectif principal d’explorer les expériences et les perceptions de physiothérapeutes qui œuvrent dans le secteur privé dans le cadre de leurs interventions auprès de personnes avec de la douleur lombaire. Selon les résultats des entrevues semi-structurées réalisées auprès de 13 physiothérapeutes, les pratiques interprofessionnelles incluaient des processus tels que l’échange d’information et la référence, étaient influencées par des facteurs liés aux patients, aux intervenants, aux organisations et aux systèmes, et avaient principalement des effets positifs. Les deuxième et troisième volets, quantitatifs, avaient respectivement pour objectif principal de tracer un portrait 1) des organisations où œuvrent les physiothérapeutes dans le secteur privé au Québec (volet 2) et 2) des pratiques interprofessionnelles de ces physiothérapeutes dans le cadre de leurs interventions auprès de personnes ayant de la douleur lombaire (volet 3). Les données associées à ces deux volets ont été récoltées via une enquête transversale provinciale auprès de 327 physiothérapeutes sélectionnés de façon aléatoire (participation: 67,7%) œuvrant dans 243 organisations. Ces deux volets ont permis de décrire les pratiques interprofessionnelles, d’identifier les perceptions qu’en ont les physiothérapeutes, ainsi que d’explorer si certaines variables organisationnelles étaient associées à l’intensité des pratiques interprofessionnelles. De plus, le volet 3 a permis un apport méthodologique par l’adaptation d’un instrument mesurant l’intensité des pratiques interprofessionnelles et l’évaluation de certaines de ses propriétés métrologiques, les résultats indiquant que l’instrument était prometteur. Ayant examiné les pratiques interprofessionnelles des physiothérapeutes, un sujet encore peu étudié, cette thèse fournit des connaissances d’intérêt pour les physiothérapeutes et d’autres intervenants, les gestionnaires, les décideurs, ainsi que les associations et les ordres professionnels, et ce, en vue d’améliorer ou d’étendre les pratiques interprofessionnelles impliquant des physiothérapeutes lorsque pertinent.Collaboration between health care providers has been greatly encouraged in recent decades to improve effectiveness and efficiency of health services. However, to this day, little is known of private sector physiotherapists’ interprofessional practices. This thesis had three main objectives that were addressed by conducting a three-part mixed-methods qualitative/quantitative project. The main objective of the first part, a qualitative descriptive study, was to explore experiences and perceptions of private sector physiotherapists regarding their interventions with adults with low back pain. Results of semi-structured interviews with 13 physiotherapists showed that, for physiotherapists, interprofessional practices included processes such as sharing information and referring, they were influenced by factors related to patients, providers, organizations, and wider systems and were mostly viewed as having positive effects. The second and third parts of the project were quantitative. Their main objectives were respectively to draw portraits of 1) the organizations where physiotherapists work in the private sector in Québec (part 2), and 2) of the interprofessional practices of these physiotherapists in the context of their interventions with adults with low back pain (part 3). Data were obtained through a cross-sectional provincial survey with 327 randomly-selected physiotherapists (participation: 67,7 %) working in 243 organizations. Parts 2 and 3 allowed to describe physiotherapists’ interprofessional practices, to identify physiotherapists’ perceptions regarding these practices, as well as to explore organizational and provider-related variables associated with the intensity of interprofessional practices. In addition, part 3 was associated with a methodological contribution by the adaptation of an instrument measuring the intensity of the interprofessional practices and the evaluation of a few of its psychometric properties, the results having indicated it was a promising instrument. This thesis offers new knowledge of physiotherapists’ interprofessional practices, an understudied subject, which is of interest to physiotherapists and other providers, managers, decision-makers and professional boards and associations, with the goal of improving or extending interprofessional practices involving physiotherapists when relevant