Seeing the wood for the trees. Carer related research and knowledge: A scoping review

This NIHR-SSCR funded scoping review provides a comprehensive mapping of what is known about carers and caring, and aims to help inform policy, practice and research in relation to carers. The review was undertaken by searching 10 electronic bibliographic databases, supplemented by additional web searches to identify academic research, grey literature and wider knowledge. The analysis adopts a selective thematic approach covering: carer variables - the characteristics of different types of carer and different caring situations; types of care - the nature of needs of the cared for person and the features of the care situation; the impact of caring – resilience and coping, employment and health; and carer support and needs assessment. The final section highlights key messages identified from the review. It found that caring involves all sections and age groups of the population, with people are likely to experience one or more periods of caregiving over their lifetime. The uniqueness of each caring relationship is also highlighted. In relation to types of carers, knowledge about ‘hard to reach’ groups, such as BAME and LGBT carers, remains sparse. Older carers are also relatively invisible in policy and research terms. It found that much of the knowledge about carers identified in the review relates to their characteristics, their lived experience and the nature of their caregiving, with relatively less being known about the effectiveness of interventions to support them. The report concludes by offering suggestions for policy and practice. An appendix provides a bibliography of the 3,434 items identified in review, classified into 17 types of reference

The dawn of the human-machine era: a forecast of new and emerging language technologies

New language technologies are coming, thanks to the huge and competing private investment fuelling rapid progress; we can either understand and foresee their effects, or be taken by surprise and spend our time trying to catch up. This report scketches out some transformative new technologies that are likely to fundamentally change our use of language. Some of these may feel unrealistically futuristic or far-fetched, but a central purpose of this report - and the wider LITHME network - is to illustrate that these are mostly just the logical development and maturation of technologies currently in prototype. But will everyone benefit from all these shiny new gadgets? Throughout this report we emphasise a range of groups who will be disadvantaged and issues of inequality. Important issues of security and privacy will accompany new language technologies. A further caution is to re-emphasise the current limitations of AI. Looking ahead, we see many intriguing opportunities and new capabilities, but a range of other uncertainties and inequalities. New devices will enable new ways to talk, to translate, to remember, and to learn. But advances in technology will reproduce existing inequalities among those who cannot afford these devices, among the world's smaller languages, and especially for sign language. Debates over privacy and security will flare and crackle with every new immersive gadget. We will move together into this curious new world with a mix of excitement and apprehension - reacting, debating, sharing and disagreeing as we always do. Plug in, as the human-machine era dawn

The motivations and outcomes of consumer engagement with online sexual health communities

PhD ThesisThe continuous improvement in living standards has resulted in increasing attention being paid to personal health. The definition of health nowadays no longer refers only to physical or mental health, it also includes sexual health. Sexual health is not only understood in a narrow sense as Sexually Transmitted Diseases (hereafter STDs), but also the enjoyment and satisfaction of having sex with partners. Positive sexual experiences are beneficial to both physical and mental health (Hensel et al., 2016). Although, despite it being an important part of our lives, sometimes sexual health is difficult to discuss due to the stigmatization and discrimination associated with STDs, which can affect patients’ intention to seek a doctor’s advice, leading those patients in need to ignore their illness for fear of unfair treatment which in turn can lead to serious physical outcomes and psychological burdens. The National Health Services (NHS) is under enormous pressure from an increasing demand for consultation; in 2020 more than 60 million people were listed as registered with the NHS (NHS Digital, 2020). This sometimes results in patients not being able to seek medical attention promptly or having only a short consultation time, which is sometimes not sufficient to properly address an individual’s health concerns, and more specifically their concerns about STDs. By gathering users from multiple backgrounds and experiences to form a virtual online community, Online Sexual Health Communities (OSHCs) provide a platform for information sharing and the exchange of emotions (relating to sexual health). Combining the advantages of a virtual environment such as unrestricted time and space, OSHCs not only provide a convenient and effective consultation with users who may have similar health issues but also reduce the pressure on the NHS (Nagendra et al., 2020). Despite the relevance of health communities in today’s societies, the reasons why consumers engage with OSHCs has rarely been studied, nor has the consequences of such engagement on consumers’ psychological and physical wellbeing. This study believes that learning about the motivations and outcomes of OSHC engagement is conducive to enriching the existing engagement literature in the field. From a practical point of view, it provides a more comprehensive guide for those establishing, or seeking to establish, OSHCs. Accordingly, a clear understanding of a user’s motivation for engaging with an OSHC iii can better help the founders of sexual health forums in improving their online communities. Furthermore, understanding the outcome of their engagement can help public organizations understand their influence on individuals’ wellbeing. Scholars are calling for qualitative research on the impact of social media on consumer behaviour and societal wellbeing (Davis et al., 2016; Shensa et al., 2017). The present study lies within transformative consumer research, which focuses on significant social issues and challenges (Davis and Ozanne, 2019). Interviews were chosen for data collection due to their ability to uncover underlying motivations, beliefs, attitudes, and feelings (Rubin and Rubin, 2005), particularly in discussions involving sensitive or embarrassing topics (for example, body image concerns and self-esteem) (Malhotra et al., 2007). The author of this thesis conducted semi-structured interviews with 20 participants from one of the most popular OSHCs on Facebook namely PrEp Facts: Rethinking HIV Prevention and Sex. Data were analysed through both manual coding and NVivo. Ten themes emerged from the interviews including eight motivations and two consequences of engagement, which enabled the development of a conceptual framework of engagement with OSHCs The contributions of this study can be viewed from both a theoretical and practical perspective. Theoretically, this study provides a conceptual framework regarding the motivations and consequences of consumer engagement. This study sheds light on eight motivations: information quality, information quantality, social support, fear, source credibility, convenience, online community quality, and privacy concerns. There are two outcomes of consumer engagement with OSHCs (health empowerment and entertainment), which contribute to the existing literature. Specifically, this study offers a comprehensive understanding regarding consumer engagement towards OSHCs, which can help online community moderators develop a better virtual environment based on consumer demands. Future research around this subject should use quantitative research methods to further verify the model developed in this study

Work Life 2000 Yearbook 2: 2000

This volume reported the proceedings of a series of international research workshops in 1999, funded by the Swedish National Institute for Working Life, in preparation for the Swedish Presidency of the European Union in 2001

Linking Research and Policy: Assessing a Framework for Organic Agricultural Support in Ireland

This paper links social science research and agricultural policy through an analysis of support for organic agriculture and food. Globally, sales of organic food have experienced 20% annual increases for the past two decades, and represent the fastest growing segment of the grocery market. Although consumer interest has increased, farmers are not keeping up with demand. This is partly due to a lack of political support provided to farmers in their transition from conventional to organic production. Support policies vary by country and in some nations, such as the US, vary by state/province. There have been few attempts to document the types of support currently in place. This research draws on an existing Framework tool to investigate regionally specific and relevant policy support available to organic farmers in Ireland. This exploratory study develops a case study of Ireland within the framework of ten key categories of organic agricultural support: leadership, policy, research, technical support, financial support, marketing and promotion, education and information, consumer issues, inter-agency activities, and future developments. Data from the Irish Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, the Irish Agriculture and Food Development Authority (Teagasc), and other governmental and semi-governmental agencies provide the basis for an assessment of support in each category. Assessments are based on the number of activities, availability of information to farmers, and attention from governmental personnel for each of the ten categories. This policy framework is a valuable tool for farmers, researchers, state agencies, and citizen groups seeking to document existing types of organic agricultural support and discover policy areas which deserve more attention

Front-Line Physicians' Satisfaction with Information Systems in Hospitals

Day-to-day operations management in hospital units is difficult due to continuously varying situations, several actors involved and a vast number of information systems in use. The aim of this study was to describe front-line physicians' satisfaction with existing information systems needed to support the day-to-day operations management in hospitals. A cross-sectional survey was used and data chosen with stratified random sampling were collected in nine hospitals. Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential statistical methods. The response rate was 65 % (n = 111). The physicians reported that information systems support their decision making to some extent, but they do not improve access to information nor are they tailored for physicians. The respondents also reported that they need to use several information systems to support decision making and that they would prefer one information system to access important information. Improved information access would better support physicians' decision making and has the potential to improve the quality of decisions and speed up the decision making process.Peer reviewe

Impact of mobilising collective intelligence in clinical research planning

New methods of conducting research have been emerging outside clinical research. For example, worldwide game players helped to construct protein molecular which scientists had been struggling with for 15 years. In these examples, researchers leveraged collective intelligence of people who were not usually involved in research. My research aims to investigate whether and how mobilising collective intelligence could be used in the planning of a randomised controlled trial. To achieve this aim, I first conducted a scoping review to describe the methods of mobilising collective intelligence across different research fields. From this scoping review, I proposed a framework for implementing a research project using these new methods. Second, I conducted a qualitative study involving online survey and semi-structured interviews to investigators, researchers or coordinators of research projects mobilising collective intelligence. Drawing on their experience, I provided good practice advice for the governance, planning, and conducting of research involving collective intelligence. Finally, I developed a proof-of-concept study using case vignettes to leverage patients’ collective intelligence to improve trial organisation. Patients proposed several suggestions to improve the logistical organisation of trials. They also highlighted the importance of changing one-size-fits-all approach of trial organisation. In conclusion, the work in this thesis provides the first comprehensive accounts of methods used to mobilise collective intelligence across different research disciplines. The proof-of-concept study provided an example of leveraging patients’ collective intelligence to explore ideas and perspectives to improve clinical trial planning

Factors Influencing Customer Satisfaction towards E-shopping in Malaysia

Online shopping or e-shopping has changed the world of business and quite a few people have decided to work with these features. What their primary concerns precisely and the responses from the globalisation are the competency of incorporation while doing their businesses. E-shopping has also increased substantially in Malaysia in recent years. The rapid increase in the e-commerce industry in Malaysia has created the demand to emphasize on how to increase customer satisfaction while operating in the e-retailing environment. It is very important that customers are satisfied with the website, or else, they would not return. Therefore, a crucial fact to look into is that companies must ensure that their customers are satisfied with their purchases that are really essential from the ecommerce’s point of view. With is in mind, this study aimed at investigating customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia. A total of 400 questionnaires were distributed among students randomly selected from various public and private universities located within Klang valley area. Total 369 questionnaires were returned, out of which 341 questionnaires were found usable for further analysis. Finally, SEM was employed to test the hypotheses. This study found that customer satisfaction towards e-shopping in Malaysia is to a great extent influenced by ease of use, trust, design of the website, online security and e-service quality. Finally, recommendations and future study direction is provided. Keywords: E-shopping, Customer satisfaction, Trust, Online security, E-service quality, Malaysia