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The importance of employment in recovery from mental health illness has led to broad recognition of the integration of employment-oriented support into mental health treatment. However, there is variation in the extent to which an employment orientation permeates healthcare services. This article explores how managers and advisors in health and welfare services in Norway function as “change agents”, who work to increase an employment orientation in mental health services.

The empirical material consists of 20 interviews with change agents in health and welfare organisations. They work to implement a model – individual placement and support – to integrate an employment orientation in healthcare services. The findings are analysed using the framework of “institutional work” to elucidate the strategies used by change agents.

The findings underscore a consensus on the health advantages of employment and that employment-oriented support belongs in mental health treatment. However, this concept requires further cultivation within healthcare services, with individual actors playing a key role as change agents. Depending on the stage of the various organisations in the change process and the actors’ positions within the institutional context, the actors engaged in both creative and maintenance institutional work.

The article´s findings are significant for how health organisations can work to achieve desired changes.

This article contributes to the literature on collaboration and implementation of employment-oriented practices in healthcare by directing attention to the dynamics of organisational change processes and the efforts of individual actors to promote change.

The current research elucidates the role of empathy in design of artificial intelligence (AI) systems in healthcare context, through a structured literature review, analysis and synthesis of academic literature published between 1990 and 2024.

This study aims to advance the domain of empathy in AI by adopting theory constructs context method approach using the PRISMA 2020 framework.

The study presents a current state-of-the-art literature to review the connections between empathy and AI and identifying four clusters showing the emerging trajectories in the field of AI and empathy in healthcare setting.

Despite a rise in empirical research, the potential pathways enhancing AI accountability by incorporation of empathy is unclear. The research aims to contribute to the existing literature on AI and empathy in the healthcare sector by carving out four distinct clusters depicting the future research avenues.

In response to growing concerns over the negative consequences of Internet addiction on adolescents’ mental health, coupled with conflicting results in this literature stream, this meta-analysis sought to (1) examine the association between Internet addiction and depressive symptoms in adolescents, (2) examine the moderating role of Internet freedom across countries, and (3) examine the mediating role of excessive daytime sleepiness.

In total, 52 studies were analyzed using robust variance estimation and meta-analytic structural equation modeling.

There was a significant and moderate association between Internet addiction and depressive symptoms. Furthermore, Internet freedom did not explain heterogeneity in this literature stream before and after controlling for study quality and the percentage of female participants. In support of the displacement hypothesis, this study found that Internet addiction contributes to depressive symptoms through excessive daytime sleepiness (proportion mediated = 17.48%). As the evidence suggests, excessive daytime sleepiness displaces a host of activities beneficial for maintaining mental health. The results were subjected to a battery of robustness checks and the conclusions remain unchanged.

The results underscore the negative consequences of Internet addiction in adolescents. Addressing this issue would involve interventions that promote sleep hygiene and greater offline engagement with peers to alleviate depressive symptoms.

This study utilizes robust meta-analytic techniques to provide the most comprehensive examination of the association between Internet addiction and depressive symptoms in adolescents. The implications intersect with the shared interests of social scientists, health practitioners, and policy makers.

Reflective practice (RP) is a key skill for developing one’s professional practice. It has, however, not been unanimously prioritised in public health (PH) competency and education frameworks. Reflection activities are often unstructured in higher education. There is also a dearth of literature on the RPs of undergraduate PH students. This study aims to explore in greater depth how RP helps undergraduate PH students explore their own learning in internships.

Reflection prompts were designed using the DEAL model. 124 written reflection entries from 32 students were collected and analysed thematically using a deductive-inductive approach. The conceptual framework of internship learning goals by Ash and Clayton (2009) was used to guide the deductive analysis.

Three themes were identified: initial engagement with reflective learning; gradual integration of reflective learning, and a transformative phase involving professional development, personal growth, civic learning, growth through struggle, being confronted with differences in expectations, and skill acquisition.

This study extends the limited evidence regarding RP in undergraduate non-medical PH education, and contributes toward informing the revision of undergraduate PH programmes, for example, by integrating structured reflection earlier in the curricula, and establishing/supporting mentorship programmes between institutions. The findings call for PH educators to be more intentional in creating opportunities to nurture RP among budding PH professionals.

The study aims to explore the impact of National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) enrolment on farm investments in a developing country setting. We classify farm investments into (1) soil and land investments and (2) hired adult labour.

This study used data on 5,883 farm households from the sixth round of the Ghana Living Standard Surveys (GLSS), which is nationally represented data at the household level. The data also includes a Labour Force Survey module. The sample frame was divided into a primary and secondary sampling unit, with interviews taking place in 1,200 enumeration areas (EAs). The estimation of impacts was carried out using ordinary least squares (OLS) estimations and addressed endogeneity concerns using propensity score matching (PSM) and instrumental variable (IV) estimators.

The study finds a strong positive association between the NHIS enrolment status of farm households and investments in agricultural land and soil health improvement. Precisely, farm households who are enroled in the health insurance system tend to invest about 32% more in soil and land improvement activities and 30% more in hired farm labour than households who are not enroled in NHIS.

The overall evidence from our study suggests that instead of high investments in fertilizer and other input subsidy programmes in Africa, sustainable smallholder agricultural investments can be achieved if concerns and issues of farmers’ health coverage are adequately addressed.

This is one of the first papers that have explored the impact of NHIS in developing countries on farm investments.

The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of strategic leadership (SL) on business operational resilience (OR) in the hotel industry in Egypt, namely, during and after the pandemic. This investigation also aimed to explore the mediating function of crisis response strategies (CRSs) and organisational e-readiness (Oe-R) in this relationship.

The researchers conducted a cross-sectional study using a questionnaire as the primary data collection method. Using partial least squares structural equation simulation (PLS-SEM), the study used a comprehensive sample that targets the general managers of all five-star hotels in Egypt.

Results indicated that SL has a positive impact on CRSs and Oe-R. Furthermore, the results reveal a positive influence of Oe-R on both CRSs and hotel OR. On the other hand, CRSs do not influence hotel OR. The findings showed that CRSs fully mediate the link between SL and OR. However, CRSs do not serve as a mediator between Oe-R and OR. Furthermore, the findings showed that Oe-R partially mediates the link between SL and both OR and CRSs.

The study yields unique and valuable theoretical and practical insights to guide hotel leaders and managers towards adaptive recovery and resilience in turbulent and crisis-ridden environments by demonstrating that the combined mediating function of CRS and Oe-R is more effective in strengthening the relationship between SL and OR.

This study represents a pioneering investigation that establishes a correlation between SL and OR, either through direct or indirect means. The research examines the involvement of CRSs and Oe-R as collaborative mediators in this relationship. Previous studies undertaken in the hotel industry and service sector have not investigated this specific element.

Authorities have set up numerous security checkpoints during times of armed conflict to control the flow of commercial and humanitarian trucks into and out of areas of conflict. These security checkpoints have become highly utilized because of the complex security procedures and increased truck traffic, which significantly slow the delivery of relief aid. This paper aims to improve the process at security checkpoints by redesigning the current process to reduce processing time and relieve congestion at checkpoint entrance gates.

A decision-support tool (clearing function distribution model [CFDM]) is used to minimize the effects of security checkpoint congestion on the entire humanitarian supply network using a hybrid simulation-optimization approach. By using a business process simulation, the current and reengineered processes are both simulated, and the simulation output was used to estimate the clearing function (capacity as a function of the workload). For both the AS-IS and TO-BE models, key performance indicators such as distribution costs, backordering and process cycle time were used to compare the results of the CFDM tool. For this, the Kerem Abu Salem security checkpoint south of Gaza was used as a case study.

The comparison results demonstrate that the CFDM tool performs better when the output of the TO-BE clearing function is used.

The efforts will contribute to improving the planning of any humanitarian network experiencing congestion at security checkpoints by minimizing the impact of congestion on the delivery lead time of relief aid to the final destination.

The main objective of the study is to address the lack of sustainability assessments of smart connected health systems in the academic literature by presenting an assessment model to determine the alignment of these systems with the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed in the 2030 Agenda.

An evaluation model based on decision analysis is proposed that includes three phases: alignment framework, information gathering and assessment. This model measures the alignment of the connected health system with each of the 17 SDGs, identifying the goals and criteria associated with each SDG that the system achieves to satisfy.

The analysis reveals that the system has achieved more than 24% of the targets among the 17 SDGs. In addition, it identifies four sustainability challenges that the system potentially addresses in relation to the SDGs, providing valuable guidance for researchers and practitioners interested in sustainable health technology development.

The study's results have significant implications for policymakers and stakeholders in the health and technology sectors.

The originality of this study lies in its comprehensive approach to assessing the sustainability of connected health systems in the context of the SDGs, filling an important gap in the existing literature.