Search results

This paper aims to develop a behavioural science informed communication strategy aimed at health professionals and patients promoting best practice recommendations regarding the use of specialist liquid medicines for elderly people with swallowing difficulties.

The medicine prescribing, formulation and administration related challenges and experiences of health professionals and elderly patients with swallowing difficulties were identified through a pragmatic literature search. Key findings across the papers were synthesised into themes, before being linked to domains from a behavioural science framework. Published recommendations for behaviour change techniques that can be used to target the domains were then mapped to the domains. Guidance on how to develop a communication strategy, drawing on the insight gained from the literature review and the behavioural science recommendations, and designed to stimulate change in health-care professionals’ and patients’ behaviours, was then developed.

In total, 13 themes emerged across 15 papers, including “patient and health professional roles and remits”. These themes were linked to nine domains from the framework, highlighting the range of individual, social and environmental factors influencing patients’ and health professionals’ perceptions and experiences. A summary table, mapping the domains and underpinning themes to recommended behaviour change techniques, was used to develop the subsequent communication strategy recommendations. Recommendations include using techniques such as providing social processes of encourage, pressure and support to change patients’ and health professionals’ perceptions of their roles/responsibilities in medicines prescribing and administration, delivered via, for example, an educational leaflet and/or online training.

The summary table and guidance can inform development of an evidence-based strategy for communicating best practice recommendations regarding the use of liquid medicines for elderly patients with swallowing difficulties, tailored to the perceptions and challenges identified.

The behavioural science approach is less established within the pharmaceutical industry for promotion of best practice recommendations and related products, yet it offers a framework for an evidence-based and systematic approach that goes beyond a literature review or focus group.

Although the UK construction sector has enjoyed a significant rise in the number of women joining the industry, there is undoubtedly more room for improvement. Numerous schemes have been initiated by government and other professional bodies to encourage more women to undertake a career in construction. The purpose of this paper is to shed light on the organisational complexities of problems faced by women working in professional roles in construction. It thus initiates a dialogue on the lack of workplace flexibility and discriminatory practices that prevent many more women from joining.

A phenomenological philosophy is adopted. The research critically explores the views of women working in professional roles in six large construction firms in England.

It was widely acknowledged that the industry had improved significantly, however there are still concerns yet to be addressed. It was identified that women face new challenges when they attain senior roles. Furthermore, it is believed that the current glass ceiling theory and leaky pipeline theory are not adequate to study these issues.

Sample size and narrow focus on large construction firms are the limitations of the paper.

Through academic and industry dissemination, the findings from this research encourage both men and women working in the construction industry to adopt inclusive practices that will help widen the pool of knowledge and expertise.

This paper sheds light on a problem that is assumed to be eradicated once women progress to senior management roles.

This research presents an in-depth critical perspective of challenges faced by women construction professionals occupying decision-making positions.

The current focus on air tight construction to minimise energy use in homes in the UK requires analysis of the behaviour of the occupants. The purpose of this paper is to review current literature and explore the methods used to dry clothes, to assess current standards and recommendation for the drying of laundry in new homes and the issues arising with increased moisture within the building envelope where there may be inadequate ventilation caused by impermeable design.

Literature is reviewed on new housing in the UK and as part of a wider study of behaviour questionnaires were delivered to occupants of a recently completed housing estate in the UK to ask the questions with regard to their laundry practice.

There are inherent problems in drying laundry in new air tight homes. This case study identifies 95 per cent of residents on a new estate own a tumble dryer and use either this high energy method for clothes drying or hang clothes internally within the property leading to higher energy use or potential mould growth.

Further research is required into how drying laundry impacts on internal air quality in new homes designed to be energy efficient.

The design of new houses needs to be considered to provide a shift in people’s behaviour with regard to low energy clothes drying.

Policy and regulation need to be changed urgently to ensure new homes are fit for purpose with regards to laundry drying.

Other research has focussed on tenants in social housing in properties of mixed ages. This is the first study which focusses specifically on new energy efficient housing for owner occupiers.

The purpose of this paper, on self-efficacy and leadership, has two objectives. First, it comprehensively reviews approximately 25 years of research on leadership self-efficacy (LSE), beginning with LSE measurement and related criticisms. Findings concerning LSE’s relationships with leader effectiveness criteria, as well as individual and contextual influences on LSE, are presented. Second, it examines the evidence on efficacy enhancement interventions and offers some preliminary recommendations for increasing LSE through leadership development programs.

The author conducted a comprehensive literature review of the existing research on LSE, covering the main contributors to this research stream and their findings.

The review revealed substantial diversity in LSE construct development and measurement approaches. Regarding LSE and leader effectiveness, many studies reported positive relationships with potential, performance and behavioral ratings of leaders. Collective (team) efficacy has emerged as a significant mediator between LSE and group performance. Influences on LSE include several of the Big Five personality traits, while contextual antecedents are under-researched, and potentially fruitful areas for further study. Executive coaching and mentoring, as well as cognitive modeling techniques and training in constructive thought patterns, received support for enhancing LSE in developing leaders.

This paper’s review and implications should be of substantial value to current and future LSE researchers, as it summarizes past research, synthesizes the findings to draw out common themes and consistent, corroborated findings, and identifies opportunities for future research. For practitioners, the reviewed research on interventions for increasing LSE through leadership development programs provides practical guidance.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the development of leader potential in an extreme context – it develops and tests a model that describes how subordinate perceptions of individual-focused transformational leadership, subordinate trust in the leader and subordinate identification with the team influence supervisory evaluations of subordinate crisis leader potential.

Surveys were administered to emergency services personnel and their supervisors working in a large fire rescue organization in the Southeastern USA. Survey responses were analyzed using hierarchical regression.

Results support the theoretical model – subordinates reporting high levels of trust in their transformational leader were evaluated by their supervisors as having stronger potential to become crisis leaders. Lower levels of subordinate identification with the team strengthened the transformational leadership to trust association and the indirect effect of perceived transformational leadership on supervisory evaluations of subordinate crisis leader potential (through subordinate trust in the leader).

Supervisors who are viewed as transformational and fostering trusting relationships by subordinates are more likely to evaluate subordinates as having the potential to lead in crisis situations. In an extreme context within an organization facing change, subordinates who identify less with their team might build a more trusting relationship with a leader who is perceived as demonstrating transformational behaviors.

Subordinate focus on the leader appears to enhance supervisory evaluations of subordinate potential (for leader development) in the study. Individual-level rewards for employees that involve competition might counter efforts toward shared mental models and remain the greatest challenge in the public emergency services setting.

Evaluating leader development, in terms of crisis leader potential, in an extreme context using a process model – to understand the interplay of individual-focused transformational leadership and trust given the moderating effect of team identification – is a key strength of the current study.

Before man created towns and cities, his health, well‐being and life‐span were only significantly affected by the interplay of biological factors upon his genetically determined make‐up. In other words, although he burned a little wood producing a modicum of carbon monoxide, pathogenic bacteria, viruses and parasites were his deadly enemies. Soon, of course, he invented war which, apart from precipitating violent ‘sterile’ death, also offered a further ripe ground for pathogens among the wounded. But still the environment — land, water, air — were in a state of great natural purity.

This study develops a systematic analysis of the concentration and inequality levels of 20 Spanish industries over the period 1990‐2001. The methodology traced is based on the use of indices both for evaluating the inequality (Gini,MRD&Coefficient of Variation), and for studying the concentration (Herfindahl‐Hirchman, Theil & Hannah‐Kay). This article adopts a dynamic approach, through the Distributional Change Index. The analysis confirms the different behaviour within the durable and non‐durable goods groups of Spain’s industries. Significant differences also appear with respect to the characterisation of the sectors. These characteristics are centred on the intensity of capital and skill, the capacity for technological development and the intensive use of agricultural inputs. Another of the most relevant conclusions is that referring to the increase competition of certain industries in Spain, particularly those belonging to the non‐durable goods group.

The authors surveyed city administrators in the six-county Chicago region to test an innovation management capacity process model. Innovation management capacity is conceptualized as the function of council-staff functionality, managerial leadership capacity, and staff team management. The empirical results from 220 city administrators in 53 cities support the hypothesis that the number of municipal innovations is positively correlated with innovation management capacity, controlling for structural, socioeconomic, and demographic variables. However, this study does not find a statistical relationship between innovation effectiveness and innovation management capacity. The authors posit two possible explanations for these results and propose an alternative innovation management capacity process model for testing in future research.

Outlines research work [by the Machine Vision Group at Royal Holloway] into an x‐ray inspection system able to detect contaminants in packaged food products. Describes the analysis of a four‐stage machine vision structure that includes image formation, pre‐processing, feature extraction and decision. The system was tested on various food products and contaminants with the resultant conclusions that the contamination detection system was adaptive and worked with many types of products and contaminants. Refinements in the final decision making stage are being implemented by the use of expert [neural] networks.