Online support communities are gaining attention among child-attracted persons (CAPs). Though research has largely focused on the negative consequences these environments create for potential offending, they may also provide a beneficial alternative to more formal treatment settings. To assess the utility for clinical and therapeutic purposes, this analysis focused on subcultural dynamics to examine self-reported wellbeing outcomes of participation in a Dutch forum for CAPs. A total of 15 semi-structured interviews were conducted with moderators, members and mental health professionals involved in the community. Thematic analyses demonstrated that by means of informal social control, bonds of trust and social relational education, the network aims to regulate the behavior and enhance the wellbeing of its marginalized participants. Key outcomes include a decreased sense of loneliness and better coping with stigma, to the point that participants experience less suicidal thoughts. Association with prosocial peers also helps to set moral boundaries regarding behavior towards children, although we cannot fully rule out potential adverse influences. Online support networks offer a stepping stone to professional care that fits individual needs of CAPs, while also providing an informal environment that overcomes limitations of physical therapy and that extents principles of existing prevention and desistance approaches. Gepubliceerd door uitgever Sage: Bekkers, L. M. J., Leukfeldt, E. R., & Holt, T. J. (2024). Online Communities for Child-Attracted Persons as Informal Mental Health Care: Exploring Self-Reported Wellbeing Outcomes. Sexual Abuse, 36(2), 158-184. https://doi.org/10.1177/10790632231154882
Theme: Quality Assurance in Higher Education An online tool was developed for (potential) students to assess the congruence between the characteristics of an educational program and student preferences (Butter & Van Raalten, 2010)
Social media and sharing economy platforms do not only disrupt industries. They also bypass democratic institutions. That’s not without risk, because the dominant Silicon Valley based online platforms are designed to create shareholder value, not to strengthen society or democracy. Which is unfortunate, because online platforms – if designed to that purpose – can be uniquely power full tools for organising our networked society.In Amsterdam over 90 neighbourhood networks use online platforms for self organisation. This development accelerated from 2010 on. The networks aim at strengthening social ties and local initiatives and are increasingly involved in some way of democratic innovation. This study is a deep dive into this urban bottom-up-movement. It puts the phenomena of online neighbourhood platforms in a broader societal and economical context. It points at the importance of user owned platforms and data. And it draws conclusions on how society and specifically municipal management can bring this movement to a next level. Ultimately with the potential of growing into an alternative for the Silicon Valley owned online platform ecosystem.
Chronische gewrichtsaandoeningen zijn veelvoorkomende aandoeningen waarmee patiënten bij de fysiotherapeut of oefentherapeut komen. Aandoeningen zoals artrose en reuma veroorzaken problemen in het dagelijks functioneren vanwege pijn en verminderde mobiliteit. Genezing is vaak niet mogelijk, maar het bevorderen van zelfmanagement kan verergering voorkomen. Oefentherapeuten en fysiotherapeuten spelen een centrale rol in het ondersteunen van zelfmanagement bij patiënten met gewrichtsaandoeningen. De inzet van online toepassingen, waaronder mobiele applicaties, en online platforms, die gericht zijn op het bevorderen van zelfmanagement (in dit voorstel gedefinieerd als Behavioral Intervention Technologies: BITs) kunnen patiënten met chronische gewrichtsaandoeningen ondersteunen. Echter, voor veel professionals is het onduidelijk hoe BITs kunnen worden ingezet om zelfmanagement te vergroten en hoe dit gecombineerd kan worden met fysieke begeleiding. Daarom onderzoeken we in dit tweejarige project de manier waarop oefen- en fysiotherapeuten coaching op zelfmanagement via BITs kunnen vormgeven. In werkpakket 1 brengen we met een review, observaties en een concept mapping in kaart welke elementen en randvoorwaarden van BITs belangrijk zijn voor het bevorderen van zelfmanagement. Zodra we inzicht hebben in deze elementen en randvoorwaarden wordt in co-creatie met stakeholders toegewerkt naar beroepsrollen en beroepscompetenties die voorwaardelijk zijn voor het gebruik van BITs. Met de input van deze onderzoeksactiviteiten ontwikkelen we samen met de doelgroep de AmSOS methodiek die professionals helpt bij het gebruik van BITs om zelfmanagement te bevorderen bij patiënten met chronische gewrichtsaandoeningen (WP2). Om te bepalen in hoeverre de methodiek bruikbaar is in de praktijk wordt in WP3 een haalbaarheidsstudie opgezet waarbij 25 eerstelijnsfysio- en/of oefentherapiepraktijken de AmSOS methodiek gaan gebruiken in de behandeling van patiënten met chronische gewrichtsaandoeningen. Omdat gewrichtsaandoeningen een substantieel onderdeel zijn van de curricula, maar tegelijkertijd weinig aandacht wordt besteed aan technologie en zelfmanagement, ontwikkelen we in WP4 een onderwijsmodule voor scholing van studenten en praktiserende oefen- en fysiotherapeuten.
In the last decade, the automotive industry has seen significant advancements in technology (Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) and autonomous vehicles) that presents the opportunity to improve traffic safety, efficiency, and comfort. However, the lack of drivers’ knowledge (such as risks, benefits, capabilities, limitations, and components) and confusion (i.e., multiple systems that have similar but not identical functions with different names) concerning the vehicle technology still prevails and thus, limiting the safety potential. The usual sources (such as the owner’s manual, instructions from a sales representative, online forums, and post-purchase training) do not provide adequate and sustainable knowledge to drivers concerning ADAS. Additionally, existing driving training and examinations focus mainly on unassisted driving and are practically unchanged for 30 years. Therefore, where and how drivers should obtain the necessary skills and knowledge for safely and effectively using ADAS? The proposed KIEM project AMIGO aims to create a training framework for learner drivers by combining classroom, online/virtual, and on-the-road training modules for imparting adequate knowledge and skills (such as risk assessment, handling in safety-critical and take-over transitions, and self-evaluation). AMIGO will also develop an assessment procedure to evaluate the impact of ADAS training on drivers’ skills and knowledge by defining key performance indicators (KPIs) using in-vehicle data, eye-tracking data, and subjective measures. For practical reasons, AMIGO will focus on either lane-keeping assistance (LKA) or adaptive cruise control (ACC) for framework development and testing, depending on the system availability. The insights obtained from this project will serve as a foundation for a subsequent research project, which will expand the AMIGO framework to other ADAS systems (e.g., mandatory ADAS systems in new cars from 2020 onwards) and specific driver target groups, such as the elderly and novice.
-Chatbots are being used at an increasing rate, for instance, for simple Q&A conversations, flight reservations, online shopping and news aggregation. However, users expect to be served as effective and reliable as they were with human-based systems and are unforgiving once the system fails to understand them, engage them or show them human empathy. This problem is more prominent when the technology is used in domains such as health care, where empathy and the ability to give emotional support are most essential during interaction with the person. Empathy, however, is a unique human skill, and conversational agents such as chatbots cannot yet express empathy in nuanced ways to account for its complex nature and quality. This project focuses on designing emotionally supportive conversational agents within the mental health domain. We take a user-centered co-creation approach to focus on the mental health problems of sexual assault victims. This group is chosen specifically, because of the high rate of the sexual assault incidents and its lifetime destructive effects on the victim and the fact that although early intervention and treatment is necessary to prevent future mental health problems, these incidents largely go unreported due to the stigma attached to sexual assault. On the other hand, research shows that people feel more comfortable talking to chatbots about intimate topics since they feel no fear of judgment. We think an emotionally supportive and empathic chatbot specifically designed to encourage self-disclosure among sexual assault victims could help those who remain silent in fear of negative evaluation and empower them to process their experience better and take the necessary steps towards treatment early on.