Collaborative Metaphor Analysis Research Methodology: A Retrospective Self-Study

The purpose of this manuscript is to explicate the metaphor analysis process we employed in a recent study to make this methodology more accessible to future researchers. To explain and demystify metaphor analysis as a method, we describe in detail the three rounds of data analysis leading to findings. We seek to make transparent the messiness and thoughtfulness of the refining process as well as the methodological rigor and trustworthiness. In the discussion that follows, researchers share experiences with and resulting insights into the methodology in hopes of providing future researchers with support for their own metaphor analysis work

Occupational Therapy Enhanced Practice Education Approach: Student Perspectives

It has been suggested that to provide occupational therapy students with the best opportunities to learn while on a placement, it is important that they enter a supportive and welcoming environment that fosters quality learning experiences. To achieve a quality practice education experience, the occupational therapy team at Barwon Health developed and implemented the Barwon Health Occupational Therapy Enhanced Practice Education Approach (BHOTEPEA). The aim of this research was to ascertain occupational therapy students’ perceptions of the impact of the implementation of three core components of the BHOTEPEA: the student orientation process, facilitated practicums and reflective practice sessions. The method utilised by this study was an on-line survey to collect quantitative and qualitative data from occupational therapy students who had undertaken placements at Barwon Health between December 2014 and December 2015. Thirty-six out of 125 occupational therapy students responded to the survey (response rate of 29.8%). Students indicated that the approach assisted them to feel welcomed and prepared for placement, develop their practice skills and abilities, and develop their reflective practice skills. In conclusion, it appears that the BHOTEPEA supports the key elements of a quality practice education experience for occupational therapy students identified in the literature, including a welcoming learning environment, detailed orientation, clear expectations and a graded program of learning experiences. The findings from this research suggest other placement sites may be able to enhance the quality of their student placement experiences by adopting the three core components of the BHOTEPEA

Exploring land-sea interactions: Insights for shaping territorial space

The interactions between land and sea are fundamental to human wellbeing. Within Europe, the 2014 Directive establishing a framework for maritime spatial planning (MSP Directive), which requires EU coastal member states to have marine spatial plans in place by 2021, also requires that MSP authorities should explicitly take into account land-sea interactions. This has stimulated a new phase of investigation into land-sea interactions in Europe. This paper aims to contribute to marine and coastal planning debates by reflecting on one of these investigations, the Maritime Spatial Planning and Land Sea Interactions (MSP-LSI) project. The paper starts by providing a historical overview of the growing attention being paid to LSI within the context of European policy making. This sets the context for the MSP-LSI project and the approach to exploring land-sea interactions it developed is outlined. The paper then uses examples from the project’s case study investigations to highlight and illustrate some of the wider insights the project revealed, both in relation to the extensive spatial footprint associated with selected maritime sectors and how marine space is being shaped by, and contributing to landward activity and governance agendas. It concludes by presenting a case not only for adopting a ‘one space’ perspective in MSP, but in territorial spatial planning and management regimes more generally.</jats:p

An Evaluation of the Effects of a Functional Energy Drink on Post-lunch and Early Evening Driving Performance

This paper reports the results of a pilot study designed to evaluatethe effect of an energy drink on mental performance and driving. 24 healthysubjects were tested after consumption of a placebo or an energy drink in adouble-blind crossover study. Measures included a laboratory test of AdaptiveTracking (AT), and a simulated drive involved a 40 Km motorway route in anadvanced motion-based simulator. Self-report scales of sleepiness revealed asignificant difference between placebo and energy drink. Though both drinksprovided an alerting effect, both the level and duration of the effect observedafter consumption of the energy drink was greater. Performance on the AT taskwas significantly improved. This improvement in hand-eye coordination wasreflected in better lane-keeping performance in the simulated driving task.There was also a consistent tendency when the drivers drank placebo to driveslightly faster in traffic than when drinking the energy drink. Thesepreliminary findings, which demonstrate that consumption of even a relativelysmall volume (250ml) of an energy drink can have an effect on sleepiness, lanekeeping and speed choice in simulated traffic, could have implications forfuture highway safety

Focusing on ICT in Rural and Regional Education in Australia

National priorities set by an Australian ministerial taskforce provide clear guidelines to develop pedagogy that integrates ICT. Although these guidelines do not specifically address rural and regional schools needs, the two priorities: promoting pedagogic leadership and creating new learning environments, are of particular interest. But how are these priorities reflected in the realities of rural and regional schools? Focus group interviews were conducted at a selection of rural and regional schools in each state and territory across Australia. These provided teachers, parents and students with the opportunity to identify key issues in relation to ICT in their schools. Issues identified by the focus groups were; the state of equipment in schools, comparability between home and school ICT experiences for students, pedagogical approaches, leadership, professional development and availability of ICT specialist teachers

Long-term physical activity: an exogenous risk factor for sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?

Objectives: To conduct a geographically defined, UK-based case-control study, to examine any association between physical activity (PA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Methods: A novel historical PA questionnaire was designed, validated, and subsequently administered in individual face-to-face interviews of 175 newly diagnosed sporadic ALS cases and 317 age- and sex-matched community controls. Historical PA energy expenditure and time spent in vigorous-intensity PA were derived from questionnaire data and compared between cases and controls. Results: Participation in an extra 10kJ/kg/day of PA (equivalent to approximately 45minutes brisk walking) was consistently associated with an increased risk of ALS, with the strongest association observed for adulthood exercise-related PA (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.10-1.97). An extra 10mins/day of vigorous PA was also associated with the odds of ALS (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1·01-1·05). Results were slightly attenuated following adjustment for smoking and educational attainment. Conclusions: To our knowledge this is the first study to demonstrate a positive association between ALS and PA participation using a specifically designed and validated historical PA questionnaire. Despite the well-established health benefits of PA, a high activity lifestyle may also be associated with elevated risk of ALS. Large-scale prospective studies in the future may help to confirm this association.This study was funded by a Medical Research Council/Motor Neurone Disease Association Lady Edith Wolfson Fellowship.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Taylor and Francis via https://doi.org/10.3109/21678421.2016.115457

Long-term physical activity: an exogenous risk factor for sporadic amyotrophic lateral sclerosis?

OBJECTIVES: To conduct a geographically defined, UK-based case-control study, to examine any association between physical activity (PA) and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). METHODS: A novel historical PA questionnaire was designed, validated, and subsequently administered in individual face-to-face interviews of 175 newly diagnosed sporadic ALS cases and 317 age- and sex-matched community controls. Historical PA energy expenditure and time spent in vigorous-intensity PA were derived from questionnaire data and compared between cases and controls. RESULTS: Participation in an extra 10kJ/kg/day of PA (equivalent to approximately 45minutes brisk walking) was consistently associated with an increased risk of ALS, with the strongest association observed for adulthood exercise-related PA (OR 1.47, 95% CI 1.10-1.97). An extra 10mins/day of vigorous PA was also associated with the odds of ALS (OR 1.03, 95% CI 1·01-1·05). Results were slightly attenuated following adjustment for smoking and educational attainment. CONCLUSIONS: To our knowledge this is the first study to demonstrate a positive association between ALS and PA participation using a specifically designed and validated historical PA questionnaire. Despite the well-established health benefits of PA, a high activity lifestyle may also be associated with elevated risk of ALS. Large-scale prospective studies in the future may help to confirm this association.This study was funded by a Medical Research Council/Motor Neurone Disease Association Lady Edith Wolfson Fellowship.This is the final version of the article. It first appeared from Taylor and Francis via https://doi.org/10.3109/21678421.2016.115457

Analysing the role of complexity in explaining the fortunes of technology programmes : Empirical application of the NASSS framework

© The Author(s). 2018 Open Access This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license, and indicate if changes were made. The Creative Commons Public Domain Dedication waiver (http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/) applies to the data made available in this article, unless otherwise stated.Background: Failures and partial successes are common in technology-supported innovation programmes in health and social care. Complexity theory can help explain why. Phenomena may be simple (straightforward, predictable, few components), complicated (multiple interacting components or issues) or complex (dynamic, unpredictable, not easily disaggregated into constituent components). The recently published NASSS framework applies this taxonomy to explain Non-adoption or Abandonment of technology by individuals and difficulties achieving Scale-up, Spread and Sustainability. This paper reports the first empirical application of the NASSS framework. Methods: Six technology-supported programmes were studied using ethnography and action research for up to 3 years across 20 health and care organisations and 10 national-level bodies. They comprised video outpatient consultations, GPS tracking technology for cognitive impairment, pendant alarm services, remote biomarker monitoring for heart failure, care organising software and integrated case management via data warehousing. Data were collected at three levels: micro (individual technology users), meso (organisational processes and systems) and macro (national policy and wider context). Data analysis and synthesis were guided by socio-technical theories and organised around the seven NASSS domains: (1) the condition or illness, (2) the technology, (3) the value proposition, (4) the adopter system (professional staff, patients and lay carers), (5) the organisation(s), (6) the wider (institutional and societal) system and (7) interaction and mutual adaptation among all these domains over time. Results: The study generated more than 400 h of ethnographic observation, 165 semi-structured interviews and 200 documents. The six case studies raised multiple challenges across all seven domains. Complexity was a common feature of all programmes. In particular, individuals' health and care needs were often complex and hence unpredictable and 'off algorithm'. Programmes in which multiple domains were complicated proved difficult, slow and expensive to implement. Those in which multiple domains were complex did not become mainstreamed (or, if mainstreamed, did not deliver key intended outputs). Conclusion: The NASSS framework helped explain the successes, failures and changing fortunes of this diverse sample of technology-supported programmes. Since failure is often linked to complexity across multiple NASSS domains, further research should systematically address ways to reduce complexity and/or manage programme implementation to take account of it.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio