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1 – 10 of over 13000Elham Mehrinejad Khotbehsara, Hossein Safari, Reza Askarizad and Kathirgamalingam Somasundaraswaran
This study aims to explore the impact of spatial configuration on behavioral patterns of visitors in the ground floor of health-care spaces.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to explore the impact of spatial configuration on behavioral patterns of visitors in the ground floor of health-care spaces.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study, the Space Syntax analysis was used to combine visibility graph analysis and axial line analysis with empirical observation of visitors’ activities. Two types of observation methods on visitors were conducted to discover the behavioral patterns of individuals, respectively, named “gate counts” and “people following.”
Findings
The outcomes of this research revealed that the spatial arrangements of pathways, public areas, vertical circulations, entrance space, lobby, emergency department, reception desk and pharmacy have a significant influence on the way that visitors perceive the health-care environment.
Research limitations/implications
The current research is limited to two aspects of effective wayfinding (configuration of health care and geometry). Future work can investigate the other potential factors coupled with the current factor as an integrated research for enhancing wayfinding and sustaining accessibility. Another limitation is that the observation results for this study had been conducted before the COVID-19 pandemic and future studies can compare these results with the current COVID-19 situation within health care environments.
Originality/value
A large amount of research has focused on the needs of populations in developed countries. This topic has not been investigated thoroughly by professionals in developing countries such as Iran. Accordingly, this study benefits environmental psychologists and architects by revealing the effective characteristics of legible spaces in health-care environments.
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Silje Louise Dahl, Ellen Madssen Andenes and Johanne Yttri Dahl
This study aims at a better understanding of parents’ identity work when their parenting skills are questioned, in an organizational setting. The parents in this study were…
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims at a better understanding of parents’ identity work when their parenting skills are questioned, in an organizational setting. The parents in this study were assessed as at risk of unsatisfactory parental functioning because of problems related to drugs, mental health and/or psychosocial functioning, and they were observed and offered guidance at an extended health centre in Norway. The study explores how individual self-presentations are interwoven with and dependent on organizational narratives of identity.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on an analysis of 16 qualitative interviews, three exemplary cases are analyzed in detail. Narrative identity and professional gaze constitute the theoretical framework.
Findings
Parents and service providers negotiate which organizational narratives of identity are available, and the narratives are integrated in parents’ self-presentations in different ways. The most common strategy is to accept the organizational narratives offered, but they are also transformed and rejected. The experience of being seen by an empathic professional gaze contributes to the creation of an acceptable self-narrative.
Practical implications
Tending to parents’ identity needs should be an integral part of services provided. If parents are to cooperate with state services and engage in interventions, their needs for preserving an acceptable and coherent self-narrative must be considered.
Originality/value
This paper adds to the understanding of how identity work is a central feature of service provision. It also adds to the literature on relationships between identity narratives at different levels of society.
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Cornelia Voigt, Graham Brown and Gary Howat
The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare the benefits sought by three different types of wellness tourists: beauty spa, lifestyle resort, and spiritual retreat visitors.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to explore and compare the benefits sought by three different types of wellness tourists: beauty spa, lifestyle resort, and spiritual retreat visitors.
Design/methodology/approach
Based on the findings from 27 semi‐structured interviews with wellness tourists a benefits of wellness tourism scale (BWTS) was developed. It was used to measure 46 benefit items and was mailed to people included on the client/member lists of three Australian wellness tourism organisations.
Findings
In total, six benefit factors emerged from a principal axis factor analysis: transcendence; physical health and appearance; escape and relaxation; important others and novelty; re‐establish self‐esteem; and indulgence. A one‐way MANOVA, followed by a series of ANOVAS, revealed significant differences between the three types of tourists regarding the importance attributed to each of the six benefit factors. While all participants in the study sought transformation of the self, each identifiable group of tourists placed different emphasis on physical, psychological or spiritual transformations. Moreover, each group differed significantly in terms of demographic and travel behaviour characteristics.
Originality/value
The relevance of this paper lies in its adoption of a comprehensive approach to the investigation of the potential differences between three wellness tourist groups regarding the socio‐demographic profile, travel behaviour, and the benefits sought. Previous studies have focused on a single particular wellness tourist group. Furthermore, the BWTS may be applicable for use in future comparative studies of wellness tourist motivation.
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– The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a free book gifting programme, called “Bookstart+”, in improving family reading outcomes.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the effectiveness of a free book gifting programme, called “Bookstart+”, in improving family reading outcomes.
Design/methodology/approach
Bookstart+ consists of a pack of books and reading materials provided to families at their two-year-old child's statutory health visit. The pack is accompanied by a short priming demonstration, delivered by the health visitor, on shared reading. The evaluation took the form of a randomised controlled trial (RCT) with 460 families from the client lists of 115 health visitors.
Findings
The study found evidence of: a positive significant effect on parents’ attitudes to reading and books (Cohen's d=+0.192, p=0.034); no significant effect on parental attitudes to their child reading (d=+0.085, p=0.279); and a negative effect, approaching significance, on public library usage (d=−0.160, p=0.055).
Research limitations/implications
The attrition rate was high, with only 43.9 per cent of the target families completing all of the research. However, this level of attrition did not lead to any significant differences between the control and intervention groups on their pre-test measures.
Practical implications
The study provides recommendations for free book gifting service provision in relation to pack contents and delivery.
Originality/value
This paper contributes to the limited international RCT evidence on free book gifting programmes.
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Michael Fehsenfeld, Helle Terkildsen Maindal and Viola Burau
The purpose of this paper is to rethink the concept of organizational culture as something that emerges bottom-up by using the sociological concepts of boundary object and…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to rethink the concept of organizational culture as something that emerges bottom-up by using the sociological concepts of boundary object and boundary work as an analytical lens and to show how this approach can help understand and facilitate intersectoral coordination.
Design/methodology/approach
We used observations and qualitative interviews to develop “deep” knowledge about processes of intersectoral coordination. The study draws on a conceptual framework of “boundary work” and “boundary objects” to show how a bottom-up perspective on organizational culture can produce better understanding of and pave the way for intersectoral coordination. We use a case of health professionals engaged in two Danish intersectoral programs developing and providing health promotion services for women with gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM).
Findings
The study showed how boundary work revolves around negotiations on how to define, understand and act on the diagnosis of GDM. This diagnosis has the characteristics of a “boundary object”, being more loosely structured in general terms, but strongly structured in local settings. Boundary objects help connect different professionals and facilitate coordination. The analysis showed how the introduction of time and the concept of “lifelong health promotion” helped to transgress existing organizational and professional boundaries.
Research limitations/implications
The findings contribute to the literature on organizational culture and intersectoral coordination. We highlight the benefits of a practice-oriented, bottom-up perspective for a better understanding of how shared meaning is produced in cross professional coordination and collaboration. While the theoretical implications will be general applicable when studying organizational culture, the implications for practice are sensitive to context and the processes we have described as the outcomes of boundary work are generated from cases that were most likely to provide deep insight into our research topic.
Practical implications
For practice this can build bridges between organizational and professional boundaries.
Originality/value
The findings contribute to the literature on organizational culture and intersectoral coordination. We highlight the benefits of a practice-oriented, bottom-up perspective for a better understanding of how shared meaning is produced in cross professional coordination. This may build bridges between organizational and professional boundaries in practice settings.
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Discusses Nottingham’s approach to developing a public health roleexplicitly alongside traditional health visiting. Argues that theirapproach makes significant improvements to the…
Abstract
Discusses Nottingham’s approach to developing a public health role explicitly alongside traditional health visiting. Argues that their approach makes significant improvements to the health status of a selected deprived area.
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Lizone Chang and Rian Beise‐Zee
The article seeks to study consumer evaluation of the health benefits of a health‐promoting destination. Health‐promoting destinations often attempt to scientifically prove health…
Abstract
Purpose
The article seeks to study consumer evaluation of the health benefits of a health‐promoting destination. Health‐promoting destinations often attempt to scientifically prove health benefits. It is suggested that health destinations should instead attempt to reflect consumers' preconceived health beliefs, rather than reform them. The aim is to test the applicability of the expectation‐disconfirmation theory to health promoting destinations and to offer recommendations for place marketing of destinations which are positioned as proving health benefits.
Design/methodology/approach
Cognitive dissonance is a central theoretical concept in the model of consumer evaluation of the health benefits of a health‐promoting destination. The authors suggest that low cognitive dissonance between subjective health beliefs and the characteristics of a destination results in positive customer evaluations of the destination. This hypothesis was tested through regression analysis of data collected via a survey of 240 visitors at seven hot spring resorts in Taiwan.
Findings
The study suggests that the subjective beliefs of tourists regarding what is healthful are important criteria for tourists to evaluate the health benefits of a destination.
Research limitations/implications
The expectation‐disconfirmation theory is successfully applied to the tourism sector and health care.
Practical implications
Based on the results, consumer research about what is believed to be beneficial to health is important when designing and promoting a health place.
Originality/value
Destinations have been mostly studied as wellness destinations. However, many destinations promote scientific health benefits. The effect of consumer health perceptions on the attractiveness of health‐promoting destinations has received little attention. While common in tourism, the results are a novel approach to health care destinations.
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Nimit Soonsan, Zulfiqar Ali Jumani, Sarayute Thongmun and Suphattra Sangthong
There are two goals for this study. Firstly, this study aims to understand the impact of various youth tourist motivations, such as Muslim amenities, Islamic product travel…
Abstract
Purpose
There are two goals for this study. Firstly, this study aims to understand the impact of various youth tourist motivations, such as Muslim amenities, Islamic product travel, attraction, perceived value and service quality, on the intention to visit Phuket. Secondly, this study aims to determine whether or not young people's perceptions of health risks influence their motivations and decisions to travel to Phuket in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Design/methodology/approach
This study used a quantitative methodology, using nonprobability convenience sampling to collect responses from 249 Indonesian youths who intended to visit Phuket after the COVID-19 pandemic. Hayes' (2018) SPSS PROCESS macro (Model 1) was used to test the research model.
Findings
The findings showed that the intention to travel was significantly affected by factors such as Muslim amenities, Islamic product travel, attraction, perceived value and service quality. Furthermore, the perceived health risk moderated three dimensions of Islamic product travel, perceived value and service quality on intention to visit.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited to a sample of Indonesian youth tourists and the impacts of motivation (Muslim amenities, Islamic product travel, attractiveness, perceived value and service quality) and the moderating influence of health risk on the desire to visit Phuket.
Originality/value
This study sheds insight into the influence of several young tourists' motives on the intention to visit Phuket and the moderating role of perceived health risks. The findings provide essential insights for marketing strategies and the development of the international destination. Specifically, the study suggests developing products with Islamic attributes, emphasising the attraction factor and improving perceived values. The study also provides a model that demonstrates how religious values can affect an individual's decision-making process.
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Myfanwy M. Davies and Peter A. Bath
Although the information needs of women receiving antenatal and postnatal care are well understood, few studies have examined the use of information by minority ethnic women. This…
Abstract
Although the information needs of women receiving antenatal and postnatal care are well understood, few studies have examined the use of information by minority ethnic women. This paper describes a pilot study that aimed to identify the main maternity information sources used by Somali women living in a northern city in the UK. The study described here utilised unstructured exploratory focus group and semi‐structured interviews with Somali women. All discussions and interviews were audiotaped, translated and transcribed in their entirety and then analysed using a variation of the theme analysis method. Sources of information emerged as a sub‐theme from the data. Women sought and used information from several interpersonal sources. Many were dependent on general practitioners and health visitors for maternity information, although participants favoured community health forums addressed by health professionals. Women also sought maternity information from friends and neighbours. Interpersonal sources as a whole were viewed as having a number of advantages. Informal sources in particular were perceived as being approachable and providing a means through which further information could be sought, while each information source was also evaluated according to specific criteria. The implications of these findings for minority ethnic women are discussed and recommendations for further research are outlined.
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