Social access: role of digital media in social relations of young people with disabilities

Digital media have enabled people with disabilities (PWDs) to connect with each other, but online relations and gaming have been found escapist. We propose the analytical lens of social access to examine how the role of digital media in PWDs’ social relations is shaped by (i) affordances of digital media, (ii) mixedness of relations, and (iii) interaction of online and offline worlds. This paper presents an ethnographic study in a school for young PWDs and highlights two observations. First, visual profiles on social media platforms could aggravate the social exclusion of young PWDs online and offline, marked by intra-disability and intersectional differences. Second, the co-presence afforded by digital media enabled young PWDs to resort to digital interactions in unwelcoming offline environments without changing the latter. Social access underlines the importance of studying how digital media interweave with offline social relations and inequalities, rarely altering but sometimes augmenting and ameliorating them

Deep well injection of hazardous wastes in Ohio

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Digital health – a new medical cosmology? The case of 23andMe online genetic testing platform

This article argues that commercial digital health platforms and devices commodify participatory features of the digital creating a new medical cosmology. Drawing on sociology on medical cosmologies, research on digital media and marketing and an analysis of the 23andMe online genetic testing platform, I identify three features of this cosmology. First, digital health seeks to foment ‘flow’ or enjoyable, continuous immersion in health. Second, digital health configures its consumers as ‘co-creators’ of health data and knowledge together with companies and other consumers. Third, digital health frames medical knowledge as tentative, up for revision and scepticism by expert and lay science. The way in which digital health configures consumers as immersed, creative and sceptical gives it an open-ended and participatory air. However, the conceptual discussion and the analysis of the 23andMe platform highlight that these features represent commercial capture of the lifeworld, even if they appear radical against classical medical cosmologies

State of play in direct-to-consumer genetic testing for lifestyle-related diseases: market, marketing content, user experiences and regulation

Direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic tests have aroused controversy. Critics have argued many of the tests are not backed by scientific evidence, misguide their customers and should be regulated more stringently. Proponents suggest that finding out genetic susceptibilities for diseases could encourage healthier behaviours and makes the results of genetics research available to the public. This paper reviews the state of play in DTC genetic testing, focusing on tests identifying susceptibilities for lifestyle-related diseases. It will start with mapping the market for the tests. The paper will review (1) research on the content of the online marketing of DTC tests, (2) studies on the effects of DTC genetic tests on customers and (3) academic and policy proposals on how to regulate the tests. Current studies suggest that the marketing of DTC genetic tests often exaggerates their predictive powers, which could misguide consumers. However, research indicates that the tests do not seem to have major negative effects (worry and confusion) but neither do they engender positive effects (lifestyle change) on current users. Research on regulation of the tests has most commonly suggested regulating the marketing claims of the companies. In conclusion, the risks and benefits of DTC genetic tests are less significant than what has been predicted by critics and proponents, which will be argued reflects broader historical trends transforming health and medicine. Copyright © 2013 The Author

Genomic susceptibility testing and pregnancy: something old, something new

This essay explores how testing for common and complex or genomic, as opposed to genetic, susceptibility to deep vein thrombosis both challenges and consolidates old social discourses on genes, gender and pregnancy. The nexus between genetics and reproduction usually crystallizes in the moral dilemma of selective termination. This essay examines on-line discussion among women with a genomic predisposition to deep vein thrombosis, which is associated with miscarriage and stillbirth. It explores the women’s exchanges on what to “do” in order to safely carry to term a foetus, which may always also have the genomic susceptibility. Interpreting DNA not in terms of predicting fate but of suggesting how to modify one’s behaviour in order to give and care for life blunts its eugenistic edge. However, this interpretation also shoulders discussants with the complicated and laborious responsibility of modifying themselves, their life-styles and the life-styles of their families—all of which falls within women’s traditional labour of love in the privatised age of bioindividuality

Methodologies for cultural and social studies in an age of new technologies

Methodologies for cultural and social studies in an age of new technologie

Shifting metaphors in direct-to-consumer genetic testing: from genes as information to genes as big data

This article analyses shifts in metaphors in direct-to-consumer genetic testing, analyzing the websites and select media coverage of the nutrigenetic testing company Sciona (2000–2009) and the personal genome service 23andMe (2006–). Sciona represented genes and communication through the classical metaphor of information; genes coded for disease, and this information was transmitted from the expert company to the consumers. 23andMe represented genes and communication through a new metaphor of big data; genes were digital data or a resource that was browsed, correlated with other data, uploaded and retrieved across lay customers, websites and companies. In terms of understanding health 23andMe tests and research still cast genes as coding for disease to be mitigated by lifestyle change and targeted drugs. However, rendering genes digital data or resources changed their social and economic meaning; genes could be circulated, shared and traded, which legitimized 23andMe’s business model of consumer genetics and private biobanking

Sairaanhoitaja sosiaali- ja terveysalan yrittäjänä

Arvioidaan, että Suomessa olisi viiden vuoden kuluttua 1,3 miljoonaa yli 65- vuotiasta. Tulevat ikäluokat ovat myös huomattavasti varakkaampia sekä tietoisempia palveluista, kuin aiemmat ikäluokat. He ovat myös valmiimpia sijoittamaan omaan hyvinvointiinsa. Uudet laatusuositukset kehottavat kuntia vähentämään laitospaikkoja ja siirtämään palveluja koteihin. Kuntien omat resurssit ovat rajalliset. Tämä johtaa kuntien ja yksityisten palvelujentuottajien tiiviimpään yhteistyöhön. ( Sosiaali- ja terveysministeriö 2013,36-37.) Tiiviimpi yhteistyö julkisen ja yksityisen sektorin välillä, antaa sairaanhoitajille paremmat mahdollisuudet aloittaa yritystoiminta. Toiminnallisen opinnäytetyön tavoitteena oli tehdä liiketoimintasuunnitelma kotisairaanhoito yritykselle. Liiketoimintasuunnitelman laatimisen myötä perehdyimme keskeisiin asioihin, joita pitää huomioida yritystä perustettaessa. Halusimme myös innostaa muita sairaanhoitajia kiinnostumaan yrittäjyydestä sekä jakaa tietoa, mitä vaaditaan perustettaessa terveysalan yritystä. Opinnäytetyön teoreettisessa osuudessa käsitellään yrittäjyyttä sosiaali- ja terveys alalla yleisesti. Sosiaali- ja terveysalan yrittäjyyttä säätelevät monet lait ja asetukset, jotka asettavat omat haasteensa yritystä perustettaessa. Teoreettisessa viitekehyksessä perehdyimme kotisairaanhoitoyrityksen perustamiseen sekä liiketoimintasuunnitelman keskeisiin osa- alueisiin. Teoreettisessa viitekehyksessä hyödynnettiin alan kirjallisuutta, tutkimuksia ja yrityksen perustamisoppaita sekä aihetta käsitteleviä verkkosivustoja. Toiminnallisen opinnäytetyömme tuotoksena laadittiin liiketoimintasuunnitelma. Liiketoimintasuunnitelma tehtiin käyttäen apuna liiketoimintasuunnitelma.com sivuston liiketoimintasuunnitelma-työkalua, jota Keski-Uudenmaan uusyrityskeskus suositteli meille. Suunnitelman avulla voidaan selvittää yritysideamme markkina-arvoa, kannattavuutta sekä lähteä hakemaan starttirahaa ja hankkimaan yritykselle rahoitusta. Opinnäytetyön tuotoksena syntynyt liiketoimintasuunnitelma on arvioitu toteutuskelpoiseksi suunniteltaessa kotisairaanhoitoyritystä, joka tuottaa sairaalatasoisia palveluja koteihin lääkärin johdolla. Opinnäytetyö on antanut meille mahdollisuuden perehtyä sosiaali- ja terveysalan yrittäjyyteen ja kehittää omaa yritysideaamme liiketoimintasuunnitelmaksi suunnittelemallemme yritystoiminnalle. Itse liiketoimintasuunnitelma jää sovitusti salassa pidettäväksi.Nurse as an entrepreneur of social- and healthcare sector It is estimated that the population of people over the age of 65 will exceed 1,3 million in the next five years. This aging population is also increasingly wealthier and more aware of the nursing and care services available today, and this group is also more willing and able to invest in their personal well-being. Limited resources and decreasing budgets within the counties in elder care suggest and urge the municipalities to reduce the number of care facilities and move the care into the homes. This development leads the public government bodies within the public sector to cooperate more closely with independent service providers in the private sector. (STM 2013, 36-37.) This cooperation between the public sector and private enterprise furthers the entrepreneurial opportunities for nurses and care professional overall. The purpose of this thesis is to develop a business plan for a company at the field of private service & care. During the development of this business plan we focused on identifying some critical aspects that need to be evaluated when starting a new business. As a secondary goal we also wanted our thesis to inspire others to explore business opportunities within the service and care sector, and to share valuable information on what it takes to start a new business within this field. In the theory section of this thesis we will cover the business and entrepreneurial environment in the social & health service industry overall. Many laws and ordinances govern the social & health service industry, which pose another layer of challenges for startup companies in this field. Within the theoretical framework of this thesis we focused on the fundamentals of the process of startup and business planning for a business on the private service and care sector. The research for our theoretical framework utilized service & care industry publications, service & care industry research, and several business planning guides, as well as online resources around these topics. The deliverable result of this thesis was an actual business plan that was developed using a business plan tool from the website liiketoimintasuunnitelma.com, which was suggested to us by the Keski-Uudenmaan - new business development office. This business plan allows us to initiate discussions with potential investors on capitalization and funding of a startup company, and it allows investors to evaluate the overall business case (value & profitability) of our business idea. This business plan, which we agreed will remain confidential, has been deemed viable from an overall business perspective. Our business plan – “Delivery of doctor prescribed hospital- level service & care solutions in the home with the oversight and supervision of a medical doctor” acts as a helpful tool in starting a company within this industry. This thesis has given us an opportunity to further explore our business idea and the business opportunities within the social & health care- industry

NÄYTTÖÖN PERUSTUVA HOITOTYÖ EKG-REKISTERÖINNISSÄ

TIIVISTELMÄ Opinnäytetyössämme käsittelemme laadukkaan elektrokardiografian rekisteröintiä. Tutkimuksen tarkoituksena oli kuvailla hoitajien toimintaa EKG-rekisteröintitilanteissa terveyskeskuksen päivystyksessä, yhteispäivystyksessä sekä sairaalan laboratoriossa. Opinnäytetyömme tavoitteena oli selvittää, miten hoitajat toteuttavat EKGrekisteröinnin eri osa-alueet. Tavoitteena oli selvittää myös, miten hoitajat arvioivat EKG-tulosteen laatua. Tutkimuksen toteutimme havainnoimalla eri työyksiköissä EKGrekisteröintiä. Havainnoinnissa käytimme strukturoitua havainnointilomaketta sekä kenttäpäiväkirjaa. Havainnointiin osallistui yhteensä 6 henkilöä, jotka olivat sekä sairaanhoitajia, että laboratoriohoitajia sekä yksi lähihoitajaopiskelija. Tutkimustuloksista kävi ilmi, että koulutuspohjalla on merkitystä siihen, miten rekisteröijä rekisteröi EKG:n. Laboratoriohoitajilla oli enemmän tietoa EKGrekisteröinnistä kuin sairaanhoitajilla. Lähihoitajaopiskelijan EKG-rekisteröintitaito oli samankaltainen kuin sairaanhoitajien. Rekisteröijät tietävät EKG-rekisteröinnin pääpiirteet ja niiden toteuttamisen. Rekisteröijien toiminta käytännössä osoittaa kuitenkin, että perehdytystä tai lisäkoulutusta olisi hyvä olla saatavilla. Tutkimustuloksista nousee esille sekä heikkouksia että vahvuuksia osaamisessa ja erilaisten asioiden huomioonottamisessa sekä tekemisessä. Taitoa rekisteröijillä on selvästi, mutta tutkittavan henkilön tilan kriittisyys tai rekisteröijän epätietoisuus EKGrekisteröintiin kuuluvista asioista vähentää EKG-tulosteen laadukkuutta.ABSTRACT In our thesis we deal with high-quality electrocardiogram registration in a real nursing situations. The purpose of this study is to describe how the nurses behave in ECG monitoring situations at the health centre emergency department, the hospital emergency department and in the laboratory. Our study objective was to determine how nurses carry out the different parts of the ECG registration. The aim was also to explore how nurses assess the quality of the ECG printout. We carried out the study by observing the ECG registration in different work units. We carried out the observation by using a structured observation form and the a field diary. The observation was attended by six people who were registered nurses, laboratory technicians and one student of practical nursing. The research results showed that education background matters when the registrant registered the ECG. The laboratory techinicians had more knowledge about the ECG than the registered nurses. The student of practical nursing had the similar skills of ECG registration as the registered nurses. The registrants can use the ECG equipment and they know the main points of ECG registration. It would be good to have induction training or additional training available. The results of the study show that the registrants have strenghts and weaknesses in their skills of ECG registration and how they take into account various things and how they work. The registrants have a clear knowledge of registration in practice but the ECG printout quality may suffer when the patient's condition is acute or when the registrant is unaware of the matters concerning ECG registration

Rhythms of moving in and between digital media: a study on video diaries of young people with physical disabilities

This article develops a new framework for analysing digital media use and access by drawing on the concepts of ‘rhythm’ and ‘wayfaring.’ It unravels how young people with physical disabilities move in and between digital media devices, online sites and activities in an embodied and rhythmic way that happens at a fast or slow pace. The framework is used to analyse the video diaries of three male secondary school students with physical disabilities on their use of digital media at home. We propose methodological advances in studying digital media use as dynamic movement and provide alternative insights on digital inequalities