Unpacking action research and implementation science: Implications for nursing

Aim The aim of this study was to unpack the key concepts of action research and implementation science thereby enabling appropriate use of these methods in nursing. Background A key issue in action research is not so much the methodology employed to gather data/evidence but who decides the research agenda and who benefits from it. Implementation science is a way to ensure that evidence is translated into practice. The question arises as to how action research and implementation may be understood in relation to one another in nursing. Design Discussion Paper Data sources This discussion paper is based on our own experiences and offers an exploration of action research and implementation science with the aim of clarifying what each involves and what synergies, if any, exist between them. Implications for Nursing Using action research to secure the voice of patients in their own care is essential to delivering quality nursing care. Using implementation science frameworks to get research evidence into practice is effective. Familiarity with both these concepts may enable their improved use and have a positive impact on quality of care. Conclusion There is a tension between action researchers and the protagonists of implementation science related to perceived “trade offs” between what constitutes “science” and the necessity of community participation. Nevertheless, the use of an implementation science framework in an action research approach can reduce the research practice time lag and action research provides sound theoretical and philosophical underpinnings that can be used by those in the implementation science field

Don’t Touch That Dial: Psychological Reactance, Transparency, And User Acceptance Of Smart Thermostat Setting Changes

Automation inherently removes a certain amount of user control. If perceived as a loss of freedom, users may experience psychological reactance, which is a motivational state that can lead a person to engage in behaviors to reassert their freedom. In an online experiment, participants set up and communicated with a hypothetical smart thermostat. Participants read notifications about a change in the thermostat\u27s setting. Phrasing of notifications was altered across three dimensions: strength of authoritative language, deviation of temperature change from preferences, and whether or not the reason for the change was transparent. Authoritative language, temperatures outside the user\u27s preferences, and lack of transparency induced significantly higher levels of reactance. However, when the system presented a temperature change outside of the user\u27s preferences, reactance was mitigated and user acceptance was higher if the thermostat\u27s operations were transparent. Providing justification may be less likely to induce psychological reactance and increase user acceptance. This supports efforts to use behavioral approaches, such as demand response, to increase sustainability and limit the impacts of climate change

Building Capacity for Advocacy for Local Food Systems Change: An Ethnographic Study Documenting the Process of Change in South Carolina Communities

The Guide to Community Preventive Services currently does not have sufficient evidence to recommend any nutrition strategies for obesity prevention. Nonetheless, food systems changes are recommended for childhood obesity prevention by the C.D.C., U.S.D.A., and many thought-leading organizations. Creating healthy food communities will require physical and social environmental changes. Community-based groups need to build their capacity to frame community health issues as physical and social environmental issues. This research partnered with community-based groups to build their capacity for advocacy by using media framing research and strategic communications training. Specifically we: 1) conducted a media content about food systems, childhood obesity and the link between them; 2) increased community-based groups’ understanding of collective action framing and the social determinants of health through planning an issues campaign; and 3) provided research, tools, facilitation, and technical assistance to community based groups as they planned issue campaigns. In our first manuscript, we described the process of increasing the advocacy capacity of a community-based group using the tenets of collective action framing theory; described a media content analysis and how we applied to practice through communications trainings; and finally, how one community group grappled with re-framing food systems change issues. In our second manuscript, we described the process of raising the consciousness of a food system advocacy group, how we facilitated the definition of group values, and tied their values to social justice and the advocacy work

Spiritual Care Visits During Palliative Care Predicting Discharge Location

AbstractSpiritual care has an important role in the caring of terminally ill patients and their families. However, there is little research demonstrating the relationship between spiritual care in palliative settings and discharge location of terminally ill patients. This study addressed spiritual care as a part of the palliative care services. A total of 186 records were reviewed from the spiritual care department at a hospital in Michigan. Kirkpatrick and Shaver’s attachment theory was used to evaluate the relationship between palliative care and discharge location. The research questions addressed the relationship between spiritual care visits, gender, age, religion, primary diagnosis, and race and palliative discharge location. Key findings indicated patients who received spiritual care visits were 71.5% less likely to be discharged to a nursing home compared to those who did not receive spiritual care visits (OR =.285; p \u3c .001). This shows a significance difference in spiritual care visits of those patients discharged home instead of to the nursing home setting. However, gender and age were not significant in this study. The multivariate regression indicated that spiritual care, race, and caregiver availability remained significantly associated however primary diagnosis and religion did not. These findings can lead to positive social change by informing health care workers about the importance of spiritual care for palliative care patients. This may result in health care workers becoming greater advocates for spiritual care services for palliative care patients

How Classroom Cultural Influences Second Language Acquisition for Two Four-Year-Olds in a Preschool Program for Children with Disabilities

As states begin to highlight the system supports used to include English language learners with disabilities in standards-based assessments and accountability programs, implementation of those supports will be closely examined by school districts. This case study investigates the classroom culture in an early childhood preschool program for four-year-old children with disabilities. Classroom observations were used to determine how two young children with disabilities were acquiring English as a second language. Specific focus was given to activities that allowed for second language acquisition, native language development, the attainment of developmental skills, and alternative communication skills such as sign language and a communication board. An investigation took place into current theories to create a knowledge base for understanding how young children acquire linguistic skills in English and how classroom culture was created

Spiritual Care Visits During Palliative Care Predicting Discharge Location

AbstractSpiritual care has an important role in the caring of terminally ill patients and their families. However, there is little research demonstrating the relationship between spiritual care in palliative settings and discharge location of terminally ill patients. This study addressed spiritual care as a part of the palliative care services. A total of 186 records were reviewed from the spiritual care department at a hospital in Michigan. Kirkpatrick and Shaver’s attachment theory was used to evaluate the relationship between palliative care and discharge location. The research questions addressed the relationship between spiritual care visits, gender, age, religion, primary diagnosis, and race and palliative discharge location. Key findings indicated patients who received spiritual care visits were 71.5% less likely to be discharged to a nursing home compared to those who did not receive spiritual care visits (OR =.285; p \u3c .001). This shows a significance difference in spiritual care visits of those patients discharged home instead of to the nursing home setting. However, gender and age were not significant in this study. The multivariate regression indicated that spiritual care, race, and caregiver availability remained significantly associated however primary diagnosis and religion did not. These findings can lead to positive social change by informing health care workers about the importance of spiritual care for palliative care patients. This may result in health care workers becoming greater advocates for spiritual care services for palliative care patients

Overcoming acceptance insensitivity: Increasing low self-esteem individuals' perceptions of value to their partners

People with low self-esteem (LSEs) often have doubts about how much their romantic partners love and value them. These doubts, which undermine their relationships, are difficult to overcome because LSEs tend to downplay the meaning of positive behaviour and resist positive feedback from their partners. In Study 1, I provided evidence for the notion that LSEs’ “insensitivity” to acceptance is a form of motivated self-protection, rather than a pervasive negative bias. In Studies 2-4, I investigated whether LSEs could be induced to take their partners’ kind words to heart by manipulating how abstractly they described a recent compliment. LSEs felt more positively about the compliments, themselves, and their relationships – as positively as HSEs felt – when they were encouraged to describe the meaning and significance of the compliments. The positive effects of this abstract reframing intervention were still evident two weeks later, in both participants’ self-reported thoughts and feelings about their relationships and in partners’ reports of participants’ behaviour towards them. Study 5 demonstrated that the abstract reframing intervention prevented LSEs from taking a relationship threat to heart and lashing out at their partners. Taken together, the present studies show that when prompted to reframe affirmations from their partners, LSEs feel just as secure and satisfied with their romantic relationships and behave as positively towards their partners as HSEs do

Using Data-Informed Instruction to Drive Education: Keeping Catholic Education a Viable and Educationally Sound Option in Challenging Times

This study was conducted to obtain an understanding of the perceptions that Catholic schoolteachers possessed regarding data informed instructional (DII) practices, specifically curriculum based measurement (CBM). The researchers investigated changes in teacher’s perceptions from pretest to posttest to determine the impact of the 90-minute professional development on teacher’s perceptions of DII. Results showed that Catholic schoolteachers did perceive that they lacked sufficient knowledge to effectively implement curriculum-based measures prior to the training. Significant growth was noted with regard to their perceptions of their knowledge in some areas. According to the results of the paired samples t-test, a meaningful change in educators’ perceptions of DII was observed for three of the nine pairs of questionnaire items from pre to post-test. The findings support previous research and pave the way for future research on the impact of short, one-day professional development sessions