Author supplied: Abstract How can you provide health clubs with the possibility of offering innovative and differentiating services in an increasingly competitive and rapidly changing environment? This was the issue raised by the Dutch health club industry, which has grown rapidly in recent years. To this end, we conducted extensive research in order to understand the needs of customers and flesh out a customer-driven marketing approach. As the most frequently used models and methods in marketing do not respond to the demands of small businesses, we adapted emerging generative-user research methods from the field of design. We demonstrate how we combined qualitative design research with quantitative customer research in a study for the health club industry. Finally, we discuss how the approach prompted new insights in the context of small business in the service sector through multidisciplinary collaboration. DOI: 10.1504/IJTMKT.2015.070647 http://www.inderscienceonline.com/doi/abs/10.1504/IJTMKT.2015.070647
Introduction: With a shift in healthcare from diagnosis-centered to human- and interprofessional-centered work, allied health professionals (AHPs) may encounter dilemmas in daily work because of discrepancies between values of learned professional protocols and their personal values, the latter being a component of the personal dimension. The personal dimension can be defined as a set of personal components that have a substantial impact on professional identity. In this study, we aim to improve the understanding of the role played by the personal dimension, by answering the following research question: What is known about the personal dimension of the professional identity of AHPs in (allied) health literature? Methods: In the scoping review, databases, CINAHL, ERIC, Medline, PubMed, and PsychINFO were searched for studies focusing on what is regarded as ‘the personal dimension of professional identity’ of AHPs in the health literature; 81 out of 815 articles were included and analyzed in this scoping review. A varying degree of attention for the personal dimension within the various allied health professions was observed. Result: After analysis, we introduce the concept of four aspects in the personal dimension of AHPs. We explain how these aspects overlap to some degree and feed into each other. The first aspect encompasses characteristics like gender, age, nationality, and ethnicity. The second aspect consists of the life experiences of the professional. The third involves character traits related to resilience and virtues. The fourth aspect, worldview, is formed by the first three aspects and consists of the core beliefs and values of AHPs, paired with personal norms. Discussion: These four aspects are visualized in a conceptual model that aims to make AHPs more aware of their own personal dimension, as well as the personal dimension of their colleagues intra- and interprofessionally. It is recommended that more research be carried out to examine how the personal dimension affects allied health practice.
LINK
Expectations are high for digital technologies to address sustainability related challenges. While research into such applications and the twin transformation is growing rapidly, insights in the actual daily practices of digital sustainability within organizations is lacking. This is problematic as the contributions of digital tools to sustainability goals gain shape in organizational practices. To bridge this gap, we develop a theoretical perspective on digital sustainability practices based on practice theory, with an emphasis on the concept of sociomateriality. We argue that connecting meanings related to sustainability with digital technologies is essential to establish beneficial practices. Next, we contend that the meaning of sustainability is contextspecific, which calls for a local meaning making process. Based on our theoretical exploration we develop an empirical research agenda.
MULTIFILE
The seaweed aquaculture sector, aimed at cultivation of macroalgal biomass to be converted into commercial applications, can be placed within a sustainable and circular economy framework. This bio-based sector has the potential to aid the European Union meet multiple EU Bioeconomy Strategy, EU Green Deal and Blue Growth Strategy objectives. Seaweeds play a crucial ecological role within the marine environment and provide several ecosystem services, from the take up of excess nutrients from surrounding seawater to oxygen production and potentially carbon sequestration. Sea lettuce, Ulva spp., is a green seaweed, growing wild in the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea. Sea lettuce has a high nutritional value and is a promising source for food, animal feed, cosmetics and more. Sea lettuce, when produced in controlled conditions like aquaculture, can supplement our diet with healthy and safe proteins, fibres and vitamins. However, at this moment, Sea lettuce is hardly exploited as resource because of its unfamiliarity but also lack of knowledge about its growth cycle, its interaction with microbiota and eventually, possible applications. Even, it is unknown which Ulva species are available for aquaculture (algaculture) and how these species can contribute to a sustainable aquaculture biomass production. The AQULVA project aims to investigate which Ulva species are available in the North Sea and Wadden Sea which can be utilised in onshore aquaculture production. Modern genomic, microbiomic and metabolomic profiling techniques alongside ecophysiological production research must reveal suitable Ulva selections with high nutritional value for sustainable onshore biomass production. Selected Ulva spp lines will be used for production of healthy and safe foods, anti-aging cosmetics and added value animal feed supplements for dairy farming. This applied research is in cooperation with a network of SME’s, Research Institutes and Universities of Applied Science and is liaised with EU initiatives like the EU-COST action “SeaWheat”.
Dutch society faces major future challenges putting populations’ health and wellbeing at risk. An ageing population, increase of chronic diseases, multimorbidity and loneliness lead to more complex healthcare demands and needs and costs are increasing rapidly. Urban areas like Amsterdam have to meet specific challenges of a growing and super divers population often with a migration background. The bachelor programs and the relating research groups of social work and occupational therapy at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences innovate their curricula and practice-oriented research by multidisciplinary and cross-domain approaches. Their Centres of Expertise foster interprofessional research and educational innovation on the topics of healthy ageing, participation, daily occupations, positive health, proximity, community connectedness and urban innovation in a social context. By focusing on senior citizens’ lives and by organizing care in peoples own living environment. Together with their networks, this project aims to develop an innovative health promotion program and contribute to the government missions to promote a healthy and inclusive society. Collaboration with stakeholders in practice based on their urgent needs has priority in the context of increasing responsibilities of local governments and communities. Moreover, the government has recently defined social base as being the combination of citizen initiatives, volunteer organizations , caregivers support, professional organizations and support of vulnerable groups. Kraktie Foundations is a community based ethno-cultural organization in south east Amsterdam that seeks to research and expand their informal services to connect with and build with professional care organizations. Their aim coincides with this project proposal: promoting health and wellbeing of senior citizens by combining intervention, participatory research and educational perspectives from social work, occupational therapy and hidden voluntary social work. With a boundary crossing innovation of participatory health research, education and Kraktie’s work in the community we co-create, change and innovate towards sustainable interventions with impact.
Door COVID-19 crisis zijn er extra uitdagingen om de verdere doorontwikkeling van het praktijkgerichte onderzoek en de onderliggende infrastructuur en professionalisering kwalitatief en kwantitatief te realiseren. De Hogeschool van Arnhem en Nijmegen (HAN) zet de IMPULS 2020 middelen in om de rol van het praktijkgericht onderzoek hierin te bestendigen en versterken. Het betreft een academie overstijgende aanvraag. Het beschikbare budget vanuit de regeling bedraagt 550.000 euro en zal in 2021 via twee lijnen worden ingezet: 1. Netwerk- en visievorming Dit richt zich op de versterking van de strategische netwerkvorming en samenhang overstijgend aan de zwaartepunten als focus gebieden voor de samenwerking onderwijs, onderzoek en werkveld (deels is hier aandacht voor de ontwikkeling en samenwerking bij regelingen als SPRONG of MMIP). Dit moet leiden tot het ontwikkelen van een meerjarige roadmap SLIM, SCHOON & SOCIAAL (S3). De regie ligt bij dit deel bij het zwaartepunt management. (Sustainable Energy & Environment (SEE), Smart Region en Health). 2. Professionalisering onderzoeksondersteuning Dit gedeelte betreft het vervolg op het project professionalisering onderzoeksondersteuning en richt zich (in lijn met het nationale project DCC) op de doorontwikkeling van: datastewardship, FAIR data & open access, ICT kennisinfrastructuur en communicatie rondom onderzoek en ondersteuning, verdere ontwikkeling van een Open Science Platform en voorbereiding op een HAN Open Access Fonds. Dit deel zal vanuit Services Onderwijs, Onderzoek en Kwaliteitszorg gecoördineerd worden. Middels deze inzet geeft de HAN een extra stimulans aan de strategische samenwerking en de verdere ontwikkeling van een consistente en herkenbare onderzoeksprogrammering en -ondersteuning.
