Changes In Work Practices Research Articles

Within- and between-person changes in work practice and experiences due to COVID-19: Lessons learned from employees working from home, hybrid working, and working at the office.

In response to the requirement of keeping social distance during the COVID-19 outbreak a lot of employees needed to change from a regular office to a home-office at short notice. The aim of the present study is to explore these employees' experiences and evaluate changes in their work situation during the pandemic. A mixed-method design was used with panel data collected twice in an insurance company in Norway. The first dataset was collected in December 2020 (Time 1; N = 558), with a follow up in March 2021 (Time 2; N = 601). Our study indicated that employees' main reasons for working from home were to keep social distance, avoid contagion and protect their loved ones. Flexibility, timesaving and more time with family and friends were also motivators. Most employees reported that they had the necessary technical equipment to work from home and wanted more opportunity to use their home office in the future. General Linear Models (GLM) indicated that work-family balance and workload were the same across age, gender, and worksites. Women and employees working from home reported more fear of being infected by COVID-19 at work. Younger employees reported experiencing less social contact with colleagues than normal during the pandemic, compared to the older employees. Overall, employees working at home were more positive toward digital solutions and digital meetings than those at the office. Repeated measures MANOVA showed that the work motivation and digital competence decreased over time for all worksites. Productivity increased for home-office employees but decreased for the hybrid and work-office employees. This paper contributes to knowledge of employees' experiences with different worksite solutions, which will be useful for anticipating employees experience in the future with more hybrid work.

The Impact that the Necessary Changes due to COVID-19 had on the Motivation of Allied Health Professionals within a Public Hospital

The objective of this research focuses on the impact that the necessary changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic had on the motivation of a specific cohort of healthcare workers within a public hospital in Malta (Mater Dei Hospital). The changes introduced by the local public healthcare system, which were necessary to cope with the increased stress caused by the pandemic, were: staff relocations, changes in work practices, and changes in working hours. The study explored in depth the impact of these changes on allied health professionals (AHP) motivation, acknowledging the importance of the self-determination theory. During analysis, autonomy, relatedness, and competence were the three domains of motivations explored.The hypothesis focuses on the effect of the specified changes on these three domains of motivation. The study will therefore validate whether there was an impact, or not, on each of these motivational aspect of allied health professionals by the necessary changes due to the COVID-19 pandemic within a public hospital. The ultimate purpose is to discover relations and variableswhich are scientifically measuredbetween these implemented changes and affected motivation aspects. The aim is that healthcare management takes preventive measures in future pandemic recurrences to reduce negative impacts on motivation.

Scaling up and scaling down: Improvisational handling of critical work practices during the COVID-19 pandemic

The aim of this article is to explore improvisational handling of critical work practices during the COVID-19 pandemic and interpret these practices from a learning perspective. Based on an interview study with representatives of private, public and intermediary organisations, the study identified three different types of improvisational handling as responses to the pandemic crisis involving ‘scaling up’ and ‘scaling down’ critical work practices. By ‘scaling up’ and ‘scaling down’, we refer to practices for which, due to the pandemic, it has been imperative to urgently scale up an existing operational process or develop a new process, and alternatively extensively scale down or cease an existing process. The types of improvisational handling differed depending on the discretion of involved actors in terms of the extent to which the tasks, methods and/or results were given beforehand. These types of improvisational handling resulted in temporary solutions that may become permanent after the pandemic. The framework and model proposed in the article can be used as a tool to analyse and learn from the changes in work practices that have been set in motion during the pandemic. Such learning may improve the ability to cope with future extensive crises and other rapid change situations.

Practitioner Experiences with Domestic and Family Violence in COVID‐19

The advent of COVID-19 as a global public health crisis in 2020 was quickly followed by predictions regarding likely increases in occurrences of domestic and family violence (DFV). The aim of this study was to understand the impact of the pandemic on practitioner experiences of DFV in one service organisation in New South Wales, Australia. Qualitative focus group interviews were performed with senior practitioners at Relationships Australia (NSW), and a grounded theory approach was employed in formulation of a perspective which highlighted social isolation under public health management social distancing measures as that which distinguished practitioner experiences of DFV during COVID-19. Social isolation was conceived as the overarching factor across categorisations of practitioner responses, including: (a) situations of client domestic relations; (b) client general life circumstances; (c) emerging client self-awareness; (d) organisational and social systems changes; and (e) necessary work practice changes. Organisational and workplace recommendations address the relative difference of pandemic management measures from natural disaster occurrences, with respect to supporting people experiencing DFV.

Frontline experiences of delivering remote mental health supports during the COVID-19 pandemic in Scotland: innovations, insights and lessons learned from mental health workers

ABSTRACT COVID-19 restrictions drove rapid adaptations to service delivery and new ways of working within Scotland’s mental health sector. This study explores mental health workers’ (MHWs’) experiences of delivering their services remotely. Twenty participants, who had worked in mental health professions in the National Health Service (NHS) in Scotland throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, took part in online semi-structured interviews. Data was transcribed then analysed using an inductive thematic analysis. Two major themes are reported: (1) ‘Improved Flexibility for both MHWs and Service Users’ and (2) ‘Teletherapies Challenge Therapeutic Boundaries’. In relation to (1) virtual platforms were seen as vital in maintaining patient care throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and a valuable resource for service users (SUs) who had previously struggled with mobility or social anxieties when accessing face-to-face services. Some MHWs’ also noted benefits for their productivity and comfort. Regarding (2) MHWs highlighted that whilst conducting teletherapies from home, work-life boundaries became blurred and, in some instances, typically comforting spaces became associated with the traumatic content discussed by SUs. These stressors seemed to be compounded by MHWs’ isolation, as they were less able to draw upon their colleagues for support. Further, confidentiality could not be assured, as MHWs and SUs alike had to accommodate their family members. These findings highlight important insights from MHWs in adapting to rapid changes in mental health working practices, particularly in relation to the challenges of delivering quality, safe and equitable services and the increased use of teletherapies. Such insights are vital in informing service developments and supporting future pandemic preparedness across a range of healthcare contexts and countries seeking to adopt hybrid models of mental health service delivery.

Models of Care and Relationships with Care Homes: Cross-Sectional Survey of English General Practices.

The Enhanced Health in Care Homes framework for England sets out standards for how primary care should work with care homes. How care home staff and General Practitioners work together and the quality of their working relationships are core to resident healthcare. This study explored the current models of care and relationships between General Practitioners' practices and care homes. Sixty-seven respondents from 35 practices were recruited in the East of England and completed a semi-structured online survey. Responses were analysed using descriptive statistics. Free text responses were interpreted thematically. The number of care homes that practices supported ranged from 0-15. Most reported having designated General Practitioners working with care homes and a good working relationship. Despite the national rollout of the Enhanced Health in Care Homes framework, two-thirds reported no recent changes in how they worked with care homes. There is a shift towards practices working with fewer care homes and fewer accounts of fractured working relationships, suggesting that residents' access to primary care is improving. The continuing variability suggests further work is needed to ensure it is driven by context, not inequitable provision. Future work needs to address how policy changes are changing work practices and residents' health outcomes.

248 BENEFITS OF POST-OPERATIVE SPECIALIST GERIATRIC CARE FOR OLDER PATIENTS UNDERGOING ELECTIVE ORTHOPAEDIC SURGERY

Abstract Background The Covid-19 pandemic changed work practices across many different healthcare institutions. The difficulties with cross-site transfers created an opportunity in our institution to provide on-site post-operative rehabilitation for older patients undergoing elective orthopaedic surgery. The aim of this study is to assess the impact of post-operative specialist geriatric care on older patients. Methods This is a single-centre, retrospective study that received approval from the local hospital ethics committee. Data were collected on all patients admitted to the on-site specialist rehabilitation unit post-elective orthopaedic surgery between 1st May 2020 and 31st December 2021. Two patients in this group were excluded as they had not attended a pre-operative assessment clinic. Data were collected from hospital Information Technology platform, Bluespiers. Results 76 patients, 18 males and 58 females, were included in this study. The median age was 80 years. In the specialist rehabilitation unit, evidence of cognitive impairment was established in 40.79% of cases, there were 3 cases of newly diagnosed dementia, a history of falls was identified in 32.89% of patients and 13.16% of patients were found to have sarcopaenia. The median length of stay in the rehabilitation unit was 25 days. 51.32% of patients were discharged home independently, 23.68% of patients went home with a new Home-Care Package (HCP), 15.79% of patients were discharged home with an existing HCP, 6.58% of patients were transferred for further treatment and 2.63% patients were discharged to residential care units. Conclusion This data demonstrates a clear role for specialist geriatric care in elective rehabilitation, with a significant proportion of patients being discharged home independently. The benefits of a comprehensive geriatric assessment in the peri-operative setting include increased identification of cognitive impairment allowing appropriate implementation of brain health as well as identification of a history of falls, enabling falls risk assessment and management including bone health assessment.

Quality Improvement in Itself Changes Your Thinking: Lessons From Disseminating Quality Improvement Methods Through a Multisite International Collaborative Palliative Care Project in India.

Seven major palliative care (PC) centers in India were mentored through the Palliative Care-Promoting Assessment and Improvement of the Cancer Experience (PC-PAICE) by US and Australian academic institutions to implement a quality improvement (QI) project to improve the accessibility and quality of PC at their respective centers. The objective was to evaluate the experiences of teams in implementing QI methods across diverse geographical settings in India. A quota sampling approach was used to elicit perspectives of local stakeholders at each site. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research informed development of a semistructured interview guide. Analysis leveraged deductive and inductive approaches. We interviewed 44 participants (eight organizational leaders, 12 clinical leaders, and 24 team members) at seven sites and identified five themes. (1) Implementing QI methods enabled QI teams to think analytically to solve a complex problem and to identify resources. (2) Developing a problem statement by identifying specific gaps in patient care fostered team collaboration toward a common goal. (3) Making use of QI tools (eg, A3 process) systematically provided a new, straightforward QI toolkit and improved QI teams' conceptual understanding. (4) Enhancing stakeholder engagement allowed shared understanding of QI team members' roles and processes and shaped interventions tailored to the local context. (5) Designing less subjective processes for patient care such as assessment scales to identify patient's symptomatic needs positively changed work practices and culture. Engaging and empowering multiple stakeholders to use QI methods facilitated the expansion and improvement of PC and cancer services in India. PC-PAICE demonstrated an efficient, effective way to apply QI methods in an international context. The impact of PC-PAICE is being magnified by developing a cadre of Indian QI leaders.

Barriers and enablers to telehealth use by physiotherapists during the COVID-19 pandemic

ObjectivesTo investigate the perceived barriers and enablers experienced by physiotherapists whilst delivering community and outpatient services during the COVID-19 pandemic. MethodsQualitative study undertaken at a University-affiliated hospital in Melbourne, Australia. Physiotherapists working in the outpatient setting participated in a semi-structured interview. Interviews were analysed using Framework Analysis, with themes mapped to the Theoretical Domains Framework (TDF). ResultsFrom 19 interviews, we identified major themes and mapped these to the TDF domains: 1. The pandemic rapidly closed the knowledge-practice gap; 2. Adaptation of existing skills and integration of new skills were required; 3. Supportive senior leadership helped the transition; 4. Capabilities and confidence improved with time; 5. Environmental factors were crucial to success or failure of telehealth; 6. Access to and delivery of care improved for some; 7. Identification of appropriate patients and future hybrid models of care; 8. Changes in work practices, role certainty and identity; 9. Development of educational resources consolidated knowledge; 10. Socialisation of telehealth and optimism for the future. Within each domain, key barriers and enablers were also identified. ConclusionsThe findings of this study suggest that the delivery of community and outpatient physiotherapy via telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic was an initial challenge. Growing knowledge, confidence and ability to problem solve barriers enabled physiotherapists to move along the continuum of ‘fear’ to ‘triumph’ as the pandemic progressed. These results can be used by clinicians, managers, and academics to guide future workforce planning, hospital environmental design, and service delivery. Clinical message•Physiotherapists described telehealth as a challenge. Growing experience, confidence and problem-solving ability allowed therapists to provide effective and efficient care to patients over time.•The results can be used by clinicians, managers, and academics to guide resource development, optimise clinical efficiencies and reduce inequities for vulnerable patients in future.

Mothers, Domestic Violence, and Child Protection: The UK Response.

Research highlights that mothers are often blamed for their child's exposure to domestic abuse and they are given a leave ultimatum. This article furthers discussion, guided by the question "how do (UK) mothers with violent partners experience social work interventions?" Nineteen mothers located around England and Wales were interviewed. Data were analyzed using deductive thematic analysis. The findings resonate with research from a decade earlier showing mothers felt blamed and were responsibilized for the violence they experienced and given the leave ultimatum by social workers. This article calls for a change in social work practice for mothers experiencing domestic abuse.

Thinking beyond the third space: how can we conceptualise the position of Associate Lecturers in Higher Education?

ABSTRACT This paper aims to conceptualise the changing nature of work within Higher Education that continues in response to a number of drivers, not least the impact of neo-liberal ideas. One important aspect of the discourse on changing work practices is the blurring of historic boundaries between academics and administrators as universities search for more efficient ways of managing resources and inter-disciplinary teams. In particular, the idea of the ‘third space’ has been put forward to explain the emerging dynamics within Higher Education – but how inclusive is this conceptualisation of the working environment within universities? This paper reports on the perceptions of Associate Lecturers of their position within a Business School and suggests that we may need to think beyond the third space in order to understand their experience of work, and explore the possibility of a fourth space. The research was conducted through interviews and informed by Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The findings support the idea of a fourth space to locate Associate Lecturers and inform a conceptual framework centred on the key findings of context, contract, communication and coherence.

The Interview [MicroBusiness

We’ve all heard about the “great resignation” and the “big quit,” terms that are being used to describe recent employment dynamics. It seems the pandemic and the resulting changes in work practices have lots of people rethinking where and how they want to work. The high inflation we are experiencing must be a factor, too, with employers offering attractive salaries to lure new employees.

Video connecting families and social robots: from ideas to practices putting technology to work

Technology use is a socially embedded process, especially when it comes to older adults and care. However, the restrictions associated with the COVID-19 pandemic have limited social contact to protect vulnerable groups in care homes, and even if technology use has increased in other areas, there is little known about the potential uptake of communication technology and changes in social interaction in the care context during a lasting crisis. This paper explores changes in communication technology use triggered by the pandemic at two care homes, using a qualitative diary study, online interviews and observations, and in-situ interviews within the care home with residents and workers. Our findings point to increasing use of tablets and video conference software triggered by COVID-related experiences, with implications for living and working in care homes. We also characterise the isolation experience of the residents, the workers’ concerns about the residents and changes in social interaction. We observed new areas of technology usage, associated changing work practices, technical affinity issues and context-specific attitudes towards future technologies. While the pandemic has triggered the use of communication technology in care homes on a small scale, this has also caused increasing workload and in particular articulation work, which requires support structures and the re-definition of work roles.

A Qualitative and Longitudinal Study on the Impact of Telework in Times of COVID-19

Mandatory teleworking has become a major tool of public authorities for mitigating the spread of COVID-19 when work activity allows it. A lexical and morphosyntactic analysis was performed with 22 employees interviewed at home by phone on two occasions during and after a national lockdown (April 2020 and March 2021). The results indicate that the organizational changes initially implemented became sustainable and highlight a change in work practices. Changes in working time structure were observed and led to a feeling of intensification and/or increase in working hours. The preservation of the professional bond through informal exchanges required a deliberate communicative effort. The lack of face-to-face social relations deprived employees of both their usual ways of working and the meaning they found in them. Finally, the continuation of the health crisis (phase 2) and the multiple reorganizations generated a decrease in wellbeing (mental wear and tear). Employees feared that the company’s management would retain a working model based mainly on remote working.

ЦИФРОВИЗАЦИЯ ОТЕЧЕСТВЕННОГО ЗДРАВООХРАНЕНИЯ: СОВРЕМЕННЫЕ АСПЕКТЫ И ПУТИ ДАЛЬНЕЙШЕГО РАЗВИТИЯ

Abstract. Efficient management of the health care system is essential to ensure the high quality of health care facilities, both public and private. The expected results of work to improve the efficiency of health care system involve the introduction of modern complex systems, among which digital technologies play a leading role. The value of digitalization will help healthcare organizations overcome the challenge of limiting the use of resources to meet growing healthcare needs. The digitalization of domestic healthcare, which covers electronic prescriptions, electronic referrals and the exchange of electronic medical records, has been implemented on the platform of the Integrated State Information System since 2018. According to forecasts, its implementation and maximum use should be completed and implemented to the maximum by 2025. The success of this implementation is closely related to the level of digital skills of both healthcare providers and users of healthcare services. It is believed that the widespread introduction of electronic technologies in healthcare will solve many current problems in this industry. However, at the present time its use is not yet very well developed, and its potential is little used. There are many reasons that promote or limit the spread of digital transformation in the healthcare sector. This is, first of all, knowledge, opportunities for learning, the ability to interact, systemic thinking. Good managerial responsibility is critical to transforming healthcare. Implementing eHealth requires new and innovative workflows. At the same time, both the medical staff and the administrative link must be aware that their work will change radically. It will evolve from a routine to an activity of learning, skill development and constant change in work practices.

The emerging importance of tackling sleep-diet interactions in lifestyle interventions for weight management.

Sleep habits are directly related to risk of obesity, and this relationship may be partly mediated through food choices and eating behaviour. Short sleep duration, impaired sleep quality and suboptimal sleep timing are all implicated in weight gain and adverse cardiometabolic health, at least partly mediated through their associations with diet quality. Short-term sleep restriction leads to increased energy intake, and habitually short sleepers report dietary intakes that indicate a less healthy diet compared with adequate sleepers. Evidence is emerging that sleep extension interventions in short sleepers may reduce intake of sugars and overall energy intake. Poor sleep quality, night shift work patterns and social jetlag are also associated with lower diet quality and consumption of energy-dense foods. Incorporating sleep advice into weight management interventions may be more effective than energy-restricted diets and exercise advice alone. However, there are a lack of intervention studies that aim to lengthen sleep, improve sleep quality or adjust irregular sleep timing to investigate the impact on dietary intakes and eating behaviour in participants aiming to lose weight or maintain weight loss. Finally, future research should take account of individual characteristics such as age, sex, life stage and changing working practices when designing combined lifestyle interventions including sleep behaviour change for health and well-being.

An exploration of academic identity through the COVID-19 pandemic

ABSTRACT The COVID-19 global pandemic precipitated migration to online learning and teaching for students and universities. This study explored the change in self-identification in an academic role through the significant disruption caused by the urgent migration from on-campus teaching to online teaching in the face of lockdowns designed to limit the spread of the virus. Drawing upon identity theory, this study explored the impact of the swift change in work practices on the academic identities of staff (n = 33) at a UK university. Three themes were identified: identity disruption, sensemaking and nostalgia for what had been lost. Hearing directly from academics is important because academic identity, in an increasingly neoliberal sector, was already a topic of interest, with tension and insecurity affecting work practices, including interactions with students. The experiences of the disrupted academic sessions could result in significant changes in practice, and a re-shaping of the academic role to build upon online pedagogies, interactions with students, and peers. If so, what it means to be an academic will change with consequent implications for prioritisation, workloads, attracting and retaining academics, and student experience. The themes arising from this study are discussed and implications for future practice are presented.

Real Estate Insights Offices – reports of my death are greatly exaggerated

PurposeThe aim of this Real Estate Insight is to comment upon the role that offices will play in the post-COVID 19 work environment. The impact of lockdowns, worldwide, was to accelerate the changes in office use that were already beginning in the late 2010s as changes in work culture and practice and supporting technology were slowly transforming the way in which people worked.Design/methodology/approachThis Real Estate Insight will comment upon changes in the UK market as a bellwether for global working practices. The nature of the “Insights” briefings means that this is a personal view of the author.FindingsThis paper looks at office usage in a transitional, post-COVID 19, marketplace. The findings are a reasoned conjecture that traditional office use still has a place for the workforce of the 2020s and beyond, although office use will be less intense as workers adopt a range of other working practices, including coworking and working at home, outside the four walls of the physical office building.Practical implicationsAs with all property investment, the value and performance of the property assets is interlinked with the use and demand of the space in question. There will be a rebasing of rents as the use of office space becomes less intense and the lowering of unit costs will allow companies to restructure the internal space to accommodate a more flexible working environment.Originality/valueThis is a review of the UK office market in relation to a seismic change in how workers choose to work post COVID-19.

Mould Matters: Implementing a New Workflow for Managing Mould-affected Archival Documents and its Impact on Resources and Wellbeing

ABSTRACT The National Archives, UK, has a large collection, part of which has been affected by mould in the past. In line with current best practice recommendations to meet both conservation and health and safety requirements, mould-affected items are surface cleaned by hand prior to conservation projects or access by our audiences. Due to increasingly short commercial project deadlines and a growing backlog of public requests for access, a review of our mould cleaning practices was carried out. A pilot project was carried out to test if mitigating the risks from mould in the collection could be managed more efficiently through the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) by staff and the public. The new methods were deployed in the digitisation of the 1921 census and relied on a set of workflows directing all mould-affected material through a separate team of conservators and scanning technicians. We tracked the amount of conservation time saved by this approach and captured feedback from staff about the change in work practices. The revised methodology greatly reduced the conservation time required, though these savings had an impact on the efficiency of other parts of the project, such as scanning. The pilot, described here, illustrated that the material condition of the collection, the number of people requiring access, the time restrictions on granting access and equipment restrictions all need to be assessed to ensure the most effective approach to managing risk from mould.

Who will pay for workplace reforms in U.S. meat‐processing plants? Simulation results from the USAGE model*

It is possible that COVID will trigger permanent changes in work practices that increase costs in U.S. meat‐processing plants. These changes will be beneficial for the safety and economic welfare of meat‐processing workers. However, they will have economic costs. In assessing reform options, policymakers seek guidance from analyses based on models embracing micro detail and an economy‐wide perspective. In this paper, we use USAGE‐Food, a highly disaggregated computable general equilibrium (CGE) model of the United States, to work out how additional processing costs would be distributed between consumers of meat products and farmers. We also calculate industry and macroeconomic effects. Despite modelling farmers as owning fixed factors, principally their own labour, we find that the farmer share in extra processing costs is likely to be quite moderate. Throughout the paper, we support simulation results with back‐of‐the‐envelope calculations, diagrams and sensitivity analyses. These devices identify the mechanisms in the model and key data points that are responsible for the main results. In this way, we avoid the black‐box criticism that is sometimes levelled at CGE modelling.