scholarly journals Designing everyday automation with well-being in mind

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (6) ◽  
pp. 763-779
Author(s):  
Holger Klapperich ◽  
Alarith Uhde ◽  
Marc Hassenzahl
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Substantial Part ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
The Press ◽  
Meaningful Experiences ◽  
Automated Processes

AbstractNowadays, automation not only permeates industry but also becomes a substantial part of our private, everyday lives. Driven by the idea of increased convenience and more time for the “important things in life,” automation relieves us from many daily chores—robots vacuum floors and automated coffee makers produce supposedly barista-quality coffee on the press of a button. In many cases, these offers are embraced by people without further questioning. However, while we save time by delegating more and more everyday activities to automation, we also may lose chances for enjoyable and meaningful experiences. In two field studies, we demonstrate that a manual process has experiential benefits over more automated processes by using the example of coffee-making. We present a way to account for potential experiential costs of everyday automation and strategies of how to design interaction with automation to reconcile experience with the advantages of a more and more powerful automation.

scholarly journals Elderly and caregiver demand: proposal for a care need classification

2018 ◽  
Vol 71 (suppl 2) ◽  
pp. 844-850 ◽  
Author(s):  
Daniella Pires Nunes ◽  
Tábatta Renata Pereira de Brito ◽  
Ligiana Pires Corona ◽  
Tiago da Silva Alexandre ◽  
Yeda Aparecida de Oliveira Duarte
Keyword(s):  
Well Being ◽  
The Elderly ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Full Time ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
Aging Study ◽  
Good Internal Consistency ◽  
Caregiver Demand ◽  
Guttman Scaling

ABSTRACT Objective: To propose a care need classification for elderly people by identifying their functional demands. Method: Cross-sectional study carried out in São Paulo, in 2006, with 1,413 elderly (≥ 60 years old), participants in the Health, Well-being and Aging study (SABE – Saúde, Bem Estar e Envelhecimento). For the care need classification, we used the Guttman Scaling method e the frequency of assistance required by the elderly. Results: The hierarchy of activities of daily living had good internal consistency (α = 0.92) and satisfactory coefficients of reproducibility (98%), scalability (84%) and minimum marginal reproducibility (87%). Care need was categorized into: no need (requires no caregiver), minimum need (requires caregiver sporadically), moderate need (requires caregiver intermittently) and maximum need (requires full-time caregiver). Conclusion: This classification will allow identifying elderly that need assistance in everyday activities and will orientante health professionals in the development of a line of care.

Removing NOx Pollution by Photocatalytic Building Materials in Real-Life: Evaluation of Existing Field Studies

2021 ◽  
Vol 02 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pernille D. Pedersen ◽  
Nina Lock ◽  
Henrik Jensen
Keyword(s):  
Air Pollutants ◽  
Building Materials ◽  
Evaluation Criteria ◽  
Real Life ◽  
Ambient Air ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Good Health ◽  
Objective Evaluation ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Hazardous Air Pollutants

: The NOx gasses (NO and NO2) are among the most important air pollutants, due to the toxicity of NO2, as well as the role of NOx in the tropospheric oxidation of Volatile Organic Carbons (VOCs), contributing to the formation of other hazardous air pollutants. Air pollution is one of the biggest health threats world-wide, hence reducing NOx levels is an important objective of the UN sustainable development goals, e.g. #3, “Good health and well-being” and #11 “Sustainable cities and communities”. Photocatalysis using TiO2 and light is a promising technique for removing NOx along with other pollutants, as demonstrated on laboratory scale. Furthermore, a long range of real-life test studies of varying scales have been conducted during the past two decades. The results of these studies have been conflicting, with some studies reporting no effect on the ambient air quality and others reporting significant reductions of NOx level. However, the studies are very difficult to compare and assess due to the very different approaches used, which consequently vary in quality. In this review, we aim to develop a set of objective evaluation criteria to assess the quality of the individual studies in order to simplify the interpretation and comparison of the existing studies. Moreover, we propose some guidelines for future test-studies. Furthermore, the approaches and main conclusions from 23 studies are independently assessed and discussed herein.

Voluntary simplicity: a content analysis of consumer comments

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Petek Tosun ◽  
Selime Sezgin
Keyword(s):  
Content Analysis ◽  
Word Frequency ◽  
Frequency Analysis ◽  
Personal Growth ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Three Dimensions ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Less Is More ◽  
Self Sufficiency ◽  
Meaningful Experiences

Purpose The voluntary simplification (VS) movement has stemmed from Western societies and gained momentum in the 1980s, but the trend has failed to become a primary perspective for most consumers. The accompanying concepts of conscious consumption, minimalism and accepting that sometimes “less is more” are still vivid in the digital era. The purpose of this study is to provide a deep and recent understanding of the consumer comments about minimalism in Turkey and examine their associations with the prominent themes in the VS literature. Design/methodology/approach Consumer comments posted on online platforms were analyzed by content analysis and word frequency analysis. Findings Consumer comments were in parallel to the themes in the VS literature and were classified under personal growth, material simplicity, sustainability, proper technology usage and self-sufficiency categories. Personal growth, material simplicity and sustainability were the first three dimensions mentioned. The prominent sub-themes that emerge from data were psychological well-being, inner peace, freedom, meaningful experiences and getting rid of belongings. A word frequency analysis pointed out that “life” and “owning” were the evident words in the personal growth category, “purchasing things” were mostly mentioned in the material simplicity category and “plastic litter” and “excessive consumption” were the prominent concerns in the sustainability category. Originality/value VS required further research in different national contexts. Besides, an analysis of the dimensions of VS was needed. This study contributes by providing recent and rich findings from a developing country, connecting them with the VS themes in the literature and suggesting a conceptual framework enriched by sub-themes that emerged from data.

‘A change in the men’s everyday lives’ – a grounded theory study

2016 ◽  
Vol 6 (3) ◽  
pp. 185-190
Author(s):  
Ann Karin Helgesen
Keyword(s):  
Grounded Theory ◽  
Nursing Home ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Determination ◽  
Design Data ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
The Core ◽  
Everyday Lives ◽  
Core Category ◽  
Data Collection And Analysis

BackgroundResearch to date indicates that most nursing homes offer various kinds of activities for their residents, but that these are seldom tailored to each individual person. In respect of activities, it is reasonable to assume that male residents are at particular risk of not receiving person-centred care as they inhabit a largely ‘female domain’, where the majority of personnel and often also of residents are female. Few studies to date have focused on activities for men in nursing homes.AimThe aim of this study was to explore male residents’ experiences of an activity programme in a nursing home in Norway.DesignThe study had an explorative Grounded Theory (GT) design. Data were collected by means of interviews with nine residents. All of the men were offered an activity at least once a week as part of a project over the preceding year.According to the basic principles of grounded theory sampling, data collection and analysis are carried out simultaneously using constant comparison.Findings The core category showed that there was ‘a change in the men’s everyday lives’ after the special activity programme – for men only –  was offered. Their own influence on the content of the conversations and on the activity itself was described as limited. This was not important for them, as the most essential issues were ‘being together’ and ‘getting away’. Conditions relating to the men themselves, the place where the activities were held and the nursing personnel had an impact on how important the activity programme was for them.ConclusionsA more person-centred approach in future activity programmes will enhance the residents’ integrity and well-being, and allow them a degree of self-determination even while resident in a nursing home.       

The Experiences of People With Advanced Cancer and Professionals Participating in a Program With Focus on Rehabilitation and Palliative Care

2022 ◽  
pp. 003022282110583
Author(s):  
Mette Raunkiær
Keyword(s):  
Palliative Care ◽  
Advanced Cancer ◽  
Gain Control ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
Rehabilitation Programs ◽  
Physical Functions ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
And Training

The study’s aim is to explore the experiences of people with advanced cancer and professionals participating in a program with focus on rehabilitation and palliative care. The study is based on two adjusted rehabilitation programs for 33 people with advanced cancer and 12 professionals. An observational study was conducted among the participants and two focus group interviews with 10 professionals. The analytic themes were “Lightness and happiness to gain control in everyday life,” “Community and closeness,” and “Training as a happiness and changing agent.” The activities had to support physical functions and everyday activities promoting body identity and well-being as well as emotions like closeness, lightness, and happiness in groups with like-minded people and at home with a partner and other family members. These activities and theory of emotions and body can expand the understanding of palliative care and rehabilitation as separated or integrated perspectives theoretical and in practice.

Predicting place attachment through selfie tourism, memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Okki Trinanda ◽  
Astri Yuza Sari ◽  
Efni Cerya ◽  
Tri Rachmat Riski
Keyword(s):  
Significant Relationship ◽  
Place Attachment ◽  
Structural Equation ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Equation Modeling ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Tourism Experience ◽  
Meaningful Experiences ◽  
The Relationship

Purpose Selfie tourism is a fast-growing phenomenon. Given the convenience of photo-snapping and photo-sharing on social media, selfie tourism is seen as an emerging trend among travelers. This phenomenon gave consequence toward travelers’ behavior, especially on how it can affect their memorable tourism experience and place attachment. This paper aims to examine the relationship between selfie tourism, memorable tourism experience, hedonic well-being and travelers’ place attachment. Design/methodology/approach A self-administered survey method is used. This research was carried out during the COVID-19 pandemic, consequently, the data were collected via Google Form (online). The respondents are tourists who have visited various tourism destinations in West Sumatera, Indonesia. To test the hypotheses of this study, questionnaires are distributed to 450 respondents. The proposed model was tested using structural equation modeling. Findings The results of this study shows that selfie tourism has a positive and significant relationship toward both memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being. In addition, memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being also have a significant relationship with place attachment. Research limitations/implications The limitation of this study lies in the limited reference to the relationship between selfie tourism and memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being, because this is the first study to examine the relationship of these variables. This study also has not tested the direct relationship between selfie tourism and place attachment and has not considered eudaemonic well-being as an antecedent of place attachment. Further research will discuss the direct effect of selfie tourism and eudaemonic experience on place attachment, as well as the moderating effect of memorable tourism and hedonic well-being. Practical implications This study shows the benefits obtained by tourism managers in preparing selfie facilities, as well as the ability to create meaningful experiences. It provides tourism practitioners with an understanding that tourist place attachment can be improved by both memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being. Furthermore, both memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being can be affected by selfie tourism. This understanding can enhance the tourism providers’ strategy to improve services that fit the characteristics of today’s tourists. Therefore, selfie tourism, memorable tourism experience and hedonic well-being can support tourism sustainability, especially in creating place attachments. Originality/value To the authors’ knowledge, this is one of the first studies that investigated the relationship between selfie tourism, memorable tourism experience and place attachment. From a market-specific context, this is also the first study that investigated the antecedents of place attachment on West Sumatera’s tourism.

The influence of supervisor bottom-line mentality and employee bottom-line mentality on leader-member exchange and subsequent employee performance

2019 ◽  
Vol 73 (8) ◽  
pp. 1157-1181 ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew J Quade ◽  
Benjamin D McLarty ◽  
Julena M Bonner
Keyword(s):  
Social Exchange ◽  
Employee Performance ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Field Studies ◽  
Leader Member Exchange ◽  
Exchange Relationship ◽  
Bottom Line ◽  
Ethical Practices ◽  
Member Exchange ◽  
Negative Effect

Are supervisors who care more about profits than employee well-being seen by employees as being good exchange partners? How do employees perceive and respond to supervisors who treat the bottom line as more important than anything else? Supervisors who hold a bottom-line mentality (BLM) neglect competing priorities such as employee well-being and ethical practices to focus on securing bottom-line success. We find high-BLM supervisors serve as low-quality exchange partners with their employees, resulting in employee perceptions of low-quality leader-member exchange (LMX) relationships. In turn, employees reciprocate by withholding the very thing the supervisor desires—performance—in order to maintain balance in the exchange relationship. As such, supervisors who possess a BLM could actually be negatively impacting the organization’s bottom line through the harmful social exchange relationships they engender with their employees and their impact on employee task performance. We also examine the moderating role of employee BLM on these relationships. When employee BLM is low, we observe a greater negative effect on employee value judgments of the supervisor (i.e. reduced LMX perceptions) and lower employee performance. We test and find support for all of our hypotheses in two multi-source (i.e. employee-supervisor dyads), time-lagged field studies ( N = 189 and N = 244).

Measuring Democracy

2014 ◽  
pp. 426-452
Author(s):  
Célestin Monga
Keyword(s):  
Comparative Method ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Real Problem ◽  
Economic Approach ◽  
Political Ethics ◽  
Social Scientists ◽  
Normative Approach ◽  
The Past ◽  
The Press ◽  
Comparative Theory

Despite increased academic and media interest in the continent and the intensity of the sociopolitical and administrative changes that have occurred in the past twenty-five years, analyses published in the press and by scholars are generally incomplete. Beyond the traditional dispute between “universalists” (theorists of a general model of liberal democracy to which all countries are expected to conform) and “relativists” (advocates of the sovereignty of individual cultural identities), the real problem lies in the inability of social scientists to develop a comparative method that is at once valid and acceptable to all. Rejecting the purely normative approach to political ethics that dominates the debate on democracy, this chapter uses an economic approach to advance a comparative theory of the notion of political well-being. It proposes a measurement index whose different components take into account both the viewpoint of universalists on human rights and the perspective of relativists on political utility.

scholarly journals EVERYDAY ACTIVITIES AND DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMS: DOES GENDER MATTER?

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S931-S931
Author(s):  
Celeste Beaulieu ◽  
Jeffrey E Stokes
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Gender Differences ◽  
Depressive Symptoms ◽  
Social Engagement ◽  
Later Life ◽  
Well Being ◽  
Self Esteem ◽  
Self Concept ◽  
Everyday Activities ◽  
Retirement Study

Abstract Previous research has suggested that informal socializing can be beneficial for mental health, whereas prior findings concerning solitary activities and mental health have been equivocal. Activity theory posits that involvement in activities – particularly social activities – can improve adults’ self-concept and self-esteem, leading to improved well-being. Solitary activities may perform the same function, though without any social reinforcement. However, social engagement and mental health may both vary by gender. Thus, we examined associations of informal socializing and solitary activities with depressive symptoms among 13,387 respondents of the 2012/2014 waves of the Health and Retirement Study, and further assessed potential gender differences. Results revealed that both informal socializing and solitary activities were significantly associated with lower depressive symptoms when analyzed separately. However, when both types of activities were modeled simultaneously, only informal socializing remained significant. Further, stratified analyses revealed that informal socializing was a significant predictor of depressive symptoms among women but not men, although these coefficients were not significantly different from each other. Overall, findings suggest that both informal socializing and solitary activities may be beneficial for mental health, yet results were clearly stronger for informal socializing. Socializing may benefit mental health not only by bolstering one’s self-concept, but also by linking adults with social ties and support networks that are instrumental for well-being in mid- and later life. Moreover, gender differences in effects were minimal and largely non-significant, indicating that activity involvement can bolster mental health for men and women alike.

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