Search results

This study aims to test the efficacy of the awareness of a transformative health service communication intervention targeted to African refugees in Australia, designed to increase their intentions to participate in blood donation and reduce any identified barriers.

Following the intervention launch, a survey was administered to African refugees. The data were analysed with structural equation modelling.

Intervention awareness increases refugees’ blood donation knowledge and intentions. Although it has no direct effect on refugees’ medical mistrust or perceived discrimination, intervention awareness indirectly reduces medical mistrust. The findings, thus, suggest that the intervention was transformative: it directly and indirectly reduced barriers to refugee participation in blood donation services.

Limitations include a relatively small sample size, single-country context and measures that address blood donation intentions versus behaviours.

Addressing health service inequities through intervention awareness, via the mere exposure effect, can facilitate refugees’ health service participation and inclusion.

This study contributes to transformative service research and responds to calls to improve individual and community well-being by testing a transformative intervention targeted towards vulnerable consumers. Not all targeted refugees donated blood, but being encouraged to participate in this health service within the host society can foster their greater inclusion.

Agriculture is under pressure to produce more food under increasingly variable climate conditions. Consequently, producers need management innovations that lead to improved physical and financial productivity. Currently, farm accounting technologies lack the sophistication to allow producers to analyse productivity of water. Furthermore water-related agricultural technology (“agtech”) systems do not readily link to accounting innovations. This study aims to establish a conceptual and practical framework for linking temporal, biophysical and management decision-making to accounting by develop a soil moisture and climate monitoring tool.

The paper adopts an exploratory mixed-methods approach to understand supply of and demand for water accounting and water-related agtech; and bundling these innovations with farm accounting to generate a stable tool with the ability to improve agricultural practices over time. Three phases of data collection are the focus here: first, a desk-based review of water accounting and water technology – including benchmarking of key design characteristics of these methods and key actor interviews to verify and identify trends, allowing for conceptual model development; second, a producer survey to test demand for the “bundled” conceptual model; third and finally, a participant-based case study in potato-farming that links the data from direct monitoring and remote sensing to farm accounts.

Design characteristics of water accounting and agtech innovations are bundled into an overall irrigation decision-making conceptual model based on in-depth review of available innovations and verification by key actors. Producer surveys suggest enough demand to pursue practical bundling of these innovations undertaken by developing an integrated accounting, soil moisture and climate monitoring tool on-farm. Productivity trends over two seasons of case study data demonstrate the pivotal role of accounting in leading to better technical irrigation decisions and improving water productivity.

The model can assist practitioners to gauge strengths and weaknesses of contemporary water accounting fads and fashions and potential for innovation bundling for improved water productivity. The practical tool demonstrates how on-farm irrigation decision-making can be supported by linking farm accounting systems and smart technology

Assessing the impact of a quality improvement intervention on an organization is particularly difficult in a high contact service operation where the intangible service encounter is the unit of output. Frequently, accounting or financial data must be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention; however, these data may be problematic with respect to sample size and masking effects due to aggregation. Presents a systems model which describes metaphorically how an unstable process can continue to show no performance gains despite continued input of resources into improvement initiatives. A special type of Shewart control chart, known as the X‐chart, is developed as a methodology for assessing process performance after an improvement programme has been implemented. An X‐chart is used to analyse performance data collected in a real service setting where service quality standards were deployed in the front line phase of the operation. Although traditional analysis of variance concluded that there was no significant improvement in performance, the X‐chart indicates that real performance gains were occurring. The X‐chart provides management with an easy‐to‐use decision tool which can help assess the effectiveness of many different types of organizational change initiatives.

The purpose of this paper is to test a model linking physical therapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) practitioners’ perceptions of resonant leadership, structural empowerment and psychological empowerment to their experiences of spirit at work (SAW), job satisfaction and organizational commitment within the Canadian workplace.

The authors tested the model using LISREL 8.80 and survey data from 101 OTs and 169 PTs, randomly selected by the Alberta professional licensing associations. Content analysis of responses to the open-ended comments section provided additional depth and insight.

Analysis of results culminated in minor modifications to the original theoretical model, creating separate PT and OT models. Both models revealed a good fit with the observed data. Several SAW concepts accounted for moderate to large amounts of variance in both PT and OT models, indicating that SAW is a comprehensive workplace outcome.

Theory was derived from business and nursing research literature due to limited rehabilitation research literature. Discussion of OT results must consider the small sample size. This study is initial exploratory research.

Each discipline-specific model provides professionals, health care leaders and policy makers with a rich body of information upon which to base beneficial workplace decisions. SAW will guide leaders in the holistic development and enrichment of the work environment.

This research contributes to the substantive knowledge of the OT and PT disciplines, particularly in the areas of leadership, workplace structural organization and indicators of healthy work environments such as SAW, empowerment, job satisfaction and organizational commitment.

Most educational institutions worldwide have shifted to online teaching and learning approaches to mitigate risks imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic. This causes several issues, particularly in delivering the construction management (CM) courses which require site visits, interpreting technical drawings and developing 3D building models. This paper aims to identify the key strategies for online learning and teaching adopted during the COVID-19 pandemic and to investigate the implications for construction management education.

The research approach is twofold. First, the study presents a systematic literature review (SLR) through a synthesis of the existing literature to identify the key strategies and lessons learned about online education during the COVID-19 pandemic in tertiary programs. It also discusses their implications in the context of the construction management (CM) sector in particular. Secondly, the authors shared their hands-on experience as construction management course facilitators – using the autoethnography approach – during the COVID-19 crisis.

In addition to identifying the key strategies such as online course delivery and assessments, the paper critically discusses the barriers to online learning and teaching, including (1) the technological and infrastructure barriers; (2) required online teaching skills and competencies; (3) issues surrounding mental health and wellbeing; (4) lack of consistency in the online delivery of various courses in a given program (5) difficulties around students' engagement and (6) the course characteristics and requirements.

The study offers some implications and recommendations not only for educational institutions and staff but also for vendors of online course delivery software. To prepare educational institutions for future online course delivery, the paper proposes several strategies. These include developing a set of guidelines for online course delivery, incorporating online teaching training modules into the recruitment process for academic staff, applying agile and resilience teaching and learning methods, wellbeing and mental health support and continuously improving course features to adapt to the online environment.