Leadership and team building factors that contribute to the success of archives and records management institutions

This thesis examines archival and records management institutions\u27 organizational culture, as well as the impact that organizational culture has on supporting the success and goals of the institution. Most archival organizations are comprised of a limited number of staff, along with very limited funding. The intent of this research thesis is to explore and identify the essential components of leadership and teambuilding that are most effective in the unique setting and structure of archival and records management institutions. In order to identify the essential components that correlate with the overall success of the archival and records management institution, a survey was distributed over the Society of American Archivist\u27s listserv. The survey was utilized to establish organizational demographics and quantifiable identifiers that correlated with overall institutional success. In order to measure more subjective areas, such as leadership and teambuilding, the participants were asked to evaluate and appraise the presence, or effectiveness, of leadership and teambuilding factors. These factors include: collaboration, goal-setting, management style etc. Finally, to provide a quantification of overall institutional success, I asked participants to classify and appraise the overall success of their institution. The final section of this thesis summarizes the results of the survey. In summary, the components that correlate most with the overall institutional success are: leadership from the middle, participative management style, work team collaboration, and goal setting

A systematic review of the individual determinants of research evidence use in allied health

Background: The use of evidence-based practice (EBP) is often not reflected in allied health (AH) practitioners’ day-to-day practice (the research-practice gap). Research suggests that considerable differences between and within AH disciplines exist, which require different approaches in order to influence practice behavior. It is therefore important to develop a better understanding of what influences individual AH practitioners’ adoption of evidence into daily practice. Objective: This systematic review aims to examine the individual characteristics of AH practitioners which determine their uptake of evidence into practice. Methods: Studies which examined individual factors or variables that influence research evidence use by any AH practitioner were included in the review. The methodological quality of the included papers was assessed using the Quality Assessment and Validity Tool for Cross-sectional Studies. A narrative summary of the findings was presented. Results: Six studies were included and the methodological quality scores indicated that two were weak and the remainder had moderate–weak quality. The review demonstrated that factors such as educational degree or academic qualification, involvement in research or EBP-related activities, and practitioners’ perceptions, attitudes and beliefs about research and EBP are significant predictors of self-reported research evidence use in AH. The effect of other factors such as professional characteristics, clinical setting/work environment, information-seeking behavior and sociodemographic variables are less clear. Whether there is an interaction effect between evidence-uptake factors has not been tested. Conclusion: Improving the research knowledge of clinicians and overcoming negative attitudes toward EBP have the potential to move AH practitioners towards regularly utilizing evidence in practice. Allied health practitioners may benefit from participation in regular educational opportunities such as case studies or journal clubs which can put them at the same level of thinking and awareness of research evidence. Future research should aim to review organizational and contextual factors and explore their interaction with individual determinants of research evidence use.L Lizarondo, K Grimmer-Somers, S Kuma

Analysis of Hysteretic Systems: Preisach Formalism and Bouc-Wen Modeling

The inherently nonlinear phenomenon of hysteresis is notoriously difficult to model. Of notable interest are the inverse models of hysteresis which identify the parameters of a particular model to closely match experimental data. Two major models of hysteresis are the Preisach and Bouc-Wen models. As researchers typically deal with solely one model for their analyses, this thesis initially develops techniques to convert from the Bouc-Wen model to the Preisach model, using first a least squares fit followed by using artificial neural networks. The parameters of each of the two models are investigated in further detail, with emphasis on how each parameter affects the loop and how to arrive at an adequate initial estimate for the identification problem algorithms. The techniques are then evaluated and compared against several sets of experimental data for hysteresis loops supplied by the Air Force Research Lab. Their optimized solutions are compared to assess the flexibility and viability of each model. Generally, it is found that, while both models are successful, the Preisach model is more flexible in fitting different types of experimental loops. Lastly, both experimental loops and theoretical loops subjected to white noise are identified using Transitional Markov Chain Monte Carlo (TMCMC) algorithms via the Preisach model. These results show promise for the TMCMC method being applied on data, particularly when the loop is induced by white noise

Exploring the individual determinants of evidence uptake in allied health using a journal club as a medium

Purpose: A recent trial which examined the impact of a structured model of journal club (JC) demonstrated variability in evidence-based practice (EBP) outcomes across allied health disciplines. The aim of the current study was to determine if there are individual practitioner characteristics that could explain this variability and identify potential predictors of EBP outcomes. Method: This exploratory study used the data obtained from the JC trial. The predictive value of practitioner-related variables including academic degree, previous exposure to EBP training, and previous research involvement was analyzed using univariate logistic regression models. The dose of intervention was also included in the exploratory analysis. Results: The change in self-reported knowledge, evidence uptake, and attitude following participation in a JC was influenced by individual practitioner characteristics including their discipline, academic background, previous EBP training, previous research involvement, and JC attendance. Improvement in objective knowledge did not seem to be affected by any of these variables. Whether these individual characteristics have the ability to predict who will achieve less than, or greater than, 50% change in knowledge, attitude, and evidence uptake, is not known, except for academic background which predicted physiotherapists' improvement in attitude. Conclusion: Participation in a structured JC can lead to significant improvements in EBP knowledge irrespective of the characteristics of individual practitioners. The change in attitude and evidence uptake, however, may be influenced by individual characteristics which will therefore require careful consideration when designing EBP interventions. An EBP intervention is likely to be successful if a systematic assessment of the barriers at different levels (ie, individual, organizational, and contextual) informs the choice of evidence implementation strategy.Lucylynn Lizarondo, Karen Grimmer, Saravana Kuma

Assisting allied health in performance evaluation: a systematic review

Background Performance evaluation raises several challenges to allied health practitioners and there is no agreed approach to measuring or monitoring allied health service performance. The aim of this review was to examine the literature on performance evaluation in healthcare to assist in the establishment of a framework that can guide the measurement and evaluation of allied health clinical service performance. This review determined the core elements of a performance evaluation system, tools for evaluating performance, and barriers to the implementation of performance evaluation. Methods A systematic review of the literature was undertaken. Five electronic databases were used to search for relevant articles: MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsychInfo, and Academic Search Premier. Articles which focussed on any allied health performance evaluation or those which examined performance in health care in general were considered in the review. Content analysis was used to synthesise the findings from individual articles. Results A total of 37 articles were included in the review. The literature suggests there are core elements involved in performance evaluation which include prioritising clinical areas for measurement, setting goals, selecting performance measures, identifying sources of feedback, undertaking performance measurement, and reporting the results to relevant stakeholders. The literature describes performance evaluation as multi-dimensional, requiring information or data from more than one perspective to provide a rich assessment of performance. A range of tools or instruments are available to capture various perspectives and gather a comprehensive picture of health care quality. Conclusions Every allied health care delivery system has different performance needs and will therefore require different approaches. However, there are core processes that can be used as a framework to evaluate allied health performance. A careful examination of barriers to performance evaluation and subsequent tailoring of strategies to overcome these barriers should be undertaken to achieve the aims of performance evaluation. The findings of this review should inform the development of a standardised framework that can be used to measure and evaluate allied health performance. Future research should explore the utility and overall impact of such framework in allied health service delivery.Lucylynn Lizarondo, Karen Grimmer, and Saravana Kuma

The Adapted Fresno test for speech pathologists, social workers, and dieticians/nutritionists: validation and reliability testing

Purpose: The current versions of the Adapted Fresno test (AFT) are limited to physiotherapists and occupational therapists, and new scenarios and scoring rubrics are required for other allied health disciplines. The aim of this study was to examine the validity, reliability, and internal consistency of the AFT developed for speech pathologists (SPs), social workers (SWs), and dieticians/nutritionists (DNs). Materials and methods: An expert panel from each discipline was formed to content-validate the AFT. A draft instrument, including clinical scenarios, questionnaire, and scoring rubric, was developed. The new versions were completed by ten SPs, 16 SWs, and 12 DNs, and scored by four raters. Interrater reliability was calculated using intraclass correlation coefficients (2,1) for the individual AFT items and the total score. The internal consistency of the AFT was examined using Cronbach's α. Results: Two new clinical scenarios and a revised scoring rubric were developed for each discipline. The reliability among raters was excellent for questions 1, 3, and 6 across all disciplines. Question 7 showed excellent reliability for SPs, but not for SWs and DNs. All other reliability coefficients increased to moderate or excellent levels following training. Cronbach's α was 0.71 for SPs, 0.68 for SWs, and 0.74 for DNs, indicating that internal consistency was acceptable for all disciplines. Conclusion: There is preliminary evidence to show that AFT is a valid and reliable tool for the assessment of evidence-based practice knowledge and skills of SPs, SWs, and DNs. Further research is required to establish its sensitivity to detect change in knowledge and skills following an educational program.Lucylynn Lizarondo, Karen Grimmer, Saravana Kuma