Background: Due to multimorbidity and geriatric problems, older people often require both psychosocial and medical care. Collaboration between medical and social professionals is a prerequisite to deliver high-quality care for community-living older people. Effective, safe, and person-centered care relies on skilled interprofessional collaboration and practice. Little is known about interprofessional education to increase interprofessional collaboration in practice (IPCP) in the context of community care for older people. This study examines the feasibility of the implementation of an IPCP program in three community districts and determines its potential to increase interprofessional collaboration between primary healthcare professionals caring for older people. Method: A feasibility study was conducted to determine the acceptability and feasibility of data collection and analysis regarding interprofessional collaboration in network development. A questionnaire was used to measure the learning experience and the acquisition of knowledge and skills regarding the program. Network development was assessed by distributing a social network survey among professionals attending the program as well as professionals not attending the program at baseline and 5.5 months after. Network development was determined by calculating the number, reciprocity, value, and diversity of contacts between professionals using social network analysis. Results: The IPCP program was found to be instructive and the knowledge and skills gained were applicable in practice. Social network analysis was feasible to conduct and revealed a spill-over effect regarding network development. Program participants, as well as non-program participants, had larger, more reciprocal, and more diverse interprofessional networks than they did before the program. Conclusions: This study showed the feasibility of implementing an IPCP program in terms of acceptability, feasibility of data collection, and social network analysis to measure network development, and indicated potential to increase interprofessional collaboration between primary healthcare professionals. Both program participants and non-program participants developed a larger, more collaborative, and diverse interprofessional network.
Professional development of teacher educators is an important topic, because teacher educators need to maintain and enhance their expertise in order to educate our future teachers (Kools & Koster, n.d. ; Dengerink, Lunenberg & Kools, 2015). How do teacher educators fulfil this task, especially within the hectic timeframe of everyday work? I asked four colleges to participate in a group to share their experiences, actions or behaviour in the organisation about their development in their profession of being a teacher educator. My purpose is to bring awareness and movement into that group. My research focusses on teacher educators in a large teacher education department in the Netherlands and the opportunities for action available to them. During this study we are currently creating a learning environment in which mutual cooperation increases the learning potential of all participants. In this group participants take or make time to learn, giving words to their scopes . Researcher and participants discuss and explore on the basis of equality, reciprocity and mutual understanding. By deploying methods borrowed from ‘Appreciative Inquiry’(Massenlink et al., 2008) the enthusiasm of a study group is raised and the intrinsic motivation of the participants stimulated. Our study group will convene three times. Its goal is to stimulate cooperation among teacher educators through optimisation of existing qualities, a method that could be described as empowerment, or a process of collective reinforcement ‘To learn’ involves experiencing that what one does really matters, as well as developing one’s own persona in the local community. Intervention, action, reflection and study group meetings alternate in the course of our research. In addition to audio and video recordings, data consists of reports drawn up on the basis of member checks. Data is analysed qualitatively by coding the interview texts and reports. After applying the codes, the researcher discusses the coding in a research group and with the participants of the study group (membercheck). Working collaboratively can offer learning challenges that catalyse growth as a professional, teacher educators become acquainted and approach each other from the perspective of their respective professional and functional responsibilities. This study offers perspectives for other teacher educators to recognize these possibilities in their own situation. Moreover the study offers a description of a way to organise collegial exchange. The research is related to the RDC professional development of teacher educators.
Dutch citizens on welfare have to volunteer at Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) in return for their benefits. Through applying the ‘worlds of justification’ of Boltanski and Thévenot, this article aims to provide a better theoretical and empirical understanding of social justice of policies that obligate welfare clients to participate in CSOs. The analysis of 51 in-depth interviews with Dutch welfare recipients shows that respondents perceive these policies partly but not unilaterally as unfair. If respondents perceive welfare as ‘free money’ and if they are convinced that civic behavior demands interventions against free riding on welfare resources, ‘mandatory volunteering’ is considered as fair. Our main contribution is to the theoretical debate on recognition and redistribution by showing empirically how ‘othering’ plays an important role in determining when mandatory volunteering becomes a matter of redistribution or recognition.
De productie van bouwmaterialen veroorzaakt ca. 11% van de wereldwijde CO2 uitstoot. Een groot aandeel hierin heeft beton: De voor verharding benodigde chemische reacties van cement veroorzaken naar schatting 6% van de mondiale uitstoot. Om in 2050 een circulaire economie te helpen bereiken is een belangrijke strategie om middels nieuwe recepturen beton te gebruiken met lagere CO2-emissie gecombineerd met 3D-printen. Voordeel van 3D-printen is dat materiaal aangebracht wordt daar waar nodig. Dat is efficiënter dan betonstorten in bekistingen. Ecocem heeft in een labomgeving een receptuur ontwikkeld met lagere CO2-emissie dan conventioneel Portlandcement: ‘CO2-arm’ cement. De receptuur is gebaseerd op gebruik van staalslakken. Een nadeel is echter dat staalslakken minder reactief zijn, hetgeen van invloed is op belangrijke eigenschappen bij de verwerking in beton, zoals vloeibaarheid en uitharding. Voor succesvolle toepassing van een ‘CO2-arme’ receptuur is een goede verwerkbaarheid essentieel. Het ontbreekt echter aan ervaring hoe recepturen voor ‘CO2-arm’ beton gecombineerd kunnen worden met 3D-printen voor het verkrijgen van gewenste producteigenschappen. Op basis van reacties van potentiële afnemers geeft betoncentrale Rouwmaat aan dat deze tekortkoming mogelijke doorbraak van 3D-betonprinten benadeelt. Saxion lectoraat Industrial Design heeft door experimenten met additive manufacturing van beton veel ervaring in onderzoek naar de wisselwerking tussen materiaalsamenstelling, proceseigenschappen en toepassingsmogelijk¬heden en beschikt over een 3D-betonprintlab. Gebaseerd op een casestudy voor fabricage van buitenornamenten (van Creastone) onderzoekt dit project daarom hoe variaties in receptuur van ‘CO2-arm’ beton gecombineerd met 3D-printen eigenschappen zoals sterkte, draagkracht en dichtheid beïnvloeden. Het beoogde resultaat zijn ‘CO2-arme’ betonrecepturen met bijbehorende procesbeschrijving voor toepassingen met gewenste materiaaleigenschappen. Deze kennis is noodzakelijk om ‘CO2-arm’ beton materiaalefficiënt toe te kunnen passen. Doordat de partners deel uitmaken van de bouwsector Oost-Nederland is de verwachting dat een succesvol project een hefboomeffect heeft voor adoptie van ‘CO2-arm’ beton in de praktijk.
