scholarly journals Using Wearable Physiological Monitors With Suicidal Adolescent Inpatients: Feasibility and Acceptability Study (Preprint)

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan Kleiman ◽  
Alexander J Millner ◽  
Victoria W Joyce ◽  
Carol C Nash ◽  
Ralph J Buonopane ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Research Study ◽  
Continuous Measurement ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Physiological Monitoring ◽  
Inpatient Stay ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Adolescent Inpatients ◽  
Monitoring Devices

BACKGROUND Wearable physiological monitoring devices enable the continuous measurement of human behavior and psychophysiology in the real world. Although such monitors are promising, their availability does not guarantee that participants will continuously wear and interact with them, especially during times of psychological distress. OBJECTIVE This study aimed to evaluate the feasibility and acceptability of using a wearable behavioral and physiological monitor, the Empatica E4, to continuously assess a group of suicidal adolescent inpatients. METHODS Participants (n=50 adolescent inpatients) were asked to wear an Empatica E4 on their wrist for the duration of their inpatient stay. In addition to assessing behavioral metadata (eg, hours worn per day), we also used qualitative interviews and self-report measures to assess participants’ experience of wearing the monitor. RESULTS Results supported the feasibility and acceptability of this approach. Participants wore the monitor for an average of 18 hours a day and reported that despite sometimes finding the monitor uncomfortable, they did not mind wearing it. Many of the participants noted that the part of the study they enjoyed most was contributing to scientific understanding, especially if it could help people similar to them in the future. CONCLUSIONS These findings provide promising support for using wearable monitors in clinical samples in future studies, especially if participants are invested in being part of a research study.

scholarly journals Evaluating pictorial support in person-centred care for children (PicPecc): a protocol for a crossover design study

BMJ Open ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (5) ◽  
pp. e042726
Author(s):  
Stefan Nilsson ◽  
Angelica Wiljén ◽  
Jonas Bergquist ◽  
John Chaplin ◽  
Ensa Johnson ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Research Process ◽  
Crossover Design ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Ethical Review ◽  
High Dose ◽  
Digital Tool ◽  
Legal Guardians ◽  
Ethical Approval

IntroductionThis study protocol outlines the evaluation of the pictorial support in person-centred care for children (PicPecc). PicPecc is a digital tool used by children aged 5–17 years to self-report symptoms of acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, who undergo high-dose methotrexate treatments. The design of the digital platform follows the principles of universal design using pictorial support to provide accessibility for all children regardless of communication or language challenges and thus facilitating international comparison.Methods and analysisBoth effect and process evaluations will be conducted. A crossover design will be used to measure the effect/outcome, and a mixed-methods design will be used to measure the process/implementation. The primary outcome in the effect evaluation will be self-reported distress. Secondary outcomes will be stress levels monitored via neuropeptides, neurosteroids and peripheral steroids indicated in plasma blood samples; frequency of in-app estimation of high levels of distress by the children; children's use of analgesic medicine and person centeredness evaluated via the questionnaire Visual CARE Measure. For the process evaluation, qualitative interviews will be carried out with children with cancer, their legal guardians and case-related healthcare professionals. These interviews will address experiences with PicPecc in terms of feasibility and frequency of use from the child’s perspective and value to the caseworker. Interview transcripts will be analysed using an interpretive description methodology.Ethics and disseminationEthical approval was obtained from the Swedish Ethical Review Authority (reference 2019-02392; 2020-02601; 2020-06226). Children, legal guardians, healthcare professionals, policymaking and research stakeholders will be involved in all stages of the research process according to Medical Research Council’s guidelines. Research findings will be presented at international cancer and paediatric conferences and published in scientific journals.Trial registrationClinicalTrials.gov; NCT04433650.

scholarly journals Implementing safeguarding and personalisation in social work: Findings from practice

2016 ◽  
Vol 18 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-22 ◽  
Author(s):  
Martin Stevens ◽  
John Woolham ◽  
Jill Manthorpe ◽  
Fiona Aspinall ◽  
Shereen Hussein ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Social Workers ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Good Practice ◽  
Direct Payment ◽  
Positive Outcomes ◽  
Policy Objectives ◽  
Direct Payments ◽  
And Control ◽  
Exercise Of Discretion

Summary This paper reports on part of a research study carried out in three local authority adult social care departments in England, which explored links between adult safeguarding and personalisation. The study included statistical analysis of data on safeguarding referrals and the take up of personal budgets and qualitative interviews with managers, social workers, other staff working on safeguarding and with service users. The paper reports the findings from 16 interviews with managers and social workers, highlighting their perspectives and experiences. Findings Five main themes emerged from our analysis: contexts and risk factors; views about risks associated with Direct Payments, approaches to minimising risk; balancing risk and choice; and weaving safeguarding and personalisation practice. Social workers identified similar ranges and kinds of risks to those identified in the national evaluation of Individual Budgets. They described a tension between policy objectives and their exercise of discretion to assess and manage risks. For example, some described how they would discourage certain people from taking their personal budget as a Direct Payment or suggest they take only part of a personal budget as a Direct Payment. Application This exploratory study supports the continued need for skilled social workers to deliver outcomes related to both safeguarding and personalisation policies. Implementing these policies may entail a new form of ‘care and control’, which may require specific approaches in supervision in order to ensure good practice is fostered and positive outcomes attained.

scholarly journals Asking is not enough. A research study on teaching qualitative interviews in Italy

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albertina Pretto
Keyword(s):  
Qualitative Methods ◽  
Positive Attitude ◽  
Research Study ◽  
Social Research ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
To Come

In the area of social research, it is not uncommon to come across qualitative interviews (transcribed or recorded) that present conduction strategies which seem to be in contrast to that is recommended by the literature on this subject. In order to understand the reason why this occurs, I present the results of a research carried out among Italian sociologists who use qualitative interviews for their research; I try to establish a connection between the conduction strategies used by researchers and their training. I found three different conducting styles, and divided my interviewees into three categories. But, only one of these categories presents a real positive attitude towards qualitative interviews. The problem is that all these researchers also teach qualitative methods at University or train new interviewers for their research and they pass down their same attitude to their students, for better or worse.

scholarly journals Unhappy While Depressed: Examining the Dimensionality, Reliability and Validity of the Subjective Happiness Scale in a Spanish Sample of Patients with Depressive Disorders

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (20) ◽  
pp. 10964
Author(s):  
Albert Feliu-Soler ◽  
Javier de de Diego-Adeliño ◽  
Juan V. Luciano ◽  
Ioseba Iraurgi ◽  
Carlo Alemany ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Depressive Disorder ◽  
Construct Validity ◽  
Psychometric Properties ◽  
Internal Consistency ◽  
Depressive Disorders ◽  
Rating Scale ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Subjective Happiness ◽  
Subjective Happiness Scale

Despite the considerable amount of research evidence on the significant role of subjective happiness on mental health, there is no psychometric study of the Subjective Happiness Scale (SHS) in psychiatric samples. This study was aimed at exploring the psychometric properties of the SHS in a Spanish sample of patients with depressive disorders. Participants were 174 patients with a depressive disorder (70% diagnosed as major depressive disorder) who completed the SHS, the Quick Inventory of Depressive Symptomatology-Self Report (QIDS-SR16), and the EQ-5D Visual Analogue Scale (EQ-5D VAS). Depressive symptoms were also assessed by means of the 17-item Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS17) and the Clinical Global Impression-Severity (CGI-S) Scale. Dimensionality, internal consistency reliability, construct validity, and responsiveness to change of the SHS were examined. Confirmatory factor analysis replicated the original one-factor structure of the scale. The SHS exhibited good-to-excellent results for internal consistency (α = 0.83) and for convergent [EQ-5D VAS (r = 0.71)] and divergent [QIDS-SR16 (r = −0.72), HDRS17 (r = −0.60) and CGI-S (r = −0.61)] construct validity. The ability of the SHS to differentiate between depression severity levels as well as its responsiveness to clinical change were both highly satisfactory (p < 0.001 in both cases). The SHS retained the soundness of psychometric properties showed in non-clinical samples in a sample of patients with depressive disorders, which supports its use as a reliable and valid outcome measure in the treatment of such disorders.

scholarly journals Associations between Trauma, Dissociation, Adult Attachment and Proneness to Hallucinations

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 292-301 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katherine Berry ◽  
Paul Fleming ◽  
Samantha Wong ◽  
Sandra Bucci
Keyword(s):  
Negative Affect ◽  
Adult Attachment ◽  
Clinical Symptoms ◽  
Clinical Sample ◽  
Childhood Adversity ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Clinical Population ◽  
Clinical Samples ◽  
Childhood Trauma Questionnaire ◽  
Relative Contribution

Background: Childhood adversity, dissociation and adult attachment have all been implicated in the development of hallucinations or ‘voice-hearing’. Testing psychological models in relation to subclinical phenomena, such as proneness to hallucinations in non-clinical samples, provides a convenient methodology to develop understanding of the processes and mechanisms underlying clinical symptoms. Aims: This paper investigates the relative contribution of childhood adversity, dissociation and adult attachment in explaining hallucination proneness in a non-clinical sample. Methods: Students and staff with no previous contact with secondary care at the University of Manchester were recruited. Participants completed a series of self-report measures: the Launay‒Slade Hallucination Scale (LSHS), the Relationship Scale Questionnaire (RSQ), the Childhood Trauma Questionnaire (CTQ), the Dissociative Experiences Schedule (DES II) and the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS). Results: As hypothesized, insecure attachment, childhood adversity and dissociative symptoms were correlated with hallucination proneness. Multiple regression analysis, controlling for confounds of age and negative affect, indicated that the RSQ, CTQ and DES II predicted hallucination proneness. Only DES II and RSQ avoidant attachment were significant independent predictors in the final model. Conclusions: This study provides further evidence to support the idea that attachment and dissociation are important psychological mechanisms involved in voice-hearing proneness. Further testing is required with a clinical population.

Factors affecting assignment completion in higher education

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 1251-1264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wuttiporn Suamuang ◽  
Surachai Suksakulchai ◽  
Elizabeth Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Time Management ◽  
Flipped Classroom ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Potential Range ◽  
Task Orientation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Studies ◽  
Assignment Completion

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to simultaneously investigate a variety of factors related to assignment completion (AC) (i.e. task orientation, cooperation, teacher feedback, time management and time spent on AC).Design/methodology/approachThe study relied on a self-report survey to assess students' perceptions in relation to six variables. Participants included 1,106 undergraduate students from six public Thai universities. Analysis involved structural equation modeling.FindingsThis study provided new results related to task orientation as the strongest predictor of AC and time management. Cooperation and feedback improved AC with time management as an intervening variable. Time management and feedback did not predict time spent on AC.Research limitations/implicationsFuture studies might explore the potential range of assignments that, for example, count for a higher portion of the grade versus those that are less or unimportant in terms of the course. Future studies might also look at the role of group assignments in relation to completion. Semi-structured interviews or observations might provide insights into how students manage their time and why task orientation has the most effect on AC. Future research might investigate more specifically at what point time management does or does not affect completion. In general, given the growth of online learning and contexts in which students may be increasingly called on to complete assignments independently, factors such as those investigated in this study will require more attention in varying countries and contexts, generically and for individual subjects.Practical implicationsInstructional designers and instructors can promote task orientation through reliance on strategic scaffolding. For designing a task-oriented environment, instructors need to offer challenging assignments. Instructors should also assign work that encourages motivation, effort and achievement. To ensure that cooperative learning positively affects time management, instructors and designers can allot specific in-class time for completion of tasks, reliance on flipped classroom activities and student conversations regarding time restrictions and time-management skills. Instructors can be supported to help them provide appropriate types of feedback, as well as ideas for implementing the feedback in practice.Originality/valueLittle research has been conducted on AC in higher education. Those studies that have been conducted have focused on the elementary and secondary levels. Furthermore, studies have not always taken into account the complex relationships between different factors that can potentially influence AC.

Workforce diversity and organizational performance: a study of IT industry in India

2017 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 160-183 ◽  
Author(s):  
Subhash C. Kundu ◽  
Archana Mor
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Gender Diversity ◽  
Diversity Management ◽  
Employee Perceptions ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Self Report ◽  
Potential Contribution ◽  
It Industry ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Studies

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between employee perceptions of diversity (i.e. significance of diversity and diversity management, and value of diversity practices employed) and perceived organizational performance. It also attempts to examine whether the perceptions of diversity vary among employees from different diversity backgrounds (i.e. across gender and categories) in Indian IT industry. Design/methodology/approach Primary data based on 402 respondents were analysed using statistical tools like factor analysis, correlations, analysis of variance, means, grand means, and regression. Findings Results indicated that employees irrespective of their diversity backgrounds positively acknowledged diversity and diversity management. However, limited but significant differences were observed among employee perceptions regarding valuing the diversity practices employed based on their diversity backgrounds. Further, employees’ perception of promotion of gender diversity was found to be positively related to perceived organizational performance. Research limitations/implications This paper relied on self-report surveys for data collection. Future studies should collect data using multiple methods to avoid common-method bias. As the sample was drawn from India, specifically from IT industry, the conclusions may not be generalized to other industries. Future studies may be conducted across industries covering different cultural settings. Practical implications Implications are first, that, in addition to investing in initiatives for promoting diversity, especially gender diversity, organizations need to ensure positive perceptibility of these initiatives by employees. Second, to foster acceptance and effectiveness of gender/diversity initiatives in organizations, managers need to ensure men and majority group employees are part of these initiatives. Third, IT industry needs to reassess their hiring strategies and should design diversity programmes with goals in mind, if not quotas, to hire and retain diverse employees to explore their potential contribution. Originality/value Inclusion of employees of Indian IT industry of different categories will definitely add value to the existing knowledge on diversity, management theory, and practice.

scholarly journals Research on Non-Contact Monitoring System for Human Physiological Signal and Body Movement

Biosensors ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
pp. 58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qiancheng Liang ◽  
Lisheng Xu ◽  
Nan Bao ◽  
Lin Qi ◽  
Jingjing Shi ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Monitoring System ◽  
Doppler Radar ◽  
Body Movement ◽  
Radar System ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Motion ◽  
Physiological Monitoring ◽  
Physiological Signal ◽  
Signal Monitoring ◽  
Monitoring Devices

With the rapid increase in the development of miniaturized sensors and embedded devices for vital signs monitoring, personal physiological signal monitoring devices are becoming popular. However, physiological monitoring devices which are worn on the body normally affect the daily activities of people. This problem can be avoided by using a non-contact measuring device like the Doppler radar system, which is more convenient, is private compared to video monitoring, infrared monitoring and other non-contact methods. Additionally real-time physiological monitoring with the Doppler radar system can also obtain signal changes caused by motion changes. As a result, the Doppler radar system not only obtains the information of respiratory and cardiac signals, but also obtains information about body movement. The relevant RF technology could eliminate some interference from body motion with a small amplitude. However, the motion recognition method can also be used to classify related body motion signals. In this paper, a vital sign and body movement monitoring system worked at 2.4 GHz was proposed. It can measure various physiological signs of the human body in a non-contact manner. The accuracy of the non-contact physiological signal monitoring system was analyzed. First, the working distance of the system was tested. Then, the algorithm of mining collective motion signal was classified, and the accuracy was 88%, which could be further improved in the system. In addition, the mean absolute error values of heart rate and respiratory rate were 0.8 beats/min and 3.5 beats/min, respectively, and the reliability of the system was verified by comparing the respiratory waveforms with the contact equipment at different distances.

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