| 1. |
- Almqvist, Lena
(författare)
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Children's health and developmental delay
- 2006
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt)abstract
- The general aim of this thesis was to gain understanding of what patterns of child and environment characteristics that promote and sustain health and positive functioning of children with and without developmental delay or disabilities. The focus was on promotion of strengths and competencies rather than on prevention of risk factors, with an emphasis on children’s functioning in every-day life. Both cross-sectional and longitudinal studies were conducted on representative samples of children. In Study I, participation in school activities were used as an outcome of positive functioning of children with disabilities. The findings indicated that autonomy, locus of control, child-peer interaction, and availability of activities were most influential in relation to participation in a pattern of child and environment factors. No significant difference was found across groups in type and degree of disability. Study II was conducted to gain knowledge of how young children perceive health. The interviews revealed that children perceived health in a multidimensional perspective, well represented by the health dimensions of ICF. The children largely related consequences of health to engagement. In Study III, engagement was used as an outcome of children’s interaction with their natural environment. The focus was to describe how children with and without developmental delay, divided into homogenous groups according to a pattern of child-environment interaction factors, engaged in developmentally appropriate behavior in their preschool and home environment. Groups of children with different patterns showed similar outcomes of engagement. Children with developmental delay were represented across groups, implying that developmental delay was less of a factor by itself influencing level of engagement. Study IV was longitudinal and the aim was to identify pathways of children’s engagement over time of children with and without developmental delay. Child-peer interaction seemed to promote high level engagement, while developmental delay only showed to be influential of low level engagement over time if combined with behavior problems. Children without developmental delay or behavior problems were met with greater teacher responsiveness, and at the same time teacher responsiveness predicted stable patterns of high level engagement or change to higher level engagement over time. The general finding in this thesis supported a both a multidimensional perspective of health and positive functioning, in where developmental delay and disability is viewed as a function of child and environmental characteristics. The results are discussed in a systemic perspective, in where the role of the delay or disability, as of other factors related to health and positive functioning in the whole child-environment system is determined by a multitude of factors. The dynamic character of children’s development makes it difficult to predict children’s future functioning, from isolated factors such as disability or developmental delay. Thus, a disability or developmental delay only becomes a risk factor of health, when combined with other risk factors that decrease the functioning of children in their every-day life.
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| 2. |
- Almqvist, Lena
(författare)
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Patterns of engagement in young children with and without developmental delay
- 2006
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Ingår i: Journal of Policy and Practice in Intellectual Disabilities. - Malden, MA : Blackwel. - 1741-1122. ; 3:1, s. 65-75
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The purpose of this study was to identify patterns of process characteristics capturing the essence of children's experiences in their natural environment and their possible association with health and well-being operationalized as engagement for young children with and without developmental delay. Data were gathered from 1035 children between 1 and 3 years in community-based preschools. Teachers and parents responded to questionnaires concerning interaction, activity, and engagement, as well as demographic and biopsychosocial information. A cluster analysis was conducted to find homogenous patterns related to engagement. Five distinct patterns were identified, all related to different levels of engagement. Several factors, within both the child and the environment, were associated with high levels of engagement. Interaction skills and availability of activities appear to be strong predictors of high-level engagement, regardless whether or not the child has been identified as developmentally delayed.
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| 3. |
- Andersén, Jim
(författare)
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A holistic approach to acquisition of strategic resources
- 2007
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Ingår i: Journal of European Industrial Training. - 0309-0590. ; 31:8, s. 660-677
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Purpose: The aim of this article is to provide a holistic framework for the acquisition of strategic resources. Design/methodology/approach: The literature dealing with resource creation is reviewed and analyzed from a resource-based point of view. The major methods of acquiring resources are identified through the literature review and the applicability of the framework proposed is illustrated with an empirical example. Findings: Three ways of acquiring strategic resources are identified-- direct investments, organizational processes, and product market positioning. All three ways of acquisition can be intentional or unintentional. Arguments for using this six-dimension scale are provided through deductive reasoning, literature review, and the empirical example. Research implications/limitations: The study identifies the six dimensions of strategic resource acquisition. However, integration of these dimensions is not a subject addressed in this study. Cluster analysis of companies according to these dimensions could enhance our understanding of the characteristics of companies regarding resource acquisition. Originality/value: Whereas previous studies have generally used a single-theory approach, this study highlights the importance of having a holistic outlook when analyzing resource-based competitive advantages.
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| 4. |
- Andersén, Jim
(författare)
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How and what to imitate? : A sequential model for the imitation of competitive advantages
- 2007
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Ingår i: Strategic Change. - 1086-1718. ; 16:6, s. 271-279
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Research in competitiveness generally focuses on how competitive advantages can be developed. This is an important area of research, but as a consequence the process of imitation of competitive advantages has become a neglected area of research.A conceptual sequential model for the imitation of competitive advantages is presented. The model mainly draws on resource-based theory, provides a holistic view of the imitation process, identifies different hindrances to imitation of competitive advantages, and presents arguments for the scheme chosen.
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| 5. |
- Bergbom, Sofia, et al.
(författare)
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Relationship among pain catastrophizing, depression mood, and outcomes across physical therapy treatments
- 2011
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Ingår i: Physical Therapy. - 0031-9023. ; 91:5, s. 754-764
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background Pain catastrophizing and emotional distress can act as prognostic factors for pain and disability. Research on how these variables interact within individuals and over time is in an early stage. Understanding various patterns of prognostic factors and how these factors change during treatment is important for developing treatments targeting important factors.Objective The primary aim of this study was to investigate relationships between pain catastrophizing and depressed mood in people seeking primary care for musculoskeletal pain. An additional aim was to relate these patterns of prognostic factors to outcomes during a 6-month period.Design The design was prospective; data were obtained at baseline and at follow-up.Methods Forty-two physical therapists taking part in an educational program recruited, from their clinical practices in primary care, consecutive patients who were currently experiencing a pain problem. Patients received various physical therapy interventions between baseline and follow-up.Results On the basis of patterns of scoring for pain catastrophizing and depressed mood, 4 subgroups of participants were found. Belonging to a subgroup with elevated levels of either pain catastrophizing or depressed mood at baseline was related to the absence of improvement and elevated levels of disability after physical therapy interventions. Furthermore, elevated levels of both variables were related to the highest levels of disability.Limitations The analyses relied on self-report. Neither treatment content nor pain-related fear was measured. The sample was a mixture of participants reporting acute pain and subacute pain.Conclusions The results stress the importance of assessing and targeting prognostic factors. Moreover, the results suggest the need to tailor treatments to match patterns of prognostic factors and the need to target depressed mood and pain catastrophizing in physical therapy interventions.
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| 6. |
- Brav, Agneta, et al.
(författare)
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Group initiative and self-organizational activities in industrial work groups
- 2009
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Ingår i: European Journal of Work and Organizational Psychology. - 1359-432X. ; 18:3, s. 347-377
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Autonomous work groups are involved in goal setting and planning and hence can define their jobs and the outcome idiosyncratically. Our interest lies in how job design restricts or creates possibilities for groups to redefine their work and thus go beyond formal requirements. The aim was to test a model of the relationships between dimensions of job design, group processes, group initiative, and self-organizational activities. The results are based on work task analyses and questionnaires administered to 31 work groups at four Swedish industrial companies. The theoretical input-process-output model received substantial support. Dimensions of job design affect whether a group, through collective reflexivity, can redefine work and proactively create conditions and organize work so that uncertainty can be handled and new tasks mastered. Group processes such as cooperation and social support enhance group initiative to achieve such meaningful change. In this study, reflexivity does not impact on group initiative, but does explain the major amount of variance in self-organizational activities. Work task analyses can be a useful tool for providing groups with the prerequisites for self-organizational activities. We believe these to be essential for the groups' capacity to be involved in the innovation process from idea to finished product.
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| 7. |
- Brav, Agneta, 1955-
(författare)
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Industrial work groups : the impact of job design, leader support and group processes on initiative and self-organization
- 2008
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt)abstract
- From an organizational perspective the issue of which organizational solutions will benefit productivity, efficiency and the innovation process is central. Work groups can be an effective means. The general aim of the thesis from a psychological perspective is to examine work conditions and thereafter investigate how such conditions impact on whether or not work groups redefine stipulated tasks to incorporate initiative-taking and self-organization, thus enabling them to implement meaningful change.Based on action regulation theory, detailed work task analysis is assumed to be worthwhile as it provides data that cannot be captured with interviews or questionnaires exclusively. Data is based on work task analyses and questionnaires administered to work groups at four Swedish industrial organizations. In Study I a theoretical model of the relations of job design, work routines and social routines and reflexivity and learning processes was tested. Results showed that job design and work routines strongly impacted on reflexivity and learning processes. In Study II this model was extended into a theoretical inputprocess- output model to include group initiative and self-organizational activities as outcomes of job design, mediated by group processes. The model provided substantial, but not complete, support. Job design strongly impacts on reflexivity, and reflexivity directly impacts self organizational activities. To explore the importance of leadership support and potency longitudinally for group initiative, in Study III two data collections were included. The findings showed that potency, compared to perceived autonomy and support from leader, was the best predictor of group initiative. Together the studies show that the dimensions of job design, support from leader, reflexivity, and potency as well as cooperation and social support are important for the outcomes of work groups if the organization wants groups to take initiative and engage in self-organizational activities. It is also advocated that job design contains an inherent potential for learning and the possibility to make use of one’s resources. Main findings, strengths, limitations, practical and theoretical implications, directions for future research and when it will be worthwhile to invest in group work are included in the discussion.
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| 8. |
- Bruhn, Anders, et al.
(författare)
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Why it was so difficult to develop new methods to inspect work organization and psychosocial risks in Sweden
- 2011
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Ingår i: Safety Science. - Elsevier. - 0925-7535. ; 49:4, s. 575-581
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- In 2001–2003, the Swedish Work Environment Authority (SWEA) ran a project to develop better methods to inspect psychosocial risk factors at work. The objective was twofold: to develop methods to enable most inspectors to effectively inspect such health risks, and to set a standard for method development within SWEA. This article presents our evaluation of the project and a discussion of this as an example of regulatory implementation. The methods project largely failed. Major reasons were the lack of general provisions on psychosocial risks, isolation from other policies in SWEA that affect the inspection of such risks, and a lack of engagement and guidance by top management on how to prioritize and conduct this very challenging development project. Underlying this was possibly a preoccupation with other major internal reforms, a limited competence and an unwillingness to challenge the employers on psychosocial and organizational issues within SWEA’s top management. Yet, the project probably had some indirect positive effects by raising awareness within the authority of psychosocial risk factors, of the complexities of inspecting such risks and of the difficulty to develop effective methods to supervise them.
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Eriksson, Henrik, et al.
(författare)
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Cyber nursing : health 'experts' approaches in the post-modern era of virtual performances : a nethnography study
- 2013
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Ingår i: International Journal of Nursing Studies. - 0020-7489. ; 50:3, s. 335-344
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: The imperative to gather information online and to become an ‘expert’ by locating effective advice for oneself and others is a fairly new support phenomenon in relation to health advice. The creation of new positions for health ‘experts’ within the space of the Internet has been addressed as a cybernursing activity. A focused analysis of communication in health forums might give insight into the new roles that are available for healthexperts in cyberspace.Aim: The aim of this study is to describe approaches to being an ‘expert’ in lifestyle health choice forums on the Internet and to elaborate on the communicative performances that take place in the forums.Method: An archival and cross-sectional observational forum study was undertaken using principles for conducting ethnographic research online. 2640 pages of data from two health Internet forums were gathered and analyzed.Findings: The results reveal three distinctive types of experts that emerge in the forums: (1) those that build their expertise by creating a presence in the forum based on lengthy and frequent postings, (2) those who build a presence through reciprocal exchanges with individual posters with questions or concerns, and (3) those who build expertise around a “life long learning” perspective based on logic and reason.Discussion: The results suggest that experts not only co-exist in the forums, but more importantly they reinforce each others’ positions. This effect is central; alongside one another, the posts of the three types of experts we identify constitute a whole for those seeking the forum for advice and support. Users are provided with strong opinions and advice, support and Socratic reasoning, and a problem-oriented approach. The Internet is now an integral part of everyday living, not least of which among those who seek and offer support in cyberspace. As such, cyber nursing has become an important activity to monitor, and formal health care professionals and nursing researchers must stay abreast of developments.
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