scholarly journals Mobilising the public to reduce household water use in Essex and Suffolk Water

2021 ◽  
pp. 59-80
Author(s):  
Fatima O. Ajia ◽  
Tim Wagstaff ◽  
Liz Sharp

Abstract The south-eastern region of the UK is facing water scarcity due to population growth and insufficient rainfall to meet household water demand. One of the regulatory requirements for water utilities is customer engagement to increase water efficiency. This chapter aims to identify key barriers to delivering engagement activities promoting household water efficiency and opportunities for improving practices in Essex & Suffolk Water (ESW) – a UK water utility operating in areas of serious water stress. A reflection is made on the water utility's Every Drop Counts (EDC) home visit campaign, an annual household water efficiency initiative, with particular focus on insights from its face-to-face delivery during Asset Management Plan 6 (AMP6, 2015−2020). The pilot of the EDC campaign's virtual initiative comprising of 66 virtual home visits is examined, with focus on drawing out lessons learned as Asset Management Plan 7 (AMP7, 2020−2025) begins during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Whilst the virtual home visit campaign was found to reach a broader customer base, save financial and environmental costs, and address the season and place constraints typically posed by the face-to-face campaign, fewer water saving devices were installed per property (4.4) compared to the face-to-face campaign (6.4), and calculating measured water savings was impossible due to customers failing to take water meter readings independently during the COVID-19 lockdown. Face-to-face home visits should therefore not mean an end to virtual home visits and vice versa, but rather serve as a twin-track strategy for delivering the campaign. Key strategies that emerged as improving face-to-face home visits in ESW include increasing the use of customer insight; varying the frame for water efficiency communications; improving the face-to-face engagement strategy; enhancing knowledge training; and creating feedback mechanisms between water efficiency managers and plumbers on the frontline. To better maximise virtual home visits, it is recommended that the behavioural change aspect of water efficiency education is delivered as a key and complementary aspect of appointments, and customers are better supported to self-install a wider range of water saving devices. This chapter bridges the gap between water management theory and practice by providing a better understanding of how practitioners are putting concepts into action on the ground and by so doing, contributes to building a learning culture in the global water sector.

2014 ◽  
Vol 23 (3) ◽  
pp. 132-139 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lauren Zubow ◽  
Richard Hurtig

Children with Rett Syndrome (RS) are reported to use multiple modalities to communicate although their intentionality is often questioned (Bartolotta, Zipp, Simpkins, & Glazewski, 2011; Hetzroni & Rubin, 2006; Sigafoos et al., 2000; Sigafoos, Woodyatt, Tuckeer, Roberts-Pennell, & Pittendreigh, 2000). This paper will present results of a study analyzing the unconventional vocalizations of a child with RS. The primary research question addresses the ability of familiar and unfamiliar listeners to interpret unconventional vocalizations as “yes” or “no” responses. This paper will also address the acoustic analysis and perceptual judgments of these vocalizations. Pre-recorded isolated vocalizations of “yes” and “no” were presented to 5 listeners (mother, father, 1 unfamiliar, and 2 familiar clinicians) and the listeners were asked to rate the vocalizations as either “yes” or “no.” The ratings were compared to the original identification made by the child's mother during the face-to-face interaction from which the samples were drawn. Findings of this study suggest, in this case, the child's vocalizations were intentional and could be interpreted by familiar and unfamiliar listeners as either “yes” or “no” without contextual or visual cues. The results suggest that communication partners should be trained to attend to eye-gaze and vocalizations to ensure the child's intended choice is accurately understood.


2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 115-133
Author(s):  
조현 ◽  
Jaeshin Park ◽  
ki-jin jang

2008 ◽  
Vol 11 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Katrina A. Meyer

Thirteen students in a graduate-level course on Historical and Policy Perspectives in Higher Education held face-to-face and online discussions on five controversial topics: Diversity, Academic Freedom, Political Tolerance, Affirmative Action, and Gender. Students read materials on each topic and generated questions for discussion that were categorized by Bloom’s taxonomy so that the level of questions in the two discussion settings would be closely parallel. Upon completion of each discussion, they answered questions that addressed depth and length of the discussion, ability to remember, and a self-assessment of how the student learned. Students’ assessments show a consistent preference for the face-to-face discussion but a small number of students preferred the online setting. However, what is perhaps more interesting is a minority of approximately one-third of the students who perceived no difference between the settings, or that the two settings were perhaps complementary.


Trictrac ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Petru Adrian Danciu

Starting from the cry of the seraphim in Isaiahʹ s prophecy, this article aims to follow the rhythm of the sacred harmony, transcending the symbols of the angelic world and of the divine names, to get to the face to face meeting between man and God, just as the seraphim, reflecting their existence, stand face to face. The finality of the sacred harmony is that, during the search for God inside the human being, He reveals Himself, which is the reason for the affirmation of “I Am that I Am.” Through its hypnotic cyclicality, the profane temporality has its own musicality. Its purpose is to incubate the unsuspected potencies of the beings “caught” in the material world. Due to the fact that it belongs to the aeonic time, the divine music will exceed in harmony the mechanical musicality of profane time, dilating and temporarily cancelling it. Isaiah is witness to such revelation offering access to the heavenly concert. He is witness to divine harmonies produced by two divine singers, whose musical history is presented in our article. The seraphim accompanied the chosen people after their exodus from Egypt. The cultic use of the trumpet is related to the characteristics and behaviour of the seraphim. The seraphic music does not belong to the Creator, but its lyrics speak about the presence of the Creator in two realities, a spiritual and a material one. Only the transcendence of the divine names that are sung/cried affirms a unique reality: God. The chant-cry is a divine invocation with a double aim. On the one hand, the angels and the people affirm God’s presence and call His name and, on the other, the Creator affirms His presence through the angels or in man, the one who is His image and His likeness. The divine music does not only create, it is also a means of communion, implementing the relation of man to God and, thus, God’s connection with man. It is a relation in which both filiation and paternity disappear inside the harmony of the mutual recognition produced by music, a reality much older than Adam’s language.


Author(s):  
Mary Cavanagh

The face to face interactions of reference librarians and reference assistants are studied from a theoretical practice perspective. Rather than reinforcing professional boundaries, the results of this analysis support reference practice in public libraries as a highly relational activity where reference “expertise” retains a significant subjectivist, relational dimension.Les interventions en personne des bibliothèques de référence et des adjoints à la référence sont étudiées du point de vue de la pratique théorique. Plutôt que de renforcer les frontières interprofessionnelles, les résultats de cette analyse appuient l'idée que les pratiques de référence en milieu public sont des activités hautement relationnelles où l'expertise de la référence conserve une dimension subjectiviste et relationnelle. 


IFLA Journal ◽  
2021 ◽  
pp. 034003522110182
Author(s):  
Evans F Wema

This article reviews literature on the use of virtual learning environments by highlighting their potential and the challenges of introducing the same in Tanzania. It introduces the concept of virtual learning environments by demonstrating their applications to support teaching and learning. The article discusses the use of virtual learning environments in teaching information literacy courses by highlighting the success of using such tools in facilitating the teaching of information literacy courses to library users. In this review, special emphasis is placed on attempts by Tanzanian institutions of higher learning to introduce web-based teaching of information literacy and the challenges faced. The review reveals the need for Tanzanian institutions of higher learning to develop virtual learning environments to facilitate the teaching of information literacy courses to students and faculty so as to reach many of those who may not manage to attend the face-to-face information literacy sessions that are offered by librarians on a regular basis.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (Supplement_2) ◽  
pp. ii26-ii26
Author(s):  
Emma Toman ◽  
Claire Goddard ◽  
Frederick Berki ◽  
William Garratt ◽  
Teresa Scott ◽  
...  

Abstract INTRODUCTION Controversy exists as to whether telephone clinics are appropriate in neurosurgical-oncology. The COVID-19 pandemic forced neuro-oncology services worldwide to re-design and at the University Hospitals Birmingham UK, telephone clinics were quickly implemented in select patients to limit numbers of patients attending hospital. It was important to determine how these changes were perceived by patients. METHODS A 20-question patient satisfaction questionnaire was distributed to patients who attended neuro-oncology clinic in person (“face-to-face”), or via the telephone. Fisher’s exact test was used to determine significance, which was set at p< 0.05. RESULTS Eighty questionnaires were distributed between June 2020 and August 2020. Overall, 50% (n=40) of patients returned the questionnaire, 50% (n=23) of face-to-face and 50% (n=17) telephone patients. Of those who received telephone consultations, 88% (n=15) felt the consultation was convenient, 88% (n=15) were satisfied with their consultation and 18% (n=3) felt they would have preferred to have a face-to-face appointment. Of those who attended clinic in person, 96% (n=22) felt their consultation was convenient, 100% (n=23) were satisfied with their consultation and 13% (n=3) would have preferred a telephone consultation. Within the face-to-face clinic attendees, only 13% (n=3) were concerned regarding the COVID risk associated with attending hospital. There was no significant difference in patient convenience or satisfaction (p=0.565 and p=0.174 respectively) between face-to-face and telephone clinics. There was no significant difference in whether patients would’ve preferred the alternative method of consultation (p > 0.999). CONCLUSION Our study suggests that careful patient selection for neuro-oncology telephone clinic is not inferior to face-to-face clinic. Telephone clinic during COVID-19 pandemic proved to be convenient, safe and effective. This global health crisis has transformed telephone neuro-oncology consultations from an experimental innovation into established practice and should be continued beyond the pandemic in select cases.


2021 ◽  
Vol 80 (Suppl 1) ◽  
pp. 1029.1-1029
Author(s):  
Y. Livshits ◽  
O. Teplyakova ◽  
A. Sarapulova

Background:Telemedicine counseling (TMC) has gained rapid development during the COVID-19 pandemic. The prospect of using this technology in rheumatology was based on the possibility of getting maximum information about the patient during the survey, examination and interpretation of laboratory and instrumental data, that is excepting direct contact with the patient. Several rheumatological clinics have reported on the success of using TMC. However, there is very little data of the difficulties that can be encountered when organizing this process.Objectives:To characterize the identified problems during TMC in rheumatology, to suggest potential directions for their elimination.Methods:Since June 2021, on the basis of the Medical Association “New Hospital”, Yekaterinburg, Russian Federation, 76 TMCs have been performed on the profile of rheumatology in patients aged 29 to 71 years. Of these, 13 applied to the primary TMC, the other patients were preliminarily examined in person. The consultation included the preliminary acquaintance with the examination results, a 20-minute video communication and writing of a conclusion. After each TMC, a survey was conducted between the doctor and the patient, including the identified deficiencies in counseling. The frequency of identified problems is presented as an absolute indicator and as a percentage of the total number of TMCs performed.Results:We noted a high degree of patient satisfaction: 74 (97.4%) responded that they received answers to all. However, according to the doctor, the following groups of problems were identified.[1]Technical problems in 29 (38.2%): most often there were various problems with the Internet, but there were also registered: the end of the charge on the patient’s tablet, the patient was not registered in the electronic queue. Elimination of these violations depends on the work of IT-specialists, but each consulting physician should be prepared for an immediate transition to an alternative form of communication (for example - telephone).[2]Lack of objective examination, leading to the impossibility of correct remote diagnosis - 8 (10.5%). This problem was identified due to the inability to establish the presence or absence of arthritis during the initial diagnosis (6 cases) and to clarify the nature of the rash (2 cases). All patients are invited for a face-to-face consultation.[3]The need to write prescriptions for psychotropic drugs - 12 (15.8%), which under the conditions of national legislation cannot be done in the TMC regime.[4]The time spent directly on remote communication with the patient was 17.2 minutes (from 8 to 31), however, taking into account the study data and writing the conclusion, the total time was 40.7 minutes (from 21 to 73). Thus, it turned out that the average time for remote and face-to-face consultations is the same, while TMC’s payment is only about 50% of the face-to-face consultation. This situation reduces the doctor’s interest in carrying out TMC. The solution to the problem is associated with reducing the time for the documentation process through technical improvements. In addition, of the 9 patients in whom the TMC process lasted 60 minutes or more, 5 were diagnosed with fibromyalgia. It is possible that with a previously established diagnosis of fibromyalgia, only face-to-face counseling should be recommended to patients.Conclusion:The TMC system is promising, however, there are a number of problems that need to be improved, since they can reduce the doctor’s interest in using this technology.Disclosure of Interests:None declared


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