Do office workers adjust their chairs? End-user knowledge, use and barriers to chair adjustment.

A quantitative field study measured end-user availability, knowledge and use levels of adjustable office chair functions in Korea-based office workers, together with their perceived barriers towards making adjustments. Fifty-one English-speaking workers were interviewed and surveyed in a related design. Results showed that of the number of adjustable functions available on their office chair (M = 5.39, SD = 2.3), participants knew fewer than half of them (M = 2.51, SD = 1.52) and used even less (M = 1.86, SD = 1.21). Fifty-three percent of participants knew two or less and 73% had used only two or less. Ten percent had used none. Results suggested physical needs (such as increased comfort or postural change) were a strong driver for previous chair adjustment behavior. Perceived cognitive barriers played a more significant role in limiting chair adjustment knowledge and use than physical or organizational barriers. Highly adjustable office chairs have the possibility of satisfying the adjustment needs of most end-users. However, adjustable chair functions need to be both available and known in order to be used.N/

Older people's experiences of their kitchens: 2000 to 2010

Purpose – This paper aims to present the quantitative results based on a comparison and evaluation of older people's experiences, needs and wants from their current kitchens, combining and comparing the results obtained from two studies conducted in 2000 and 2010 to see what progress has been made. Design/methodology/approach – A study in 2010 investigated the life-long and contemporary experiences of kitchens of 48 people aged over 60 years of age. The research included detailed questionnaire interviews asking people about their experiences of living in their current kitchen. A previous study, conducted in 2000, asked many of the same questions of 22 people in the same age group. Findings – By combining and comparing the two sets of data it seems that only limited progress has been made in terms of kitchen design meeting the needs of older people between 2000 and 2010. Research limitations/implications – Owing to the small sizes of the samples it is not possible to compare the figures statistically or present them as fully representative of the British older population but while the two samples are limited both had similar characteristics of age and gender, so differences do show potential trends over time. Practical implications – The research refers to guidance and a computer based design tool and identifies a number of practical implications for design. Social implications – As people age their abilities and needs can change and their kitchen may no longer be as accessible or appropriate to their needs. Originality/value – This paper adds to the relevant guidance for designers, developers and managers of buildings where the continued personal use of a kitchen is important for continuing independence of older people

Understanding key mechanisms of successfully leading integrated team-based services in health and social care : protocol for a realist synthesis

Introduction As systems of health and social care in England move towards more integrated and collaborative models, leaders will need different skills than their predecessors to enable system leadership, building partnerships and working across organisations and sectors. There is little understanding of what the mechanisms for effective leadership across integrated health and social care systems might be, the contexts that influence good leadership, or the nature of the resulting outcomes. This review aims to identify, refine and test programme theories of leadership of integrated team-based services in health and social care, exploring what works, for whom and in what circumstances. Methods and analysis This study uses a realist synthesis approach, following RAMESES guidelines, supported by stakeholder consultation. Stage 1 will develop initial programme theories about leadership of integrated health and social care based on a review of the scientific and grey literature and a stakeholder consultation workshop. Stage 2 will involve focused searching of empirical literature, data extraction and synthesis to refine the initial programme theories and identify relationships between identified contexts, mechanisms and outcomes. A second stakeholder event will guide the focus of the review. Stage 3 will further refine and interrogate the theories testing them against substantive theory on leadership of complex systems and through the experiences and expertise of the stakeholder group. Ethics and dissemination Our study does not require ethics committee approval. This research will contribute to building an in-depth understanding of what aspects of leadership of integrated team-based services work, for whom and in what circumstances. It will identify the professional development needs of leaders and provide recommendations about optimal organisational and interorganisational structures and processes that support effective leadership in integrated health and social care systems. Findings will be disseminated through peer-reviewed journal publications, conference presentations and formal and informal reports. PROSPERO registration number CRD4201811929

Emotional Tone Coding Using an Abbreviated Rating Scale

Paper submitted to the University of Kansas School of Nursing in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Nursing Honors Program.Introduction: The Emotional Tone Rating Scale (ETRS) is used to evaluate nursing communication with older adults in dimensions of care, respect, and control. Psychometric analysis of the original scale indicates that several of the 12 items overlap and that two, instead of three factors are indicated (control and person-centered). A scale was reduced to 8 items to diminish redundancy and reduce burden for raters. Background: This Pilot Study is part of a larger research study entitled Changing Talk to Reduce Resistiveness to Dementia Care. The specific aim of the larger study is to improve staff communication with nursing home residents who have dementia to reduce resistiveness to care (RTC). The intervention is a three-session staff training program on communication skills associated with avoiding RTC. The ETRS is used to evaluate the communication skills. Purpose: This study was conducted to evaluate whether the 8 and 12 item scales measure the same factors. Theoretical Framework: The ETRS is designed to measure nursing communication based on concepts and theories of person-centered care for older adults. Methodology: Twenty raters each listened to 20, 1 minute audio recordings of nursing home care, presented in a powerpoint presentation. These clips were previously rated using the 12-item scale. They rated the nurse's communication on the ETRS. Factor analysis was used to compare similarities of the original and abbreviated scales. Findings: Factor analysis revealed that the 12-item scale data and the 8-item scale data resulted in highly comparable negative correlations between person-centered and controlling scales. Factor analyses of the original 12-item scale and the 8-item scale produce similar solutions. Discussion: The two factors person-centered communication and controlling communication are similar with the shortened 8-item tool as with the previous 12-item scale the shortened version and will be used for future use. This shortened scale will help to reduce redundancies and rater burden.The University of Kansas School of Nursing Bachelor of Science Nursing Honors Progra

Kitchen Living in Later Life: <i>Exploring Ergonomic Problems, Coping Strategies and Design Solutions</i>

The kitchen is an important area in the home serving many purposes both functional and social. It is central to enabling people to stay within their own homes in their later life. As part of a detailed study of ‘past’ and ‘present’ kitchen living, semi-structured interviews were conducted with 48 older people about their current kitchen and how well it met their needs. It was found that personal problems with reaching, bending, dexterity and sight were more likely to be experienced with increasing age while for specific tasks, ironing and cleaning created the most difficulty. The paper reports on coping strategies and simple innovations made by the participants to address the problems they experienced. A challenge for kitchen designers, manufacturers and installers is to think in terms of kitchens that are more flexible and adaptable to people’s changing needs

Effectiveness of tobacco control television advertising in changing tobacco use in England: a population‐based cross‐sectional study

AIM: To examine whether government‐funded tobacco control television advertising shown in England between 2002 and 2010 reduced adult smoking prevalence and cigarette consumption. DESIGN: Analysis of monthly cross‐sectional surveys using generalised additive models. SETTING: England. PARTICIPANTS: More than 80 000 adults aged 18 years or over living in England and interviewed in the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey. MEASUREMENTS: Current smoking status, smokers' daily cigarette consumption, tobacco control gross rating points (GRPs—a measure of per capita advertising exposure combining reach and frequency), cigarette costliness, tobacco control activity, socio‐demographic variables. FINDINGS: After adjusting for other tobacco control policies, cigarette costliness and individual characteristics, we found that a 400‐point increase in tobacco control GRPs per month, equivalent to all adults in the population seeing four advertisements per month (although actual individual‐level exposure varies according to TV exposure), was associated with 3% lower odds of smoking 2 months later [odds ratio (OR) = 0.97, 95% confidence interval (CI) = 0.95, 0.999] and accounted for 13.5% of the decline in smoking prevalence seen over this period. In smokers, a 400‐point increase in GRPs was associated with a 1.80% (95%CI = 0.47, 3.11) reduction in average cigarette consumption in the following month and accounted for 11.2% of the total decline in consumption over the period 2002–09. CONCLUSION: Government‐funded tobacco control television advertising shown in England between 2002 and 2010 was associated with reductions in smoking prevalence and smokers' cigarette consumption

Reviews

The Making of a Mystic: New and Selected Letters of Evelyn Underhill. Ed. Carol Poston. Reviewed by Joe R. Christopher. From Girl to Goddess: The Heroine\u27s Journey through Myth and Legend. Valerie Estelle Frankel. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. The Wizard of Oz and Philosophy: Wicked Wisdom of the West (Popular Culture and Philosophy, Vol. 37). Ed. Randall E. Auxier and Phillip S. Seng. Reviewed by Ruth Berman. C.S. Lewis\u27s Lost Aeneid: Arms and the Exile. Edited with an Introduction by A.T. Reyes. Reviewed by Richard C. West. The Ring and the Cross: Christianity and The Lord of the Rings. Edited by Paul E. Kerry. Reviewed by Harley J. Sims. Fastitocalon: Studies in Fantasticism Ancient to Modern. 1.2 (2010). Ed. Thomas Honegger and Fanfan Chen. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Journal of Inklings Studies. 1.1 (March 2011). Ed. Judith Wolfe. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. VII: An Anglo-American Literary Review. 27 (2010). Ed. Marjorie Lamp Mead. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Tolkien Studies: An Annual Scholarly Review. 7 (2010). Ed. Douglas A. Anderson, Michael D.C. Drout, and Verlyn Flieger. Reviewed by Janet Brennan Croft. Tolkien and the Study of His Sources: Critical Essays. Edited by Jason Fisher. Reviewed by Mike Foster

Virtual task analysis in 'design for all'

Design for All’ or ‘Inclusive Design’ is an approach to product, environment or service design that aims to maximise the applicability of a particular design. However, the concept is not to tailor designs in a bespoke fashion, but rather to provide a single solution that accommodates the needs of all users including those who are older or disabled. In order to educate and support the designer in their endeavours to ‘Design for All’ a computer aided design and analysis tool has been developed. The tool, known as HADRIAN, has been developed to meet two key areas of deficiency in existing approaches. HADRIAN provides improved data for the designer with a sample database of 100 individuals across a broad spectrum of ages and abilities. HADRIAN also provides a means of using this data for ergonomics evaluations through a task analysis tool. Working in combination with the existing human modelling system SAMMIE the system allows the designer to assess their designs against the population in the database to determine the percentage who are effectively ‘designed out’