The Role of Intercultural Competence in Teaching a Foreign Language

The article focuses on a relevant issue of the development of intercultural competence in the health care context. Intercultural competence is a necessary component of any healthcare professional’s general competence. This is a demand not only at the federal level, but the cultural diversity of the population of is an ever-growing reality. The author also emphasizes the importance of learning a foreign language not only as a means of communication and cultural development, but also as a means of developing intercultural competence in health care. The results of the empirical part of the study are introduced. The survey was carried out among medical university students. The aim of this study is to analyze the preparedness of students for interaction with patients of different cultural backgrounds in health care profession. The method of questionnaire was used. The students gave their concepts of intercultural competence, defined its role in their future profession, and in a foreign language classroom.

The influence of soft and hard TQM on quality performance and patient satisfaction in health care: investigating direct and indirect effects

PurposeThe present study conceptualizes total quality management (TQM) in terms of soft and hard aspects and examines their effects on quality performance and patient satisfaction. The indirect effects of soft and hard TQM on patient satisfaction through quality performance are also investigated.Design/methodology/approachA multi-item questionnaire was prepared to gather primary data from a sample of 312 medical employees in private hospitals in Jordan. The measurement model was evaluated for validity and reliability and determined to be acceptable. Structural equation modeling (SEM) was applied to test the research hypotheses.FindingsThe results revealed that soft TQM has a strong positive effect on quality performance and patient satisfaction. Hard TQM was found to positively affect quality performance but to a lesser extent compared to soft TQM. The effect of hard TQM on patient satisfaction, meanwhile, was not significant. Quality performance positively mediated the relationship between TQM – both soft and hard – and patient satisfaction.Originality/valueThis study is one of the first to conceptualize TQM in terms of soft and hard aspects in a health care context. It offers valuable insights for managers of private hospitals looking to enhance quality performance and patient satisfaction. The results reveal that soft TQM is the primary driver of quality performance and patient satisfaction in the health care context, which is in stark contrast to the manufacturing sector.

Industrial dynamics and economic growth in health-care context. Evidence from selected OECD countries

Purpose The economic shock posed by the current COVID-19 outbreak brought out a worldwide public health emergency with a close relationship between the industrial marketing practices, the health level of society and its economic development. The purpose of this study is to analyse the industrial dynamics in health care and their impact on economic growth and health status. Design/methodology/approach To empirically investigate the relationship between growth and health, the authors use a data set drawn from 29 selected Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries over the period 2000 and 2019. Using panel regressions, the authors investigate the impact of the health-care industry measured in terms of health status, health expenditure, sales on pharmaceutical products, the number of persons working in health care and the coverage by private health insurances. Fixed effect and random effect regressions are used to estimate this model. Findings Overall, the results are suggestive of a nexus between the industrial marketing dynamics of health-care context and economic growth – both interacting and improving each other. As the quality of the health-care market enhances, the economy grows richer and the health status of the population improves considerably. Practical implications To support health-care markets in OECD countries, health policymakers need to formulate a long-term industrial health policy that addresses all the social and individual determinants of health. Originality/value To the best of the knowledge, this is the first study to provide a better understanding of the relationship between health-care industrial dynamics and economic growth in OECD countries along different dimensions.

Psychological resilience and its relationship to life stress among Al-Bayda University students

Purpose The phenomenon of stress is a problem for a large number of interested people and researchers, and it has even become a global phenomenon in recent times. This is due to the effect of this phenomenon on the individual's performance, efficiency and satisfaction with the work he performs. This paper aims to know the level of psychological resilience, life stress and the relationship between them among a sample of Al-Bayda University students in the health-care context in Republic of Yemen. Design/methodology/approach To achieve the study objectives, the researchers applied the psychological resilience scale, which consisted of (40) items and prepared the psychological stress scale that consisted of (41) items. Findings The findings of the study indicated that the level of psychological resilience of Al-Bayda University students is high. The findings also indicated that there are statistically significant differences in psychological resilience depending on the gender variable in favor of males and that there are no statistically indicative significant differences according to the variables of specialization, academic level and marital status. The findings showed a high prevalence of life stresses among the members of the study sample and indicated that the sources of stress among the study sample individuals were arranged as follows: academic stress, future stress, social stress, family stress and economic stress. Originality/value The findings indicated significant differences among the study sample in the stress of life according to the variable of gender in favor of males and the presence of an inverse significant relationship between the level of psychological resilience and life stress among the study sample members.

Data Commercialisation in the South African Health Care Context

Realisation of the value and the commercialisation potential of data is gaining exponential momentum. The combination of historical data exploitations and the use of technologies that allow for the triangulation of data results in the collection, storage, and processing of massive amounts of data require diligent data management, including adherence to privacy and other laws, both nationally and internationally. The intrinsic value of scientific data, especially in genomics, becomes apparent when data are shared, often in collaboration with international partners, and compiled into big data sets that are subsequently used for benefit, including commercial benefit. The purpose of this article is to explore the commercialisation of data in South Africa against the backdrop of the legal framework governing the protection of personal information, confidentiality and privacy, with a specific focus on genetic and genomic information. Related issues, such as the collection and sharing of data, ownership of data and challenges about informed consent are also considered. After a brief evaluation of the African regulatory landscape relating to the protection of personal information, the article concludes with a few recommendations aimed at improving the status quo and sensitising the South African public as to the value of their data and personal information, as well as the potential uses and abuses to which their personal information may be subjected

Changes in Violence and Clinical Distress Among Men in Individual Psychotherapy for Violence Against Their Female Partner: An Explorative Study

Most interventions for men who have acted violently toward their partner have been conducted as group interventions within a criminal justice context. Therefore, few studies have examined individual psychotherapy and how such interventions may reduce partner violence. In this study, we aimed to describe changes in violence, and changes in clinical distress in men undergoing individual psychotherapy targeting their use of partner violence, at a clinic organized within a psychosocial health care context. This is a naturalistic prospective study of men voluntarily receiving individual psychotherapy for their use of violence against their female partner. Participants were 84 male clients, and data on their use of physical violence, physical controlling violence, property violence and psychological violence were collected pretreatment, posttreatment and at follow-up 1.5 years after treatment from both the men, and their partners (n = 58). The percentage of use of all types of violence during a typical month the last year decreased from pretreatment to follow-up, according to both the men, and their partners. Over the course of treatment, use of all types of self-reported violence during the last month was reduced, however, this was only partially confirmed by their partners. Number of sessions was associated with a lower risk of having used physical and physically controlling violence 1.5 years after treatment. Alcohol abuse or dependency, or qualifying for one or more psychiatric diagnoses, were not associated with levels or change in use of violence. On average, the men's clinical distress declined over the course of psychotherapy. The findings suggest that individual psychotherapy may be a promising and worthwhile intervention for intimate partner violence. Studies with more elaborate designs are needed to identify the core mechanisms of psychotherapy for violence, and to corroborate these results with higher levels of evidence.

Parental Decision-Making for Surgery and Anesthesia in Young Children

Millions of young children undergo surgery and anesthesia each year, yet there is a lack of scientific consensus about the safety of anesthesia exposure for the developing brain. Also poorly understood is parental anesthesia-related decision-making and how neurotoxicity information influences their choices. The theoretical model of parental decision-making generated in this research explicates this process. Interviews with 24 mothers yielded a theoretical framework based on their narratives developed using a qualitative grounded theory analysis. Five major themes emerged from these interviews: emotional processing, cognitive processing, relationships as resources, the mother/child dyad, and the health care context. Mothers described a non-linear, iterative process; they moved fluidly through emotional and cognitive processing supported by relationships as resources and influenced by the health care context. A key element was the subtheme of the medical translator, an individual who provided context and information. The mother/child dyad grounded the model in the relationship with the child.

Consumers on the Job: Contextualization Crafting in Expert Services

Tasked with a greater role in the coproduction of expert services, consumers often face an immense burden in coproducing service and well-being outcomes. While some prior research has explored customer work, we delineate unique aspects of expert services and articulate consumer efforts that transpire outside the dyadic service interaction. Through netnographic inquiry in a health care context, we find that coproduction efforts are job-like and require job crafting efforts. Upon this foundation, three major themes emerged: (1) consumers leverage their context expertise by adapting content expertise to their unique circumstances, (2) consumers develop and deploy strategies (hacks) through affordances in order to manage their coproduction jobs, and (3) consumers move through the expert service journey in a variety of ways that shift them toward or away from well-being outcomes. After assessing the transferability of our results by analyzing a second expert service context (financial services/debt management), we suggest implications for theory, practice, and future research.

Motivation, Education, and Expectations: Experiences of Philippine Immigrant Nurses

Globally, Philippine-educated nurses have made vital contributions to health care; however, there is a lack of in-depth knowledge about emigrating nurses’ initial motives to become nurses, their educational experience and their transition in the host country’s health care context. This research aimed to explore Philippine-educated nurses’ educational experience in their home country and their expectations of competence in Norway. The study utilized an explorative design consisting of qualitative interviews with 10 Filipino nurses. A hermeneutic approach was used to analyze and interpret the empirical material. The findings and interpretations underline that Philippine-educated nurses mainly are externally motivated; their educational program is very demanding, but their level of competence does not meet the competence expected in the host country. Although these nurses lack training in elderly care, the Philippine nursing curriculum emphasizes patient care and mastery of basic nursing skills, which are qualities that should be valued and utilized in host countries.

The covid-19 in the Primary Health Care context

This article aims to develop a reflective theoretical study with an emphasis on the actions, challenges and recommendations of practices for the prevention, control and monitoring of PHC disease. The COVID-19 pandemic has been demanding a remodeling of structures, not only in hospital care, but, especially in interventions in communities and their social, urban and structural problems. The article highlights the work process and new technical and dynamic incorporations for prevention, surveillance and monitoring imposed by SARS-CoV2 on primary health care, which must also guarantee access to essential care. As it allows thinking about the most feasible forms of action, this article recognizes the principles of action in the health system, offering to managers and health professionals, through the interlocution between related studies, several measures that can help in assistance of pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic changed the course of some health policies in the world. Patient-centered care requires a change in perspective towards a concept of community-centered care. As the primary health care is the first level of contact for individuals, family and community in a health system, constituting the preferred gateway to the care process, it is expected that the reflections raised by this article will contribute to an analysis that answers the main public health issues from the perspective of primary health care, preserving its stability, avoiding the disintegration of its actions and maintaining its functionality with the strengthening of local and community actions.