The Sport Empowers Disabled Youth 2 (SEDY2) project encourages inclusion and equal opportunities in sport for youth with a disability by raising their sports and exercise participation in inclusive settings. This SEDY2 Inclusive (Online) Focus Group Guidance aimed to develop an easy-to-use guidance document on how to deliver inclusive focus groups to attain the authentic views, wishes and feelings of children and youth with a disability about inclusion in sport in practice. This guidance document was produced in order to support other practitioners in conducting inclusive focus groups. The focus group guidance can easily be adapted to cover other topics and can also be used effectively with all (young) people.
DOCUMENT
Smart glasses were perceived to be potentially revolutionary for healthcare, however, there is only limited research on the acceptance and social implications of smart glasses in healthcare. This study aims to get a better insight into the theoretical foundations and the purpose was to identify themes regarding adoption, mediation, and the use of smart glasses from the perspective of healthcare professionals. A qualitative research design with focus groups was used to collect data. Three focus groups with 22 participants were conducted. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Our analysis revealed six overarching themes related to the anticipated adoption of smart glasses: knowledge, innovativeness, use cases, ethical issues, persuasion, and attitude. Nine themes were found related to anticipated mediation and use of smart glasses: attention, emotions, social influences, design, context, camera use, risks, comparisons to known products, and expected reaction and might influence the acceptance of smart glasses.
MULTIFILE
Smart glasses were perceived to be potentially revolutionary for healthcare, however, there is only limited research on the acceptance and social implications of smart glasses in healthcare. This study aims to get a better insight into the theoretical foundations and the purpose was to identify themes regarding adoption, mediation, and the use of smart glasses from the perspective of healthcare professionals. A qualitative research design with focus groups was used to collect data. Three focus groups with 22 participants were conducted. Data were analyzed using content analysis. Our analysis revealed six overarching themes related to the anticipated adoption of smart glasses: knowledge, innovativeness, use cases, ethical issues, persuasion, and attitude. Nine themes were found related to anticipated mediation and use of smart glasses: attention, emotions, social influences, design, context, camera use, risks, comparisons to known products, and expected reaction and might influence the acceptance of smart glasses.
MULTIFILE
Physical rehabilitation programs revolve around the repetitive execution of exercises since it has been proven to lead to better rehabilitation results. Although beginning the motor (re)learning process early is paramount to obtain good recovery outcomes, patients do not normally see/experience any short-term improvement, which has a toll on their motivation. Therefore, patients find it difficult to stay engaged in seemingly mundane exercises, not only in terms of adhering to the rehabilitation program, but also in terms of proper execution of the movements. One way in which this motivation problem has been tackled is to employ games in the rehabilitation process. These games are designed to reward patients for performing the exercises correctly or regularly. The rewards can take many forms, for instance providing an experience that is engaging (fun), one that is aesthetically pleasing (appealing visual and aural feedback), or one that employs gamification elements such as points, badges, or achievements. However, even though some of these serious game systems are designed together with physiotherapists and with the patients’ needs in mind, many of them end up not being used consistently during physical rehabilitation past the first few sessions (i.e. novelty effect). Thus, in this project, we aim to 1) Identify, by means of literature reviews, focus groups, and interviews with the involved stakeholders, why this is happening, 2) Develop a set of guidelines for the successful deployment of serious games for rehabilitation, and 3) Develop an initial implementation process and ideas for potential serious games. In a follow-up application, we intend to build on this knowledge and apply it in the design of a (set of) serious game for rehabilitation to be deployed at one of the partners centers and conduct a longitudinal evaluation to measure the success of the application of the deployment guidelines.
Single-Use Plastics (SUPs) are at the centre of European Union Agenda aiming at reducing the plastic soup with the EU Directive 2019/904. SUPs reduction is pivotal also in the Dutch Government Agenda for the transition to a Circular Economy by 2050. Worldwide the data on SUPs use and disposal are impressive: humans use around 1.2 million plastic bottles per minute; approximately 91% of plastic is not recycled (www.earthday.org/fact-sheet-single-use-plastics/). While centralised processes of waste collection, disposal, and recycling strive to cope with such intense use of SUPs, the opportunities and constraints of establishing a networked grid of facilities enacting processes of SUPs collection and recycling with the active involvement of local community has remained unexplored. The hospitality sector is characterised by a widespread capillary network of small hospitality firms nested in neighbourhoods and rural communities. Our research group works with small hospitality firms, different stakeholders, and other research groups to prompt the transition of the hospitality sector towards a Circular Economy embracing not only the environmental and economic dimensions but also the social dimension. Hence, this project explores the knowledge and network needed to build an innovative pilot allowing to close the plastic loop within a hospitality facility by combining a 3D printing process with social inclusiveness. This will mean generating key technical and legal knowledge as well as a network of strategic experts and stakeholders to be involved in an innovative pilot setting a 3D printing process in a hospitality facility and establishing an active involvement of the local community. Such active involvement of the local inhabitants will be explored as SUPs collectors and end-users of upcycled plastics items realised with the 3D printer, as well as through opportunities of vocational training and job opportunities for citizens distant from the job market.
The impacts of tourism on destinations and the perceptions of local communities have been a major concern both for the industry and research in the past decades. However, tourism planning has been mainly focused on traditions that promote the increase of tourism without taking under consideration the wellbeing of both residents and visitors. To develop a more sustainable tourism model, the inclusion of local residents in tourism decision-making is vital. However, this is not always possible due to structural, economic and socio-cultural restrictions that residents face resulting to their disempowerment. This study aims to explore and interpret the formal processes around tourism decision-making and community empowerment in urban settings. The research proposes a comparative study of three urban destinations in Europe (The Hague in the Netherlands, San Sebastian in Spain and, Ioannina in Greece) that experience similar degree of tourism growth. The proposed study will use a design-based approach in order to understand tourism decision-making and what empowers or disempowers community participation within the destinations. Based on the findings of primary and secondary data, a community empowerment model will be applied in one the destinations as a pilot for resident engagement in tourism planning. The evaluation of the pilot will allow for an optimized model to be created with implications for tourism planning at a local level that can contribute to sustainable destinations that safeguard the interests of local residents and tourists.
