The Power of Words

Author(s):  
Sarah Bigi ◽  
Giulia Lamiani

The concept of patient engagement is attracting growing attention from scholars working on doctor-patient interactions. It refers to the condition in which patients are fully aware of their medical condition and willing to be active both in the relationship with their caregivers and towards the health care institutions. However, the operative steps necessary to achieve patient engagement have not yet been fully described. This chapter focuses on the communicative dimension of engagement. Communication is shown to be a pivotal means to improve patient self-efficacy and commitment, both fundamental components of engagement. In particular, the authors take a closer look at the process of decision making in chronic care settings, and propose a normative model to analyze and evaluate the quality of decision making in consultations. It is argued that the model can also be used as a blueprint to create training materials for clinicians.

Author(s):  
Sarah Bigi ◽  
Giulia Lamiani

The concept of patient engagement is attracting growing attention from scholars working on doctor-patient interactions. It refers to the condition in which patients are fully aware of their medical condition and willing to be active both in the relationship with their caregivers and towards the health care institutions. However, the operative steps necessary to achieve patient engagement have not yet been fully described. This chapter focuses on the communicative dimension of engagement. Communication is shown to be a pivotal means to improve patient self-efficacy and commitment, both fundamental components of engagement. In particular, the authors take a closer look at the process of decision making in chronic care settings, and propose a normative model to analyze and evaluate the quality of decision making in consultations. It is argued that the model can also be used as a blueprint to create training materials for clinicians.


Author(s):  
F. J. Carstens ◽  
Neil Barnes

This study set out to investigate what role the quality of the relationship between business leaders and their employees played in the performance of their business. The study compared the business performance of forty-five area managers in one of the major listed banks in South Africa with their specific leader/employee relationship profiles. The research approach was quantitative and of a correlational nature. The results indicate that although certain elements within the relationship between business leaders and employees indeed have an influence on business performance this alone was not a sufficient condition. The study suggested that the dimensions relating to vision, trust, accountability and decision- making have the strongest influence on business performance. Further research in this area is suggested.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maqsood Ahmad ◽  
Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah ◽  
Yasar Abbass

PurposeThis article aims to clarify the mechanism by which heuristic-driven biases influence the entrepreneurial strategic decision-making in an emerging economy.Design/methodology/approachEntrepreneurs' heuristic-driven biases have been measured using a questionnaire, comprising numerous items, including indicators of entrepreneurial strategic decision-making. To examine the relationship between heuristic-driven biases and entrepreneurial strategic decision-making process, a 5-point Likert scale questionnaire has been used to collect data from the sample of 169 entrepreneurs who operate in small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The collected data were analyzed using SPSS and Amos graphics software. Hypotheses were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) technique.FindingsThe article provides empirical insights into the relationship between heuristic-driven biases and entrepreneurial strategic decision-making. The results suggest that heuristic-driven biases (anchoring and adjustment, representativeness, availability and overconfidence) have a markedly negative influence on the strategic decisions made by entrepreneurs in emerging markets. It means that heuristic-driven biases can impair the quality of the entrepreneurial strategic decision-making process.Practical implicationsThe article encourages entrepreneurs to avoid relying on cognitive heuristics or their feelings when making strategic decisions. It provides awareness and understanding of heuristic-driven biases in entrepreneurial strategic decisions, which could be very useful for business actors such as entrepreneurs, managers and entire organizations. Understanding regarding the role of heuristic-driven biases in entrepreneurial strategic decisions may help entrepreneurs to improve the quality of their decision-making. They can improve the quality of their decision-making by recognizing their behavioral biases and errors of judgment, to which we are all prone, resulting in a more appropriate selection of entrepreneurial opportunities.Originality/valueThe current study is the first to focus on links between heuristic-driven bias and the entrepreneurial strategic decision-making in Pakistan—an emerging economy. This article enhanced the understanding of the role that heuristic-driven bias plays in the entrepreneurial strategic decisions and more importantly, it went some way toward enhancing understanding of behavioral aspects and their influence on entrepreneurial strategic decision-making in an emerging market. It also adds to the literature in the area of entrepreneurial management specifically the role of heuristics in entrepreneurial strategic decision-making; this field is in its initial stage, even in developed countries, while, in developing countries, little work has been done.


2019 ◽  
Vol 28 (9) ◽  
pp. 706-713 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Bridges ◽  
Peter Griffiths ◽  
Emily Oliver ◽  
Ruth M Pickering

BackgroundExisting evidence indicates that reducing nurse staffing and/or skill mix adversely affects care quality. Nursing shortages may lead managers to dilute nursing team skill mix, substituting assistant personnel for registered nurses (RNs). However, no previous studies have described the relationship between nurse staffing and staff–patient interactions.SettingSix wards at two English National Health Service hospitals.MethodsWe observed 238 hours of care (n=270 patients). Staff–patient interactions were rated using the Quality of Interactions Schedule. RN, healthcare assistant (HCA) and patient numbers were used to calculate patient-to-staff ratios. Multilevel regression models explored the association between staffing levels, skill mix and the chance of an interaction being rated as ‘negative’ quality, rate at which patients experienced interactions and total amount of time patients spent interacting with staff per observed hour.Results10% of the 3076 observed interactions were rated as negative. The odds of a negative interaction increased significantly as the number of patients per RN increased (p=0.035, OR of 2.82 for ≥8 patients/RN compared with >6 to <8 patients/RN). A similar pattern was observed for HCA staffing but the relationship was not significant (p=0.056). When RN staffing was low, the odds of a negative interaction increased with higher HCA staffing. Rate of interactions per patient hour, but not total amount of interaction time, was related to RN and HCA staffing levels.ConclusionLow RN staffing levels are associated with changes in quality and quantity of staff–patient interactions. When RN staffing is low, increases in assistant staff levels are not associated with improved quality of staff–patient interactions. Beneficial effects from adding assistant staff are likely to be dependent on having sufficient RNs to supervise, limiting the scope for substitution.


Author(s):  
L. Anne Clyde

This paper for the Seventh International Forum on Research in School Librarianship describes a small-scale pilot study that is part of a much larger longitudinal study of “Research and Researchers in School Librarianship”. The pilot study is a preliminary attempt to address issues associated with determining the quality of the published research in the field of school librarianship. The main aims are first, to test the extent to which experienced evaluators agreed in their rankings of research articles on the basis of quality; and secondly, to investigate the ways in which experienced evaluators evaluate research articles. A qualitative, naturalistic research design is used. The data collection was still proceeding at the time the paper was being written; the conference presentation will therefore provide further information about the results of the data analysis and draw some conclusions from the analysis. However, it is already clear from the literature review that the relationship between research quality and the adoption of the results of that research in decision making is more complex than we have supposed.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Aidan Tabor

<p>New Zealand is a peculiar case because it has both high immigration (roughly 23% born abroad) and high emigration (24% of highly skilled New Zealanders live overseas). Within this context, the purpose of this research is to a) examine why some people selfselect to migrate internationally and others do not, b) explore how people make a decision to leave their country of origin, c) investigate how they select a destination, and d) consider how insights learned can contribute to Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) theory of how decisions are made in the real world. In the first study, three of the largest immigrant source countries were selected for inclusion: United Kingdom/Ireland (with higher wages than New Zealand), South Africa (similar wages), and India (lower wages). Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with 20 pre-departure and 26 post-arrival migrants to New Zealand. A thematic analysis was conducted separately for each country’s data, resulting in a total of 1564 coded extracts in 43 themes and subthemes. The findings support the view that the migration decision process contains three decisions: whether to go, where to go and when to go. Regarding the question of whether to go, Indian and British participants had very similar reasons for leaving their country of origin: lifestyle and work/life balance, opportunities for work and children, and environment. South Africans were overwhelmingly concerned with quality of life, particularly safety. New Zealand was selected as a destination of choice due to quality of life, climate, accessibility of nature, cultural similarity, career opportunities, visa process transparency and the perception that migrants were wanted. On the question of when to go, unlike much of the decision-making in the research literature, this decision process was a negotiation between partners that occurred over a long period of time, quite often years. The second study explored individual differences, such as personality characteristics, in the international mobility intentions of New Zealanders. In a sample of 205 adults born and currently living in New Zealand, 38.5% were planning to move abroad. Using logistical regression techniques, it was found that higher persistence, openness to experience, extraversion, and promotion focus all increased the chances that a participant was planning departure. Higher agreeableness and conscientiousness lowered the odds of a move. Gender moderated the relationship between sensation seeking and intention to migrate, with women’s decision being influenced to a greater extent than men’s by sensation seeking. Also, gender moderated the relationship between emotional stability and intention to migrate, as men who were lower in emotional stability were more likely to leave. The implications from this research include the following NDM-based assumptions: migration decision-making is a process driven by individual differences, occurs over time, has multiple decision-makers, exists within a social (family) context, has real consequences for the parties involved, is bound by cultural norms, takes place in a dynamically-changing environment (including immigration policy changes, life-stage, family health and resources changes), and is the expression of goals that may change during the process.</p>


2015 ◽  
Vol 39 (1-3) ◽  
pp. 74-83 ◽  
Author(s):  
Melissa Mendoza ◽  
Maggie Han ◽  
Anna Meyring-Wösten ◽  
Kenneth Wilund ◽  
Peter Kotanko

Hemodialysis (HD) patients are less active than their healthy counterparts; this is associated with higher mortality. Healthcare workers observe their patients only during HD, which accounts for about 7% of the week. Knowing more about what occurs in between sessions, particularly with respect to physical activity, may improve patient care and prognosis. Yet without a standard method to measure interdialytic activity, it is difficult to compare the effect of interventions. However, it is unclear how interdialytic activity can be accurately measured. Since activity associated with quality of life is multi-dimensional, objective and subjective tools should be used in conjunction. While commercially available tracking devices can be seamlessly incorporated into everyday life and can increase awareness of user's activity, their validation is needed in the HD population. Fertile topics for research should include the relationship between objective and subjective measures in HD patients, and the investigation of physical activity in non-ambulatory HD patients.


Lupus ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 29 (10) ◽  
pp. 1168-1178
Author(s):  
Sofia Georgopoulou ◽  
Louise Nel ◽  
Shirish R Sangle ◽  
David P D’Cruz

Objective The quality of physician–patient interaction can have a significant impact on medication adherence. Little is known about this relationship in patients with lupus nephritis. Methods A cross-sectional, quantitative study. Data collected included demographics, current medication, systemic lupus erythematosus disease activity index, medication adherence, beliefs about medicines, shared decision-making, patient–doctor depth of relationship, patient–doctor quality of relationship, interpersonal trust in a physician and illness perceptions. Results Ninety-eight patients with lupus nephritis completed the questionnaires. Logistic regression indicated that medication adherence was significantly predicted by (a) interpersonal trust in a physician (B = 0.85, Wald 3.94, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.01, 5.44; P = 0.05); (b) timeline cyclical (B = –0.89, Wald 4.95, 95% CI 0.19, 0.90; P < 0.05) and beliefs about the necessity of medicines (B = 0.75, Wald 4.14, 95% CI 1.03, 4.38; P < 0.05). Mediation analysis showed that beliefs about the necessity of medicines significantly mediated the relationship between trust and medication adherence when adjusted for age (B = 0.48, 95% CI 0.06, 1.08; P < 0.01). A further mediation analysis showed that patient–doctor depth of relationship (B = 0.05, 95% CI 0.01, 0.09; P < 0.001), shared decision-making (B = 0.07, 95% CI 0.01, 0.13; P < 0.001) and patient–doctor quality of relationship (B = 0.08, 95% CI 0.01, 0.16; P < 0.001) significantly mediated the relationship between illness coherence and interpersonal trust in a physician. Conclusion The findings highlighted two key elements: (a) the importance of trust in relation to medication adherence; and (b) a good understanding of patients’ illness is linked to a better relationship with their doctor and greater participation in shared decision-making which is associated with increased trust. Tailored psycho-educational interventions could contribute to improving the patient–doctor relationship quality, trust and increased shared decision-making, which, in turn, might improve medication adherence in patients with lupus nephritis.


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