Investigating teleconsultations in primary care pharmacy using human factors

Introduction: Given the drive for transforming primary care using digital solutions such as teleconsultations, there is a need to understand how these technologies are developed and used. The discipline of human factors (HF) is suited to this type of research, however, evidence of applications of HF in primary care are limited. Methods: The Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) 2.0 model was used throughout this thesis. A scoping review identified previous applications of HF approaches and methods to the development of teleconsultations in primary care. A secondary analysis of studies from the review provided an evidence base of factors influencing use of teleconsultations. Interview schedules, informed by the secondary analysis, were then used to understand patient and pharmacists’ perspectives on the use of video consultations (VCs) in Scotland. A scoping review and content analysis of guidance available to pharmacists in Scotland identified commonalities and differences across resources. Results: Twenty HF approaches were identified across 70 studies, with the majority set in general practice and focusing on evaluating use. The secondary analysis identified 36 and 39 factors influencing patients’ and primary care providers’ use of teleconsultations. Fourteen patients and 19 pharmacists participated in interviews, outlining factors influencing their use related to the six components of the SEIPS 2.0Work System. Pharmacists expressed a need for more organisational guidance on using VCs with patients. Analyses of existing guidance identified 94 resources, the majority of which were published by Scottish Government and Technology Enabled Care. Conclusions: To facilitate successful implementation and use of VCs into pharmacy services in Scotland, a systems perspective should be taken to understand the users’needs in each individual context, and to develop guidance which considers each component within the current Work System. Future research should continue to explore applications of HF in primary care, to encourage integration of the discipline in healthcare.Introduction: Given the drive for transforming primary care using digital solutions such as teleconsultations, there is a need to understand how these technologies are developed and used. The discipline of human factors (HF) is suited to this type of research, however, evidence of applications of HF in primary care are limited. Methods: The Systems Engineering Initiative for Patient Safety (SEIPS) 2.0 model was used throughout this thesis. A scoping review identified previous applications of HF approaches and methods to the development of teleconsultations in primary care. A secondary analysis of studies from the review provided an evidence base of factors influencing use of teleconsultations. Interview schedules, informed by the secondary analysis, were then used to understand patient and pharmacists’ perspectives on the use of video consultations (VCs) in Scotland. A scoping review and content analysis of guidance available to pharmacists in Scotland identified commonalities and differences across resources. Results: Twenty HF approaches were identified across 70 studies, with the majority set in general practice and focusing on evaluating use. The secondary analysis identified 36 and 39 factors influencing patients’ and primary care providers’ use of teleconsultations. Fourteen patients and 19 pharmacists participated in interviews, outlining factors influencing their use related to the six components of the SEIPS 2.0Work System. Pharmacists expressed a need for more organisational guidance on using VCs with patients. Analyses of existing guidance identified 94 resources, the majority of which were published by Scottish Government and Technology Enabled Care. Conclusions: To facilitate successful implementation and use of VCs into pharmacy services in Scotland, a systems perspective should be taken to understand the users’needs in each individual context, and to develop guidance which considers each component within the current Work System. Future research should continue to explore applications of HF in primary care, to encourage integration of the discipline in healthcare

Mentoring Academy Symposium

Presentation slides from November 14, 2017 Mentoring Academy Symposium

Communications in the time of a pandemic: The readability of documents for public consumption

© 2021 The Authors Objective: Government communications in a crisis can influence public health outcomes. This research aimed to investigate if written communications of the most commonly sought sources of COVID-19 information available on the internet have readability levels commensurate with those of the general public. Methods: Online documents from the World Health Organization (WHO), and the governments of Australia, the UK and the US were assessed for readability using an online instrument that calculated scores for the Flesch Reading Ease Score, the SMOG Index and the Readability Consensus Grade Level. Results: Similar to the previous research, most documents assessed had a readability standard that was at or above the recommended grade level, and as such inaccessible to substantial portions of the general public. A one-way ANOVA with post hoc tests revealed significant differences among the data, with Australian documents significantly more difficult to read than those from the UK and US. Conclusions: Government departments need to consider their audience and monitor readability of the documents they produce to ensure that readers can understand them. Implications for public health: Health communications need to be written at a level appropriate for the targeted population in order to be fit for purpose

Does Stress Matter? Findings from a Self-Report Survey of Contract Cheating Behaviours of Canadian College Students

Presentation for the International Centre of Academic Integrity Annual Conference, March 2023.Othe

Snapshot of KIPP Leadership Practices through 2010 -- 2011

As part of the U.S. Department of Education's Investing in Innovation (i3) grant, the Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) Foundation commissioned Mathematica to document leadership practices at KIPP schools. This issue brief summarizes notable findings from the study, which focused on identifying leadership practices across diverse areas: leadership structure and transitions, and the selection, development, and evaluation of leaders. Among other notable findings, KIPP combines a tiered sequence of leadership roles at the local level with national staff development programs to generate a pipeline of school leaders. The study also found that KIPP's Leadership Competency Model defines the skills school leaders need and guides development and evaluation

“When David Bowie created Ziggy Stardust” The Lived Experiences of Social Workers Learning Through Work

The findings from this qualitative study sit at the intersection of knowledge about workplace and professional learning, offering new insights into how social workers learn through work. The study explored the unique lived experiences of social workers’ learning through an Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) study (Smith et al., 2009). IPA was selected to focus on the nature of the social workers’ lifeworld and their lived experiences of learning in the workplace. In-depth individual interviews gathered rich descriptions from sixteen social workers. The double-hermeneutic cycle, a feature of IPA, explored the meaning that the social workers drew from their experiences and the researcher making sense of the participants’ sense-making. Individual and unique experiences of the participants were explored, generating themes for the social workers through an immersive process of analysis for each case in turn. Superordinate themes were then identified across the group that revealed the complexity of social workers’ learning experiences. These were, Journey of the self; Navigating landscape and place; Navigating tasks; Learning through the body; Learning through others; Practices and conceptions of learning; and, Learning by chance. These aspects of the social workers’ lived experiences weave together in a complex and enmeshed web, each thread connected to the others as part of the learning process. Striking metaphors were used by social workers to convey the meaning they associated with their learning in the workplace. The thesis shows the nature and complexity of individual social workers’ experiences and how understanding these can help design more effective workplace continuing professional learning opportunities. Drawing on rich theoretical ideas from phenomenology and workplace learning, the thesis offers a hybrid conceptual web model for social work professional development. This model acknowledges the unique experience of social workers within a complex context involving navigation of task, place and embodied learning

Katherine Anne Porter's Fiction : Man in a Falling World

This thesis argues that Katherine Anne Porter's novel, Ship of Fools, "is not a departure from the body of Porter's work which precedes it, but a culmination in theme and technical achievement.

Motives for College Students’ Participation in Episodic and Organizational Service Activities During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Although the literature shows that organizational participation in service is developmentally beneficial for college students due to the reinforcement of positive behaviors, the literature is less clear on the differences between episodic and organizational participation, especially the motivation to participate. Additionally, there is insufficient research in the area of service participation during a pandemic. This thesis examines (a) relations between motives and volunteering (i.e., episodic and organizational) and (b) whether relations vary by individuals’ adherence to COVID-19 pandemic-related protocols. Cross-sectional data were drawn from a secondary study of character development and service among college students. Analyses involved estimating regression models with interaction effects. Unexpectedly, the data showed that as motivation by values increased, participation decreased in both episodic and organizational, and as understanding and social justice motivation increased, episodic participation decreased. Since the interaction terms between these motives and pandemic protocol adherence were significant, we conclude that the COVID-19 pandemic influenced the decrease in participation related to these motives

How Stressed are Students and What Can We Do About It? Findings from a Self-report Survey of Contract Cheating Behaviours and the Stressful Events College Students Experience

Empirical research on contract cheating in Canada has been limited (Eaton, 2022) and tends to focus on the university (Eaton, 2019; Stoesz & Los, 2019; Thacker, 2022) while there has been relatively little research on academic integrity and contract cheating in community colleges and other non-university higher education institutions (Bretag & Harper, 2020). To address this gap, in 2021, researchers collected data on student engagement in academic integrity violation behaviour and the stress they experienced as they were completing their programs at one Canadian community college. Using self-report survey methodology and utilizing students as partners in research, we found students engaged in a variety of contract cheating behaviours, and experienced a myriad of stressful events both in and outside the college context, including traumatic life events. In this presentation, we explore the link between stress and contract cheating behaviour and address how we can respond at all levels of our institutions to better support students and promote academic integrity.    &nbsp