A Hypothetical Model to Predict Nursing Students’ Perceptions of the Usefulness of Pre-Service Integrated Management of Childhood Illness Training

Objectives: This study aimed to test a hypothetical model to predict nursing students’ perceptions of the usefulness of pre-service Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) training and their intention to apply this training in clinical practice. Methods: This study was carried out at the Sur Nursing Institute, Sur, Oman, in May 2015. Using six predefined constructs, a hypothetical structural model was created. The constructs were used as latent variables to highlight their probable impact on intention to apply IMCI-related knowledge and skills in practice. A structured validated questionnaire was subsequently developed to assess the perceptions of nursing students. Factor loadings and calculated variances were examined to ensure convergent validity. Cronbach’s alpha was used to calculate internal consistency reliability. Results: Factor loadings for each item in the model were above 0.70. All of the constructs had Cronbach’s alpha values over 0.700, except for enhanced assessment skills (Cronbach’s alpha: 0.694). The variance extracted value was 0.815 for perceived usefulness, 0.800 for enhanced assessment skills, 0.687 for enhanced knowledge, attitudes and skills, 0.697 for enhanced confidence, 0.674 for enhanced counselling skills and 0.805 for future intention to use IMCI in a clinical setting. Conclusion: Overall, the results support the hypothetical model and indicate that nursing students perceive IMCI training to be beneficial and intend to apply IMCI-related knowledge and skills in clinical practice

INFLUENCE OF PERSUASIVE REMINDERS AND VIRTUAL REHEARSAL ON INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR SLEEP DEPRIVATION

Appropriate amount and good quality of sleep are essential for mental and general well-being. Sleep deprivation and other chronic sleep disorders could lead to negative consequences for health, poor quality of life and reduced competence. An individual’s quality of life could be unsettled because of several reasons, sleep deprivation is one of them. Information systems (IS) and human-computer interaction (HCI) researchers have paid considerable attention to promote healthy behaviors however sleep deprivation as a problem domain has received relatively little attention. In this paper, we present qualitative findings from a field study that examined potential influence of persuasive reminders and virtual rehearsal on the effectiveness of a Behavior Change Support System (BCSS). Tyyne is a BCSS developed for people suffering from sleep deprivation. The content of virtual rehearsal modules were drawn from Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. Participants were recruited through newspaper advertisements. After screening at the university clinic, eligible participants (n = 86) were randomized into an Intervention group and a Control (wait-list) group. For data collection, we employed pre and post study structured questionnaires. Upon completion of the study, 41 participants volunteered to complete post study questionnaires. The findings reveal that a moderate number of participants (60.5%) improved their sleeping habits, a significantly high number of participants (79.1%) approved the BCSS, a staggering high number (93.0%) of the participants agreed that learning new skills through web-based BCSS is a good idea, and a substantial number of participants (72.1%) believed that persuasive reminders help people in task completion and compliance. Even though only about one third of participants (37.2%) reported that after using the BCSS they could better manage their sleep disorders, we suggest that the findings are encouraging. Given that treating sleep deprivation requires much longer periods of time than the intervention’s duration (in our case it was 6 weeks), improvement with one third of the participants is nevertheless a promising result. On the whole, persuasive reminders and virtual rehearsal as software features have a significant potential to enhance overall effectiveness of information systems for chronic sleep disorders

Promoting Pediatric Healthcare through Persuasive Information Systems: A Qualitative Study

This paper presents qualitative findings from a Randomized Controlled Trial that focused on applying a Persuasive Information System to promote Pediatric Healthcare following the guidelines of Integrated Management of Childhood Illnesses. The study was primarily designed to introduce Persuasive Information Systems for promoting pediatric healthcare in a relatively under-developed country. The study investigates potential impact of simple text-based reminders on improving parents’ knowledge and skills when dealing with a sick child at home before deciding to seek healthcare professionals. Reminders were selected for this study, as they are most commonly employed persuasive software features in the area of Persuasive Information Systems. For data collection, we conducted Focus Group Discussions with participants of both intervention groups. The qualitative findings indicate that the participants largely favored reminders although there were some skeptical remarks. The findings from presented study are expected to help system designers work in collaboration with parents and healthcare professionals to improve the content and delivery of reminders. The qualitative findings helped us identify five emerging themes that are expected to open research opportunities for improving child healthcare researchers

Native Mobile Applications For Personal Well-Being: A Persuasive Systems Design Evaluation

Smartphone applications have shown promise in supporting people to adopt healthy lifestyles. Hence, it is critical to understand persuasive design strategies incorporated in native mobile applications that facilitate behavior change. The aim of our study was to identify distinct persuasive software features assimilated in twelve selected applications using Persuasive Systems Design (PSD) model and provide a methodical framework for systems developers and IS researchers to extract and evaluate such features. Further, this study aimed to provide deeper comprehension of persuasive design and strategies by learning from practice. Exhaustive evaluations were performed by four researchers specializing in persuasive information systems simulating users walking through the applications step-by-step performing regular tasks. The results disclose the need for improvement in designing and incorporating persuasive techniques in personal well-being applications. While self-monitoring and personalization were moderately exploited, tailoring, a key persuasive feature, was not identified among the evaluated applications. In addition, evaluated applications lacked features that could augment human-computer dialogue as well as social support. The contribution of this paper is two-fold: while it exposes weakness in persuasive design of native mobile applications for personal well-being, it provides a methodical approach for enhancing general persuasiveness of such applications for instance, through enhanced dialogue support. We propose that designers and IS researchers perform rigorous evaluations of persuasive features incorporated in personal well-being applications

Treating Depression with a Behavior Change Support System without Face-to-Face Therapy

In this paper, we present results from a randomized controlled trial (RCT) that examined the impact of persuasive reminders and virtual rehearsal on the effectiveness of a behavior-change support system (BCSS). We developed the Web-based BCSS to support people with mild to moderate depression without face-to-face therapy. We randomized eligible participants into two groups. Both groups rehearsed the target behavior virtually; however, only the first intervention group received email-based reminders. We applied a mixed-methods approach for the analysis. We collected data with semi-structured self-reported questionnaires and post-study interviews. Results indicate that the severity of depression was noticeably decreased and participants’ self-confidence to manage depressive thoughts was generally improved. The influence of persuasive reminders on task completion was less than we anticipated, while the participants felt that virtual rehearsal was an effective technique for learning new behaviors. We discuss possible reasons for the results at the end of the paper

Expanding the research area of behavior change support systems

The First International Workshop on Behavior Change Support Systems attracted a great research interest. The selected papers focused on abstraction, implementation and evaluation of Behavior Change Support Systems. The workshop is an evidence of how researchers from around the globe have their own perspective of behavior change interventions. In this abstract, we have attempted to outline core issues that can enhance persuasiveness of such support systems. Finally, we highlight important research questions relating to the development of effective Behavior Change Support System

On the margins of minority life: Zoroastrians and the state in Safavid Iran

This article looks at the treatment of the Zoroastrians by central and provincial authorities in early modern Yazd, Kirman and Isfahan, emphasizing the institutional weaknesses of the central or khāsṣạ protection they were supposed to benefit from under the Safavids (907–1135/1501– 1722). It is argued that the maltreatment the Zoroastrians endured under the Safavids had little to do with religious bigotry. Rather, it arose from rivalries between the central and the provincial services of the Safavid bureaucracy, putting Zoroastrians in Yazd, Kirman, Sistan and Isfahan at risk of over-taxation, extortion, forced labour and religious persecution. The argument developed in this article pivots on the material interest of the central and the provincial agents of the Safavid bureaucracy in the revenue and labour potentials of the Zoroastrians, and the way in which the conflict of interest between these two sectors led to such acts of persecution as over-taxation, forced labour, extortion and violenc

Exploring the influence of persuasive reminders and virtual rehearsal on the efficacy of health behavior change support system

Abstract Information technologies have opened new opportunities to develop persuasive systems that support people to adopt and sustain healthy behaviors. Both web-based and ubiquitous information systems have shown promising results in supporting people to adopt healthy routines. Persuasive systems have therefore received increasing attention from researchers over the past decade. Behavior Change Support Systems are an object of persuasive technology. These systems are designed to facilitate behavior change process over an extended period of time. This dissertation comprises of six studies, including two investigative, two experimental, and two field studies. An effort has been made to consecutively build these studies to formulate a central research question: To what extent virtual rehearsal augmented with reminders influence overall efficacy of health Behavior Change Support Systems? The primary theoretical underpinning is the Persuasive Systems Design model, which highlights seven postulates and twenty-eight software features for developing Behavior Change Support Systems. However, in the presented work, reminders and virtual rehearsal are explicitly studied. The interplay between these software features is examined through using a mixed-method research approach, using qualitative methodology as a core research approach. The results indicate that carefully selected and integrated persuasive software features have significant impact on the overall efficacy of Behavior Change Support Systems. Presented work addresses health behavioral change as a critical aspect of healthcare, and also extends contemporary research on critical issues in healthcare including task adherence, attrition and compliance.Tiivistelmä Uudet informaatioteknologiat ovat mahdollistaneet sellaisten vakuuttavien järjestelmien kehittämisen, jotka voivat tukea terveellisten käyttäytymismallien omaksumisessa ja niiden ylläpitämisessä. Sekä web-pohjaisilla että jokapaikan tietojärjestelmillä on saatu lupaavia tuloksia terveellisten rutiinien omaksumisessa. Vakuuttavat järjestelmät ovat näin viimeisen vuosikymmenen aikana saaneet kasvavaa huomiota tutkijoilta. Yksi vakuuttavan teknologian tutkimuskohteista on käyttäytymisen muutoksen tukijärjestelmät. Nämä järjestelmät on suunniteltu helpottamaan käyttäytymisen muutoksessa pitkähkön aikajakson kuluessa. Tämä väitöskirja koostuu kuudesta tutkimuksesta, sisältäen kaksi eksploratiivista, kaksi kokeellista ja kaksi kenttätutkimusta. Kyseiset tutkimukset on suunnitelut siten, että on voitu muodostaa yksi keskeinen tutkimuskysymys: Missä määrin virtuaalinen harjoittelu yhdessä muistutusten kanssa voi vaikuttaa käyttäytymisen muutoksen tukijärjestelmien tehokkuuteen? Pääasiallisena teoreettisena pohjana toimii vakuuttavien järjestelmien PSD-suunnittelumenetelmä (Persuasive Systems Design Model), joka korostaa seitsemää perusoletusta ja 28 ohjelmisto-ominaisuutta tällaisten käyttäytymisen muutoksen tukijärjestelmien kehittämisessä. Tässä väitöskirjassa on keskitytty tutkimaan erityisesti virtuaalisia muistutuksia ja virtuaalista harjoittelua. Kyseisiä ohjelmisto-ominaisuuksia on tarkasteltu käyttämällä mixed-method -tutkimustapaa erityisesti laadullisella tutkimusotteella. Tässä tutkimuksessa saadut tulokset osoittavat, että järjestelmien huolella valituilla ja toteutetuilla vakuuttavilla ominaisuuksilla on merkittävä vaikutus käyttäytymisen muutoksen tukijärjestelmien tehokkuuteen. Väitös osoittaa terveyskäyttäytymisen muutoksen olevan kriittinen osa terveydenhoitoa. Väitöstyö myös lisää terveydenhoidon tietämystä sen kriittisissä ongelmissa, erityisesti harjoituksiin sitoutumisessa tai vastaavasti harjoitusten tekemättä jättämisessä ylipäätään ja ohjeiden noudattamisessa

INFORMATION SYSTEMS FOR IMPROVING MENTAL HEALTH: SIX EMERGING THEMES OF RESEARCH

This paper presents qualitative findings from two field studies that focused on supporting people with sleeplessness (Study I) and moderate depression (Study II). Both the studies were designed to examine the potential impact of reminders and rehearsal on the effectiveness of web-based information systems that were developed by implementing selected persuasive software features and incorporated with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy-based exercises. Sleeplessness and moderate depression were chosen because first, they are interrelated and, second they are essential for an individual’s general wellbeing. Good quality of life depends on different factors, and both sleeplessness and depression, if not addressed, can have detrimental consequences. In this paper, qualitative findings are reported with an aim to highlight underlying issues that are at times ignored. Further, the findings are expected to help designers better understand the dynamics of information systems that are developed for mental healthcare. For data collection, we used semi-structured interviews and Likert-scale questionnaires. Although, we used SPSS Version 20 to perform statistical analyses on pre- and post- study psychological measures for both Study I and II, however in this paper only qualitative findings will be reported as in the context of healthcare- related research qualitative methodologies have been advocated as a constructive approach. The results from the two studies portray an interesting contrast. While the participants of the Study I (Sleeplessness) did not generally find reminders to be effective, on the contrary, the participants of study II (Depression) highly appreciated reminders especially in terms of task completion. In terms of rehearsal, participants from both the studies favoured the software feature for learning new behaviors. Based on the qualitative findings, we have identified six emerging themes that are expected to open further research opportunities for mental healthcare researchers

Levels of Physical Activity, Patterns, and Perceived Barriers, Among University Students in Oman: A cross-Sectional Study

Objective: To investigate the prevalence, pattern, and the perceived barriers, of physical activity among Omani university students studying in Oman.Methodology: A self-administered questionnaire using the short-form of the International Physical Activity Questionnaire (IPAQ) was disseminated to a selected sample of university students, from their second academic year onwards through Whats AppTM. Descriptive, Bivariate and multivariate analysis was conducted to measure patterns, levels and associated factors. Results: Overall 44% were classified as highly active, 30% as moderately active, and 26% as lowly active or inactive. Younger students (? 22 years), male students, respondents with a positive perception of weight (normal or below), and self-perceived physically active (moderate to high) were more likely to engage in moderate to high physical activity. Students in university for ? 4 years (OR: 2.69) and students were members of sports youth clubs (OR: 2.76) were significantly more likely to engage in moderate or high physical activity. Lack of motivation was the top barrier of physical activity.Conclusions: More than a quarter of surveyed Omani university students were physically inactive which has the potential to have a detrimental effect on their health and well-being. Therefore, creating a conducive environment is essential for improving short and long-term health outcomes