scholarly journals Networked innovation in the health sector: comparative qualitative study of the role of Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care in translating research into practice

2014 ◽  
Vol 2 (13) ◽  
pp. 1-128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Harry Scarbrough ◽  
Daniela D’Andreta ◽  
Sarah Evans ◽  
Marco Marabelli ◽  
Sue Newell ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Research Methods ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Health Sector ◽  
Network Structures ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Applied Health Research ◽  
Over Time

BackgroundCollaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs) were an initiative of the National Institute for Health Research in response to a new research and development strategy in the NHS: ‘Best Research for Best Health’. They were designed to address the ‘second gap in translation’ identified by the Cooksey review; namely, the need to improve health care in the UK by translating clinical research into practice more effectively. Nine CLAHRCs, each encompassing a university in partnership with local NHS bodies, were funded over the period 2008–13.AimsThe aim of this report is to provide an independent and theory-based evaluation of CLAHRCs as a new form of networked innovation in the health sector. This evaluation is based on an intensive research study involving three CLAHRCs in the UK and three international organisations (one in the USA and two in Canada). This study was carried out over two overlapping time phases so as to capture changes in the CLAHRCs over time. Networked innovation in the health sector is conceptualised as involving the translation of knowledge via informal social networks.MethodsA mix of research methods was used to help ensure the validity and generalisability of the study. These methods addressed the development of each CLAHRC over time, over multiple levels of analysis, and with particular reference to the translation of knowledge across the groups involved, and the quality of the informal underpinning network ties that supported such translation. Research methods, therefore, included a qualitative enquiry based on case studies and case analysis, cognitive mapping methods, and social network analysis.FindingsThrough our study, we found that each one of our samples of CLAHRCs appropriated the CLAHRC idea in a particular way, depending on their different interpretations or ‘visions’ of the CLAHRC’s role in knowledge translation (KT), and different operating models of how such visions could be achieved. These helped to shape the development of social networks (centralised vs. decentralised) and each CLAHRC’s approach to KT activity (‘bridging’ vs. ‘blurring’ the boundaries between professional groups). Through a comparative analysis, we develop an analytical model of the resultant capabilities which each case, including our international sites, developed for undertaking innovation, encompassing a combination of both ‘integrative capability’ (the ability to move back and forth between scientific evidence and practical application) and ‘relational capability’ (the ability of groups and organisations to work together). This extends previous models of KT by highlighting the effects of leadership and management, and the emergence of social network structures. We further highlight the implications of this analysis for policy and practice by discussing how network structures and boundary-spanning roles and activities can be tailored to different KT objectives.ConclusionsDifferent interpretations and enactments of the CLAHRC mission ultimately led to differing capabilities for KT among our studied initiatives. Further research could usefully explore how these different capabilities are produced, and how they may be more or less appropriate for particular national health-care settings, with a view to improving the design blueprint for future KT initiatives.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

Codiffusion of Technologies in Social Networks

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 193-228
Author(s):  
Natalia Lazzati
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Diffusion Process ◽  
Technology Diffusion ◽  
Consideration Sets ◽  
Network Structures ◽  
The Social ◽  
Over Time

This paper studies the diffusion process of two complementary technologies among people who are connected through a social network. It characterizes adoption rates over time for different initial allocations and network structures. In doing so, we provide some microfoundations for the stochastic formation of consideration sets. We are particularly interested in the following question: suppose we want to maximize technology diffusion and have a limited number of units of each of the two technologies to initially distribute—how should we allocate these units among people in the social network? (JEL D83, O33, Z13)

scholarly journals Temporal Activity Path Based Character Correction in Heterogeneous Social Networks via Multimedia Sources

2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-16
Author(s):  
Jun Long ◽  
Lei Zhu ◽  
Zhan Yang ◽  
Chengyuan Zhang ◽  
Xinpan Yuan
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Multimedia Data ◽  
Attribute Information ◽  
Novel Method ◽  
Relationship Network ◽  
Heterogeneous Social Networks ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Over Time

Vast amount of multimedia data contains massive and multifarious social information which is used to construct large-scale social networks. In a complex social network, a character should be ideally denoted by one and only one vertex. However, it is pervasive that a character is denoted by two or more vertices with different names; thus it is usually considered as multiple, different characters. This problem causes incorrectness of results in network analysis and mining. The factual challenge is that character uniqueness is hard to correctly confirm due to lots of complicated factors, for example, name changing and anonymization, leading to character duplication. Early, limited research has shown that previous methods depended overly upon supplementary attribute information from databases. In this paper, we propose a novel method to merge the character vertices which refer to the same entity but are denoted with different names. With this method, we firstly build the relationship network among characters based on records of social activities participating, which are extracted from multimedia sources. Then we define temporal activity paths (TAPs) for each character over time. After that, we measure similarity of the TAPs for any two characters. If the similarity is high enough, the two vertices should be considered as the same character. Based on TAPs, we can determine whether to merge the two character vertices. Our experiments showed that this solution can accurately confirm character uniqueness in large-scale social network.

Quantifying Virality of Information in Online Social Networks

2012 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abhishek Vaish ◽  
Rajiv Krishna G. ◽  
Akshay Saxena ◽  
Dharmaprakash M. ◽  
Utkarsh Goel
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Online Social Networks ◽  
Online Social Network ◽  
Critical Factors ◽  
Asset Valuation ◽  
Valuation Technique ◽  
Information Item ◽  
Viral Nature ◽  
Over Time

The aim of this research is to propose a model through which the viral nature of an information item in an online social network can be quantified. Further, the authors propose an alternate technique for information asset valuation by accommodating virality in it which not only complements the existing valuation system, but also improves the accuracy of the results. They use a popularly available YouTube dataset to collect attributes and measure critical factors such as share-count, appreciation, user rating, controversiality, and comment rate. These variables are used with a proposed formula to obtain viral index of each video on a given date. The authors then identify a conventional and a hybrid asset valuation technique to demonstrate how virality can fit in to provide accurate results.The research demonstrates the dependency of virality on critical social network factors. With the help of a second dataset acquired, the authors determine the pattern virality of an information item takes over time.

Simulating Social Network Formation

2011 ◽  
pp. 581-599
Author(s):  
Robert Gilles ◽  
Tabitha James ◽  
Reza Barkhi ◽  
Dimitrios Diamantaras
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Network Structure ◽  
Network Formation ◽  
Theoretic Model ◽  
Network Structures ◽  
Agent Behavior ◽  
Graph Theoretic ◽  
Model And Simulation ◽  
Graph Theoretic Models

Social networks depict complex systems as graph theoretic models. The study of the formation of such systems (or networks) and the subsequent analysis of the network structures are of great interest. For information systems research and its impact on business practice, the ability to model and simulate a system of individuals interacting to achieve a certain socio-economic goal holds much promise for proper design and use of cyber networks. We use case-based decision theory to formulate a customizable model of information gathering in a social network. In this model, the agents in the network have limited awareness of the social network in which they operate and of the fixed, underlying payoff structure. Agents collect payoff information from neighbors within the prevailing social network, and they base their networking decisions on this information. Along with the introduction of the decision theoretic model, we developed software to simulate the formation of such networks in a customizable context to examine how the network structure can be influenced by the parameters that define social relationships. We present computational experiments that illustrate the growth and stability of the simulated social networks ensuing from the proposed model. The model and simulation illustrates how network structure influences agent behavior in a social network and how network structures, agent behavior, and agent decisions influence each other.

scholarly journals Working together to co-produce better health: The experience of the Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Northwest London

2020 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 28-36
Author(s):  
Cicely A Marston ◽  
Rachel Matthews ◽  
Alicia Renedo ◽  
Julie E Reed
Keyword(s):  
Health Care ◽  
Social Science ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Research Collaboration ◽  
Social Science Research ◽  
Science Research ◽  
Good Evidence ◽  
Care Practice ◽  
New Ways Of Working ◽  
Applied Health Research

Objectives To improve the provision of health care, academics can be asked to collaborate with clinicians, and clinicians with patients. Generating good evidence on health care practice depends on these collaborations working well. Yet such relationships are not the norm. We examine how social science research and health care improvement practice were linked through a programme designed to broker collaborations between clinicians, academics, and patients to improve health care – the UK National Institute for Health Research Collaboration for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care for Northwest London. We discuss the successes and challenges of the collaboration and make suggestions on how to develop synergistic relationships that facilitate co-production of social science knowledge and its translation into practice. Methods A qualitative approach was used, including ethnographic elements and critical, reflexive dialogue between members of the two collaborating teams. Results Key challenges and remedies were connected with the risks associated with new ways of working. These risks included differing ideas between collaborators about the purpose, value, and expectations of research, and institutional opposition. Dialogue between collaborators did not mean absence of tensions or clashes. Risk-taking was unpopular – institutions, funders, and partners did not always support it, despite simultaneously demanding ‘innovation’ in producing research that influenced practice. Conclusions Our path was made smoother because we had funding to support the creation of a ‘potential space’ to experiment with different ways of working. Other factors that can enhance collaboration include a shared commitment to dialogical practice, a recognition of the legitimacy of different partners’ knowledge, a long timeframe to identify and resolve problems, the maintenance of an enabling environment for collaboration, a willingness to work iteratively and reflexively, and a shared end goal.

scholarly journals Working in partnership with communities to improve health and research outcomes. Comparisons and commonalities between the UK and South Africa

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 ◽  
Author(s):  
Patricia Wilson ◽  
Azwihangwisi Helen Mavhandu-Mudzusi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Care ◽  
Community Participation ◽  
South African ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Teenage Pregnancy ◽  
Public Involvement ◽  
Working Together ◽  
The Uk ◽  
Evaluation And Monitoring

Abstract Community and public participation and involvement is an underpinning principle of primary health care, an essential component of a social justice-orientated approach to health care and a vehicle to improving health outcomes for patients, public and communities. However, influenced by history and context, there are intrinsic issues surrounding power imbalance and other barriers to partnerships between communities, public, policy makers and researchers. It is important to acknowledge these issues, and through doing so share experiences and learn from those working within very different settings. In South Africa, community participation is seen as a route to decolonisation. It is also integral to the core functions of South African Higher Education Institutes, alongside teaching and research. In the UK, there has also been a history of participation and involvement as part of a social rights movement, but notably public involvement has become embedded in publicly funded health research as a policy imperative. In this paper, we draw on our respective programmes of work in public and community participation and involvement. These include a South African community engagement project to reduce teenage pregnancy and HIV infection working through a partnership between teachers, students and university academics, and a national evaluation in England of public involvement in applied health research. We begin by highlighting the lack of clarity and terms used interchangeably to describe participation, engagement and involvement. Frameworks for partnership working with relevance to South Africa and the UK are then analysed, suggesting key themes of relationships, working together, and evaluation and monitoring. The South African project and examples of public involvement in English primary and community care research are examined through these themes. We conclude the paper by mapping out common enablers and barriers to partnership working within these very different contexts.

scholarly journals Frailty and Social Isolation: Comparing the Relationship between Frailty and Unidimensional and Multifactorial Models of Social Isolation

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (10) ◽  
pp. 1297-1308
Author(s):  
John Maltby ◽  
Sarah A. Hunt ◽  
Asako Ohinata ◽  
Emma Palmer ◽  
Simon Conroy
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Social Isolation ◽  
Nuclear Family ◽  
Frailty Index ◽  
Clinical Syndrome ◽  
Reciprocal Relationship ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Multidimensional Models ◽  
Over Time

Objective: The aim of the study was to compare uni- and multidimensional models of social isolation to improve the specificity of determining associations between social isolation and frailty. Methods: The study included participants aged ≥60 years from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing assessed for social isolation and frailty (frailty index and Fried phenotype) over a 4-year period. Factor analysis assessed whether social isolation was multidimensional. Multiple regression analysis was used to assess specificity in associations between social isolation and frailty over time. Results: Social isolation comprises social isolation from nuclear family, other immediate family, and wider social networks. Over time, social isolation from a wider social network predicted higher frailty index levels, and higher frailty index and Fried phenotype levels predicted greater social isolation from a wider social network. Discussion: Social isolation is multidimensional. The reciprocal relationship between social isolation from wider social networks and accumulating frailty deficits, and frailty as a clinical syndrome influencing social isolation from social networks is discussed.

Maintenance of cultural diversity: Social roles, social networks, and cognitive networks

2014 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
pp. 254-255 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marshall Abrams
Keyword(s):  
Social Networks ◽  
Social Network ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
Social Roles ◽  
Cognitive Networks ◽  
Network Structures ◽  
Group Level ◽  
Individual Level ◽  
Cultural Traits ◽  
Maintenance Of Diversity

AbstractSmaldino suggests that patterns that give rise to group-level cultural traits can also increase individual-level cultural diversity. I distinguish social roles and related social network structures and discuss ways in which each might maintain diversity. I suggest that cognitive analogs of “cohesion,” a property of networks that helps maintenance of diversity, might mediate the effects of social roles on diversity.

scholarly journals Collective action for knowledge mobilisation: a realist evaluation of the Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care

2015 ◽  
Vol 3 (44) ◽  
pp. 1-166 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jo Rycroft-Malone ◽  
Christopher Burton ◽  
Joyce Wilkinson ◽  
Gill Harvey ◽  
Brendan McCormack ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Life Cycle ◽  
Data Collection ◽  
Collective Action ◽  
Health Research ◽  
Realist Evaluation ◽  
Full Potential ◽  
Knowledge Mobilisation ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
Applied Health Research ◽  
Over Time

BackgroundThe establishment of the Collaborations for Leadership in Applied Health Research and Care (CLAHRCs) was the culmination of a number of policy initiatives to bridge the gap between evidence and practice. CLAHRCs were created and funded to facilitate development of partnerships and connect the worlds of academia and practice in an effort to improve patient outcomes through the conduct and application of applied health research.ObjectivesOur starting point was to test the theory that bringing higher education institutions and health-care organisations closer together catalyses knowledge mobilisation. The overall purpose was to develop explanatory theory regarding implementation through CLAHRCs and answer the question ‘what works, for whom, why and in what circumstances?’. The study objectives focused on identifying and tracking implementation mechanisms and processes over time; determining what influences whether or not and how research is used in CLAHRCs; investigating the role played by boundary objects in the success or failure of implementation; and determining whether or not and how CLAHRCs develop and sustain interactions and communities of practice.MethodsThis study was a longitudinal realist evaluation using multiple qualitative case studies, incorporating stakeholder engagement and formative feedback. Three CLAHRCs were studied in depth over four rounds of data collection through a process of hypothesis generation, refining, testing and programme theory specification. Data collection included interviews, observation, documents, feedback sessions and an interpretive forum.FindingsKnowledge mobilisation in CLAHRCs was a function of a number of interconnected issues that provided more or less conducive conditions for collective action. The potential of CLAHRCs to close the metaphorical ‘know–do’ gap was dependent on historical regional relationships, their approach to engaging different communities, their architectures, what priorities were set and how, and providing additional resources for implementation, including investment in roles and activities to bridge and broker boundaries. Additionally, we observed a balance towards conducting research rather than implementing it. Key mechanisms of interpretations of collaborative action, opportunities for connectivity, facilitation, motivation, review and reflection, and unlocking barriers/releasing potential were important to the processes and outcomes of CLAHRCs. These mechanisms operated in different contexts including stakeholders’ positioning, or ‘where they were coming from’, governance arrangements, availability of resources, competing drivers, receptiveness to learning and evaluation, and alignment of structures, positions and resources. Preceding conditions influenced the course and journey of the CLAHRCs in a path-dependent way. We observed them evolving over time and their development led to the accumulation of different types of impacts, from those that were conceptual to, later in their life cycle, those that were more direct.ConclusionsMost studies of implementation focus on researching one-off projects, so a strength of this study was in researching a systems approach to knowledge mobilisation over time. Although CLAHRC-like approaches show promise, realising their full potential will require a longer and more sustained focus on relationship building, resource allocation and, in some cases, culture change. This reinforces the point that research implementation within a CLAHRC model is a long-term investment and one that is set within a life cycle of organisational collaboration.FundingThe National Institute for Health Research Health Services and Delivery Research programme.

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