Self Management and Telehealth: Lessons Learnt from the Evaluation of a Dorset Telehealth Program

Dorset Clinical Commissioning Group

Behavioral influences on driver crash risks in Ghana: A qualitative study of commercial passenger drivers

Objectives: While there is a growing body of literature on crash risks in the developed world, little is known about how well these models apply to motoring in developing countries, the context in which the majority of road traffic fatalities occur. This qualitative study explores factors perceived to influencinge crash risks for commercial drivers in Ghana. Method: Twenty commercial drivers of varied ages and experience were sampled from 7 major lorry terminals in 3 regions (Greater Accra, Ashanti, and Volta) of Ghana. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews. Results: The participants identified some issues that are shared with drivers in the developed world, though moderated by the Ghanaian context. These included working pressures (e.g., fatigued driving), speeding, distracted driving and inadequate vehicle maintenance. Other factors identified by the participants are infrequently less frequently considered in research addressing driving behavior in developed countries. These included aggressive competition over passengers and corruption (e.g., improper licensing practices) among others. Conclusion: The findings have implications for building a research base to support the development of road safety policy and interventions in developing countries

Experiences of women who have lost young children to AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa: a qualitative study

Background AIDS continues to be the leading cause of death in South Africa. Little is known about the experiences of mothers who have lost a young child to AIDS. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the attitudes and experiences of women who had lost a young child to HIV/AIDS in KwaZulu-Natal Province, South Africa. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 women who had lost a child to AIDS. The average age of the deceased children was six years. Interviews were also conducted with 12 key informants to obtain their perspectives on working with women who had lost a child to AIDS. A thematic analysis of the transcripts was performed. Results In addition to the pain of losing a child, the women in this study had to endure multiple stresses within a harsh and sometimes hostile environment. Confronted with pervasive stigma and extreme poverty, they had few people they could rely on during their child\u27s sickness and death. They were forced to keep their emotions to themselves since they were not likely to obtain much support from family members or people in the community. Throughout the period of caring for a sick child and watching the child die, they were essentially alone. The demands of caring for their child and subsequent grief, together with daily subsistence worries, took its toll. Key informants struggled to address the needs of these women due to several factors, including scarce resources, lack of training around bereavement issues, reluctance by people in the community to seek help with emotional issues, and poverty. Conclusions The present study offers one of the first perspectives on the experiences of mothers who have lost a young child to AIDS. Interventions that are tailored to the local context and address bereavement issues, as well as other issues that affect the daily lives of these mothers, are urgently needed. Further studies are needed to identify factors that promote resilience among these women

Exploring the Problems Experienced by Learners in a MOOC Implementing Active Learning Pedagogies

Although Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) have been reported as an effective educational tool offering numerous opportunities in online learning, the high dropout rates and the lack of learners' motivation are factors concerning researchers and instructors. The one-size-fits-all instructional approach that most courses follow, failing to address the individual needs of learners, has been seen as their weakest point. Recent efforts focus on the inclusion of active learning pedagogies in MOOCs to stimulate the interaction among the participants and to keep them engaged. However, taking into account that in these massive contexts the learners face several issues while trying to keep up with the course, the incorporation of active learning strategies may introduce additional problems to the learning process. This study explores the problems that learners experienced in a MOOC implementing collaboration and gamification strategies. As the results reveal, the introduction of collaborative learning activities can generate additional problems to learners and for that reason, a careful design and a proper scaffolding is needed in an early stage to overcome the problems that will occur. No significant problems were reported regarding the implementation of gamification elements

The conceptual and practical ethical dilemmas of using health discussion board posts as research data.

Increasing numbers of people living with a long-term health condition are putting personal health information online, including on discussion boards. Many discussion boards contain material of potential use to researchers; however, it is unclear how this information can and should be used by researchers. To date there has been no evaluation of the views of those individuals sharing health information online regarding the use of their shared information for research purposes

Exploring common stressors in physical education

Daily stressors, or hassles, refer to the everyday environmental demands that constitute a threat or challenge, or exceed an individual’s biological or psychological capacities (Cohen et al., 1995). Increasing evidence suggests that daily stressors have a significant impact on adolescents’ educational outcomes, for example, performance, wellbeing and negative attitudes toward school, however there is limited research examining the concept of common stressors in PE lessons. As early-adolescence is a developmental period associated with decreased engagement in PE, it is important to identify the environmental stressors that may be associated with increased disengagement. The study comprised 54 secondary school students and six PE teachers from five schools in the English Midlands. Semi-structured focus groups were conducted and a thematic analysis was applied to interview transcripts. Three higher order themes were identified from the data: the social environment, the physical and organisational environment, and the performance environment. Common stressors within the social environment included, interpersonal transactions between peers, differences in effort levels during PE, and working outside one’s peer group. Stressors within the physical and organisational environment consisted of, environmental situations within the changing facilities and the availability of activities. Finally, performance environment stressors included, situations involving the difficult acquisition of physical skills, and situations where physical appearance and physical competencies were exposed. The study extends previous findings by identifying potentially threatening and frustrating, environmental demands that have not been identified in the previous literature. The current study is the first to explore the typical stressors that are experienced by students in PE

Comprehensive Geriatric Assessment on an Acute Medical Unit: a Qualitative Study of Older People’s and Informal Carer’s Perspectives of the Care and Treatment Received

Objective: This qualitative study was imbedded in a randomized controlled trial evaluating the addition of geriatricians to usual care to enable the comprehensive geriatric assessment process with older patients on acute medical units. The qualitative study explored the perspectives of intervention participants on their care and treatment.Design: A constructivist study incorporating semi-structured interviews that were conducted in patients’ homes within six weeks of discharge from the acute medical unit. These interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analysed using thematic analysis.Setting: An acute medical unit in the United Kingdom.Participants: Older patients (n = 18) and their informal carers (n = 6) discharged directly home from an acute medical unit, who had been in the intervention group of the randomized controlled trial.Results: Three core themes were constructed: (1) perceived lack of treatment on the acute medical unit; (2) nebulous grasp of the role of the geriatrician; and (3) on-going health and activities of daily living needs postdischarge. These needs impacted upon the informal carers, who either took over, or helped the patients to complete their activities of daily living. Despite the help received with activities of daily living, a lot of the patients voiced a desire to complete these activities themselves.Conclusions:The participants perceived they were just monitored and observed on the acute medical unit, rather than receiving active treatment, and spoke of on-going unresolved health and activity of daily living needs following discharge, despite receiving the additional intervention of a geriatrician