“In sign out”: An analysis of in/out-group dynamics as represented in Israeli judicial reform protest signs

THE SOCIAL ROBOTS ARE COMING: HEALTH CARE PROVIDERS' PERSPECTIVES OF SOCIAL ROBOTS AS A FORM OF VIRTUAL CARE IN CARDIOVASCULAR MEDICINE

In 2018, a mass uprising, known as the Velvet Revolution, ousted an unpopular semi-authoritarian government in Armenia. The new government vowed rapid democratization through ambitious reforms. Key civil society actors enthusiastically supported the shift in the political atmosphere, embracing the post-uprising window of opportunity to engage with the new government and push for democratic consolidation in their respective areas of expertise. This paper examines anti-corruption and judicial reforms in post-revolutionary Armenia, focusing on the role of civil society actors in maintaining the pro-democratic momentum. The paper investigates the following research question: “What was the role of civil society organizations in anti-corruption and judicial reforms in Armenia after the 2018 Velvet Revolution?” We rely on document analysis and qualitative interviews with civil society representatives, policy experts and government officials to argue that the strength of civil society and availability of allies partially explain the differences in anti-corruption and judicial reform processes and outcomes. In the anti-corruption case, the main actors (the government, prominent civil society organizations, and the EU) were more or less “on the same page.” In the case of the judicial reform, there were strong divisions of opinion among civil society organizations, local and international experts. The findings contribute to broader understanding of the role of civil society in the early years of democratic transition.

Background: Elderabuse has come to the limelight only since the past decade. WHO estimates that 15.7% of individuals above 60 years undergo abuse in various forms and is proposed to increase in the coming years owing to ageing population in many countries. Hence this study attempts to find out the perception of individuals towards elder abuse. Method: A qualitative study was done by conducting Focussed group discussions (FGDs) amongst elders and those between 18–60 years of age. The discussion was audio taped and scribed which was then analysed by deductive thematic analysis. The findings have been presented based on the themes that emerged along with verbatim. Results: The study groups were of the consensus that elder abuse is prevalent in our country. Themes that emerged were: 1) Elders are considered a burden in the society, 2) Sons and daughter in laws abuse elders more, 3) Elderly females are abused more than elderly males. The discussions also revealed a low level of knowledge amongst the groups regarding helplines for elderly/schemes for the elderly in our country. Conclusion: Elderly abuse though prevalent in our societies lay hidden mostly because complaint registrations of such instances are very few owing to the fact that elders are dependent and are not aware of where and how to seek help.

Since the Revolution of Dignity, civil society has become a major stakeholder in Ukraine's multiple reform processes. Judicial reform has been particularly salient as it aims to transform the country’s judiciary, long plagued by interrelated problems of political dependence, oligarchic capture, and internal corruption, into an autonomous guarantor of the rule of law. This Article examines how Ukrainian civil society has developed into an informal institution in Ukraine’s judicial reform. Building upon an overview of judicial reform efforts in Ukraine and a general theoretical framework of informality, this contribution studies how Ukrainian civil society influences the reform process, using the example of the country’s Constitutional Court. We argue that civil society has become an influential informal institution which plays an increasingly important role in judicial reform in Ukraine.

This study examines the making of South Korea’s Candlelight Protests from a material perspective to comprehend citizens’ experiences and aesthetics, using an integrated conceptual framework that combines interdisciplinary discourse through Peircean triadic semiotics based on possibility, actuality, and rationality. I describe the theoretical background of a new trend in materiality studies as well as contemporary citizenship based on the concept of making. I then present a multidimensional diagram of the conceptual framework, followed by a brief timeline of the Candlelight Protests, focusing on the key moments and material artifacts that affected weekly civic participation. I performed a material cultural analysis of protest-making along two main axes of materiality and summarized the findings in an extended diagram: experiences, which concentrates on protest objects and events, including candlelight, protest signs, and Internet memes; and aesthetics, which emphasizes their assembled relations and the power of subjectivity in the relevant historical and cultural milieu of Gwanghwamun Square.

ObjectiveTo understand the physician perspective on the barriers and facilitators of implementing nine different opioid risk mitigation strategies (RMS) when prescribing opioid medications.MethodsWe created and dispersed a cross-sectional online survey through the Qualtrics© data collection platform among a nationwide sample of physicians licensed to practice medicine in the United States who have prescribed an opioid medication within the past year. The responses were analyzed using a deductive thematic analysis approach based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR) to ensure a holistic approach to identifying the barriers and facilitators for each RMS assessed. In concordance with this method, the themes and codes for the thematic analysis were defined prior to the analysis. The five domains within the CFIR were used as themes and the 39 nested constructs were treated as the codes. Two members of the research team independently coded the transcripts and discussed points of disagreement until consensus was reached. All analyses were conducted in ATLAS.ti© V7.ResultsThe completion rate for this survey was 85.1% with 273 participant responses eligible for analysis. Intercoder reliability was calculated to be 82%. Deductive thematic analysis yielded 2,077 descriptions of factors affecting implementation of the nine RMS. The most salient code across all RMS was Knowledge and Beliefs about the Intervention, which refers to individuals’ attitudes towards and value placed on the intervention. Patient Needs and Resources, a code referring to the extent to which patient needs are known and prioritized by the organization, also emerged as a salient code. The physicians agreed that the patient perspective on the issue is vital to the uptake of each of the RMS.ConclusionsThis deductive thematic analysis identified key points for actionable intervention across the nine RMS assessed and established the importance of patient concordance with physicians when deciding on a course of treatment.

Retirement is no longer merely the end of a productive life. This changing nature of retirement challenges the common definitions of retirement – that define retirement primarily by what it is not (i.e. no longer working). The aim of this paper is to gain insight into the activity patterns of individuals who recently retired from a full-time job in relation with their well-being. We use data from a qualitative study in which we conducted semi-structured interviews with 45 individuals who retired one to two years ago in Belgium. We used a hybrid approach of inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Our findings demonstrate that most of the people who are retired from their full-time job remain active within society. First, productive activities, including work and civic engagement. Second, consumer-oriented activities comprising leisure and social contacts. The results suggest that being active, regardless of the type of activity, contributes to well-being.

A qualitative exploration into personal psychological agency in Instagram use

IntroductionPatient feedback system (PFS) forms an important entry point for the medical personnel and healthcare administrators to identify healthcare service delivery gaps and develop responsive interventions. This may foster patient trust consequently increasing healthcare-seeking, engagement in decision, continuity, and satisfaction. However, research on the PFS in rural primary healthcare settings appears limited.ObjectiveThe paper examines the perceived role and effectiveness of PFS in improving therapeutic relationships building on the recent research on patient-provider relationships in rural Tanzania.MethodsThe paper examines the findings of qualitative descriptive research conducted in the Shinyanga Region which employed a human-centred design (HCD) approach to co-create an intervention package for improving nurse-client relationships between January and September 2022. The study used semi-structured interviews in Swahili to first explore drivers of poor provider-patient relationships with purposefully selected providers, patients, and administrators. The findings guided the co-designing of an intervention package in subsequent HCD steps. Interviews were concurrently translated and transcribed, then systematically coded to facilitate the development of themes using a deductive thematic analysis approach.ResultsPFS emerged as one of the key themes in the deductive analysis when examining factors shaping provider–client relationships. The PFS theme was characterized by three major subthemes, which included perceived benefits, availability and accessibility, and perceived effectiveness. The perceived benefits of PFS cited by most participants included: reducing patients’ confusion around the complaints process, promoting patients’ positivity towards providers and hospitals, and reducing tensions between patients and providers. Suggestion boxes (SBs) were the most frequently cited PFS, but there were widespread concerns and disagreements among participants about their accessibility and effectiveness. Despite the providers (nurses) and administrators describing SBs as widely available, they stated that they had not received feedback or complaints from patients for a very long time. In contrast, most patients stated that SBs were either unavailable or ineffective in many facilities, with concerns about non-user friendliness and lack of responsiveness as the main issues when discussing effectiveness.ConclusionDespite the many benefits of PFS in improving healthcare service quality, their availability, user-friendliness, and responsiveness still pose challenges. A call is made to providers, health administrators and researchers to prioritize the PFS as both a useful entry point to reducing tensions in therapeutic relationships and, a tool for improving patient service uptake, continuity of care and satisfaction.

There is substantial evidence that students' sense of belonging in clinical practice influence their motivation, learning, and acquisition of skills. Despite the importance of belongingness in clinical education, not many studies have been done in the Canadian context in general and practical nurse education in particular. The main objective of this study was to explore practical nursing students' experiences in clinical education with regard to their sense of belongingness. In addition, we also examined clinical instructors' experiences in fostering a sense of belongingness to students in clinical settings. Ascent to competence conceptual framework was used as an analytic lens in this study. Students enrolled in a two-year diploma in practical nursing and their instructors participated in the study. A total of 12 students and 4 clinical instructors participated in the in-depth semistructured one-on-one interviews. Inductive and deductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Deductive analysis used predetermined themes as per ascent to competence framework. Inductive thematic analysis allowed us to provide additional themes on concepts that could not be effectively explained by the predetermined themes. Students described the uniqueness of their instructors and clinical sites as important attributes that enable them to cross various "borders" as they gain access to a "belongingness space" of acceptance, respect, and competency. Productive learning experiences were achieved by students who felt supported and "granted permission" to enter the belongingness space. The instructors highlighted their perceived roles in providing scaffolding supports they thought would help students feel a sense of belonging. Students cross several borders as they persevere to gain access to the revered belongingness space. Clinical instructors play a major role in assisting students to enter the belongingness space where meaningful learning occurs.

In Sri Lanka science education in schools plays a vital role in developing the scientific knowledge and skills that are required for a knowledge-based society. While these knowledge and skills are being developed through educational reforms that promote student-centred learning, there is also an increasing emphasis in Sri Lankan secondary schools on developing independent and autonomous learners. No studies have been found that have examined the practices that Sri Lankan senior secondary school teachers use to develop students’ science achievement, nor have there been studies that have examined whether or not these practices are associated with developing student autonomy, in particular, self-regulated learning (SRL). This study aimed to examine these topics. The present study comprised two phases, both of which were qualitative in nature. In Phase 1, the research questions were: (1) What practices do senior secondary school teachers use to foster students’ science achievement? and (2) What understandings do the teachers have about the Sri Lankan government’s policy related to student-centred learning, student autonomy, and the teacher’s role as a facilitator? Focus group interviews were conducted with 12 science teachers from three schools in the Kalutara district of Sri Lanka. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse this data. The questions addressed in Phase 2 of the study were: (1) What practices do senior secondary school teachers use to foster students’ science achievement? (2) How do senior secondary school teachers use these practices in their science classrooms? and (3) Which of these classroom practices are related to SRL? Using a case study approach, two classroom observations and one semi-structured interview were conducted with four teachers. The data were analysed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis. Pintrich and Zusho’s (2007) model of student motivation and SRL was used in the deductive analysis. A cross-case analysis was also conducted. Overall, the findings revealed that the senior secondary science teachers used a variety of teaching practices to foster their students’ science achievement. These practices related to developing scientific learners (e.g., demonstration, group experiments), developing students’ science interests (e.g., “hands-on” learning activities), helping students to achieve their goals (e.g., setting realistic goals and deadlines for meeting goals), developing students’ independent learning (e.g., offering “choice” in selecting learning tasks, choosing peers when working on group experiments), and practices to identify and support students (e.g., conducting after-school classes). An analysis of the practices used in Phase 2 revealed that some of the practices could be described as relating to SRL. However, even when the practices could be described as SRL-related practices, the teachers used them infrequently. The SRL-related practices were practices to develop cognition (e.g., modelling, scaffolding), practices to set and monitor goals (e.g., concept maps to monitor achievement of learning goals), practices to develop motivation (e.g., out-of-school learning experiences, hands-on learning activities), and practices to develop autonomy (e.g., independent research projects and assignments). This study contributes to an understanding of the teaching practices that senior secondary science teachers in Sri Lanka employed in their classrooms in a culture where direct teaching and exam-oriented instruction are still dominant. Despite the government’s attempts to reform Sri Lanka’s education system and teachers’ practices, only a few of the teachers were observed using practices that fostered student-centred learning and student autonomy, even though the teachers understood these concepts. Some limitations of the study were identified. These are discussed in terms of the need for a larger sample size and more classroom observations. The findings suggest that science teachers should be provided with professional development and resources to improve their practices in the teaching of science and to develop their awareness of practices related to SRL. In addition, changes to the exam-oriented curriculum and assessment practices are needed so that there is better alignment with the education reforms that promote student-centred learning. Future research could investigate the effects of particular teaching practices related to SRL on students’ science achievement. In addition, future research could investigate the effects of professional development on senior secondary school teachers’ practices related to SRL. It is important that senior secondary school science teachers in Sri Lanka continue to use many of the practices that were identified in this study and that they also learn new practices that will encourage their students to become self-regulated learners who actively control their learning as they become more independent and achieve well in science.

Qualitative methods are incredibly beneficial to the dissemination and implementation of new digital health interventions; however, these methods can be time intensive and slow down dissemination when timely knowledge from the data sources is needed in ever-changing health systems. Recent advancements in generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) and their underlying large language models (LLMs) may provide a promising opportunity to expedite the qualitative analysis of textual data, but their efficacy and reliability remain unknown. The primary objectives of our study were to evaluate the consistency in themes, reliability of coding, and time needed for inductive and deductive thematic analyses between GenAI (ie, ChatGPT and Bard) and human coders. The qualitative data for this study consisted of 40 brief SMS text message reminder prompts used in a digital health intervention for promoting antiretroviral medication adherence among people with HIV who use methamphetamine. Inductive and deductive thematic analyses of these SMS text messages were conducted by 2 independent teams of human coders. An independent human analyst conducted analyses following both approaches using ChatGPT and Bard. The consistency in themes (or the extent to which the themes were the same) and reliability (or agreement in coding of themes) between methods were compared. The themes generated by GenAI (both ChatGPT and Bard) were consistent with 71% (5/7) of the themes identified by human analysts following inductive thematic analysis. The consistency in themes was lower between humans and GenAI following a deductive thematic analysis procedure (ChatGPT: 6/12, 50%; Bard: 7/12, 58%). The percentage agreement (or intercoder reliability) for these congruent themes between human coders and GenAI ranged from fair to moderate (ChatGPT, inductive: 31/66, 47%; ChatGPT, deductive: 22/59, 37%; Bard, inductive: 20/54, 37%; Bard, deductive: 21/58, 36%). In general, ChatGPT and Bard performed similarly to each other across both types of qualitative analyses in terms of consistency of themes (inductive: 6/6, 100%; deductive: 5/6, 83%) and reliability of coding (inductive: 23/62, 37%; deductive: 22/47, 47%). On average, GenAI required significantly less overall time than human coders when conducting qualitative analysis (20, SD 3.5 min vs 567, SD 106.5 min). The promising consistency in the themes generated by human coders and GenAI suggests that these technologies hold promise in reducing the resource intensiveness of qualitative thematic analysis; however, the relatively lower reliability in coding between them suggests that hybrid approaches are necessary. Human coders appeared to be better than GenAI at identifying nuanced and interpretative themes. Future studies should consider how these powerful technologies can be best used in collaboration with human coders to improve the efficiency of qualitative research in hybrid approaches while also mitigating potential ethical risks that they may pose.

Background To assess social support among gender diverse people, measures normed and validated with cisgender participants are used, most commonly the Multidimensional Scale of Social Support (MSPSS). Despite widespread use, the psychometric properties of the MSPSS have not been systematically investigated among gender diverse people. Thus, it is unclear whether use of the MSPSS is appropriate for this population. Method Using a mixed-method approach (e.g. deductive thematic analysis and confirmatory factor analyses), we explored the factor structure of the MSPSS among gender diverse participants (N = 428). The study was conducted in Canada between 2019 and 2020. Results After running confirmatory factor analyses on MSPSS items, the factor structure differed from prior studies of cisgender participants. First, support from a significant other did not correlate with support from family or friends, suggesting its inclusion in a global measure of social support may distort findings when all domains are combined. Second although social support from family and friends emerged as two separate domains, qualitative data suggested that the boundaries between these forms of support were unclear. A deductive thematic analysis further highlighted properties of the scale that may not align with gender diverse peoples’ experiences. Conclusions Overall, these findings raise questions about the interpretation of the MSPSS when used with gender diverse people and suggest that an adapted or newly developed measure is needed.

BackgroundNon-compressible abdominal hemorrhage (NCAH) is the leading cause of potentially preventable deaths in both civilian and military austere environments, and an improvement in mortality due to this problem has not...

People living with advanced cancer experience significant distress and reduced quality of life due to their symptom burden and life-limiting prognosis. Limited qualitative research has investigated their experiences accessing psychosocial supportive care, and how it meets their needs. To explore patients' perspectives of the role of psychosocial support in their experiences of living with advanced cancer. This study used an exploratory qualitative research design and drew upon a social constructionist interpretive framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 23 participants. Participants were asked about their experiences accessing and using psychosocial support following their diagnosis. Audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and analysed using deductive thematic analysis. The following six themes can be used to describe participants' experiences with psychosocial support: (1) accessing different types of support, (2) appreciating support, (3) need, (4) difficulties accessing support, (5) knowing about support and (6) asking for support. Sources of psychosocial support included family and friends, health professionals, and psychosocial supportive care services. Not all participants were able to access care that met their needs; barriers included suitability of available support, accessibility and stigma surrounding support use. Participants experienced broad variation in their awareness and access to psychosocial support services to meet their needs. Providers of psychosocial supportive care for advanced cancer patients need to consider service accessibility issues. Future psychosocial interventions targeting people living with advanced cancer should consider these issues during development and implementation.