Barriers and facilitators to changing bowel care practices after spinal cord injury: a Theoretical Domains Framework approach

Background Improvement to autonomic processes such as bladder, bowel and sexual function are prioritised by individuals with spinal cord injury (SCI). Bowel care is associated with high levels of dissatisfaction and decreased quality of life. Despite dissatisfaction, 71% of individuals have not changed their bowel care routine for at least 5 years, highlighting a disconnect between dissatisfaction with bowel care and changing routines to optimise bowel care. Objective Using an integrated knowledge translation approach, we aimed to explore the barriers and facilitators to making changes to bowel care in individuals with SCI. Methods Our approach was guided by the Behaviour Change Wheel and used the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). Semi-structured interviews were conducted with individuals with SCI (n = 13, mean age 48.6 ± 13.1 years) and transcribed verbatim (duration 31.9 ± 7.1 min). Barriers and facilitators were extracted, deductively coded using TDF domains and inductively analysed for themes within domains. Results Changing bowel care after SCI was heavily influenced by four TDF domains: environmental context and resources (workplace flexibility, opportunity or circumstance, and access to resources); beliefs about consequences; social influences (perceived support and peer mentorship); and knowledge (knowledge of physiological processes and bowel care options). All intervention functions and policy categories were considered viable intervention options, with human (61%) and digital (33%) platforms preferred. Conclusions Modifying bowel care is a multi-factorial behaviour. These findings will support the systematic development and implementation of future interventions to both enable individuals with SCI to change their bowel care and to facilitate the optimisation of bowel care approaches.

Counselors’ Experience of Work and Family Roles During the COVID-19 Pandemic

In this study, the researchers used quantitative analysis to examine the relationship between counselors’ work–family conflict, work–family enrichment, work variables, and family variables during the COVID-19 pandemic. Factors that predicted counselors’ experience of conflict between work and family roles included lacking work-place flexibility, having a child under the age of 6, spending a high number of hours caring for others, and experiencing a change in location of the work setting due to COVID-19. Workplace flexibility and a low number of hours spent caring for others predicted counselors’ experience of enrichment. Participants’ mean responses to the Work–Family Conflict Scale and Work–Family Enrichment Scale indicated they experienced higher levels of enrichment than conflict during the pandemic.

The hermeneutic circle as a means of illustration of the understanding problem when teaching didactic communications

Introduction. The digitalisation of the education system has increased the importance of acquiring digital competencies. At the same time, soft-competencies changed their structure and acquired a specific digital component. Didactic communications, based on the acquisition of all three groups of competencies - soft, hard and digital, have been changed, especially in the field of information technology. Those cognitive and communicative difficulties, which were previously easily solved with direct contact, now require special soft-competencies of the teacher. The processes of the search for solutions to problems and the formulation of such problems become more acute. There is an urgent need to find ways to solve the problem of raising the effectiveness of cognitive interactions. Therefore, one such way could be the method for analysing the leading type of cognitive interactions in training through a hermeneutic approach.The aims of the present research are the following: to reveal scientific and methodological aspects of application of the hermeneutic approach in didactic communications training for vocational teachers; to demonstrate the example of a graphical representation of the model of the hermeneutic circle concerning cognitive processes for studying regulatory texts; to form the main provisions for the theory of preparation for effective professional communications as a tool for acquiring workplace flexibility skills.Methodology and research methods. The theoretical and methodological component of the research is based on hermeneutic, system-activity and integrative approaches. The main research findings are drawn upon the cognitive theory (theory of cognitive processes). Empirical research data were obtained through the included observation method, as well as through testing among the trainees.Results. A hermeneutic circle model was demonstrated. Such a model is the basis of the authors’ methodology for teaching didactic communications in the field of information technologies. The basics of the theory of preparation for effective professional communications were developed. A fundamental tool was described showing the effectiveness of the application of the hermeneutic approach. The publication discloses a mechanism for understanding and interpreting a user algorithm. For the first time, the hermeneutic circle model is presented for understanding and interpreting user instructions by people of socionomic professions. The obtained theoretical and practical results can be interpolated into any scientific sphere, which is studied in the framework of primary vocational education in university or college degree programmes.Scientific novelty. The publication considers the hermeneutic circle model as a visual image that illustrates the specifics of cognitive processes when studying user algorithms as the basis for information exchange in the field of IT. The model demonstrates the reasons for the appearance of “weaknesses” when providing training for teachers in didactic communications in the field of IT.Practical significance. Since the issue of teaching workplace flexibility skills remains open at the level of theoretical and practical tools, there are some prerequisites for its development. The publication can be recommended to educators involved in the development of integrative disciplines aimed at improving communication skills. The main theoretical provisions are considered through the example of didactic communications in the field of IT.

Generational Effects of Workplace Flexibility on Work Engagement, Satisfaction, and Commitment in South Korean Deluxe Hotels

This study examined the effects of workplace flexibility at deluxe hotels on work engagement, satisfaction, and commitment, to determine the moderating effect of generational characteristics (Generation X, Y, and Z). A total of 277 deluxe hotel employees in South Korea participated in the research. The results confirmed the positive effects of workplace flexibility on the engagement and satisfaction of deluxe hotel employees; second, employees’ work engagement had a positive effect on their satisfaction; third, employees’ satisfaction had a positive impact on employees’ commitment; and fourth, the influence of workplace flexibility on engagement did not differ by generation. However, Generation Z showed the largest increase in employee engagement resulting from work flexibility. This result signifies that, when compared to other generations, Generation Z places great importance on workplace flexibility. This study suggests that deluxe hotels should create flexible policies and organizational climates to increase employees’ work engagement, satisfaction, and commitment. The paper also discusses limitations and future research directions.

More Time with the Family? Workplace Flexibility Policies and Fathers’ Time with Children

How can workplaces ease the “time squeeze” faced by families struggling to balance paid work and family caregiving responsibilities? According to scholars, employers, and policymakers, workplace flexibility policies are a potential solution that may allow parents to spend more time with children. These policies may be particularly salient for fathers’ involvement in family life, as fathers do not feel they spend enough time with children, and as there is persistent gender inequality in the division of care work. Using the 2017-2018 American Time Use Survey Leave Module, this paper examines the association between flextime (control over start and end times) and flexplace (working from home) policies and different-sex partnered fathers’ time with children. Extending prior research, I distinguish between different types of father-child time and between solo parenting and time co-present with the mother. Flexibility policies are associated with increases in fathers’ family time with children – when the mother is also present. Fathers with frequent flextime access report more family time, yet those with less frequent access report less family time. Fathers who use flexplace report more family time, especially if they frequently work from home. Ultimately, this study complicates understanding of the implications of increasingly popular policies for fathers’ involvement, gender inequality, and family well-being.

Workplace Flexibility for Sustainable Career Satisfaction: Case of Handling in the Aviation Sector in North Cyprus

The purpose of this research was to find out how workplace flexibility affects the employees’ flexibility in order to increase their career satisfaction while reducing their workplace stress with the mediating role of goal orientation. Employees need workplace flexibility to develop a better sustainable career. In doing so, the relationship between workplace flexibility and career satisfaction can be affected by two different factors. One of them is job stress, which can be a mediating factor, and the second is goal orientation, which in this study was considered as a moderator between two variables. For this research, a quantitative research method was applied, and a survey was distributed to 216 respondents, namely, everyone working in handling in a single aviation sector of North Cyprus, to obtain better and clearer results from the respondents. A pilot test was completed and data were collected face-to-face in order to observe the reaction of respondents to develop better results and reduce any mistakes that could arise by answering the questionnaire. Moreover, in order to test the reliability of questionnaires, a pilot test was completed with 14% of the respondents and the results were evaluated by examining Cronbach’s alpha. Job stress is a negative term; therefore, surprisingly, there was a positive correlation between workplace flexibility and job stress in the findings. The results were discussed and specifically analyzed with the literature review. Findings of the article clarify that workplace flexibility, along with goal orientation, is expected to positively contribute to the sustainable career satisfaction of employees in the handling sector. This research will make an important contribution to the existing literature pertaining to flexible arrangements in the workplace, sustainable career satisfaction, job stress, and goal orientation, and will contribute to further theories in this field.

Proposing categories for retrospective secondary research on treatment adherence

Psychological studies of treatment adherence have established: 1) indica- tor models—requency of consultation, the prevalence of medication intake over any other treat- ment, attendance at therapeutic and rehabilitation sessions—; 2) determining models—sex, age, income, level of education, reading comprehension, interpersonal relationships—; 3) mediating mod- els—beliefs, attitudes, knowledge, intentions, and strategies—. Objective: to establish categories for the study of treatment adherence in literature published between 2015–2019, considering the occupational health climate. Method: secondary research using a selection of 38 indexed sources in Latin American repositories—Dialnet, Latindex, Publindex, Redalyc, and Scielo—and the variables reported in the state of the art. Results: the model specification included four explanatory hypotheses of dependence relationship trajectories of six variables—demands, social support, control, effort, reward, and adherence—taken from the literature review. Discussion: regarding the indicator, determining, and mediating models, we recommend including the work culture, quality of life, and subjective well-being variables in the specified model to examine the process that goes from the workplace culture to reinserting workers after accidents and diseases. Conclusion: the new model specification would include explanatory hypotheses of variable correlation trajectories to establish differences between organizations that provide social security and companies with workplace flexibility and their effects on their workers’ occupational health.

COVID-19’s impact on faculty and staff at a School of Medicine in the US: what is the blueprint for the future?

Background The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused unprecedented challenges within medical centers, revealing inequities embedded in the medical community and exposing fragile social support systems. While faculty and staff faced extraordinary demands in workplace duties, personal responsibilities also increased. The goal of this study was to understand the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on personal and professional activities of faculty and staff in order to illuminate current challenges and explore solutions. Methods Qualitative, semi-structured group interviews involved faculty and staff at four affiliate sites within the Department of Medicine at the University of Colorado, School of Medicine. Focus groups addressed the impact of COVID-19 on (1) Changes to roles and responsibilities at work and at home, (2) Resources utilized to manage these changes and, (3) Potential strategies for how the Department could assist faculty and staff. Thematic analysis was conducted using an inductive method at the semantic level to form themes and subthemes. Results Qualitative analysis of focus group transcripts revealed themes of: (1) Challenges and disparities experienced during the pandemic, (2) Disproportionate impact on women personally and professionally, (3) Institutional factors that contributed to wellness and burnout, and (4) Solutions and strategies to support faculty and staff. Within each of these themes were multiple subthemes including increased professional and personal demands, concern for personal safety, a sense of internal guilt, financial uncertainty, missed professional opportunities, and a negative impact on mentoring. Solutions were offered and included an emphasis on addressing preexisting inequities, the importance of community, and workplace flexibility. Conclusions The COVID-19 pandemic created burdens for already challenged faculty and staff in both their personal and professional lives. Swift action and advocacy by academic institutions is needed to support the lives and careers of our colleagues now and in the future.