scholarly journals Influence at Work tied to Materiality in Danish Care Work

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Aske Svendsen ◽  
Johan Simonsen Abildgaard ◽  
Lene Tanggaard ◽  
Ida Elisabeth Huitfeldt Madsen ◽  
Malene Friis Andersen
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Care Work ◽  
Work Setting ◽  
Psychosocial Work ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Negative Experiences ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Influence At Work ◽  
Positive Experiences ◽  
Group Interviews

Influence at work is known to be an important factor for workers health. Researchers have called for studies on influence at work as a contextualized phenomenon. Based on individual interviews with managers and focus group interviews with employees in three care workplaces, the article shows how the materiality of the work setting ties employees’ influence to perform tasks in both hindering and enabling ways. We show that a work environment where employees’ influence is hindered produces negative experiences in the work environment, while an environment where employees’ influence is enabled produces positive experiences. Additionally, we study how employees influence the material aspects of their workplace.We present a view of influence at work as constituted by materiality and social organization in sociomaterial assemblages. This study reintroduces materiality as a concern in psychosocial work environment research and contributes a sociomaterial view on influence at work and materiality.

scholarly journals Exploring Environment-Intervention Fit: A Study of a Work Environment Intervention Program for the Care Sector

2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Louise Hardman Smith ◽  
Birgit Aust ◽  
Mari-Ann Flyvholm
Keyword(s):  
Work Environment ◽  
Intervention Program ◽  
Health And Safety ◽  
Psychosocial Work Environment ◽  
Good Work ◽  
Psychosocial Work ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Economic Context ◽  
Safety Interventions ◽  
Group Interviews

Targeting occupational health and safety interventions to different groups of employees and sectors is important. The aim of this study was to explore the environment-intervention fit of a Danish psychosocial work environment intervention program for the residential and home care sector. Focus group interviews with employees and interviews with mangers were conducted at 12 selected workplaces and a questionnaire survey was conducted with managers at all 115 workplaces. The interventions enhanced the probability of employees experiencing more “good” work days, where they could make a difference to the lives of clients. The interventions may therefore be characterized as culturallycompellingand having a good fit with the immediate work environment of employees. The interventions furthermore seemed to fit well with the wider organizational environment and with recent changes in the societal and economic context of workplaces. However, some workplaces had difficulties with involving all employees and adapting the interventions to the organization of work. The findings suggest that flexibility and a variety of strategies to involve all employees are important aspects, if interventions are to fit well with the care sector. The focus on employees’ conceptualization of a “good” work day may be useful for intervention research in other sectors.

scholarly journals A Qualitative Study on Employees’ Experiences of a Support model for Systematic Work Environment Management

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (19) ◽  
pp. 3551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Therese Hellman ◽  
Fredrik Molin ◽  
Magnus Svartengren
Keyword(s):  
Focus Group ◽  
Qualitative Study ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
Work Groups ◽  
Comparative Method ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Environment Management ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Over Time ◽  
Support Model

Background: The aim is to explore how an organisational work environment support model, the Stamina model, influences employees’ work situations and the development of sustainable work systems. Methods: It was a qualitative study with semi-structured, focus-group interviews, including 45 employees from six work groups. Eighteen focus group interviews were conducted over a period of two years. Data were analysed with constant comparative method. Results: The core category, shifting focus from an individual to an organisational perspective of work, illustrated how communication and increased understanding of one’s work tasks changed over time and contributed to deeper focus on the actual operation. These insights were implemented at different time points among the work groups during the two-year process. Conclusions: Our results indicate that working with the model engages employees in the work environment management, puts emphasis on reflections and discussions about the meaning and purpose of the operations and enables a shared platform for communication. These are important features that need to continue over time in order to create a sustainable work system. The Stamina model, thus seems to have the potential to promote productive and healthy work places.

What's the Story?: Exploring Parent–Teacher Communication through ePortfolios

2017 ◽  
Vol 42 (4) ◽  
pp. 13-21 ◽  
Author(s):  
Amanda Higgins ◽  
Sue Cherrington
Keyword(s):  
Early Childhood ◽  
Document Analysis ◽  
Electronic Portfolios ◽  
Communication Tool ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Teacher Communication ◽  
Childhood Education ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Reported Data

ELECTRONIC PORTFOLIOS (ePORTFOLIOS) ARE a relatively new phenomenon in early childhood education (ECE) with minimal existing research available on their use and effectiveness as a learning and communication tool in ECE. This article reports on a study examining the influence of ePortfolios on parent–teacher communication in one early childhood (EC) service. Reported data has been drawn from online surveys, document analysis of ePortfolios, individual interviews and focus group interviews with parents and teachers. Thematic analysis identified two main themes: the benefits and drawbacks of communicating via the ePortfolio, and the types of communication that were evident.

The existential cancer journey: Travelling through the intersubjective structure of homeworld/alienworld

2015 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 375-391 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elisabeth Assing Hvidt
Keyword(s):  
Health Care Professionals ◽  
Qualitative Interviews ◽  
Research Literature ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Rehabilitation Centre ◽  
Transformative Experiences ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Patient Narratives ◽  
Illness Experiences ◽  
Group Interviews

In the past couple of decades, there has been significant interest in the research literature and patient narratives that focus on describing the cancer journey as involving existential and spiritual transformative experiences. The purpose of this article is to contribute with a new and deepened understanding of the existing literature by offering a philosophical informed analytic conceptualization that highlights the ‘liminal’, transformative and ‘generative’ dimension of the cancer journey. For that purpose, qualitative data drawn from a qualitative study investigating existential experiences of a group of Danish patients in rehabilitation were analysed employing the American phenomenologist Anthony J. Steinbock’s interpretation of the Husserlian concepts homeworld/alienworld ( Heimwelt/Fremdwelt). Data used in this article derived from qualitative interviews (11 individual interviews and 9 focus group interviews) with cancer patients participating in rehabilitation week courses at a Danish rehabilitation centre. The analysis led to the development of three themes: ‘The heavy break with the homeworld’, ‘Realizing a new homefellowship’ and ‘Transformation of the homeworld’. Findings suggest that journeying with cancer involves a ‘liminal’ experiencing of having to navigate in a borderless and unfamiliar territory between a homeworld and an alienworld before ultimately arriving at a sense of transformation in which meaning is derived from both lifeworlds. It is argued that such an understanding of the intersubjectivity between lifeworlds highlights the need for health care professionals communicating with patients throughout their cancer journey about whether and how the illness experiences have been integrated into their lifeworld and whether help is needed in order to achieve existential rehabilitation.

scholarly journals Investigation of Teacher Roles in Educational Practices in The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Phenomenological Study

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2) ◽  
pp. 309-332
Author(s):  
Dinçer Temelli ◽  
Osman Yılmaz Kartal ◽  
Çavuş Şahin ◽  
Akan Deniz Yazgan
Keyword(s):  
Distance Education ◽  
Phenomenological Study ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Instructional Activities ◽  
Analysis Technique ◽  
Data Collection Process ◽  
Inequality In Education ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Phenomenological Design

In the research, it is aimed to analyze the roles of teachers teaching in distance education in the Covid-19 pandemic period and to investigate the obstacles encountered in the realization of these roles. The aim of the research is examined with the post-positivist paradigm and analyzed with the phenomenological design which is one of the qualitative research methods. In the research, participants were chosen from the teachers of Mathematics, Foreign Language, Science, Turkish and Social Studies who teach at least 15 hours or more per week in distance education. The data collection process in which data triangulation was performed included diaries kept by teachers for five days, individual interviews and focus group interviews. Transcripted data were analyzed by content analysis technique. According to the findings of the research, it was observed that the roles of the teachers who participated in the study were “communicator”, “collaborator”, “facilitator” and “learner” teacher during the distance education in Covid-19 pandemic. It has been observed that there are obstacles in the realization of roles in issues such as injustice / inequality in education, subject-centered program, structure of the education program, professional development, student and parent unwillingness. Teachers stated the features that teachers should have in the process of distance education as technopedagogical content knowledge, planning instructional activities, being able to measure distance assessment and provide student motivation.

Exploring youth citizenship during COVID-19 lockdowns in New Zealand

2021 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-261 ◽  
Author(s):  
Carol Mutch ◽  
Marta Estellés
Keyword(s):  
New Zealand ◽  
Young People ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Citizenship Rights ◽  
Theoretical Concepts ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Youth Citizenship ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
The City

The research presented in this article explores how young people in New Zealand exercised their citizenship during the COVID-19 lockdowns. Building upon the theoretical concepts of ‘actions’ and ‘acts of citizenship’, this qualitative study draws on data from the experiences of 30 young people aged over 16 in the city of Auckland. Data included classroom observations, focus group interviews, individual interviews and the sharing of student artefacts (e.g. posters and videos). The experiences of the participants covered a wide range of engagement in citizenship rights, sites, scales and acts. Our findings offered an alternative to prevailing portrayals of young people as either passive victims or self-centred troublemakers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lessons for citizenship education are discussed at the end of the article.

The TECS model leads to active use of technology in home care

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-58
Author(s):  
Ulla Gars ◽  
Hanne Skov
Keyword(s):  
Home Care ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Development Project ◽  
Work Setting ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Technology Competencies ◽  
Use Of Technology ◽  
Learning Labs ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Home Care Nurses

Digitization in healthcare is accelerating worldwide. This article focuses on the X-Changery development project involving home-care nurses and their use of the iPad as a new tool in patients’ homes. The goal of the project was to bring knowledge from recent research on technological literacy in working life back to a work setting, thus giving nurses new technology competencies with the aim of enhancing their professionalism through the use of the iPad as a work tool. Through field observations, learning labs and focus-group interviews we can see that X-Changery gave home-care nurses a common language to exchange experiences and share knowledge about the iPad as a work tool. Use of the iPad in patients’ homes led to new habits and routines. Nurses acquired relational expertise, implying active use of technology. The results show the importance of focusing on and funding reflection on and discussion of the influence of technologies on professionalism.

scholarly journals Essential task or meaningless burden? Nurses’ perceptions of the value of documentation

2018 ◽  
Vol 39 (1) ◽  
pp. 9-19 ◽  
Author(s):  
Benjamín Olivares Bøgeskov ◽  
Søsserr Lone Smilla Grimshaw-Aagaard
Keyword(s):  
Professional Identity ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Positive View ◽  
Nursing Leaders ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Existential Theory ◽  
Group Interviews ◽  
Nurses Perceptions ◽  
Danish Hospital

Given the substantial increase in the documentation required of nurses in recent years, this article explores nurses’ perceptions of the value of documentation, and, subsequently, attempts to explain a puzzling tendency, whereby some nurses attach little value to arguably useful forms of documentation. We use data gathered from individual interviews with nursing leaders and focus-group interviews with frontline nurses at two wards in a Danish hospital. Our thematic analysis shows that nurses are divided between a positive view of documentation as something essential, and a negative one of it being a meaningless burden that distracts nurses from their ‘real’ work, contradicts their professional identity, and does not benefit the patient. However, except for some cases where the same information is registered twice (‘double registration’), we find no objective criteria for determining which types of documentation are perceived positively or negatively, as even arguably useful types are sometimes considered meaningless. We interpret this as being because of conflicting concepts of value: utility vs meaning. Using an existential theory of meaning, we argue that documentation’s practical utility alone is not sufficient to provide meaning. We thus suggest the need for finding a balance between: a) adjusting documentation requirements, b) adapting the nursing profession, and c) changing nurses’ perceptions of the value of documentation.

Ten Years Later

2012 ◽  
Vol 60 (3) ◽  
pp. 324-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
Colleen M. Conway
Keyword(s):  
Teacher Education ◽  
Teacher Preparation ◽  
Student Teachers ◽  
Experienced Teachers ◽  
Music Teacher ◽  
Focus Group Interviews ◽  
Individual Interviews ◽  
Preservice Preparation ◽  
Music Teacher Preparation ◽  
Group Interviews

The purpose of this inquiry was to examine the current reflections of experienced teachers on their past perceptions of preservice music teacher preparation as documented in the author’s previous research. Research questions included the following: (a) How would participants describe their reactions to a present-day examination of 1999 or 2000 data (journals, individual and focus group interviews, and two questionnaires) and 2002 study findings? (b) How had their perceptions regarding preservice music teacher preparation changed since 1999-2000? and (c) On the basis of their recent work with preservice interns and student teachers, what could these experienced teachers say about preservice music teacher preparation today? Data collected in 2010 included participant journals and individual interviews. Findings categories include (a) general agreement with 2002 study findings regarding best and worst facets of preservice preparation, (b) experience is the best teacher, (c) teacher education is doing the best it can do, (d) preservice students will get out of teacher education what they put into it, and (e) specific suggestions for teacher education provided by participants.

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