A qualitative analysis of dental professionals’ beliefs and concerns about providing aerosol generating procedures early in the COVID-19 pandemic

Introduction In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Scottish Dental Clinical Effectiveness Programme (SDCEP) initiated a rapid review of the evidence related to the generation and mitigation of aerosols in dental practice. To support this review, a survey was distributed to better understand the provision of aerosol generating procedures (AGPs) in dentistry. Methods An online questionnaire was distributed to dental professionals asking about their current practice and beliefs about AGPs. Data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Results Analysis revealed confusion and uncertainty regarding mitigation of AGPs. There was also frustration and scepticism over the risk of SARS-COV-2 transmission within dental settings, the evidence underpinning the restrictions and the leadership and guidance being provided, as well as concern over financial implications and patient and staff safety. Discussion The frustration and concerns expressed by respondents mirrored findings from other recent studies and suggest there is a need for reflection within the profession so that lessons can be learned to better support staff and patients. Conclusion Understanding the profession’s views about AGP provision contributed to the SDCEP rapid review and provides insights to help inform policymakers and leaders in anticipation not only of future pandemics but in considering the success of any large scale and/or rapid organisational change.

The Social and Political Significance of Technology-Driven Organisational Change: Discursive Battles to Frame, Define and Decide in ‘a Space of Points of View’

Struggles over new organisational technology are, almost without exception, studied inside organisations. This paper aims to advance our understanding of how technology is embedded in social forces and relations of power that reach beyond individual organisations. It examines the ongoing discursive struggles in public media outlets between consultant doctors and regional actors concerning a controversial electronic health record (EHR) system, called the Health Platform, which was implemented in 20 Danish hospitals. A theoretical framework inspired by Bourdieu’s understanding of discursive activity in a field subsumed in a multi-level and cultural understanding of framing is used to examine the interests connected to platform design and its organisational future states. It is demonstrated that winning the support of the public is pivotal in the construction of frames by both groups of actors in their efforts to define problems and solutions and, ultimately, influence a political decision concerning the platform’s future.

Co-creating rehabilitation: Findings from a pilot and implications for wider public service reform

As part of a large pan-European project on co-creating public services we supported the design of a programme in England that attempted to operationalise research on desistance, through a model of co-created, strengths-based working. We then evaluated its implementation and impact. The programme was implemented in a Community Rehabilitation Company. It was delivered in the context of rapid organisational change, often in response to rapidly changing external events and a turbulent policy environment. These factors impeded implementation. An impact evaluation did not identify a statistically significant difference in re-offending rates between the intervention group and a comparator group. However, in-depth qualitative evaluation identified positive examples of co-production and co-creation, with individual case managers and service users supportive and noting positive change. Taken as a whole our findings suggest that a co-created, strengths-based model of probation case management is promising but needs to be accompanied by wider systems change if it is to be embedded successfully.

Open Resources in the Process Management of an Educational Organization in the Context of Integration and Inclusion

The formation of a digital education space is an important moment for the development of the education system in the modern world. The article analyzes the problems of ensuring the security of information technologies in the management of the educational process of organizations, the risks and threats of open Internet resources in the context of integration and inclusion. It is proposed to identify the process of forming digital mentors in a pandemic Covid time as a safe expert space that can reduce risks and threats. Materials and Methods. Using the method of descriptive analysis of datasets voluntarily made publicly available on the Internet by educational organisations allowed the authors to investigate examples of large-scale projects of virtual schools in the formats of exchange models for information subscribers and system integrators. The issues of ensuring the safety of underage users, legal shortcomings of access and protection of Internet consumers of open educational resources were discussed. Results. The study has shown that the evidence from innovative processes of developing and producing open educational resources is complex, context-specific and difficult to generalise. Such initiatives require significant organisational change, including external partners of educational organisations and stakeholders with different cultures and educational practices. The authors highlight the use of benchmarking technology as a tool for the quality of intellectual integrations and the effectiveness of educational activities as a whole as an important condition for the success of the processes taking place. In the context of the research, the authors raise the issue of computer addiction among pupils and students and their safe interaction with multifaceted information online, drawing attention to the need for legal and educational measures for online safety, which should be planned and implemented in the educational organisation on a regular basis. Open educational resource OER initiatives are related to institutional change and require appropriate pedagogical and psychological approaches and legal support to help all actors in the educational space adapt to changes in the IT culture. The materials of this article will be useful to specialists and educational managers, including inclusive education, in developing prospective strategies for digital education and models for the development, production and maintenance of open educational resources.

When and Why Demands Reveal Their Challenging Potential during Change

This study contributes to a better understanding of the complexity of the demands that arise during organisational change. We investigated classic and change-specific demands in relation to emotional exhaustion and work engagement within the challenge–hindrance framework. We focused on workload and individual job impact and tested trust and autonomy as moderators. Data were collected via a cross-sectional online questionnaire. The convenience sample consisted of 388 employees experiencing organisational change at the time of responding. We conducted regression analyses to test for both direct and moderating effects. The results indicate that workload and individual job impact exhibit challenge and hindrance qualities. We also identified the significant moderating effects of trust and autonomy on individual job impact. This study integrates the challenge–hindrance framework into the job demands–resources model and offers a new perspective by applying this framework in the context of organisational change. We examined the specific roles of autonomy and trust regarding demands during change processes, and their potential in channelling challenging qualities is examined, offering new perspectives on the buffering of change demands.

Helping nurses help themselves with change

Change is an inevitable part of living. Some changes are embraced and others are rejected or resented. In the case of the latter, life can become difficult for staff members and those who work with them, especially if organisational change is challenging. This difficulty can lead to dissatisfaction with work, poor work performance, low morale and increased staff turnover. In order to help nurses understand the emotions surrounding change, this article looks at the Bridges Transition Model and Fisher's Personal Transition Curve. To help nurses better manage change when they are subject to it, four practical tools are explored that can be used to help individuals make change work for them.

Epidemiological study in a small rural area of Veneto (Italian region) during Sars-Cov-2 Pandemia

The emergence of severe acute respiratory syndrome type 2 coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) and its complications have demonstrated the devastating impact of a new infectious pathogen. The organisational change promulgated by the isolation of affected communities is of extreme importance to achieve effective containment of the contagion and good patient care. The epidemiological study of the population of a small rural community in the North East of Italy revealed how much the virus had circulated during Spring, 2020, and how contagion has evolved after a prolonged lockdown. In the 1st phase, NAAT (Nucleic Acid Amplification Testing) was performed in cases with more or less severe symptoms and a study was performed to trace the infection of family members. Only 0.2% of the population tested positive on NAAT, via nasopharyngeal swab during this 1st phase. In the 2nd phase a random sample of the general population were tested for circulating anti-Sars-Cov-2 immunoglobulins. This showed that approximately 97.9% of the population were negative, while 2.1% (with positive IgG at a distance) of the population had contracted the virus in a mildly symptomatic or asymptomatic form. The main symptom in subjects who developed immunity was fever. Antibodies were found in subjects with forced coexistence with quarantined or infected subjects. The mutual spatial distance by categories has shown higher relative prevalence of IgG positive and IgM negative cases in close proximity but also far from the infected, with respect to an intermediate distance. This suggests that subjects living in thinly populated areas could come in contact with the virus more likely due to intentional/relational proximity, while those living nearby could also be infected through random proximity.

Formulation of Change Management Model for Achieving Business Excellence in Large Organizations

This study aims to investigate how the different leadership levels can apply change management successfully in larger organisations, in order to facilitate business excellence. First, change models and leadership theories are analysed under EFQM principles, as it is selected as the framework for excellence. Then, a theoretical change management process is synthesised in alignment with leadership organisational levels. The main challenge of this research is to adequately connect theory about leading organisational change with practice. The research process is enriched by 6 semi-structured interviews in two different case studies, while the previous findings are validated through 3 structured interviews in a third case study. The analysis shows that although leaders believe that they identify the need for change, sometimes they do not, or they make sense of it too late. As such, a five-step change process model is created as the conclusion of the theoretical and case studies analyses. The value of this research is the connection between theory and practice as it tries to identify the responsible gaps for wrong or not fully successful organisational change projects. The suggested model simplifies the theory into practical steps while the success factors ensure that the enablers can support change efficiently. Further research based on the adoption of Senge’s systems theory for network leadership level is recommended to organisations.

Marketing Up the Wrong Tree? Organisational Perspectives on Attracting and/or Retaining Older Adults in Sport

Community sport is seen as a suitable setting for physical activity for different population groups. Older adults (aged 50+ years) are a rapidly growing population group. Physical activity is critical for healthy ageing, however sport participation rates for older adults are very low. The aim of this study was to investigate how sporting organisations perceive sport for older adults. This cross-sectional study surveyed 171 representatives from Australian National and State Sporting Organisations. Descriptive statistics were used to summarise the results and the three sporting organisation categories' (high, medium, and low participation) responses were compared using non-parametric statistics. Contextualised in the perspective of organisational change, a framework for marketing to the ageing consumer was used to interpret the results. Older adults are not a high priority group for most sporting organisations, however the benefits of engaging older adults were recognised, particularly in context of increasing participation numbers. A lack of age-appropriate programmes was perceived to be a major barrier of engaging older adults. This lack of programmes stems from older adults being deemed as a less attractive segment than other age groups for sporting organisations. Modifications that sports felt they could make to attract and/or retain older adults included specific marketing and age appropriate opportunities. There was widespread consensus across sporting organisations, suggesting that perceptions of older adult sport participation were comparable across the sector, such as increasing participation numbers and engaging their older fan base. In the context of attracting, and retaining, older adults in sport clubs, it was concluded that most sporting organisations are not (yet) ready to build “age friendly” sporting environments. There is very limited literature on the organisational perspective of older adults and sport, meaning this study is unique in the field. Although sport policy encourages organisations to grow their participation, most organisations do not actively and strategically engage older adults. This research provides an understanding of why this untapped market is not a priority target and provides comprehensive insights for policy makers to better engage with this population group.

The impact of cloud software’s agile development on staff roles and delivery of client services: A case study of the University of Auckland Libraries & Learning Services

<p>Research problem: In 2014, the University of Auckland replaced its legacy Voyager library management system installed in 1998 with the Ex Libris Alma system, which has been developed around Software as a Service (SaaS) architecture. The objective of this research was to investigate the impact of cloud software’s agile development on staff roles and client services delivery in a tertiary library environment, using University of Auckland Libraries and Learning Services as a case study. Methodology: Framed by organisational change management in the context of technological innovation, a detailed exploration of the University of Auckland’s shift to the cloud software was carried out, from an employee perspective. As a means of collecting rich data from a variety of sources and multiple perspectives from within the organisation, an online survey about Alma Fulfillment, the functional area of Ex Libris Alma used to deliver client services, was distributed to frontline staff six months after Alma’s implementation. Results: The research found that, notwithstanding the perceived strengths of the new cloud software to deliver enhanced client services from the staff-user perspective, there was a strong preference for ongoing dissemination of information and instruction for frontline staff, particularly on the enhancements and new features regularly deployed by the service provider. Implications: This research enables further understanding of factors affecting engagement for employees in new systems and potential barriers to effective and efficient service during significant cultural, functional, and technical change.</p>