| 1. |
- Berner, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
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A cross-national and longitudinal study on predictors in starting and stopping Internet use (2001-2013) by Swedish and Dutch older adults 66 years and above
- 2016
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Ingår i: Gerontechnology. - : International Society for Gerontechnology. - 1569-1101 .- 1569-111X. ; 14:3, s. 157-168
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background The Internet and information com-munication technology is today considered as a means to sustain active and healthy ag-ing, and to provide better care for the aging population. There is an increase in prevalence in older adults using the Internet, however many are still not using the Internet. This study therefore, investigated predictors in starting and stopping Internet use by older adults between 2001-2013 in Sweden and the Netherlands. These represent currently two of the highest older adult Internet users in Europe. The aim of this study was to examine, first, if there was a different starting and stopping rate in Sweden and the Netherlands; second, if the predictors age, gender, education, rural/urban living, living alone/not, cognition and functional limitations have different effects in either country.Methods A cross-national and longitudinal design was chosen. Data was used from the Longitudinal Aging study Amsterdam (LASA) and the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care (SNAC). Cox regression analyses were done to test the predictors over time with starting or stop-ping Internet use. An interaction term ‘variable*country’ was then considered for each variable, if significant, leading to a stratification into a multivariate model per country. Results More older adults started use in the Netherlands (19%); lower in age, normal cognitive functioning, living alone, fewer functional limitations and lower education were predictive of starting. In Sweden fewer started (10.3%), where being female was the only significant predictor of starting use. Both countries did not have many people stopping use; in the Netherlands (3%) they were younger in age and living urban, whereas in Sweden (1.7%), they had lower cognitive functioning.Conclusion Results indicate that there are differences between countries in starting use. These differences can possibly be explained by the early adoption of the Internet in Sweden. The new findings that the older adults living alone and lower educated are now going online, are positive regarding the theme of active aging. For those stopping use, the differences are more country-specific. More research is needed in order to understand better what an older adult was using the Internet for and why they stop.
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| 2. |
- Berner, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
-
A cross-national and longitudinal study on predictors in starting and stopping Internet use (2001-2013) by Swedish and Dutch older adults 66 years and above
- 2016
-
Ingår i: Gerontechnology. - : International Society for Gerontechnology. - 1569-1101 .- 1569-111X. ; 14:3, s. 157-168
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background The Internet and information communication technology is today considered as a means to sustain active and healthy aging, and to provide better care for the aging population. There is an increase in prevalence in older adults using the Internet, however many are still not using the Internet. This study therefore, investigated predictors in starting and stopping Internet use by older adults between 2001-2013 in Sweden and the Netherlands. These represent currently two of the highest older adult Internet users in Europe. The aim of this study was to examine, first, if there was a different starting and stopping rate in Sweden and the Netherlands; second, if the predictors age, gender, education, rural/urban living, living alone/not, cognition and functional limitations have different effects in either country. Methods A cross-national and longitudinal design was chosen. Data was used from the Longitudinal Aging study Amsterdam (LASA) and the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care (SNAC). Cox regression analyses were done to test the predictors over time with starting or stopping Internet use. An interaction term ‘variable*country’ was then considered for each variable, if significant, leading to a stratification into a multivariate model per country. Results More older adults started use in the Netherlands (19%); lower in age, normal cognitive functioning, living alone, fewer functional limitations and lower education were predictive of starting. In Sweden fewer started (10.3%), where being female was the only significant predictor of starting use. Both countries did not have many people stopping use; in the Netherlands (3%) they were younger in age and living urban, whereas in Sweden (1.7%), they had lower cognitive functioning. Conclusion Results indicate that there are differences between countries in starting use. These differences can possibly be explained by the early adoption of the Internet in Sweden. The new findings that the older adults living alone and lower educated are now going online, are positive regarding the theme of active aging. For those stopping use, the differences are more country-specific. More research is needed in order to understand better what an older adult was using the Internet for and why they stop. © 2016. Gerontechnology. All Rights Reserved.
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| 3. |
- Berner, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
-
Distribution of personality, individual characteristics and internet usage in Swedish older adults
- 2012
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Ingår i: Aging and Mental Health. - : Taylor and Francis. - 1360-7863 .- 1364-6915. ; 16:1, s. 119-126
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: This paper investigated factors associated with internet usage in the Swedish older adults ranging in age from 60 to 96. Personality traits and individual characteristics have been previously noted to influence internet usage, where older adults have not been the focus population. In this study the relationships between personality, individual characteristics and internet usage were investigated. Methods: A descriptive analysis of the personality tests of a total of 1402 subjects included in the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care (SNAC) was conducted. Three variables were controlled for: sex, age and education. Descriptive statistics, Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests, chi square tests and a logistic regression were used in order to detect the relationships with internet usage. Results: Men differ significantly from women in the personality traits analysis. Those with higher education were more open and neuroticism was lower in the oldest older adults. Internet usage declined significantly with age and those with middle to higher education were using the internet the most. No other associations with internet use were found Conclusion: Personality traits and individual characteristics do not seem to influence the Swedish older adult and their internet usage. What one needs to account for is the age and education of the person. The more educated and the youngest cohorts were using the internet more frequently.
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| 4. |
- Berner, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
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Factors associated with change in Internet usage of Swedish older adults (2004-2010)
- 2013
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Ingår i: Health Informatics Journal. - : Sage Publications. - 1460-4582 .- 1741-2811. ; 19:2, s. 152-162
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The increased reliance on Internet use in social functions has presumably left out a part of the population: the oldest-older adults. These are people who have not kept themselves up to date with the technological developments for various reasons. There are, however, exceptions from whom we have something to learn. This study investigates the older people in Sweden who started to use the Internet over a period of 6 years. Cognition, extraversion, openness, functional disability, household economy, sex, age and education were investigated in relation to starting to use the Internet. A chi-square test, Spearman correlation and a logistic regression analysis were conducted. It was found that higher cognition, being male and being between the ages of 60 and 80 years were determining factors in starting to use the Internet for the Swedish older adult. Our results indicate that the oldest-older adults are slow to adapt to using the Internet and more attention should be paid on how to support this group.
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| 5. |
- Berner, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
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Factors associated with change in Internet usage of the swedish older adults between 2004 and 2010
- 2012
-
Ingår i: Health Informatics Journal. - : SAGE Publications. - 1460-4582 .- 1741-2811. ; 19:2, s. 152-162
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Abstract: The increased reliance on Internet use in social functions has presumably left out a part of the population: the oldest-older adults. These are people who have not kept themselves up to date with the technological developments for various reasons. There are, however, exceptions from whom we have something to learn. This study investigates the older people in Sweden who started to use the Internet over a period of 6 years. Cognition, extraversion, openness, functional disability, household economy, sex, age and education were investigated in relation to starting to use the Internet. A chi-square test, Spearman correlation and a logistic regression analysis were conducted. It was found that higher cognition, being male and being between the ages of 60 and 80 years were determining factors in starting to use the Internet for the Swedish older adult. Our results indicate that the oldest-older adults are slow to adapt to using the Internet and more attention should be paid on how to support this group.
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| 6. |
- Berner, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
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Factors influencing Internet usage in older adults (65 years and above) living in rural and urban Sweden
- 2015
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Ingår i: Health Informatics Journal. - : Sage Publications. - 1460-4582 .- 1741-2811. ; 21:3, s. 237-249
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Older adults living in rural and urban areas have shown to distinguish themselves in technology adoption; a clearer profile of their Internet use is important in order to provide better technological and health-care solutions. Older adults' Internet use was investigated across large to midsize cities and rural Sweden. The sample consisted of 7181 older adults ranging from 59 to 100 years old. Internet use was investigated with age, education, gender, household economy, cognition, living alone/or with someone and rural/urban living. Logistic regression was used. Those living in rural areas used the Internet less than their urban counterparts. Being younger and higher educated influenced Internet use; for older urban adults, these factors as well as living with someone and having good cognitive functioning were influential. Solutions are needed to avoid the exclusion of some older adults by a society that is today being shaped by the Internet.
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| 7. |
- Berner, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
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Five-factor model, technology enthusiasm and technology anxiety
- 2023
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Ingår i: Digital Health. - : Sage Publications. - 2055-2076. ; 9
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Older adults need to participate in the digital society, as societal and personal changes and what they do with the remaining time that they have in their older years has an undeniable effect on motivation, cognition and emotion. Changes in personality traits were investigated in older adults over the period 2019–2021. Technology enthusiasm and technology anxiety are attitudes that affect the relationship to the technology used. The changes in the score of technology enthusiasm and technology anxiety were the dependent variables. They were investigated with personality traits, age, gender, education, whether someone lives alone, cognitive function, digital social participation (DSP) and health literacy as predictors of the outcome. The Edwards-Nunnally index and logistic regression were used. The results indicated that DSP, lower age, lower neuroticism and higher education were indicative of less technology anxiety. High DSP and high extraversion are indicative of technology enthusiasm. DSP and attitude towards technology seem to be key in getting older adults to stay active online.
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| 8. |
- Berner, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
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Maintaining cognitive function with internet use : a two-country, six-year longitudinal study
- 2019
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Ingår i: International psychogeriatrics. - : Cambridge University Press. - 1041-6102 .- 1741-203X. ; 31:7, s. 929-936
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Objectives: Maintaining good cognitive function with aging may be aided by technology such as computers, tablets, and their applications. Little research so far has investigated whether internet use helps to maintain cognitive function over time.Design: Two population-based studies with a longitudinal design from 2001/2003 (T1) to 2007/2010 (T2).Setting: Sweden and the Netherlands.Participants: Older adults aged 66 years and above from the Swedish National Study on Ageing and Care (N = 2,564) and from the Longitudinal Aging Study Amsterdam (N = 683).Measurements: Internet use was self-reported. Using the scores from the Mini-Mental State Examination (MMSE) from T1 and T2, both a difference score and a significant change index was calculated. Linear and logistic regression analysis were performed with difference score and significant change index, respectively, as the dependent variable and internet use as the independent variable, and adjusted for sex, education, age, living situation, and functional limitations. Using a meta-analytic approach, summary coefficients were calculated across both studies.Results: Internet use at baseline was 26.4% in Sweden and 13.3% in the Netherlands. Significant cognitive decline over six years amounted to 9.2% in Sweden and 17.0% in the Netherlands. Considering the difference score, the summary linear regression coefficient for internet use was-0.32 (95% CI:-0.62,-0.02). Considering the significant change index, the summary odds ratio for internet use was 0.54 (95% CI: 0.37, 0.78).Conclusions: The results suggest that internet use might play a role in maintaining cognitive functioning. Further research into the specific activities that older adults are doing on the internet may shine light on this issue.
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| 9. |
- Berner, Jessica
(författare)
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Psychosocial, Socio-Demographic and Health Determinants in Information Communication Technology Use by Older-Adults
- 2014
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- The aim of the thesis was to investigate factors influencing ICT use by older-adults. A selection of psycho-social, socio-demographic and health determinants were investigated with Internet use. Data were collected through questionnaires (Studies I-III) and interviews (Study IV). Univariate and multivariate analyses were conducted, investigating Internet use as a dichotomous variable, with the aforementioned factors. The results indicated that psycho-social determinants did not affect older-adults’ Internet use (Study I). Scoring higher on the personality traits openness and extraversion did not affect whether the older adults started to use the Internet (Study II). However, well-being increased for some frail older-adults when using the tablet computer and connected to the Internet (Study IV). Some socio-demographic determinants affected Internet use. Being younger in age was a strong contributing factor in all four studies whether the older-adult would use the Internet. Higher education influenced Internet use (Study I & III), correlated with living in a rural or urban setting (Study III); yet education was not influencing whether they would start to use the Internet. Living alone was correlated with Internet use, especially if the older-adult lived in an urban setting (Study III). Functional disability and household economy did not affect Internet use. Finally, the health determinants on Internet use were quite strong. Normal cognitive functioning influenced whether older-adults would start to use the Internet (Study II). The older-adult living in an urban environment, would use the Internet if they had normal cognitive functioning (Study III). It was noted also from Study IV that the learning to use the Tablet PC and Skype took longer for older people and more repetition was needed. Being frail was a strong factor whether the older-adult would use the Internet. They would not want to learn or try to use the technology if they were too ill (Study IV). The findings show only a small increase (7.7%) in Internet use by older-adults over time. The indicators of non-use are: higher in age, lower educated, living alone or rurally, lower cognition and frailty. There are two different profiles of rural and urban Internet users. These determinants along with an understanding of the use of technology, and a good support system, are a few pillars in ICT adoption by older-adults. As ICT continues to develop as a means to provide better health care, it will be important to take into account the abovementioned indicators. In certain cases Internet use is not a given, which continues to exclude older-adults. Part of healthy aging is social participation; therefore being connected and included in the digital society is important. Alternative and not only one design solutions should be explored in health care and by organisations, so as to cater to the heterogeneity of the aging population.
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| 10. |
- Berner, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
-
Technology anxiety and technology enthusiasm versus digital ageism
- 2022
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Ingår i: Gerontechnology. - : International Society for Gerontechnology (ISG). - 1569-1101 .- 1569-111X. ; 21:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Europe has called attention to the importance of the e-inclusion of older adults. Society is indicating that the developers, websites, and devices are causing age bias in technology. This affects living independently, the values of ethical principles associated with an older person, and digital ageism: which is an age-related bias in artificial intelligence systems. Objective: This research attempts to investigate the instrument technology anxiety and enthusiasm, and assistive technology devices during the period 2019- 2021. This instrument may be a way to redress misconceptions about digital ageism. The assistive technology device that we will investigate in this study is the adoption of a service that is designed for online health consultations. Method: The participants are part of the longitudinal Swedish National Study on Aging and Care. Technology anxiety and technology enthusiasm are two factors, which aim to measure technophilia (vs technophobia) in older adults. The age range is 63 -99 years of age in 2019 T1 and 66 -101 in 2021 T2. Wilcoxon rank test was conducted to investigate technology enthusiasm, technology anxiety, and how they changed with time. An Edwards Nunnally index was then calculated for both variables to observe a significant change in score from T1 to T2. Mann Whitney U test was used to investigate the variables sex and health status with technology anxiety & technology enthusiasm in T1 & T2. Age, Cognitive function MMSE, and digital social participation were investigated through a Kruskall-Wallis test. A logistic regression was conducted with the significant variable. Results: Between 2019-2021, change in technology enthusiasm was based on less digital social participation (OR: 0.608; CI 95%: 0.476- 0.792). Technology anxiety was significantly higher due to age (OR: 1.086, CI 95%: 1.035-1.139) and less digital social participation (OR: 0.684; CI 95%: 0.522- 0.895). The want for online healthcare consultations was popular but usage was low. Conclusion: Staying active on- line and participating digitally may be a way to reduce digital ageism. However, digital ageism is a complex phenomenon, which requires different solutions in order to include older people and reduce an inaccurate categorisation of this group in the digital society.
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| 11. |
- Berner, Jessica, et al.
(författare)
-
Technology anxiety and technology enthusiasm versus digital ageism
- 2022
-
Ingår i: Gerontechnology. - : International Society for Gerontechnology. - 1569-1101 .- 1569-111X. ; 21:1
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background: Europe has called attention to the importance of the e-inclusion of older adults. Society is indicating that the developers, websites, and devices are causing age bias in technology. This affects living independently, the values of ethical principles associated with an older person, and digital ageism: which is an age-related bias in artificial intelligence systems. Objective: This research attempts to investigate the instrument technology anxiety and enthusiasm, and assistive technology devices during the period 2019-2021. This instrument may be a way to redress misconceptions about digital ageism. The assistive technology device that we will investigate in this study is the adoption of a service that is designed for online health consultations. Method: The participants are part of the longitudinal Swedish National Study on Aging and Care. Technology anxiety and technology enthusiasm are two factors, which aim to measure technophilia (vs technophobia) in older adults. The age range is 63 -99 years of age in 2019 T1 and 66 -101 in 2021 T2. Wilcoxon rank test was conducted to investigate technology enthusiasm, technology anxiety, and how they changed with time. An Edwards Nunnally index was then calculated for both variables to observe a significant change in score from T1 to T2. Mann Whitney U test was used to investigate the variables sex and health status with technology anxiety & technology enthusiasm in T1 & T2. Age, Cognitive function MMSE, and digital social participation were investigated through a Kruskall-Wallis test. A logistic regression was conducted with the significant variable. Results: Between 2019-2021, change in technology enthusiasm was based on less digital social participation (OR: 0.608; CI 95%: 0.476-0.792). Technology anxiety was significantly higher due to age (OR: 1.086, CI 95%: 1.035-1.139) and less digital social participation (OR: 0.684; CI 95%: 0.522-0.895). The want for online healthcare consultations was popular but usage was low. Conclusion: Staying active online and participating digitally may be a way to reduce digital ageism. However, digital ageism is a complex phenomenon, which requires different solutions in order to include older people and reduce an inaccurate categorisation of this group in the digital society © 2022,Gerontechnology. All Rights Reserved.
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| 12. |
- Birkhofer, Klaus, et al.
(författare)
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General Relationships between Abiotic Soil Properties and Soil Biota across Spatial Scales and Different Land-Use Types.
- 2012
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Ingår i: PLoS ONE. - : Public Library of Science (PLoS). - 1932-6203. ; 7:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Very few principles have been unraveled that explain the relationship between soil properties and soil biota across large spatial scales and different land-use types. Here, we seek these general relationships using data from 52 differently managed grassland and forest soils in three study regions spanning a latitudinal gradient in Germany. We hypothesize that, after extraction of variation that is explained by location and land-use type, soil properties still explain significant proportions of variation in the abundance and diversity of soil biota. If the relationships between predictors and soil organisms were analyzed individually for each predictor group, soil properties explained the highest amount of variation in soil biota abundance and diversity, followed by land-use type and sampling location. After extraction of variation that originated from location or land-use, abiotic soil properties explained significant amounts of variation in fungal, meso- and macrofauna, but not in yeast or bacterial biomass or diversity. Nitrate or nitrogen concentration and fungal biomass were positively related, but nitrate concentration was negatively related to the abundances of Collembola and mites and to the myriapod species richness across a range of forest and grassland soils. The species richness of earthworms was positively correlated with clay content of soils independent of sample location and land-use type. Our study indicates that after accounting for heterogeneity resulting from large scale differences among sampling locations and land-use types, soil properties still explain significant proportions of variation in fungal and soil fauna abundance or diversity. However, soil biota was also related to processes that act at larger spatial scales and bacteria or soil yeasts only showed weak relationships to soil properties. We therefore argue that more general relationships between soil properties and soil biota can only be derived from future studies that consider larger spatial scales and different land-use types.
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| 13. |
- Ghazi, Sarah Nauman, 1989-, et al.
(författare)
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The prevalence of eHealth literacy and its relationship with perceived health status and psychological distress during Covid-19 : a cross-sectional study of older adults in Blekinge, Sweden
- 2023
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Ingår i: BMC Geriatrics. - : BioMed Central (BMC). - 1471-2318. ; 23:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Background and aims: eHealth literacy is important as it influences health-promoting behaviors and health. The ability to use eHealth resources is essential to maintaining health, especially during COVID-19 when both physical and psychological health were affected. This study aimed to assess the prevalence of eHealth literacy and its association with psychological distress and perceived health status among older adults in Blekinge, Sweden. Furthermore, this study aimed to assess if perceived health status influences the association between eHealth literacy and psychological distress. Methods: This cross-sectional study (October 2021-December 2021) included 678 older adults’ as participants of the Swedish National Study on Aging and Care, Blekinge (SNAC-B). These participants were sent questionnaires about their use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) during the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, we conducted the statistical analysis using the Kruskal-Wallis one-way analysis of variance, Kendall’s tau-b rank correlation, and multiple linear regression. Results: We found that 68.4% of the participants had moderate to high levels of eHealth literacy in the population. Being female, age < 75 years, and having a higher education are associated with high eHealth literacy (p< 0.05). eHealth literacy is significantly correlated (τ=0.12, p-value=0.002) and associated with perceived health status (β=0.39, p-value=0.008). It is also significantly correlated (τ=-0.12, p-value=0.001) and associated with psychological distress (β=-0.14, p-value=0.002). The interaction of eHealth literacy and good perceived health status reduced psychological distress (β=-0.30, p-value=0.002). Conclusions: In our cross-sectional study, we found that the point prevalence of eHealth literacy among older adults living in Blekinge, Sweden is moderate to high, which is a positive finding. However, there are still differences among older adults based on factors such as being female, younger than 75 years, highly educated, in good health, and without psychological distress. The results indicated that psychological distress could be mitigated during the pandemic by increasing eHealth literacy and maintaining good health status.
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| 14. |
- Gleisner, Jenny
(författare)
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Negotiating the Normal Birth : Norms and Emotions in Midwifery Education
- 2013
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Doktorsavhandling (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- Pregnancies and childbirths are not just biological or medical events. Childbirths are also emotionally intense situations, not only for the parents-to-be but also for those who work in delivery care. In addition, pregnancies and childbirths are sociocultural situations; there are norms regarding the normal birth.The study investigates how future midwives learn about the interactive and emotional work involved in supporting women in delivery care. It focuses on norms about the normal birthing trajectory and on how a midwife should encounter patients’ feelings and handle her own feelings in a “proper” way. Based on observations of collaborative group discussions within Swedish universitybased midwifery education, the study shows how students negotiate the appropriate feeling norms in normal birth, as well as in complicated and even tragic situations. In focus are their discussions on how to support the birthing women, their partners, and the babies, and the categorization work needed to recognize potential deviations from the normal birth. The study is based on a situated learning perspective on education, and combines sociological and anthropological approaches to emotions to elucidate how students within midwifery education negotiate the professional handling of normal and complicated births and the attendant feeling norms.
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| 15. |
- Moraes, Ana Luiza Dallora, et al.
(författare)
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Deriving learning outcomes for an applied health technology course for PhD students
- 2024
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Ingår i: Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education. - : Malmö Universitet. - 2004-4097. ; 5:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (övrigt vetenskapligt/konstnärligt)abstract
- This study discusses the initial stage of development of a PhD course within the field of Applied Health Technology (AHT), in a multi-professional and transdisciplinary environment. The research aimed to align stakeholders' and PhD graduates' perspectives in order to create learning outcomes for a proposed AHT course. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with stakeholders and graduates of the programme, and the results were analysed using a qualitative content analysis method. The identified themes related to AHT perspectives, issues with working with AHT projects, programme goals, and course goals. These guided the creation of four strategically aligned learning outcomes for the proposed course.
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| 16. |
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