Health professionals’ sentiments towards implemented information technologies in psychiatric hospitals: a text-mining analysis

Background Psychiatric hospitals are increasingly being digitalised. Digitalisation often requires changes at work for health professionals. A positive attitude from health professionals towards technology is crucial for a successful and sustainable digital transformation at work. Nevertheless, insufficient attention is being paid to the health professionals’ sentiments towards technology. Objective This study aims to identify the implemented technologies in psychiatric hospitals and to describe the health professionals’ sentiments towards these implemented technologies. Methods A text-mining analysis of semi-structured interviews with nurses, physicians and psychologists was conducted. The analysis comprised word frequencies and sentiment analyses. For the sentiment analyses, the SentimentWortschatz dataset was used. The sentiments ranged from -1 (strongly negative sentiment) to 1 (strongly positive sentiment). Results In total, 20 health professionals (nurses, physicians and psychologists) participated in the study. When asked about the technologies they used, the participating health professionals mainly referred to the computer, email, phone and electronic health record. Overall, 4% of the words in the transcripts were positive or negative sentiments. Of all words that express a sentiment, 73% were positive. The discussed technologies were associated with positive and negative sentiments. However, of all sentences that described technology at the workplace, 69.4% were negative. Conclusions The participating health professionals mentioned a limited number of technologies at work. The sentiments towards technologies were mostly negative. The way in which technologies are implemented and the lack of health professionals’ involvement seem to be reasons for the negative sentiments

Gebruik van de RAND-36 bij zelfstandig wonende ouderen kan leiden tot een onderschatting van de ervaren gezondheidstoestand

De algemene gezondheidstoestand van de bevolking wordt veelal gemeten met de RAND-36 item Health Survey. De afkorting RAND verwijst naar de Amerikaanse onderzoeksorganisatie voor ‘Research and Development’ die de vragenlijst ontwikkelde. In 2012 is door Fontys en partners een longitudinaal veldonderzoek gestart met als doelstelling het in kaart brengen van factoren die van invloed zijn op het gebruik van technologie ter bevordering van het zelfstandig wonen door ouderen. In totaal worden 50 deelnemers van 70 jaar of ouder, vier jaar lang elke acht maanden geïnterviewd. Tevens worden er enkele vragenlijsten afgenomen waaronder twee vragen uit de RAND- 36 waarvan een item luidt: ‘Ik ben net zo gezond als andere mensen die ik ken’. Tijdens dit onderzoek is gebleken dat sommige deelnemers die zichzelf gezonder vinden dan andere mensen die zij kennen, de stelling ontkennend beantwoorden maar daarmee onbedoeld een antwoordcategorie invullen die zich vertaalt in een lagere score voor de ervaren gezondheidstoestand. Het op deze manier invullen van dit item kan daardoor leiden tot een onderschatting van de algemene gezondheidstoestand van ouderen

Seven steps toward more transparency in statistical practice

Item does not contain fulltextWe argue that statistical practice in the social and behavioural sciences benefits from transparency, a fair acknowledgement of uncertainty and openness to alternative interpretations. Here, to promote such a practice, we recommend seven concrete statistical procedures: (1) visualizing data; (2) quantifying inferential uncertainty; (3) assessing data preprocessing choices; (4) reporting multiple models; (5) involving multiple analysts; (6) interpreting results modestly; and (7) sharing data and code. We discuss their benefits and limitations, and provide guidelines for adoption. Each of the seven procedures finds inspiration in Merton’s ethos of science as reflected in the norms of communalism, universalism, disinterestedness and organized scepticism. We believe that these ethical considerations - as well as their statistical consequences - establish common ground among data analysts, despite continuing disagreements about the foundations of statistical inference.8 p

Workshop - Ethics: It's already hard enough without it! (but why it is important!)

My workshops are not intended to provide you with answers to all ethical issues that arise. However, they are aimed at making you ask questions and use your own internal ethical compas