Swimming analysts aid coaches and athletes in the decision-making by providing evidence-based recommendations. The aim of this narrative review was to report the best practices of swimming analysts ...that have been supporting high-performance athletes. It also aims to share how swimming analysts can translate applied research into practice. The role of the swimming analyst, as part of a holistic team supporting high-performance athletes, has been expanding and is needed to be distinguished from the job scope of a swimming researcher. As testing can be time-consuming, analysts must decide what to test and when to conduct the evaluation sessions. Swimming analysts engage in the modelling and forecast of the performance, that in short- and mid-term can help set races target-times, and in the long-term provide insights on talent and career development. Races can be analysed by manual, semi-automatic or fully automatic video analysis with single or multi-cameras set-ups. The qualitative and quantitative analyses of the swim strokes, start, turns, and finish are also part of the analyst job scope and associated with race performance goals. Land-based training is another task that can be assigned to analysts and aims to enhance the performance, prevent musculoskeletal injuries and monitor its risk factors.
Introduction Quality of life in biomedical disciplines corresponds to ‘health-related quality of life’ (HRQOL), concerning those aspects of quality of life that are related to health and disease and ...can thus be addressed by medical science. Among healthcare workers (HCWs), factors including shift work, ageing and work-related stress may lead to impaired health. Such risk factors may intersect, increasing the potential harm to health. The objective of this study was to evaluate the health status of hospital support staff, including Class 4 healthcare workers; ward boys; attendants and cleaners in Dr. Vithalrao Vikhe Patil Foundation’s Medical College and Hospital, Ahmednagar, India; and to evaluate the incidence of anaemia, HIV and Hepatitis B infection in these workers.
People with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities face many barriers toward their sexual health. To promote sexual health and overcome these barriers, they need individualized forms of ...sexuality support and education. To align sexuality support and education insight is needed on their understanding of sexual health. The current paper aims to provide greater insight in what sexual health consists of according to people with mild to borderline intellectual disabilities. Nine people with a mild to borderline intellectual disability participated in a concept mapping procedure, consisting of brainstorming, sorting, and ranking the statements. The resulting clusters and concept map were interpreted by an expert group. Analysis resulted in five clusters which participants considered important for their sexual health. According to people with mild to borderline intellectual disability cluster pertaining to romantic relationships and sexual socialization were the most important. These were followed by clusters on sexual health and lastly sexual selfhood. These results have implications for the development of sexuality support and education, as well as further research.
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11195-023-09796-w.
Context: Patient populations are becoming more diverse. As a result, the “one-size fits all” approach to healthcare delivery is no longer sufficient. Today, quality of care is highly influenced by ...the cultural competency (CC) of healthcare providers (HCPs). HCPs, however, are not the only members of hospital staff who influence quality of care. Another group, hospital support staff (HSS), also play a critical role in the healthcare delivery process. Yet, HSS remain under-recognized and have been left out of hospital-led CC training.Aim: This policy brief offers a novel perspective, advocating for the inclusion of HSS in hospital-led CC training, as it has been acknowledged by previous research that increasing the CC of healthcare staff is an appropriate strategy to improve the quality of care for patients.Methods: To gain more insight, interviews and surveys were conducted (October 2022) among a group of HSS at the Ronald McDonald House (RDMH). These HSS include volunteers and managers who enable Family Centred Care (FCC) for Maastricht University Medical Centre (MUMC+). A non-systematic literature review on the topic of cultural competency development was also conducted.Results: To develop policy recommendations, options were first assessed using a pre-established framework for developing organisational CC by Castillo & Guo (10). In addition, a stakeholder analysis was completed. Together with the survey responses and interviews, this confirmed HSS, need and want to be culturally competent. These results feed into the development of policy recommendations.
Recommendations:Thus, three policy recommendations are made: (1) formalise CC training at MUMC+; (2) include HSS in such a CC training; and (3) develop and monitor training with Participatory Action Research (PAR).
Background
The present study aimed to explore the experiences and needs of direct support staff during the initial stage of the COVID‐19 lockdown in the Netherlands.
Method
Overall, eleven direct ...support staff were recruited from five intellectual disability services to participate in this descriptive qualitative study. They recorded 34 audio messages during the considered period. Thematic analysis was used to analyse these audio recordings.
Results
Four themes emerged: (1) Emotional impact, which pertained to various emotions they experienced in their work; (2) Cognitive impact, which referred to challenges and changes they had undergone in their work; (3) Practical impact, which centred on the practical impact of the pandemic on their work; and (4) Professional impact, which concerned their experiences with other professionals.
Conclusions
This study provides valuable insights into the experiences and needs of direct support staff during the COVID‐19 pandemic, which, in turn, can help inform practice in preparation for a second wave of COVID‐19 or another future pandemic.
Purpose: Different research papers into various occupational groups demonstrate the importance of engagement for the wellbeing of both employees and organizational results. However, the study of this ...phenomenon and that of other positive factors in professional staff caring for persons with intellectual disabilities is scarce. For this reason, the objective of this work was to test a theoretical model concerning the relationship between engagement, a positive factor, and self-efficacy in carers of persons with an intellectual disability, using emotional intelligence as a mediating variable.
Materials and methods: Three hundred and eleven carers participated in the study. Self-report measures with adequate psychometric properties were provided to evaluate engagement, self-efficacy, and emotional intelligence.
Results and conclusions: The structural equation models (SEM) showed a significant relation between self-efficacy and engagement. In addition, one of the dimensions of emotional intelligence, namely the use of emotions (UOE), was a full mediator in this relationship. The other dimensions showed no relation to engagement. Thus, the UOE was a fundamental factor for self-efficacy to imply engagement. For this reason, intervention programs in wellbeing and health in the workplace should include specific training in this skill among their objectives.
Implications for rehabilitation
Carers are very important persons in the lives of individuals with intellectual disabilities.
There was a significant relationship between self-efficacy and engagement and use of emotions was a full mediator in this relationship.
The intervention programs should include training the emotional intelligence among their objectives in order to optimize engagement.
PurposeThe study aims to explore the effectiveness of performance-oriented practices like high-performance work practices (HPWPs) in higher education (HE), given its explicit focus on performance ...these days.Design/methodology/approachThe study uses hierarchical linear modeling using statistical package for social sciences (SPSS 22.0) to test the hypotheses. An intertwined framework of the ability–motivation–opportunity (AMO) model and the job demand-resources (JD-R) model was proposed. The study considered strategic hiring, recognition and participatory decision-making as ability, motivation and opportunity-enhancing practices respectively. Further, the study addressed the impact of institutional level moderators, like administrative workload (AWL) and support staff (SS).FindingsThe findings based on the responses of 385 faculties and 443 students from 36 Indian institutes, indicated that HPWPs enhanced the education performance (EP) of HE institutes. Further, results revealed that both AWL and SS had differential effects on the relationship between HPWPs and EP. Contrary to authors’ expectations, SS showed a negative effect of the relationship between HPWPs and EP.Research limitations/implicationsThe increased AWL was debilitating the beneficial effects HPWPs. The negative interaction effect of SS sheds light on the hidden issues surrounding SS in HE institutes. Based on findings, the study offered important theoretical and practical implications.Originality/valueTo the best of authors’ knowledge, the impact of innovative human resource (HR) practices in academia remains relatively under-researched, and the current study is an attempt to fill this void.
Objetivo: Evaluar la existencia del trastorno mixto ansioso-depresivo en funcionarios de la salud de los servicios de Farmacia, Enfermería y personal de apoyo, durante la pandemia del ...SARS-CoV-2.Métodos: Se llevó a cabo un estudio transversal -analítico, en el periodo de marzo a septiembre 2020, en funcionarios de la salud, quienes estaban expuestos directamente con el SARS-CoV-2, consecuencia de su trabajo. Se realizó una encuesta bajo consentimiento informado, con parámetros como edad, sexo, estado civil, dependencia económica, servicio en que laboran, profesión ejercida, jornada laboral, entre otros; con una participación de 200 voluntarios, mediante un enlace virtual.Resultados: Un total de 127 trabajadores de la salud, es decir un 63.5% de la muestra, presentaron más de cuatro síntomas sugestivos de trastorno mixto ansioso-depresivo. Los síntomas más predominantes fueron preocupación (88,2%), fatiga (88,2%), falta de energía (78,0%) y trastornos del sueño (74,8%).Conclusión: El trastorno mixto ansioso depresivo cobró auge durante la pandemia del SARS-CoV-2, factores como la exposición prolongada a escenarios estresores, así como el sexo femenino, no contar con pareja o pertenecer a un grupo etario menor a los 45 años, pueden propiciar el desarrollo de un trastorno mental. Por lo cual es importante poder identificar a la población de riesgo, brindarle el apoyo y seguimiento necesario, así como la creación de protocolos que brinden una guía sobre como actuar para procurar la integridad del personal de salud.
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