Zoekresultaten

By accident or design

Construct validity of functional capacity tests in healthy workers

Background: Functional Capacity (FC) is a multidimensional construct within the activity domain of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health framework (ICF). Functional capacity evaluations (FCEs) are assessments of work-related FC. The extent to which these work-related FC tests are associated to bio-, psycho-, or social factors is unknown. The aims of this study were to test relationships between FC tests and other ICF factors in a sample of healthy workers, and to determine the amount of statistical variance in FC tests that can be explained by these factors. Methods: A cross sectional study. The sample was comprised of 403 healthy workers who completed material handling FC tests (lifting low, overhead lifting, and carrying) and static work FC tests (overhead working and standing forward bend). The explainable variables were; six muscle strength tests; aerobic capacity test; and questionnaires regarding personal factors (age, gender, body height, body weight, and education), psychological factors (mental health, vitality, and general health perceptions), and social factors (perception of work, physical workloads, sport-, leisure time-, and work-index). A priori construct validity hypotheses were formulated and analyzed by means of correlation coefficients and regression analyses. Results: Moderate correlations were detected between material handling FC tests and muscle strength, gender, body weight, and body height. As for static work FC tests; overhead working correlated fair with aerobic capacity and handgrip strength, and low with the sport-index and perception of work. For standing forward bend FC test, all hypotheses were rejected. The regression model revealed that 61% to 62% of material handling FC tests were explained by physical factors. Five to 15% of static work FC tests were explained by physical and social factors. Conclusions: The current study revealed that, in a sample of healthy workers, material handling FC tests were related to physical factors but not to the psychosocial factors measured in this study. The construct of static work FC tests remained largely unexplained.

Applying formal design methods to serious game design

An important step in the design of an effective educational game is the formulation of the to-be-achieved learning goals. The learning goals help shape the content and the flow of the entire game, i.e. they provide the basis for choosing the game’s core (learning) mechanics. A mistake in the formulation of the learning goals or the resulting choice in game mechanics can have large consequences, as the game may not lead to the intended effects. At the moment, there are many different methods for determining the learning goals; they may be derived by a domain expert, based on large collections of real-life data, or, alternatively, not be based on anything in particular. Methods for determining the right game mechanics range from rigid taxonomies, loose brainstorming sessions, to, again, not any method in particular. We believe that for the field of educational game design to mature, there is a need for a more uniform approach to establishing the learning goals and translating them into relevant and effective game activities. This paper explores two existing, non-game design specific, methods to help determine learning goals and the subsequent core mechanics: the first is through a Cognitive Task Analysis (CTA), which can be used to analyse and formalize the problem and the knowledge, skills, attitudes that it is comprised of, and the second is through the Four Components Instructional Design (4C-ID), which can be used to determine how the task should be integrated into an educational learning environment. Our goal is to see whether these two methods provide the uniform approach we need. This paper gives an overview of our experiences with these methods and provides guidelines for other researchers on how these methods could be used in the educational game design process.

Beschouwing Implementatie preventieve ketenaanpak PSA voor zorgmedewerkers

Response to Hayden and Glenn (2011)

We thank the authors Hayden and Glenn for commenting on our paper ‘The introduction of a nursing guideline on depression at psychogeriatric nursing home wards: Effects on Certified Nurse Assistants’, which was published in the International Journal of Nursing Studies (Verkaik et al., 2011). In our paper we conclude that the introduction of the nursing guideline ‘Depression in dementia’ had a positive, though small, significant effect on the perceived professional autonomy of Certified Nurse Assistants. We found that effects could probably be enlarged if non-Certified Nurse Assistants and nursing helpers were also trained, and managers paid more attention to the necessary conditions for successful introduction.

Psychosociale belasting en mantelzorg door oudere medewerkers

Interview door Margaret Chotkowski en Jeanette van der Does, onderzoekers bij de Inspectie Sociale Zaken en Werkgelegenheid. De Inspectie SZW is momenteel bezig met een verkenning naar de problematiek van psychosociale arbeidsbelasting (PSA) bij werkende mantelzorgers en de rol van werkgevers. Wat (kunnen) zij doen aan de preventie van de problemen door PSA bij deze groep werknemers? Bij PSA gaat het om werkdruk en ongewenste omgangsvormen zoals (seksuele)intimidatie, pesten en discriminatie, zowel door de collega’s en leidinggevende als door bijvoorbeeld klanten.Het lectoraag Gezondheid en Bewegen voert binnen het Topfit project onderzoek uit naar werkende mantelzorgers.