| 1. |
- Andersson, Ann-Christine, et al.
(author)
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Practice-based improvement ideas in healthcare services
- 2010
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Objective. The present study will contribute to knowledge of how practitioners in a healthcare region engage in quality improvement initiatives. The focus is on individual placement needs, problems/issues and the ability to organize work on the development, implementation and institutionalization of ideas for the healthcare sector. Design and settings. This study is based on the Kalmar county council Improvement Program. Healthcare departments and primary healthcare centers in the county council were invited to apply for money to accomplish improvement projects. The aim is to empirically identify and present the different kinds of practice-based improvement ideas developed in healthcare services. The 202 applications received from various healthcare departments and primary healthcare centers are analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Outcome and Results. Five types of improvement projects were identified: Organizational Process; Evidence and Quality; Competence Development; Process Technology; and Proactive Patient Work. This illustrates the range of strategies that encourage letting individual units define their own improvement needs. In addition, a common characteristic among the studied project applications is to increase patient safety, effectiveness and availability of care, and education/training. Those intentions are found in many of the applications and therefore give the impression of being most important to caregivers today. Conclusions. These projects point to the various problems and experiences healthcare professionals encounter in their day-to-day work. This paper provides valuable insights into the current state of improvement work in Swedish healthcare, and will serve as a foundation for further investigations in this quality program.
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| 2. |
- Andersson, Ann-Christine, et al.
(author)
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Who conducts quality improvement initiatives in healthcare services? An evaluation of an improvement program in acounty council in Sweden
- 2010
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- Purpose – The aim of this paper is to contribute to the knowledge of who engages in quality improvement initiatives and to describe whether staff professions or gender are relevant variables. Design/methodology/approach – This paper contains an evaluation of the participants in a specific defined strategic improvement initiative program in one county council in southeast Sweden. The improvement program was initiated by county council politicians to encourage improvement initiatives and to spread improvement skills and knowledge in the organization. The program is driven both “top down” (teaching/convincing line managers to demand improvements) and “bottom up” through improvement programs using methodology to help teams identify, plan and adopt improvements in their daily work. Data was collected from special applications (called Free Applications, FA) and from participants in the education program (called Improvement Program, IP), both of which include information about profession and 2 gender. A content analysis was made. After the first categorization of which types of improvement projects practitioners engage in, further analysis of staff disciplines, professions (hierarchy) and gender was done. The results were compared to the overall structure of staff presence in the county council. Findings – Changes in participation occurred over time. The FA (Free Applications) part (n=202) shows a higher share of leaders and managers (35%), but their participation in the IP (Improvement Program) (n=477) fluctuated (8-26%). Physicians were more represented in the FA than in the IP. The largest single group was nurses. Overall the gender perspective reflects the conditions of the county council, but in FA the representation of women was lower. Five types of improvement projects were identified: 1) Organizational process focus; 2) Evidence and quality; 3) Competence development; 4) Process Technology; and 5) Proactive patient work. Managers were most represented in the category “Organizational process”. The largest difference was seen in the category “Proactive patient work” with the highest occurrence among women (86%) and less among men (17%) and managers (21%). The patient as a contributor taking active part was not found in either the FA or the IP. Research limitations/implications – This study shows differences in participation between free applications and methodology-guided programs when it comes to professions and gender in the country council improvement drive. It may be useful for further research regarding how to successfully work for and implement improvements and change in healthcare environments. Practical implications – The study will discuss and contribute to further knowledge of whether profession, hierarchy and gender have an impact (obstructive or as an asset) in performing improvement work in healthcare settings. Originality/value - Not much has been written about who is accomplishing quality improvements in terms of profession and gender. This paper provides some valuable insights into the differences between staff categories (professions) and gender in the improvement work in Swedish healthcare.
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| 3. |
- Asaba, Eric, et al.
(author)
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Photovoice : Potentiality of dialogue
- 2023
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Conference paper (pop. science, debate, etc.)abstract
- The aim of this presentation is to explore how dialogue can be methodologically understood in photovoice research – particularly in the context of disability research. This can be relevant because photovoice has gained visibility as a relevant approach to engage community members as partners in disability research. However, as methods associated with photovoice have developed and evolved over time, concerns have also been raised about how this impacts the theoretical and methodological underpinnings on which photovoice rests.Drawing on two empirical studies, the authors reflect on the function and meaning of dialogue, and how this can take different forms within the context of disability research. Examples will include: 1) everyday life experiences of migration and disability from an intersectional perspective drawing on issues such as gender, class, and ethnicity, and 2) everyday life experiences of adults living with spina bifida. It will be argued that the potentiality of dialogue warrants certain reflection to support conditions for participation in disability research. Unpacking the concept of dialogue using potentiality, provides an arena for discussion that has not previously been explicit in photovoice.
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| 4. |
- Berggren, Magnus, et al.
(author)
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Audio Processing Solution for Video Conference Based Aerobics
- 2010
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In: 2010 Digest of Technical Papers, International Conference on Consumer Electronics. - Las Vegas : IEEE. - 9781424443147 - 9781424443161 ; , s. 407-408
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this paper an audio processing solution for video conference based aerobics is presented. The proposed solution leaves the workout music unaltered by separating it from the speech and processing each signal separately. The speech signal processing is also performed at a lower sample rate, which saves computational power. Real time evaluation of the system shows that high quality music as well as a good two-way communication is maintained during the aerobic session.
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| 7. |
- Björling, Gunilla, Docent
(author)
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Material Wear of Medical Technical Products : Impact on patient safety
- 2018
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- The use of a central venous catheters (CVC) always involves an increased risk of infection and thrombotic complications, subsequently increasing patient suffering, prolonged care and health care related costs. One contributing cause of infection is that the surface of the catheter is quickly colonized by bacteria, forming a biofilm, hard to reach by and/or resistant to antibiotics and the patient’s immune defense system. Catheter related thrombosis may also promote colonization of microbes on the fibrin sheet at the surface, and at the same time impact on CVC functionality by lumen occlusion or, in a rare worst-case scenario – cause life threatening embolic events. Coatings with silver or metal alloys can reduce the risk for complications. Our research group have previously identified a correlation between material degradation in medical devices used in patients and exposure time and infections. This talk will discuss the impact of material degradation of different types of CVCs used for patients undergoing chemotherapy against breast cancer. The results from an evaluation study of a anti infectious noble metal alloy coated CVC compared with an uncoated CVC for tolerability (Adverse Events, AEs), performance and noble metal durability on the surface will also be discussed.
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| 8. |
- Björling, Gunilla, Docent, et al.
(author)
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Risk Evaluation of Therapy Medical Devices and Implants for Increased Patient Safety : REMISS Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action
- 2017
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Current knowledge in the area of medical devices remains insufficiently complete, and many of the established test methods and international standards (ISO (International Organization for Standardization) standards) open up to individual interpretation on how the test should be performed and the results reported. Treating long-term diseases such as cancer imposes a stringent sequence of various treatments on patients. For instance, cancer may be treated with radiation and chemotherapy; the latter in many treatment protocols requiring the implantation of an intravascular catheter during a prolonged period of time. To maximize the effect of such measures, as well as issues related to the patient Health Related Quality of Life (HRQoL), integrated and validated methodologies are needed as decisional basis for appropriate risk management and patient safety with regard to clinical use of intravascular catheters.The ambition of the REMISS project is to: Establish integrated and validated methodologies for risk management of the clinical use of intravascular catheters with respect to the clinical service lifetime, improved patient treatment, safety and HRQoL. This is assumed to reduce patient suffering due to complications associated with material deployment and degradation associated side effects for e.g. cancer patients receiving treatment with chemotherapeutical drugs using an intravascular catheter.The main vision is to improve the standards for eliminating side effects (complications) caused by deployment from and degradation of intravascular catheters, as well as loss of performance due to material-drug-biological system interactions, compared to the current state-of-the-art. Realising the project goals the rate of catheter-associated complications can be lowered by 40-50%, which in turn will improve patient treatment, safety and HRQoL, as well as health care related costs.Package integrally developed methodologies, predictive models, databases, and other project findings, as a potential product with a holistic coverage. It is believed that commercialisation of (selected) results will be the best option in order to create sustainable availability of this service based on continued research on intravascular catheters according to integrated and validated methodologies.REMISS answer the call NMBP-12-2017 Development of a Reliable Methodology for Better Risk Management of Engineered Biomaterials Advanced Therapy Medicinal Products and/or Medical Devices Marcy, P. Central venous access: techniques and indications in oncology. European Society of Radiology, 2008; 18; 2333-44 Maki DG, et al The risk of bloodstream infection in adults with different intravascular devices: a systematic review of 200 published prospective studies. Mayo Clin Proc 2006: 81 (9): 1159-71. Frostell, C., Björling, G., Strömberg, E., Karlsson, S., and Aune, R. E., Tracheal Implants Revisited, The Lancet (2017), 389(10075) pp.1191
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| 9. |
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| 10. |
- Burström, Åsa, et al.
(author)
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Adolescents With Congenital Heart Disease and Their Parents: Needs Before Transfer to Adult Care
- 2016
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In: Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing, Vol. 31, No. 5, pp 399-404. - 0889-4655 .- 1550-5049.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- BACKGROUND: Patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) are in need of lifelong healthcare. For adolescents with CHD, this transfer to adult-care clinic can be difficult. OBJECTIVE: The aim was to identify and describe the needs of adolescents with CHD and their parents during the transition before transfer to adult cardiologic healthcare. METHODS: This study has an exploratory design with a qualitative approach, where 13 adolescents with CHD and their parents (n = 12) were individually interviewed. The interviews were analyzed with content analysis. RESULTS: The analysis of the adolescents' interviews resulted in 3 categories: change of relationships, knowledge and information, and daily living. The theme that emerged depicting the meaning of the categories found was Safety and control, indicating needs of continuity, knowledge, and taking responsibility. Analysis of the parents' answers gave 2 categories: change of relationship and daily living. The theme that emerged was safety and trust, indicating needs of continuity and shifting responsibility. CONCLUSIONS: The transition must be carefully planned to ensure that adolescents can master new skills to manage the transfer to adult cardiologic healthcare. A structured program may facilitate and fulfill the needs of the adolescents and their parents, taking into consideration the aspects of trust, safety, and control. However, the content and performance of such a program must also be examined. We plan to undertake an extensive research project in the area, and this study will be a baseline for further research.
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