Achieving provider engagement: providers' perceptions of implementing and delivering integrated care

The literature on integrated care is limited with respect to practical learning and experience. Although some attention has been paid to organizational processes and structures, not enough is paid to people, relationships, and the importance of these in bringing about integration. Little is known, for example, about provider engagement in the organizational change process, how to obtain and maintain it, and how it is demonstrated in the delivery of integrated care. Based on qualitative data from the evaluation of a large-scale integrated care initiative in London, United Kingdom, we explored the role of provider engagement in effective integration of services. Using thematic analysis, we identified an evolving engagement narrative with three distinct phases: enthusiasm, antipathy, and ambivalence, and argue that health care managers need to be aware of the impact of professional engagement to succeed in advancing the integrated care agenda

An item-level response shift study on the change of health state with the rating of asthma-specific quality of life: a report from the PROMIS® Pediatric Asthma Study

To examine item-level response shift associated with the change in asthma-related health state (i.e., change in asthma control status and global rating of change (GRC) in breathing problems)

'White knuckle care work' : violence, gender and new public management in the voluntary sector

Drawing on comparative data from Canada and Scotland, this article explores reasons why violence is tolerated in non-profit care settings. This article will provide insights into how workers' orientations to work, the desire to care and the intrinsic rewards from working in a non-profit context interact with the organization of work and managerially constructed workplace norms and cultures (Burawoy, 1979) to offset the tensions in an environment characterized by scarce resources and poor working conditions. This article will also outline how the same environment of scarce resources causes strains in management's efforts to establish such cultures. Working with highly excluded service users with problems that do not respond to easy interventions, workers find themselves working at the edge of their endurance, hanging on by their fingernails, and beginning to participate in various forms of resistance; suggesting that even among the most highly committed, 'white knuckle care' may be unsustainable

New Ohio and Indiana Records of Aquatic Insects (Ephemeroptera, Plecoptera, Trichoptera, Coleoptera: Elmidae, Diptera: Chironomidae)

New state records and additional locations for rarely collected species are reported for Ephemeroptera (mayflies), Plecoptera (stoneflies), Trichoptera (caddisflies), Coleoptera: Elmidae (riffle beetles), and Diptera: Chironomidae (chironomids, non-biting midges, midges). These specimen records result primarily from Ohio Environmental Protection Agency biomonitoring of Ohio streams and from records found in the Purdue University Entomological Research Collection and the Illinois Natural History Survey Insect Collection; a few records were derived from material housed in two other collections. New state records for Ohio consist of the mayflies Acentrella rallatoma Burian & Myers, Acerpenna pygmaea (Hagen), Anafroptilum album (McDunnough), Anafroptilum minor group species 1, Anafroptilum minor group species 2, Anafroptilum victoriae (McDunnough), Heterocloeon (Jubilatum) species B McCafferty et al., Heterocloeon (Jubilatum) species D McCafferty et al., Labiobaetis longipalpus (Morihara & McCafferty), Plauditus punctiventris (McDunnough), Ephemera guttulata Pictet, Habrophlebia vibrans Needham, and Anthopotamus verticis (Say); the stonefly Isoperla frisoni Illies; the caddisflies Brachycentrus nigrosoma (Banks), Homoplectra doringa (Milne), Ceraclea nepha (Ross), and Fabria inornata (Banks); the riffle beetle Oulimnius nitidulus (LeConte); and the chironomids Cricotopus (Isocladius) sp. “Ozarks” Epler, Cricotopus (Isocladius) sp. “Santa Fe” Epler, Fittkauimyia sp. [probably F. serta (Roback)], Parakiefferiella sp. F Epler, and Saetheria hirta Sæther. A previous report of the mayfly Macdunnoa persimplex (McDunnough) from the Ohio River, adjacent to Ohio, is substantiated with record data. The caddisfly Goerita betteni Ross is confirmed in Ohio. New state records for Indiana consist of the mayflies Heterocloeon (Jubilatum) species D McCafferty et al. and Leucrocuta walshi (McDunnough) and the chironomids Cricotopus (Isocladius) sp. “Ozarks” and Fittkauimyia sp. [probably F. serta (Roback)]. Recent Indiana records of the mayflies Homoeoneuria ammophila (Spieth) and Pentagenia vittigera (Walsh) are also included because these species are rarely collected and most existing records are old. These records represent significant range extensions north for Cricotopus (Isocladius) sp. “Santa Fe” Epler, Fittkauimyia sp. [probably F. serta (Roback)], Parakiefferiella sp. F Epler, and Saetheria hirta Sæther

Constrained by managerialism : caring as participation in the voluntary social services

The data in this study show that care is a connective process, underlying and motivating participation and as a force that compels involvement in the lives of others, care is at least a micro-participative process. Care or affinity not only persisted in the face of opposition, but it was also used by workers as a counter discourse and set of practices with which to resist the erosion of worker participation and open up less autonomized practices and ways of connecting with fellow staff, clients and the communities they served. The data suggest that while managerialism and taylorised practice models may remove or reduce opportunities for worker participation, care is a theme or storyline that gave workers other ways to understand their work and why they did it, as well as ways they were prepared to resist managerial priorities and directives, including the erosion of various kinds of direct and indirect participation. The degree of resistance possible, even in the highly technocratic worksite in Australia, shows that cracks and fissures exist within managerialism

Dialectic tensions in the financial markets: a longitudinal study of pre- and post-crisis regulatory technology

This article presents the findings from a longitudinal research study on regulatory technology in the UK financial services industry. The financial crisis with serious corporate and mutual fund scandals raised the profile of compliance as governmental bodies, institutional and private investors introduced a ‘tsunami’ of financial regulations. Adopting a multi-level analysis, this study examines how regulatory technology was used by financial firms to meet their compliance obligations, pre- and post-crisis. Empirical data collected over 12 years examine the deployment of an investment management system in eight financial firms. Interviews with public regulatory bodies, financial institutions and technology providers reveal a culture of compliance with increased transparency, surveillance and accountability. Findings show that dialectic tensions arise as the pursuit of transparency, surveillance and accountability in compliance mandates is simultaneously rationalized, facilitated and obscured by regulatory technology. Responding to these challenges, regulatory bodies continue to impose revised compliance mandates on financial firms to force them to adapt their financial technologies in an ever-changing multi-jurisdictional regulatory landscape

Leveraging pediatric PROMIS item banks to assess physical functioning in children at risk for severe functional loss

Background: Pediatric neuromuscular illnesses often result in decreased health-related quality of life (HRQL), notably in physical functioning. Generic HRQL measures have been developed for use in general populations, but may not adequately assess patients with severe functional loss. To address this measurement gap, we created two custom parent-proxy physical functioning short forms for use among children at risk for low levels of functioning, using pediatric Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) item banks for Upper Extremity and Mobility. Methods: Two custom short forms from PROMIS Upper Extremity (13 items) and Mobility (13 items) parent-proxy item banks were created and administered to parents of children (ages 5 – 22 years) enrolled in an integrated care program for management of chronic respiratory insufficiency, largely due to neuromuscular illnesses. Standardized PROMIS T-scores have a mean of 50 (SD = 10); higher scores indicate better functioning. Physicians rated clinical severity. Single proxy-rated items on mental and physical health from the Child Health Rating Inventories (CHRIs) global health scale were completed by parents. Psychometric properties, including known groups comparisons, were explored. Results: Fifty-seven parents completed the parent-proxy custom PROMIS short forms. The mean Upper Extremity T-score was 21 (SD = 13); the mean Mobility T-score was 22 (SD = 11). Some participants scored at the measurement floor; two items on assistive devices did not perform well in this sample and were excluded from the Mobility T-score. Known groups comparisons showed that those with lower clinical severity had better median Upper Extremity (22 vs. 14, p < 0.001) and Mobility (28 vs. 16, p = 0.004) function than those with worse clinical severity. Both Upper Extremity and Mobility T-scores were higher in the subgroups defined by better physical and mental health, as measured by the CHRIs. Conclusions: Upper Extremity and Mobility T-scores were nearly three standard deviations below the PROMIS pediatric calibration population mean. Preliminary psychometrics demonstrated the potential to more accurately measure lower physical functioning using items from PROMIS item banks. However, some participants scored at the measurement floor despite targeting items at the lower end of the scale. Further short form refinement, enrichment of the item banks, and larger-scale field testing are needed

Materiality in information environments: Objects, spaces, and bodies in three outpatient hemodialysis facilities

Peer Reviewedhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152032/1/asi24277.pdfhttps://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/152032/2/asi24277_am.pd

Associations between subjective social status and physical and mental health functioning among patients with hypertension

We examine the cross-sectional association between subjective social status and self-rated physical and mental health functioning in 518 Black and White patients enrolled in a community-based hypertension control research study. We found that (1) subjective social status, measured using both a proximal and distal referent group, was positively associated with physical and mental health functioning scores independent of educational level, household income, or both; (2) the effect of subjective social status on physical and mental health functioning differed significantly by race when using the distal, not the proximal, referent group. When the associations differed, they were stronger for Whites than Blacks

Supporting patients with low health literacy: what role do radiation therapists play?

Purpose: Health literacy plays a key role in a patient’s ability to use health information and services, and can affect health outcomes. This study aimed to explore radiation therapists’ perspectives on how they support people with lower health literacy who are undergoing radiotherapy. Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 25 radiation therapists working in radiation oncology departments in New South Wales, Australia. Results: The four key themes were (1) the process of identifying a patient with low health literacy, (2) the perceived consequences of low health literacy, (3) managing and responding to the needs of different health literacy groups and (4) recommendations to address low health literacy in radiotherapy. Radiation therapists appeared to make an informal, intuitive judgment about a patient’s health literacy, using a variety of verbal and non-verbal cues as well as impromptu conversations with the multi-disciplinary team. Patients perceived to have lower health literacy were described as having greater difficulties assimilating knowledge and engaging in self-care. Although participants reported communicating to patients at a basic level initially, they subsequently tailored their communication to match a patient’s health literacy. Strategies reported to communicate to low health literacy groups ranged from using lay language with minimal medical terminology, using visual aids (photos), using analogies, reiterating information and asking family members with higher literacy to attend consultations. Conclusion: A more structured approach to supporting patients with low health literacy and integrating health literacy training in radiation oncology departments may help to minimise the adverse outcomes typically experienced by this population