scholarly journals A Systematic Literature Review of Animal-Assisted Interventions in Oncology (Part I): Methods and Results

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 ◽  
pp. 153473542094327
Author(s):  
Timothy R. N. Holder ◽  
Margaret E. Gruen ◽  
David L. Roberts ◽  
Tamara Somers ◽  
Alper Bozkurt

Animal-assisted interventions (AAIs) use human-animal interactions to positive effect in various contexts including cancer care. As the first installment of a 2-part series, this systematic literature review focuses on the research methods and quantitative results of AAI studies in oncology. We find methodological consistency in the use of canines as therapy animals, in the types of high-risk patients excluded from studies, and in the infection precautions taken with therapy animals throughout cancer wards. The investigated patient endpoints are not significantly affected by AAI, with the exceptions of improvements in oxygen consumption, quality of life, depression, mood, and satisfaction with therapy. The AAI field in oncology has progressed significantly since its inception and has great potential to positively affect future patient outcomes. To advance the field, future research should consistently improve the methodological design of studies, report data more completely, and focus more on the therapy animal’s well-being.

Author(s):  
Timothy Holder ◽  
Margaret Gruen ◽  
David Roberts ◽  
Tamara Somers ◽  
Alper Bozkurt

Animal-assisted interventions (AAI) use human-animal interactions to positive effect in various contexts including cancer care. This systematic literature review is the first part of a two-part paper series focusing on the research methods and quantitative results of AAI studies in oncology. We find methodological consistency in the use of canines as therapy animals, in the types of high-risk patients excluded from studies, and in the infection precautions taken with therapy animals throughout cancer wards. The investigated patient endpoints are not significantly affected by AAI, with the exceptions of improvements in oxygen consumption, quality of life, depression, mood, and satisfaction with therapy. The AAI field in oncology has progressed significantly since its inception and has great potential to positively impact future patient outcomes. To advance the field, AAI research in oncology should consistently improve the methodological design of studies, report data more completely, and focus on the therapy animal’s well-being.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Prashant Kumar Gupta ◽  
Seema Sharma

PurposeThe authors present a systematic literature review on microfinance institutions’ (MFIs) effect on poverty and how they can ensure their sustainability. The purpose of this article is to review the effect of MFIs on poverty in South Asian countries. The analysis and review of the selected corpus of literature also provide avenues for future research.Design/methodology/approachA total of 95 papers from 49 journals in 4 academic libraries and publishers were systematically studied and classified. The authors define the keywords and the inclusion/exclusion criteria for the identification of papers. The review includes an analysis of the selected papers that give insights about publications with respect to themes, number of themes covered in individual publications, nations, scope, methodology, number of methods used and publication trend.FindingsThe literature indicates the positive effect of microfinance on poverty but with a varying degree on various categories of poor. The relation between poverty and microfinance is, however, dependent on the nation under the scanner. While sustainability and outreach co-exist, their trade-off is still a matter of debate.Originality/valueThis is the first systematic literature review on MFIs’ effect on poverty in South Asian nations. Additionally, the authors discuss the literature on the trade-off between sustainability and outreach for MFIs.


2021 ◽  
Vol 2021 ◽  
pp. 1-14
Author(s):  
Muhammet Gul ◽  
Ali Fuat Guneri

The increased focus of people on the quality of health care in recent years has led hospital owners to develop strategies and policies to improve medical services through the establishment of new hospitals. For hospitals to be competitive, the hospitalʼs location and proximity to potential patients are considered crucial factors in establishing new hospitals. In this context, evaluating and selecting the most suitable hospital location to establish a new hospital from the multicriteria decision-making (MCDM) perspective is a priority for the entrepreneurs or government to gain a competitive advantage. Therefore, this study aims to present a systematic literature review of the hospital location selection problem considering the applied methods and application areas. The preferred reporting items for systematic review and meta-analysis statement (PRISMA) are used as a reference framework. Initially, known electronic databases (Web of science, IEEEXplore, Scopus, Science direct, and Google Scholar) were searched up to the early 2021. A number of 47 articles are selected and analyzed under this systematic framework based on inclusion-exclusion points. State-of-the-art developments in adopting MCDM methods and their fuzzy extensions are summarized. All the articles have been examined in a systematic taxonomy to find answers to six research questions (trend, country of origin, outlet journal, MCDM methods used, MCDM environment and criteria type, and decision criteria used). Results show that (1) AHP and GIS-based MCDM models are the most contributing approaches to the solution of this problem, (2) location selection criteria are mostly cost, demand, environment, population, government, competition in the market, and distance to some important places, (3) the fuzzy structure is also preferred in addition to the MCDM structure depending on the crisp data type, and (4) the location selection criteria are mostly considered subjective. We pay attention to promising directions that can dominate future research in this field from a methodological or applicability perspective. This study shows the current views and opportunities for researchers and practitioners and acts as a guide to encourage more creative studies in this field.


2016 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
pp. 374-384 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie McNulty ◽  
Wonsun Kim ◽  
Tracy Thurston ◽  
Jiwon Kim ◽  
Linda Larkey

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (12) ◽  
pp. 4339 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sara Palomo-Campesino ◽  
José González ◽  
Marina García-Llorente

Current patterns of global change are threatening the supply of agrarian ecosystem services on which human well-being depends. Within this context, agroecology has emerged within political and scientific arenas as a socially equitable and ecologically sustainable alternative to conventional agriculture. We performed a systematic literature review to explore how agroecology and the ecosystem services framework have been adopted together in the scientific literature, focusing on studies including empirical data on the effects of agroecological practices on the supply of ecosystem services. In our search, we combined terms related to agricultural practices and terms related to ecosystem services. A total of 179 scientific articles were analyzed. Most of the studies used a biophysical approach to evaluate ecosystem services, with regulating and provisioning services being more frequently analyzed than cultural services. More than half of the analyzed relationships between agroecological practices and ecosystem services were positive. Remarkably, our review showed that many of the ten elements of agroecology defined by the FAO have not been properly addressed in the literature. Finally, we identified research gaps and provided insights on where future research and policies should be focused in order to promote the transition towards sustainable agrarian social-ecological systems that increase the supply of ecosystem services while minimizing environmental impacts.


2020 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 318-337
Author(s):  
KHURRAM SHAHZAD KHAN ◽  
ABDUL ZAHID KHAN ◽  
MOHAMMAD BASHIR KHAN

The major dilemma of marketing professionals is to justify the investment or expenditure on activities related to consumer engagement. Antecedents of consumer engagement are deeply rooted in the unique and specific differences that countries and/or regions present in terms of their social, legal, economic, political, and technological dimensions. Antecedents must be different for consumers from country a, region 1 than country b, region 2. There cannot be a commonality of antecedents for the 196 countries in the world. This research is among the first steps to make it possible. First, this research performed rigorous systematic literature review to consolidate all antecedents of consumer engagement acknowledged in previous quality research papers. Second, a systematic endeavour to generalize the antecedents of consumer engagement that fits all situation and context. The third contribution is the future research agenda of consumer engagement that is yet to be explored. For this purpose, strict inclusion and exclusion criteria implemented. Among hundreds of articles, a total 42 articles were selected, which fulfilled the criteria. Strict criteria were necessary to improve the quality of work. The study compiled all the antecedents in a table and concluded some highly ranked and high-frequency antecedents. A total of 22 antecedents were concluded among which, the study has discussed the topmost highly relevant yet most essential antecedents of consumer engagement. This study generalized the antecedents under broader terms. These top antecedents which are most essential are social, value, identity, interaction, involvement, experience, satisfaction, information, attachment, and participation. In the analysis part, all top antecedents discussed along with future research directions. Keywords: Consumer Engagement, Customer Engagement, Systematic Literature Review, SLR.


Author(s):  
Sofía Orazi ◽  
Lisana Belén Martinez ◽  
Hernán Pedro Vigier

Microfinance is a set of services specially designed to meet the demands of the population with less economic resources. The most important aim is focused on improving the quality of life of people and increasing their income and investment in education and health. As area of study, a remarkable increase can be identified from the beginning of the twenty-fist century, gaining importance over the years given that microfinance has achieved the recognition of international organizations in the fight against poverty. The present work carried out a Systematic Literature Review on microfinance, analyzing the volume of publication and the main countries and journals that address the subject of study, in Scopus and SciELO databases. At the same time, we detected the books available for consultation in different national libraries that refer to microfinance in Argentina. Finally, we summarized those works that focus on the economic situation of Argentine microfinance market and which are published in these databases. The aim was to identify the main characteristics of this market, its state of development and to obtain an overview of the possible obstacles it faces to expand in a sustainable manner. In addition, we sought to explore the key gaps in the literature and provide some suggestions for future research.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anushree Tandon ◽  
Amandeep Dhir ◽  
Intesar Almugren ◽  
Ghada Naif AlNemer ◽  
Matti Mäntymäki

PurposeResearch examining the “fear of missing out” (FoMO) is increasingly prominent, with a growing number of studies exploring this phenomenon. Despite the increased academic interest, no attempts have been made to synthesize extant knowledge on FoMO. There is limited holistic understanding of its conceptualization and operationalization. To address this gap, an exhaustive systematic literature review (SLR) on FoMO is presented.Design/methodology/approachSystematic review protocols and content analysis was used to analyze and synthesize insights from 58 empirical studies obtained from four academic databases: Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed and PsycINFO.FindingsSignificant diversity in prior research on FoMO was encapsulated in four themes. There are significant limitations in conceptualization of FoMO, along with narrow focus on geographic, methodological and contextual foci of prior studies. The authors propose a comprehensive framework and extensive gap-specific research directions to aid future research.Research limitations/implicationsThe SLR is limited in its consideration of empirical studies published in academic journal articles obtained from four databases.Social implicationsThe authors imply the critical need to ascertain motives for individuals' excessive engagement with social media and the subsequent impact on well-being indicators (e.g. sleep quality) and functional impairments (e.g. addiction).Originality/valueThis study magnifies and expands the intellectual boundaries of FoMO and suggests the adoption of a multidisciplinary perspective for further investigation. The use of novel theoretical lenses can further ascertain FoMO's effect on different cultures and social media users.


2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (3) ◽  
pp. 1702-1715
Author(s):  
Sabine Heuer ◽  
Rebecca Willer

Purpose The purpose of this study was to determine how quality of life (QoL) is measured in people with dementia involved in interventions designed to improve well-being and to explore how those measures align with principles of person-centered care. Method A systematic literature review was conducted utilizing PsychInfo, CINAHL, and PubMed and combinations of the search terms: “dementia,” “outcome measure,” “creative engagement,” “creative intervention,” “TimeSlips,” “art,” “quality of life,” and “well-being.” The search was limited to studies published in peer-reviewed journals that reported outcomes for people with dementia in response to a creative intervention. Results Across the 24 reviewed studies, 30 different outcome measures were reported including eight self-reported, nine observational, and 13 proxy-reported measures. Self-report of QoL was elicited 16 times, observational measures were reported 17 times, and proxy-reported measures were used 28 times. All measures were used with participants across the dementia severity spectrum. Conclusion Current clinical practice of QoL evaluation does not align well with person-centered care principles of self-determination based on the low proportion of self-report. The previously reported limitations of proxy-report have been in part confirmed with this study. Implications of the findings for speech-language pathologists are discussed.


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