Greater Need For Information Research Articles

Understanding the perceptions of stakeholders on selective demolition

Selective demolition (or deconstruction) is important for achieving efficient circular principles in the construction sector, involving various stakeholders in the whole life cycle of buildings. Several studies have been conducted in recent years about it, but an assessment concerning the stakeholders involved was never undertaken to explore the criteria chosen here. This study aims to explore the practices of companies, but also the perception of individuals regarding this theme. A Portuguese case study was chosen, submitting an online structured questionnaire. As a result, 79 responses were received and an independent variable concerning profession was selected to divide the sample into three groups (architects, engineers, and other staff), to explore whether statistical differences between groups exist. Regarding the activity of companies, 22.8% have never conducted a selective demolition process, and the remaining respondents predominantly do so due to contract specifications. Also, 37.7% of respondents confirmed a need to subcontract, demonstrating dependence on cooperation. Assessing individual perceptions, architects have a more accurate understanding of the concept of selective demolition in the life cycle of buildings, and yet clearly state a greater need for information and awareness regarding the process than engineers and other staff. Architects also identified, most firmly, the need to promote the design of construction materials that better facilitate reuse and recycling. These results are relevant to decision making processes and for effective policy design, to form strategies that boost selective demolition, using a behavioural change approach, identifying a need to reinforce education and awareness, for instance about pre-demolition audits.

The association of having a monitoring or blunting coping style with psychological distress, health-related quality of life and satisfaction with healthcare in gastrointestinal stromal tumour (GIST) patients

Background There are two main coping styles regarding information seeking under medical threat; monitoring (information-seeking) and blunting (information-avoiding). The aim of this study is to (1) determine factors associated with a monitoring or blunting coping style in gastro-intestinal stromal tumour (GIST) patients and (2) investigate its association with psychological distress, cancer-related concerns, health-related quality of life and satisfaction with healthcare. Methods In a cross-sectional study, Dutch GIST patients completed the shortened version of the Threatening Medical Situations Inventory to determine their coping style, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Cancer Worry Scale, EORTC QLQ-C30 and part of the EORTC QLQ-INFO25. Results A total of 307 patients were classified as blunters (n = 175, 57%) or monitors (n = 132, 43%). Coping style was not associated with tumour or treatment variables, but being a female (OR 2.5; 95%CI 1.5–4.1; p= <.001) and higher educated (OR 5.5; 95%CI 2.5–11.9, p= <.001) were associated with higher odds of being a monitor. Monitors scored significantly lower on emotional functioning (mean = 86.8 vs mean = 90.9, p=.044), which is considered a trivial difference, more often experienced severe fear of cancer recurrence or progression (53.0% vs 37.7%, p=.007), and had more concerns about dying from GIST in the future (60.6% vs 47.4%, p=.025). Compared to blunters, monitors were less satisfied with the received healthcare and information, and would have liked to receive more information. Conclusion GIST patients with a monitoring coping style experience a higher emotional burden. Additionally, monitors exhibit a greater need for information. Although this need for information could potentially result in fears and concerns, recognising it may also create an opening for tailored communication and information.

Do I Really Want to Change? The Effectiveness of Goal Ambivalence Feedback on Dieters’ Motivation

Becoming committed to a new health-related goal and pursuing it is difficult for many people. The present study (a) developed and tested the psychometric properties of a brief Goal Ambivalence Scale (GAS) in a sample of dieters and (b) tested the effectiveness of providing dieters with feedback on their scores on the GAS. In Study 1, dieters (n = 334, 74% females) completed the GAS and a measure of Health-Related Concerns and Actions (HRCA). The standardization of the GAS was supported by CVR and CVI, the results of a PCA, and strong reliability and validity statistics. In Study 2, the experimental group of dieters (n = 107; 67.50% female) received feedback on their GAS scores, but the control group did not (n = 111; 62.30% female). Compared with the control group, the experimental group reported a greater need for information, greater readiness to change, and higher perceived situational confidence in resisting food that was inconsistent with their dieting goals. To conclude, the GAS could be used in health settings to provide clients and providers with an objective, fast measure of commitment to achieving health-related goals. Moreover, immediate feedback on health-related goals may improve change motivation.

Do Managers learn from institutional investors through direct interactions?

I examine whether corporate managers learn from institutional investors through direct interactions at investor conferences. I find that managers seek more direct interactions with institutional investors at conferences when they have a greater need for information about their firm's product markets and supply chains. This relation is stronger when managers expect investors to be knowledgeable. I also show that the information acquired from conference interactions is reflected in subsequent manager decisions. First, direct interactions help managers to extract information embedded in stock prices and later use it to make investments. Second, within the same firm and month, managers' personal stock trades immediately after attending a conference earn higher abnormal returns, consistent with direct interactions expanding their private information set. Overall, these findings suggest that managers can acquire decision-relevant information from direct interactions with institutional investors of their firm.

Discussing sexual health among Flemish patients with Parkinson's disease.

Discussing sexual health among Flemish patients with Parkinson's disease.

The AIMS home-video method: parental experiences and appraisal for use in neonatal follow-up clinics

BackgroundIn The Netherlands, prematurely born infants and their parents are offered regular developmental check-ups in a hospital setting. In line with providing healthcare at distance, the use of video footage showing the infant’s behavior and movements, taken by parents at home and assessed by professionals online, might be a fruitful future practice. The focus of this study was to gain insight into parental experiences with the Alberta Infant Motor Scale home-video method and their appraisal of its applicability for use in an outpatient neonatal follow-up clinic.MethodA qualitative descriptive study among parents of healthy extremely or very premature infants (GA 26.2–31.5 weeks) participating in a longitudinal study of motor development between 3–18 months corrected age. Ten semi-structured interviews were conducted and transcribed verbatim. Data was analyzed independently. Inductive content analysis was performed following the process of the AIMS home-video method.ResultsParents appraised the AIMS home-video method as manageable and fun to do. Instructions, instruction film, and checklists were clear. Transferring the video footage from their phone to their computer and uploading it to the web portal was sometimes time-consuming. Parents gained a better awareness of their infant’s motor development and found the provided feedback a confirmation of what they already thought about their infant’s development and was reassuring that their child was doing well. First-time parents seemed more uncertain and had a greater need for information about (motor) development, but on the other hand, also had confidence in their child.All parents thought that home-videos can be an addition to follow-up visits, but cannot replace (all) visits. It may be an opportunity to reduce the frequency of hospital visits, while still having their infant monitored.ConclusionParents appraised the AIMS home-video method positively and are of the opinion that home-videos can be of added value in monitoring infants at risk in neonatal follow-up additional to hospital visits. In future research a user-friendly application and/or platform to exchange video footage safely between parents and professionals should be developed with all possible stakeholders involved and implementation should be explored.

Use of information sources in Covid-19 pandemic and its relation with knowledge and anxiety

Abstract Introduction. Production of useful information during a pandemic is a key element of outbreak control strategies. Aim. As no study has yet examined what information sources were used in the COVID-19 pandemic and how the use of information sources is related to knowledge and anxiety, this research tries to fill the research gap. Material and methods. We conducted an explorative study among 7,764 Slovenian population to assess the use of information sources, knowledge, and anxiety, and determine the relationship between different information sources and knowledge and anxiety in lay public in Slovenia during the pandemic of COVID-19. Results. A combination of unregulated internet-based information sources and regulated ones were frequently used information sources. The Internet as the main source was more used by younger and more educated individuals. Traditional mass media and religious organizations were more frequently used by older participants, while friends and/or relatives and/or colleagues and natural therapist by younger participants. Results also show that greater anxiety is associated with the greater need for information. Conclusion. Informing people should not primarily be based on the traditional interpersonal communication between a doctor and patients, other face-to-face communication or the use of printed information, but rather on regulated and unregulated websites, social media, and TV.

Information needs and behaviour of incarcerated persons in Croatia: findings from a national quantitative study

This paper examines the information behaviour and information needs of incarcerated persons in Croatian correctional facilities. A total of 620 printed questionnaires were mailed to six Croatian penitentiaries and administered to prisoners who were serving a long-term period sentence. Sample included both male and female prisoners with the response rate of 81%. The data was analysed with the help of statistical software SPSS. Almost all incarcerated persons that participated in this study have a greater need for information while in prison than they had before incarceration. The largest majority of respondents require information about the life in penitentiary, information about their family members and friends, and information about life-after-prison. In most cases, respondents seek required information from their family members and friends. Very rarely are their varied educational, informational, legal and recreational needs met by a prison library. The findings indicate that about a third of respondents revealed that their current information needs were not met and that Croatian prison libraries are unequipped to meet information needs of incarcerated persons. In order to change present situation, better cooperation between Croatian Library Association and Croatian prison administration is needed.

Odnos građana Bosne i Hercegovine prema dezinformacijama tokom pandemije virusa korona s obzirom na nivo obrazovanja

Despite the fact that disinformation exists beyond the mass media, space in the media sphere, especially the virtual one, leaves the possibility that disinformation can spread easier and faster, as well as reach a large audience of users of social networks, ie. digital media. With the arrival of the coronavirus, there was a greater need for information, but at the same time the amount of misinformation from various intentions and sources increased. The development of information and communication technologies, ways of communicating and disseminating media content, on the other hand, is in stark contrast to the process of developing media education in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the level of media literacy of citizens who are not ready for new ways of communicating, sources of information and the procedure of participation in the creation of media content. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, media education is not part of the compulsory education system and because of that in this paper we will talk about the attitude of citizens towards misinformation during the coronavirus pandemic, given the level of their general education with the aim of determining whether the level of general education affects the power of perception of misinformation. The results of research conducted by a qualitative method through a focus group and presented by thematic analysis indicate a cause-and-effect relationship between levels of general education and perceptions of misinformation. The final conclusion is that the higher the level of general education means the higher the level of media competencies for deconstructing misinformation and resistance to such content.

Inter-organizational information sharing and bundled payment reimbursement: Do hospitals in the US use health information exchange to collaborate?

ObjectiveThe purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between the greater need for information generated by bundled payment reimbursement and the use of Health Information Exchange (HIE). MethodsThe study is based on a secondary data analysis using theAmerican Hospital Association (AHA) Healthcare IT Database and the AHA Annual Survey. A logistic regression was used to test the likelihood of hospitals participating in HIE if they were involved in bundled payment reimbursement. Negative binomial, ordered logistic and Poisson regression models were used to determine the associations between bundled payment reimbursement and health information sharing in terms of breadth, volume, and diversity, respectively. ResultsHospitals in bundled payment programs were more likely to send and receive information through HIE and tosend information to different types of health providers but not to receive. They were also more likely to exchange different types of health information and to use HIE more often. ConclusionsThe greater need for collaboration of hospitals participating in bundled payment programs was associated with greater information sharing among organizations through HIE, but different providers involved in the episode of care play different roles in HIE.

Challenges to Understanding Extreme Weather Changes in Lower Income Countries

AbstractThe science of event attribution has emerged to routinely answer the question whether and to what extent human-induced climate change altered the likelihood and intensity of recently observed extreme weather events. In Europe a pilot program to operationalize the method started in November 2019, highlighting the demand for timely information on the role of climate change when it is needed most: in the direct aftermath of an extreme event. Independent of whether studies are provided operationally or as academic studies, the necessity of good observational data and well-verified climate models imply most attributions are currently made for highly developed countries only. Current attribution assessments therefore provide very little information about those events and regions where the largest damages and socio-economic losses are incurred. Arguably, these larger damages signify a much greater need for information on how the likelihood and intensity of such high-impact events have been changing and are likely to change in a warmer world. In short, why do we not focus event attribution research efforts on the whole world, and particularly events in the developing world? The reasons are not just societal and political but also scientific. We simply cannot attribute these events in the same probabilistic framework employed in most studies today. We outline six focus areas to lessen these barriers, but we will not overcome them in the near future.

Do Managers Learn from Institutional Investors Through Direct Interactions?

I examine whether corporate managers learn from institutional investors through direct interactions at investor conferences. While institutional investors often possess industry expertise, there is limited large-scale evidence on how they can provide useful information to corporate managers. I find that managers seek more direct interactions with institutional investors at conferences when they have a greater need for information about their firms’ product markets and supply chains. This relation is stronger when managers expect investors to be knowledgeable about these topics. I show that the information learned from conference interactions is reflected in managers’ subsequent decisions in that they issue forecasts more frequently and accurately. I also find that their personal stock trades during the seven days following conference participation earn higher abnormal returns than non-participating insider trades in the same firm-month. Overall, my paper shows that managers acquire decision-relevant information from their interactions with their firms’ institutional investors.

Women and Partners' Information Need, Emotional Adjustment, and Breast Reconstruction Decision-Making Before Mastectomy.

Our aim was to explore the differences between women and their partners on information need, emotional adjustment, and breast reconstruction (BR) decision-making after breast cancer diagnosis. A second aim was to explore these differences regarding surgery type (mastectomy vs immediate BR). Women newly diagnosed with a first nonmetastatic breast cancer and having a mastectomy were invited to fill out online questionnaires, in conjunction with their partners, before mastectomy. Questionnaires assessed their information need (Patient Information Need Questionnaire), emotional adjustment (Profile of Mood States), motivations to have BR or not, shared decision-making (Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire), and partner influence in BR decision-making. Thirty (15 women and their partners) people took part in the study. Women and partners had similar levels of information need, emotional adjustment, and shared decision-making. However, partners did not entirely perceive why BR is wished or not by the women. Furthermore, partners of women having a mastectomy alone had higher scores of mood disturbance and a greater need for information, compared to partners of women having an immediate BR (P < .05). Likewise, men expressed a greater need for disease-oriented information than their loved ones (P < .05). This is the first study to highlight differences in couples' experiences of breast cancer diagnosis and BR decision-making before mastectomy. Partners express an important need for information and do not entirely perceive why BR is wished or not by their loved ones. An online tool providing information to both women and partners could help them in breast cancer care pathway and BR decision-making.

Charging for the use of survey instruments on population health: the case of quality-adjusted life years.

A trend towards charging for access to research findings, tools and databases is becoming more prominent globally. But charging for the use of research tools and databases that are vital to research supporting national and international policy development might be unjustified. Financial barriers to accessing these tools and databases disproportionately affect low- and middle-income countries, who may have greater need for information that fuels research in their areas of concern. However, changing this trend is potentially possible. One example is the experience with the EuroQol-five-dimensional questionnaire (EQ-5D), a generic measure of health status used in economic evaluations for resource allocation decisions. Increasingly, governments and health-care providers are using the EQ-5D tool in patient-reported outcome measures to monitor quality of health-care provision, diagnose and track disease progression, and involve patients in their health care. The EuroQol Group, which owns the intellectual property rights to the EQ-5D, recently terminated their policy of charging for noncommercial, nonresearch uses of the tool. We share a brief history of this development and examine these charging policies in the context of the EQ-5D’s use in national health-care research and policies, reflecting the trends and developments in the use of survey instruments on population health.

A longitudinal inquiry into directionality of effects between coping and information needs in hypertensive patients.

PurposeIt is well recognized that effective health communication is associated with better adherence to medical prescriptions, behavioral changes, and enhanced perception of control over the disease. However, there is limited knowledge about the variables on which to tailor health messages. This study examined whether coping strategies were related to information needs over time in a sample of patients with hypertension.Patients and methodsA three-wave longitudinal design was used to examine the potential reciprocal relationships among variables. The sample included 271 patients (43.5% women) affected by essential arterial hypertension with a mean age of 54.66 years (SD =10.74 years; range 30–78 years). Data on patients’ demographic characteristics, coping strategies, and information needs were collected three times over 12 months. To test the directionality of the relationships linking coping to information needs, cross-lagged path analyses were applied in a structural equation modeling approach.ResultsActive coping was related to a greater need for information regarding behavioral habits; avoidance coping was negatively associated with the need for information regarding daily life activities, while passive coping showed a positive relationship with this need. Moreover, results sustained the hypothesis that the relationship between coping and information needs was bi-directional. In fact, greater need for information about the disease and its pharmacological treatment was related to greater adoption of active coping strategies. The need for information about risk and complications was associated with the coping strategy related to alcohol use.ConclusionThese results provide important suggestions for implementing more effective intervention programs aimed at fostering patients’ self-care abilities. As it was possible to modify coping strategies, health care providers may consider measuring patients’ strategies before the medical examination so they have time to refine the information they give to patients.

Information needs of Arab cancer survivors and caregivers: A mixed methods study

BackgroundArab cancer survivors and their caregivers often have high levels of unmet information needs. However, whether these information needs are the same for cancer survivors living in Arab speaking countries compared to Arab migrants is not clear. ObjectiveTo identify the information needs and information sources among Arab cancer survivors and their caregivers. MethodsArab cancer survivors (n=143) in Jordan and Australia were surveyed to explore their information needs and information sources. Interviews with cancer survivors and their caregivers, and focus groups with health care providers were conducted in both countries. FindingsWhile lack of information about cancer, its treatment and side effects were common to both groups, Arab Australian cancer survivors expressed greater need for information about managing their illness (P=.027), receiving explanations about tests (P=.016) and the benefits and side-effects of treatments before making choices (P=.041) than Jordanian cancer survivors. Qualitative findings revealed preferences for spoken rather than written information, and the provision of diagrams and drawings. Although information provided by doctors was a trusted source, almost half the participants indicated they used the Internet for information. Despite the use of interpreters, Australian health care providers expressed concern at whether the information they provided had been delivered and understood. ConclusionArab cancer survivors and their caregivers have unmet cancer information needs resulting in them seeking information from potentially unreliable sources such as the Internet. Arab migrants may need additional assistance to ensure they receive information relevant to their disease and are linked with the most trusted source of information.

Original paper. Assessment of the need for information about planned gynecologic surgery

Abstract The objective of the study was to assess the level of patients' need for information about the planned gynecologic surgery. Material and Methods. The number of 173 patients preparing to undergo planned gynecological procedure were qualified for the study. The participation in the survey was entirely voluntary. Each patient was asked to fulfill the survey conducted using the Amsterdam Preoperative Anxiety and Information Scale- APAIS that enables the estimation of the patient’s need for surgery-related information. Furthermore patients’ clinical and demographic data was collected. Results were analyzed using appropriate statistical tools: the Shapiro-Wilk W-test (for distribution of the studied parameters) and the Mann-Whitney U-test (for comparing two independent groups). P value less than 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results. It was shown that premenopausal women have a greater need for information about the planned surgery than postmenopausal patients (p&lt;0.05). Patients, who have never been operated, displayed a significantly greater need (p=0.04) for information about their planned surgery in relation to women who have already undergone surgery. The patient’s age, the phase of the menstrual cycle, the education level, the marital status, as well as the preoperative diagnosis and the type of the planned surgery did not affect the level of the preoperative information requirement (p&gt;0.05). Conclusions. The high level of the need for information about the planned surgery characterizes premenopausal patients and those operated for the first time.

Patients with chronic pain may need extra support when prescribed physical activity in primary care: a qualitative study

Background: Physical activity plays an important role in the prevention and treatment of chronic musculoskeletal pain, but chronic pain may implicate a poor rehabilitation outcome. The concept of physical activity on prescription (PAP) is a therapeutic option for various diseases, but there is a lack of knowledge about how patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain experience receiving the prescription.Objectives: The objective of this study was to describe the experiences of and thoughts about receiving a prescription for physical activity of people with chronic musculoskeletal pain.Design: Interviews analysed using qualitative content analysis with an inductive approach.Setting: Three primary healthcare centres in a mixed rural and suburban area in the vicinity of a large city in western Sweden.Subjects: Fifteen individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain.Results: Four categories were identified with the overarching theme “Physical activity in chronic pain requires extra support”. There were several barriers for increasing activity level and these patients suffered from the additional burden of pain. The categories were: “Important to identify needs”, “Barriers and facilitators for physical activity”, “Perceptions of PAP vary” and “Effects found of receiving PAP”.Conclusions: Despite the many positive experiences of receiving PAP, patients described confusion about the role and execution of PAP. Chronic pain is an additional barrier for increasing activity level, and it is crucial to consider these patients’ circumstances. This study suggests that patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain have a greater need for information and extra support to overcome existing barriers, before or when physical activity is prescribed.Key PointsPhysical activity is important for prevention and treatment of chronic pain and has earlier been shown to be increased by “physical activity on prescription”.Patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain required the prescriber to listen and take the patients’ circumstances, context, symptoms and current activity level into account to a greater extent.Patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain experienced more obstacles to increase their physical activity and, therefore, had a greater need for individually tailored information and support when prescribed physical activity.Patients with chronic musculoskeletal pain found it difficult to distinguish between physical activity on prescription and physiotherapy and perceived that also the physicians could not tell the difference.

Symptom burden and information needs in prostate cancer survivors: a case for tailored long-term survivorship care.

To determine the relationship between long-term prostate cancer survivors' symptom burden and information needs. We used population-based data from the Michigan Prostate Cancer Survivor Study (2499 men). We examined unadjusted differences in long-term information needs according to symptom burden and performed multivariable logistic regression to examine symptom burden and information needs adjusting for patient characteristics. High symptom burden was reported across all domains (sexual 44.4%, urinary 14.4%, vitality 12.7%, bowel 8.4%, emotional 7.6%) with over half of respondents (56%) reporting they needed more information. Top information needs involved recurrence, relationships, and long-term effects. Prostate cancer survivors with high symptom burden more often searched for information regardless of domain (P < 0.05). High sexual burden was associated with greater need for information about relationships [odds ratio (OR) 2.05, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.54-2.72] and long-term effects (OR 1.60, 95% CI 1.23-2.07). High bowel burden was associated with greater information need for long-term effects (OR 2.28, 95% CI 1.43-3.63). Long-term prostate cancer survivors with high symptom burden need more supportive information. Tailoring information to these needs may be an efficient approach to support the growing population of long-term prostate cancer survivors.

Parental attitudes towards male human papillomavirus vaccination: a pan-European cross-sectional survey.

BackgroundHuman papillomavirus (HPV) is a common sexually transmitted virus that can lead to severe diseases in both women and men. Today, HPV vaccination is offered to females only across Europe. We aimed to examine parental attitudes to HPV vaccination of their sons given brief information about HPV in both genders.MethodsA literature study on acceptability of male HPV vaccination was carried out to inform the construction of a study questionnaire. Following up on a Danish study from 2012, this questionnaire was applied in 1837 computer assisted interviews with parents of sons in the UK, Germany, France and Italy. In each country, the parents were representative in terms of geographical dispersion, city size and age of sons in the household. The applied questionnaires took the varying vaccination policies and delivery systems into account. The data were analysed pooled and for each country using significant statistical tests (chi-2) with a 95 % confidence interval.ResultsApproximately ¾ of parents in the UK, Germany and Italy were in favour of HPV vaccination of their sons. In France, this applied to 49 % of respondents. Favourable parents wanted to protect their sons from disease and found gender equality important. Parents in doubt about male HPV vaccination needed more information about HPV diseases in men and male HPV vaccination; Rejecting parents were generally sceptical of vaccines and feared vaccination side-effects. Parents in countries with active vaccination policies (UK and Italy) tended to trust the importance of national vaccination programmes. Parents in countries with passive vaccination strategies (Germany and France) had greater need for information from health care professionals (HCP) and public health authorities.ConclusionGiven brief information about HPV in both genders, parental acceptance of HPV vaccination of sons is as high as acceptance levels for girls. All parents should be informed about HPV to make informed decisions about HPV vaccination for their children. There is a need for joint efforts from public health authorities and HCPs to provide parents with such information.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s12889-015-1863-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.