E-Exercise is an effective 12-week blended intervention consisting of around five face-to-face physiotherapy sessions and a web-based application for patients with hip/knee osteoarthritis. In order to facilitate effective implementation of e-Exercise, this study aims to identify physiotherapists' experiences and determinants related to the usage of e-Exercise. Methods: An explanatory sequential mixed methods design embedded in a randomized controlled trial comparing e-Exercise with usual physiotherapy in patients with hip/knee osteoarthritis. Usage of e-Exercise was based on recruitment rates of 123 physiotherapists allocated to e-Exercise and objective web-based application usage data. Experiences and determinants related to e-Exercise usage were investigated with a questionnaire and clarified with semi-structured interviews. Results: Of the 123 physiotherapists allocated to e-Exercise, 54 recruited more than one eligible patient, of whom 10 physiotherapists continued using e-Exercise after the study period. Physiotherapists had mixed experiences with e-Exercise. Determinants related to intervention usage were appropriateness, added value, time, workload, professional autonomy, environmental factors, and financial consequences. Physiotherapists recommended to improve the ability to tailor e-Exercise to the individual needs of the patient patients' individual needs. Discussion: Determinants related to the usage of e-Exercise provided valuable information for the implementation of e-Exercise on broader scale. Most importantly, the flexibility of e-Exercise needs to be improved. Next, there is a need for education on how to integrate an online program within physiotherapy
BACKGROUND: Healthcare professionals in the hospital setting frequently assume primary caregiving responsibilities, which often leads family members to perceive this as standard practice during hospitalization. This dynamic may create a gap between actual and desired levels of family involvement. The aim of this study is to explore the opinions of families about their involvement in care during the hospitalization of a relative.METHODS: A sequential explanatory mixed-method study design was used, where quantitative data collection is followed by qualitative data collection for a deeper understanding of the quantitative findings. Data were collected between November 2023 and April 2024 across 15 wards in a university hospital in the north of the Netherlands. 153 family members of hospitalized patients completed the adapted Families' Importance in Nursing Care-Families' Opinions questionnaire, providing valuable quantitative data. Twenty-three of these family members were subsequently interviewed to gather qualitative insights. Data were analyzed sequentially, with the quantitative results guiding qualitative data collection. The two types of data were integrated to draw comprehensive conclusions about the significance of family involvement during hospitalization. The study adhered to the guidelines of the Good Reporting of A Mixed Method Study (GRAMMS).RESULTS: The questionnaire scores indicate a high willingness for involvement in care during hospitalization. Subsequent in-depth interviews led to the development of a model demonstrating that this involvement is sequentially related to the themes of acknowledgement, alignment, and collaboration.CONCLUSIONS: Family members expressed a need to be acknowledged by healthcare professionals as partners in care. Role agreements and information sharing during hospital care should be aligned to achieve effective collaboration between family members and healthcare professionals.
OBJECTIVE: Loneliness and social isolation are pressing issues that can seriously impact the mental health and well-being of older adults. Interacting with nature can stimulate a feeling of connectedness. However, for older adults, access to nature is often troublesome because of physical limitations and mobility restrictions.METHODS: In the present mixed-method study, 37 older adults (62-99 years old) with varying care needs and mobility restrictions watched a video presenting a walkthrough of a simulated digital nature landscape.RESULTS: Quantitative results show a significant increase in social connectedness scores and enhanced peacefulness after experiencing a digital nature. Qualitative results stress the importance of variations in nature scenery and highlight the influence of contextual and person-related factors including nature experiences throughout the life span and mobility constraints that older adults may face.CONCLUSION: These findings testify to the potential of using digital nature as a complementary strategy when interactions with outdoor nature become increasingly difficult due to old age.
Effectiveness of Supported Education for students with mental health problems, an experimental study.The onset of mental health problems generally occurs between the ages of 16 and 23 – the years in which young people follow postsecondary education, which is a major channel in ourso ciety to prepare for a career and enhance life goals. Several studies have shown that students with mental health problems have a higher chance of early school leaving. Supported Education services have been developed to support students with mental health to remain at school. The current project aims to study the effect of an individually tailored Supported Education intervention on educational and mental health outcomes of students with mental health problems at a university of applied sciences and a community college. To that end, a mixed methods design will be used. This design combines quantitative research (Randomized Controlled Trial) with qualitative research (focus groups, monitoring, interviews). 100 students recruited from the two educational institutes will be randomly allocated to either the intervention or control group.
In the coming decades, a substantial number of electric vehicle (EV) chargers need to be installed. The Dutch Climate Accord, accordingly, urges for preparation of regional-scale spatial programs with focus on transport infrastructure for three major metropolitan regions among them Amsterdam Metropolitan Area (AMA). Spatial allocation of EV chargers could be approached at two different spatial scales. At the metropolitan scale, given the inter-regional flow of cars, the EV chargers of one neighbourhood could serve visitors from other neighbourhoods during days. At the neighbourhood scale, EV chargers need to be allocated as close as possible to electricity substations, and within a walkable distance from the final destination of EV drivers during days and nights, i.e. amenities, jobs, and dwellings. This study aims to bridge the gap in the previous studies, that is dealing with only of the two scales, by conducting a two-phase study on EV infrastructure. At the first phase of the study, the necessary number of new EV chargers in 353 4-digit postcodes of AMA will be calculated. On the basis of the findings of the Phase 1, as a case study, EV chargers will be allocated at the candidate street parking locations in the Amsterdam West borough. The methods of the study are Mixed-integer nonlinear programming, accessibility and street pattern analysis. The study will be conducted on the basis of data of regional scale travel behaviour survey and the location of dwellings, existing chargers, jobs, amenities, and electricity substations.
Vanuit het werkveld bereiken Fontys Sporthogeschool (FSH) regelmatig vragen voor effectievere ondersteuning bij docentprofessionalisering van docenten Lichamelijke Opvoeding (LO). Deze zijn geconcretiseerd naar enkele breed gedeelde praktijk-vraagstellingen. Een innovatieve en veelbelovende methode voor docentprofessionalisering is Lesson Study (LS). Bij LS werken docenten samen aan het ontwerpen, uitvoeren en onderzoeken van een les. Deze aanpak voldoet aan kenmerken voor effectieve docentprofessionalisering zoals omschreven in de wetenschappelijke literatuur. Het is echter nog niet bekend of LS daadwerkelijk effectief is. Het consortium bestaande uit FSH, Universiteit Gent, Universiteit Utrecht, en de Academische Opleidingsscholen West-Brabant, Brabant Noord-Oost, Tilburg en Den Bosch, is daarom gekomen tot de volgende onderzoeksvragen: 1) Wat zijn de effecten van een workshop ‘motivationeel klimaat’ gevolgd door een begeleide lesson study op de vijf niveaus van doorwerking van Guskey (2000), in vergelijking met alleen een workshop? 2) Welke belemmeringen en succesfactoren kunnen er geïdentificeerd worden met betrekking tot het zelfstandig toepassen van de methode lesson study door docenten LO? 3) Hoe waarderen docenten LO en hun leidinggevenden de opbrengsten van de methode lesson study ten opzichte van de tijdsinvestering die deze vergt? In het onderzoek is sprake van een mixed-methods aanpak. De effecten (vraag 1) worden kwantitatief gemeten aan de hand van de niveaus van Guskey (2000) en vergeleken met een controlegroep van scholen die alleen een workshop krijgen. Vraag 2 en 3 worden kwalitatief onderzocht via focusgroepgesprekken (docenten) en semi-gestructureerde interviews (leidinggevenden). De opbrengsten van dit project zijn kennis met betrekking tot de effectiviteit en bruikbaarheid van LS voor docentprofessionalisering bij LO. Deze kennis wordt verspreid met nationale en internationale publicaties en presentaties. Voor het werkveld wordt tevens een symposium georganiseerd. De kennis zal niet alleen indalen in de lerarenopleiding LO van Fontys Sporthogeschool, maar LS zal bij gebleken effectiviteit ook in worden gezet als werkvorm voor LO-studenten die stagelopen.
