As is often reported in the literature exploring the research-practice gap, applying the principles of evidence-based practice is easier said than done. Action research is a methodology with an explicit intent of linking the worlds of research and practice. This review attempts to answer the question: What is known about implementing evidence-based practice in nursing through action research? APPROACH: A total of 21 action research studies have been used to answer this question. To prevent possible confusion over terminology, we used a conceptual framework that distinguishes various influencing factors in terms of four target groups (ranging from the individual end user to society as a whole) at whom the strategy is aimed and various strategies (ranging from individual feedback to contracting care providers) related to the same four target groups. FINDINGS: Studies often failed to name the implementation strategies applied, necessitating deduction from the text by the reader. In most of the studies the implementation strategy was directed at a combination of target groups. Many of the projects reviewed reported positive contextual outcomes, "knowledge improvement" among nurses, and to a lesser degree, improved "performance." Patient outcomes were the least reported outcome measure. CONCLUSION: With an element of caution, this review concludes that the implementation of evidence-based practice using action research is a promising approach. Caution is needed because of the lack of detailed descriptions of implementation strategies, and their intensity and frequency prevents us from drawing firm conclusions. These are important considerations for any action researcher intending to implement EBP using this approach.
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This paper presents an approach to organizational research that aims to produce research results that are both relevant and rigorous. The research approach combines the designing of a management tool with the testing of the tool using an action research methodology. The lack of relevance in organizational research is a much debated issue in literature. A design approach has been proposed to help bridge the gap between research and practice. However, in organizational research, there is little empirical evidence how design-based research works in practice and it is unclear how this type of research is best structured. The purpose of the paper is to illustrate what a comprehensive methodology for design-based research can look like and how an action research methodology can be used to test the design in practice.
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Dutch prevocational secondary schools are reforming their educational programmes to make them more competence-based. This reform has substantial implications for the roles played by teachers. Yet, little empirical research has been conducted on teachers' processes of competence development in vocational settings. This study explores teachers' individual action theories regarding the introduction of competence-based prevocational secondary education. The cognitive apprenticeship model provides a conceptual framework for addressing this issue. The research questions addressed here are: How do teachers value elements of the cognitive apprenticeship model in designing and delivering competence-based prevocational secondary education?, and, What individual action theories do teachers have regarding competence-based prevocational secondary education? The study was designed in two phases. In the qualitative phase, interviews and concept map techniques were used, while the quantitative phase employed a questionnaire. Teachers valued elements of the cognitive apprenticeship model differently, and suggested two additional features: a custommade educational approach and the professionalisation of teachers.
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This thesis describes an Action Research (AR) project aimed at the implementation of Evidence Based Practice in a mental health nursing setting in the Netherlands. The main research question addressed in this thesis is: In what way is Action Research with an empowering appropriate to implement Evidence Based Practice in a mental health nursing setting in the Netherlands and what is the effect of this implementation on the care experienced by the client, the nursing interventions and the context in this setting compared to a comparative setting? To answer this main research question, the following questions derived from it were addressed: What is Evidence Based Practice? What is known about implementing evidence-based practice in nursing through Action Research? Which factors have to be dealt with in a mental health nursing setting, so the implementation of EBP with AR with an empowering intent will be more successful? Which factors have to be dealt with in a mental health nursing setting, so the implementation of EBP with AR with an empowering intent will be successful? How is EBP implemented through AR with an empowering intent and what are the outcomes for the use of evidence, the context and the facilitation in the setting? What is the effect of the implementation of EBP in mental health nursing using AR with an empowering intent on the care experienced by the client, the nursing interventions and the context compared to a comparison setting? The first two questions were answered by a search of the literature while the remaining questions were answered during the AR study conducted in two mental health organisations in the Netherlands.
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This paper provides insights into the operational features of community-based financing mechanisms. These include CAF groups, which are self-financed communities where people save and lend money to each other. The implementation of such self-financed communities in the Netherlands is supported by Participatory Action Research (PAR). This paper discusses the first results of this research by exploring whether and how participation of group members can improve their well-being with regard to social networks, financial household management and entrepreneurial positioning based on the capability approach of Amartya Sen, a well-known economist. For this PAR, three groups were formed, guided, observed, analysed and compared. This paper demonstrates how solidarity economy processes at the grassroots level can contribute to the general well-being of vulnerable people in the Netherlands. For the particular context of overconsumption, inequality and overindebtedness, Sen’s notion of freedom will be reconsidered and adjusted.
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Innovation seems to be the most important element of activities of companies to stay vital in a very competitive international market. Innovation is the process of developing products or services in an organisation for a market. Especially small and medium-sized companies, for which it is difficult to invest in innovation research and development, need to be provided with young professionals to help them make the right decisions on innovation development. At the moment higher professional education in the Netherlands is not preparing students enough as future professionals in SMEs, for the task if initiating and to developing innovations in these SME's. Therefore it is needed that higher professional education comprehensively implement these innovation competences in its curriculum. At the Fontys University of Applied Sciences in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, innovation has become an important element in teaching students innovation competences. In 2007/8 a pilot has been introduced the department of Engineering with first year students in a multidisciplinary and action-based setting. First year students of Mechanical and Electrical Engineering in a 5-credit programme try to find new patentable products. The outcome of this first try-out was that students realized the importance of innovation for the profession and they were eager to work in this innovative setting. Some adjustments in the education will be made as there are: timetable and project settings to timetables and schedules will have to be made.
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This paper describes a research about the changing role and competences of teachers and the willingness of the teachers to change. The researchers developed and conducted a survey at Fontys University of Applied Sciences department engineering to find out how teachers teach and how they would want to teach. The conclusion drawn from this research results in five subjects of attention: 1 To investigate new teaching competences 2 To investigate new teaching strategies 3 To develop collaborating professional environments for teachers 4 To develop a formal declaration of how companies can participate effectively in the process of the transition of youngsters to professional practitioners 5 To investigate how the organization should change their culture and structure towards a professional learning environment for students and teachers. The above mentioned items will be subject of further research in the coming study year. The main goal is to develop a business case or strategic plan on how to implement change in teaching engineering education.
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This paper investigates whether students change their entrepreneurial entry preference if they are presented with different options. We propose that students’ entry preferences are mediated by concepts proposed by threshold theory: choice options, opportunity costs and psychic income. This study is exploratory in nature, analyzing a small sample of 31 student essays both quantitatively and qualitatively to test our propositions. Though lacking a control group, enrolment in a six-week module on entry mode options by a group of third year Bachelor students at a Dutch university resulted in some interesting changes—in particular, toward greater clarity in the entrepreneurial entry mode preference as well as a shift toward takeover options (including firm acquisition and family succession). However, thematic analysis of students essays reveals that the perceived ability to act on such preferences may still be limited by opportunity costs (i.e., the higher need for financial capital) and a self-perceived lack of human capital (entrepreneurial or management experience).
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In Amsterdam, just like in 87 % of all municipalities in the Netherlands, integrated neighbourhood teams have been installed as an answer to the reform of the welfare state. During the last decade, the social domain has gone through its strongest change since 1945. Transitions by new national acts and policies have gone hand in hand with decentralisation, which has transferred most responsibilities in the social domain to municipalities, accompanied by less financial means. On the local level, these changes have been translated by municipalities into policies, responsibilities, interventions, and a repertoire that requires strong changes in the professional behaviour of all stakeholders. One of the newly implemented practices consists of interdisciplinary neighbourhood teams focussed on empowerment of people or families who are dealing with multiple challenges in their lives. Professionals from elder care, youth care, community development, and welfare organisations need to collaborate while they attempt to reconcile various professional perspectives on a specific problematic situation. At the same time, there is a shift for many professionals from solving problems for clients towards empowering the clients to solve problems themselves, based on their own strengths or their network. Most of the structural transitions and implementations might be finished; however, the transformation in professional behaviour following these changes, is just starting to develop. Despite a series of training courses in various methods, the Amsterdam neighbourhood team professionals strongly felt a need to deepen their experiences with situations in which the contact with a client or family had somehow stagnated.
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Young people spend a large part of their day sedentary, both at school and at home. The aim of the PlayFit project is to persuade teenagers to lead a more active lifestyle by using digital as well as non-digital games and play. In this position paper, we describe in detail the three key principles of our vision concerning the design of game-based interventions for stimulating physical activity: playful persuasion, ambient action and play profiles. In our vision teenagers take part in playful activities and games throughout the day. In these activities, casual action is inherent to the fun experience, thus reducing teenagers' sedentary behavior. Relevant information about their activities and preferences is stored in a personal play profile, which affects the games they play and through which they can communicate to their peers. We illustrate this vision by means of several innovative game concepts.
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