How can the business potential of products with health claims increase? - A case study of PrimaLiv

The purpose of this master thesis is to investigate the influencing factors of the busi-ness potential of products with health claims, using PrimaLiv as an example, and give recommendations on how a dairy producer, which is present in the Swedish market, could improve the sales rates of products with health claims. We have chosen to put a main focus on the consumers, since they determine the business potential. This is an unusual approach since most studies cover the producer's perspective. We thereby wish to contribute with new knowledge on the area in question. In order to understand the consumer's attitude towards products with health claims a questionnaire and a sensory analysis have been carried out as a complement to discussions in focus groups. 36 persons, men and women, of various ages and with different backgrounds participated in the consumer investigation. Also, we have carried out a high number of interviews with people in the academic world, experts, important authorites, pro-ducers and retailers. Through covering all of the important actors, which influence the consumer we have mapped the situation on a systemic level. The consumer investigation shows that consumers do not spontaneously put products with health claims into the category of healthy products. Instead, natural products like meat and fish, fruits and vegetables and fibre rich bread are associated with healthy products. Consumers are not willing to negotiate about the taste of a product just be-cause it is healthy and good taste is co-related to natural characteristics. Since natural taste associations create positive experiences, the flavour of a product with health claims should reflect something that is naturally healthy. It is also advantageous if the flavours are easy to recognize by the consumer. To make sure that the consumer's requirements concerning taste are fulfilled, a producer should invest in a sensory evaluation before launching the products in the market. The nutritional value of a product is also considered important so the keyhole symbol adds value to the product. Further on, consumers express an unsecurity concerning how, when and why they should consume products with health claims and they are sceptical about the stated health effects. Moreover, products with health claims are more expensive than ordi-nary products, and to make the consumer willing to pay this additional cost he or she needs to understand the health effect. There are a number of channels in which a pro-ducer could communicate its message to the consumer. Our investigation shows that the most efficent way to reach potential buyers is to promote the products on the tele-vision, followed by magazines with a health approach. Another way is to network with health care professionals since consumers listen to and follows their recommen-dations. Today, health care professionals? have knowledge lacks about the effects of the products with health claims, which makes this group potential. In order to create a high potential of a product with health claims, studies show that the health effect should be experienced in connection to the time of consumption as a guarantee from the producer that the product really has a health promoting effect. If the producer succeeds in this, the possibility of a second purchase increases. The food industry is a market with intense competition and due to this fact it is impor-tant to build strong brands and products demanded by the consumer. There is no space for products with questionable taste and high price. The producer must know what kind of product design that is appealing to the consumer, which makes the prod-uct development process into a vital step. Money spent in this phase will be payed-off if spent on increasing the producer's knowledge about the consumer

Empowering Healthcare Professionals by IS Education: Enhancing Reflective Empowerment

The paper presents findings from a research study of an information systems master program in Sweden, targeting healthcare professionals. The aim of the study was to explore if and how mechanisms of empowerment and reflective practice can be evoked in healthcare professionals by participating in a master program in information systems. A mixed research methodology was applied, including participant observation, document analysis and a learning style inventory. The findings of the study showed signs of the students achieving a higher degree of empowerment in their professional roles, as well as beginning to actively use reflective practice as a means of professional development. The findings are summarised in a tentative framework of reflective empowerment. The findings call for further research on how IT-centred master programs targeting healthcare professional could enhance professional development

Establishing new consulting services in health care organizations: an ANT analysis of patient-centred care

A recent trend in health care is patient-centred e-health, but are health care organizations ready to cope with that change? Changes at the patient level are one aspect but there is a need for reshaping the organization of health care. There is a need to focus much more on prevention care, helping patients to cope and become better self-managers, focusing on the patient process, working together and empowering patients. The aim of this paper is to gain a better understanding of the lack of sustainability over time in two patient-centred care (PCC) projects by using actor network theory (ANT) as an analytical framework. We use case studies from heart fibrillation and heart failure care organization in a Swedish county council. The cases concern initiatives to achieve better interactions for these patients and organize care to become more patient-centred. Both initiatives have now been partly abandoned in the organization, although research and guidelines recommend such care organizations. The analysis of the different actors dominating the translation process towards a PCC network and the way they come together in networks reveal that this is a time-consuming process, taking place long after the initial training and PCC implementation activities. We discuss the temporality of stability, the reversible process with chimerical enrolments and how a complex and changing environment demands constant re-problematization of PCC. We also include how the understanding of the translation and negotiation process can influence decisions on allocating sufficient time and resources to the process. We shed light on the importance of understanding and managing the organizational change in a PCC project and thus also of when to implement patient-centred e-health solutions

"Smoking in Children's Environment Test": a qualitative study of experiences of a new instrument applied in preventive work in child health care

Background Despite knowledge of the adverse health effects of passive smoking, children are still   being exposed. Children's nurses play an important role in tobacco preventive work   through dialogue with parents aimed at identifying how children can be protected from   environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) exposure. The study describes the experiences of   Child Health Care (CHC) nurses when using the validated instrument SiCET (Smoking   in Children's Environment Test) in dialogue with parents. Method In an intervention in CHC centres in south-eastern Sweden nurses were invited to use   the SiCET. Eighteen nurses participated in focus group interviews. Transcripts were   reviewed and their contents were coded into categories by three investigators using   the method described for focus groups interviews. Results The SiCET was used in dialogue with parents in tobacco preventive work and resulted   in focused discussions on smoking and support for behavioural changes among parents.   The instrument had both strengths and limitations. The nurses experienced that the   SiCET facilitated dialogue with parents and gave a comprehensive view of the child's   ETS exposure. This gave nurses the possibility of taking on a supportive role by offering   parents long-term help in protecting their child from ETS exposure and in considering   smoking cessation. Conclusion Our findings indicate that the SiCET supports nurses in their dialogue with parents   on children's ETS exposure at CHC. There is a need for more clinical use and evaluation   of the SiCET to determine its usefulness in clinical practice under varying circumstances.funding agnencies|Swedish National Institute of Public Health||Futurum - The Academy for Healthcare, Jonkoping County Council|

HLA-B27 predicts a more extended disease with increasing age at onset in boys with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Poster presentatiopn at 15th Paediatric Rheumatology European Society (PreS) Congress London, UK. 14–17 September 200

Bridging the Silos: A Comparative Analysis of Implementation Science and Improvement Science

Background Implementation science and improvement science have similar goals of improving health care services for better patient and population outcomes, yet historically there has been limited exchange between the two fields. Implementation science was born out of the recognition that research findings and effective practices should be more systematically disseminated and applied in various settings to achieve improved health and welfare of populations. Improvement science has grown out of the wider quality improvement movement, but a fundamental difference between quality improvement and improvement science is that the former generates knowledge for local improvement, whereas the latter is aimed at producing generalizable scientific knowledge. Objectives The first objective of this paper is to characterise and contrast implementation science and improvement science. The second objective, building on the first, is to highlight aspects of improvement science that potentially could inform implementation science and vice versa. Methods We used a critical literature review approach. Search methods included systematic literature searches in PubMed, CINAHL, and PsycINFO until October 2021; reviewing references in identified articles and books; and the authors' own cross-disciplinary knowledge of key literature. Findings The comparative analysis of the fields of implementation science and improvement science centred on six categories: (1) influences; (2) ontology, epistemology and methodology; (3) identified problem; (4) potential solutions; (5) analytical tools; and (6) knowledge production and use. The two fields have different origins and draw mostly on different sources of knowledge, but they have a shared goal of using scientific methods to understand and explain how health care services can be improved for their users. Both describe problems in terms of a gap or chasm between current and optimal care delivery and consider similar strategies to address the problems. Both apply a range of analytical tools to analyse problems and facilitate appropriate solutions. Conclusions Implementation science and improvement science have similar endpoints but different starting points and academic perspectives. To bridge the silos between the fields, increased collaboration between implementation and improvement scholars will help to clarify the differences and connections between the science and practice of improvement, to expand scientific application of quality improvement tools, to further address contextual influences on implementation and improvement efforts, and to share and use theory to support strategy development, delivery and evaluation

HLA B27 allele types in homogeneous groups of juvenile idiopathic arthritis patients in Latvia

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is a heterogeneous condition and therapeutic strategies vary in different JIA types. The routinely accepted practice to start with Sulphasalazine (SS) as the first line treatment in patients with HLA B27 positive JIA proves to be ineffective in a large proportion of children