Perceptions and values of care professionals are critical in successfully implementing technology in health care. The aim of this study was threefold: (1) to explore the main values of health care professionals, (2) to investigate the perceived influence of the technologies regarding these values, and (3) the accumulated views of care professionals with respect to the use of technology in the future. In total, 51 professionals were interviewed. Interpretative phenomenological analysis was applied. All care professionals highly valued being able to satisfy the needs of their care recipients. Mutual inter-collegial respect and appreciation of supervisors was also highly cherished. The opportunity to work in a careful manner was another important value. Conditions for the successful implementation of technology involved reliability of the technology at hand, training with team members in the practical use of new technology, and the availability of a help desk. Views regarding the future of health care were mainly related to financial cut backs and with a lower availability of staff. Interestingly, no spontaneous thoughts about the role of new technology were part of these views. It can be concluded that professionals need support in relating technological solutions to care recipients' needs. The role of health care organisations, including technological expertise, can be crucial here.
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Technology in general, and assistive technology in particular, is considered to be a promising opportunity to address the challenges of an aging population. Nevertheless, in health care, technology is not as widely used as could be expected. In this chapter, an overview is given of theories and models that help to understand this phenomenon. First, the design of (assistive) technologies will be addressed and the importance of human-centered design in the development of new assistive devices will be discussed. Also theories and models are addressed about technology acceptance in general. Specific attention will be given to technology acceptance in healthcare professionals, and the implementation of technology within healthcare organizations. The chapter will be based on the state of the art of scientific literature and will be illustrated with examples from our research in daily practice considering the different perspectives of involved stakeholders.
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Aim: To explore which factors are associated with psychological insulin resistance in insulin-naive patients with Type 2 diabetes in primary care.Methods: A sample of 101 insulin-naive patients with Type 2 diabetes completed self-administered questionnaires including demographic and clinical characteristics, the Insulin Treatment Appraisal Scale and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale. Psychological insulin resistance was denoted by negative appraisal of insulin (Insulin Treatment Appraisal Scale).Results: Thirty-nine per cent of the sample were unwilling to accept insulin therapy. Unwilling participants perceived taking insulin more often as a failure to control their diabetes with tablets or lifestyle compared with willing participants (59 vs. 33%), unwilling participants were more reluctant to accept the responsibilities of everyday management of insulin therapy (49 vs. 24%). Multiple linear regression analysis revealed that depression and objection to lifelong insulin therapy were independently associated with psychological insulin resistance.Conclusions: In this study in primary care, depression and objection to lifelong insulin therapy are associated with psychological insulin resistance. Analysis of the objection to the indefiniteness of insulin therapy showed a sense of limitation of daily life and loss of independence that should not be underestimated. Insulin should be offered as a means to improve health as this might facilitate the acceptance of insulin therapy.
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