Managing energy performance through heat pumps. Success drivers and barriers in residential sector

Despite the increasing interest in modern solutions for energy performance improvement in residential sector, a gap persists between literature development and current implementation practices on domestic heating and cooling through heat pumps technology. Homeowners are encouraged to manage their energy-related issues in a systematic manner to ensure continual improvement of energy efficiency. This paper attempts to explore the drivers and obstacles to the use of heat pumps system for domestic heating, cooling, and hot water production in the residential sector, in order to improve dwellings’ energy performance and reduce the carbon footprint. The study uses a regression model with a sample of 389 participants from Romania and shows that the availability of energy plans, voluntary association in an energy community, and mixed funding exert a positive influence, whereas bureaucracy, poor energy efficiency-related information, and fiscal incentives exert a negative influence on the intention of adopting heat pumps technology by homeowners

Barriers and drivers of positive COVID-19 vaccination behaviours among healthcare workers in Europe and Central Asia: a qualitative cross-country synthesis

Abstract Vaccination uptake is essential to controlling the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Healthcare workers (HCWs) play a critical role in receiving, recommending and delivering COVID-19 vaccination. Understanding the specific influences on each behaviour enables the development of targeted and tailored interventions to improve vaccination uptake. This paper presents a qualitative synthesis of HCWs’ individual and context barriers and drivers to these three vaccination behaviours across 10 countries in Europe and Central Asia. Qualitative data from interviews and focus group discussions with 378 HCWs between December 2020 and March 2022 were synthesised and organised by four COM (capability, physical and social opportunity, motivation) factors. Differences by stage of COVID-19 vaccine roll-out (in preparation, early and late delivery) were explored. Receiving vaccination related to all four factors. Recommending vaccination mostly related to capability and motivation. HCWs were generally well-informed by official sources and viewed vaccination as the way to end the pandemic, acknowledging their important role in this. Colleagues, family and friends were positive influences on personal vaccination decisions. However, knowledge gaps were evident, particularly amongst nurses who relied on (social) media. Concerns about safety and effectiveness, often connected to knowledge gaps, were heightened by the accelerated timeline for COVID-19 vaccine development and approval. This impeded some HCWs’ motivation to receive and recommend vaccination even in the later roll-out countries. Delivering vaccination was facilitated by support from public health organisations, teamwork and service re-organisation, more evident amongst later roll-out countries. Ongoing high workloads, stress and burnout hindered delivery. Complex and inter-related factors affecting HCWs’ vaccination behaviours were identified. These insights should inform the design of multifaceted interventions (e.g., communication skills training, management support for HCWs’ mental health, and engaging them in decision-making for service redesign); not only for COVID-19 vaccination as it is integrated into routine services but for routine immunization as a whole