Because of population aging, home-based e-care services (HBECSs) have raised interest among users and service providers. Recently, scholars have focused extensively on the needs and motives of older ...adults as care receivers that shape their pre-implementation acceptance of such technologies. Yet, little is known to date about post-implementation experiences and interrelationships between acceptance factors of market-ready services among care receivers and caregivers. To fill this research gap, an intervention study lasting up to eight weeks tested three market-ready HBECSs. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven informal caregivers and six care receivers. Qualitative analysis combining grounded theory with thematic analysis was used to present a thematic description of participants' experiences and inductively develop a substantive model of HBECS acceptance and use. The results detail the impact and expected benefits of such technologies and various barriers to HBECSs use in conjunction with their functionalities and users' social interactions. Acceptance and future use are determined by a complex mix of interrelated factors. These range from contextual circumstances to characteristics of the caregivers and care receivers to the service properties and perceived outcomes of use, such as safety, psychological relief, and peace of mind.
•Mobile phone communication in social support networks of older adults is examined.•Mobile phones are important for mediating emotional support and social companionship.•The composition of social ...support networks scarcely predicts mobile phone communication.•Age and socioeconomic status are negative predictors only in emotional support networks.•Living alone positively affects mobile phone contacts in social support networks.
Mobile phones have gained an important role in the personal communication of older adults with the members of their social support networks. Research shows that older adults increasingly use the mobile phone for maintenance and development of social interactions with their family members, peers, and caregivers as providers of emotional support and social companionship. Therefore, this study explores how retired older adults in Slovenia use mobile phones as personal devices for supportive communication as well as how the characteristics of their social support networks are related to the frequency of mobile phone communication with their network members. Using ego-centered social support network data, collected on a nationwide representative sample of retired older adults in Slovenia, this study found that the composition of emotional support and of social companionship networks scarcely predicts the frequency of mobile phone communication of older adults with their network members. Conversely, according to the results, it seems that more frequent in-person and landline phone communication with network members are positively associated with mobile phone communication, suggesting that older adults extend their communication sphere with a mobile phone in their support networks. Finally, the results indicate that sociodemographic characteristics of older adults, such as age, social-economic status, and living alone, significantly determine the frequency of mobile communication with their network members, even though their magnitude varies depending on the type of social support network.
The authors present and discuss the results of a nation-wide survey on food safety knowledge among professional food handlers in Slovenia. The data were collected via a telephone survey using a ...well-established questionnaire adapted to the Slovenian context. Altogether, 601 respondents from hotels, restaurants, catering, and confectionery units completed the questionnaire. To assess food safety knowledge among food handlers in both general and specific domains, three indexes (a General Knowledge Index, a Personal Knowledge Index, and a Temperature Knowledge Index) were created. Among them, the Temperature Knowledge Index revealed the largest gaps in knowledge. An insufficient transfer of food safety knowledge from managers and chefs to assistant chefs and kitchen assistants in establishments where more persons handle food was evident, while a course titled "Hygiene Minimum" of standardised training from the past still significantly contributes to food safety knowledge. The results suggest a need for improvement in the current system of food safety training courses for professional food handlers in Slovenia. The human factor in the food supply chain still has a significant role in ensuring food safety culture, and therefore must become a more important part of the food safety management system.
Purpose: For working age adults, return to work (RTW) after severe COVID-19 can be an essential component of rehabilitation. We explored the expectations and experiences related to RTW in a group of ...workers recovering from severe COVID-19 in Slovenia.
Materials and methods: Four focus groups were conducted between May 2021 and August 2021. Fifteen men and three women, aged between 39 and 65 years, participated. We analysed data using reflexive thematic analysis.
Results: Four main themes were developed in the analysis, pertaining to (1) work identity, (2) challenges to work re-entry, (3) personal strengths and support systems, and (4) possible adaptations at work. The disruption of work triggered sentiments about its role in identity. Workers' personal agency and self-advocacy helped participants cope with various barriers that were beyond their control, such as physical limitations and lack of systematic routines to address RTW. Workers recovering from severe COVID-19 were at risk of developing negative expectations regarding their work re-entry.
Conclusions: RTW after severe COVID-19 involves different personal, organizational and systemic dimensions that need to be considered and carefully aligned. Due to the individuality of the process, the worker should be involved as a key partner in the RTW process.
IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION
Lack of clinical pathways can negatively impact return to work (RTW) after severe COVID-19.
RTW processes should start early but timely and include individual follow up.
Patients expect the interdisciplinary team of experts to work together and involve them in all phases of decision-making regarding their rehabilitation and RTW process.
Positive expectations regarding work re-entry are essential for the RTW process.
The purpose of the current cross-sectional study was to investigate food safety knowledge and attitudes of future professional food handlers and compare their scores to their peers not enrolled in ...food-related programmes. Data were collected via an anonymous questionnaire developed especially for the purpose of this study. Altogether, 2176 respondents divided into a food and a non-food group participated. The results demonstrated better food safety knowledge among respondents not enrolled in food-related programmes. However, lack of food safety knowledge was identified concerning the same categories (Temperature control; Food properties; Traceability) in both groups. A detailed comparison inside the food group (food processing vs. catering) revealed comparable results in both sub-groups related to food safety knowledge. The results in the field of food safety attitudes and perceptions revealed that interest in food safety is not affected by the type of study chosen, and it is not under any significant influence of formal education. For food-related risks, higher levels of perceived severity and vulnerability were identified among non-food group compared to food group respondents. The results suggest potential improvements to formal education and training, in which the significant impact of teachers conducting relevant courses should be considered.
•Interest in food safety not under any significant influence of formal education.•Lack of knowledge in the food and non-food groups regarding the same issues.•Perceived risk severity and vulnerability on higher levels among non-food group.•Food-processing sub-group differs if compared to the catering sub-group.•Potential improvements to formal education and training are suggested.
Članek obravnava nekatere nove modele pristopa k zdravju v skupnosti. Zanima nas, kako se tu stikata ?sistem? (družbeni oziroma njegov zdravstveni podsistem) in ?svet življenja? skozi uveljavljanje ...nekaterih socialnih inovacij s poudarkom na vlogi uporabnikov. Izhajajoč iz opredelitev družbenih determinant zdravja, lahko stik med zdravstvenim sistemom in svetom življenja v skupnosti idealno tipsko umestimo na kontinuum, ki osvetljuje njuno razmerje glede na spremembe prisotnosti bodisi sistemskih bodisi skupnostnih akterjev in njihovega vpliva. Odkrili smo nove vloge vključenih deležnikov v razmerjih med zdravstvenim sistemom in lokalno skupnostjo ter predstavili konceptualni model, ki omogoča razumevanje in v nadaljevanju evalvacijo novo nastajajočih transformativnihpraks za razvoj lokalne politike zdravja v Habermasovem pomenu ?racionalizacije sveta življenja?.
User involvement in Slovenian healthcare Kavcic, Matic; Pahor, Majda; Domajnko, Barbara
Journal of health organization and management,
08/2015, Letnik:
29, Številka:
5
Journal Article
Recenzirano
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to report on current developments in user involvement in healthcare in Slovenia and to explore the issue from the macro-, mezzo- and micro-levels.
...Design/methodology/approach
– User involvement is first contextualised within history of the organisation of healthcare system, from its socialist past through to its post-transitional developments. Second, user involvement is tracked through an analysis of healthcare policies and legislation as well as at its institutional and organisational levels. Finally, user involvement practices are illustrated from the perspective of individual patients. A descriptive and exploratory case study design was employed, including a literature review, document analysis and qualitative thematic analysis of nine in-depth and four semi-structured interviews.
Findings
– The findings reveal a complex and at times ambivalent picture in which user involvement is still not firmly embedded into the healthcare system, despite being generally accepted.
Originality/value
– No systematic qualitative research of patient involvement in Slovenia has previously been published. This research will establish a basis for further investigations of the topic.
People living in neighbourhoods have a range of interpersonal relationships. In this article, we want to examine whether the characteristics of people's interpersonal relationships in a neighbourhood ...and the characteristics of their health are related. We investigated this problem in a study of the population of residents of multi-apartment buildings in Ljubljana's neighbourhoods. Empirical data were gathered from a survey of neighbourly relations. The findings of bivariate analyses and multiple linear regression show that already known factors such as the financial situation of the household and age remain the most important predictors of health. However, we found that certain aspects and characteristics of interpersonal relationships have a significant impact on the health of the inhabitants of these residential communities. In particular, we examined empowerment, which proved to be an important factor and should be given more research attention in the future.
Purpose
– The purpose of this paper is to explore how healthcare-users’ engagement is perceived, how it occurs and how these perceptions differ between three European countries: England, Poland and ...Slovenia, using the concepts of voice, choice and coproduction.
Design/methodology/approach
– This comparative, qualitative study is based on a review of legal documents, academic literature and semi-structured interviews conducted in October and November 2011. A research sample consisted of 21 interviewees representing various stakeholders including healthcare-users, doctors and managers. Primary and secondary data were analysed using theoretical thematic analysis. Emerging themes were identified from the interviews and related to the indicators describing healthcare-users’ involvement in the voice, choice and coproduction model.
Findings
– Results of the comparative qualitative research suggest that the healthcare-users’ influence is strongly grounded in England where the healthcare system and professionals are prepared to include healthcare-users in the decision-making process. In Slovenia, cultural development of healthcare-users’ involvement seems to proceed the institutional development. In Poland, institutions are ready to involve healthcare-users in decision-making process although the cultural desirability of involving users among doctors and patients is lacking.
Originality/value
– The notion of user involvement is increasingly gaining importance and research attention, yet there is still little known about the way cultural, political, historical differences between various European countries influence it. This paper explores this little known area using the original approach of user involvement (Dent et al., 2011) with input from various stakeholders including patients, healthcare representatives and academics.
The elderly are in many ways more vulnerable than other groups in society. To research the vulnerabilities of the elderly, this article works with the concept of social exclusion. It analyses social ...exclusion using a mixed-method model drawing on secondary quantitative data combined with in-depth interviews. The quantitative data were used to identify which areas of social exclusion particularly affect older people in Slovenia. The areas observed in the study were material deprivation, spatial exclusion, poor health and access to health care, housing exclusion and interpersonal exclusion, and the first three
areas were identifi ed as the most problematic and widespread. The strategies the elderly use to cope with social exclusion were analysed using qualitative data and the grounded theory approach. In all areas various coping strategies were observed that indicate that the elderly are actively trying to improve their situation. It also seems that similar strategies are employed in different areas of social exclusion, the most important of them being strategies based on individuals’ capacities and social networks.
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