Interdisciplinary Case Study Research Articles

Identifying Positive Practices to Institutionalize Social Innovation in the Malawian Health System.

Governments worldwide are increasingly interested in scaling up effective public health innovations, but it is not always easy to institutionalize innovations, arising outside the public health system, as a part of national delivery. Evidence on how country governments can practically achieve this is limited. This article describes the institutionalization of the Chipatala Cha Pa Foni (CCPF, Health Center by Phone) social innovation into the Malawian public health, and identifies positive institutional practices that local actors drew on to achieve this. A positive-oriented interdisciplinary multi-method qualitative case study design was adopted. Data were collected from key informant interviews, observations, and documents over 18 months. A composite social innovation framework, informed by institutional theory and positive organizational scholarship, guided the thematic content analysis. Four clusters of positive institutional practices aided the institutionalization of the innovation: building high-quality relationships; creating opportunities for experiential interaction; cultivating hope; and logic attunement and awareness. We describe how these four practices operated together as a process of 'everyday creativity' to achieve institutionalization. We illustrate the importance of high-quality relationships, marked by respect, mutuality, and appreciation, as the foundation upon which hope can be built and the creativity needed for institutionalization to flourish. National ownership and sustainability of innovations are enhanced when implementation and institutionalization approaches are attuned to the logics inherent in national identity. In this article, we highlight the importance of institutional and interpersonal dynamics in the institutionalization of social innovation in health systems.

Terminological Conflation in Archaeological Site Institutions: Delineating Boundaries through Interviews with Heritage Experts in Europe, China, and Israel

ABSTRACT As a fundamental component of cultural heritage, archaeological sites are protected and interpreted by diverse related institutions. However, the conceptual boundaries of these institutions are increasingly becoming blurred, resulting in theoretical ambiguities and a conflation of terminologies. This trend presents a risk of misinterpretation or misuse of terms, as evidenced in certain academic papers and institutional namings. A review of prevalent concepts across diverse geographical contexts of these institutions, coupled with the proposal of clearer theoretical definitions, may offer novel and valuable insights into their theoretical boundaries and enhance academic and public comprehension of the exact roles and functions of heritage institutions. This study – integrating an interdisciplinary literature review and field case studies with 16 semi-structured in-depth interviews with heritage experts in Europe, China, and Israel – aims to address current misconceptions and overlaps in the definitions of these institutions, analyse their scope variance across cultural regions, and advocate for diverse and open definitions.

A Geometric Analysis of Masonry Sail Vaults at the Magistral Palace, Valletta, for the Study of Maltese Stereotomy

The research deals with an interesting interdisciplinary case study for the knowledge and dissemination of masonry sail vaults in Malta between the 16th and the 17th centuries. In particular, it focuses on the sail vaults of the Magistral Palace, which have a distinctive structure. Based on a digital survey, the necessary data was extrapolated to critically analyse the geometry, through drawing and three-dimensional modelling. The paper, therefore, presents graphical and geometric investigations, which complement the study of the history of the Magistral Palace. Comparisons with the Maltese architectural context between the 16th and 17th centuries show the use of different solutions for the construction of sail vaults, according to different geometries. This implies knowledge of the international debate on the theory of stonecutting at the time.

Biomimicry as a Valuable Design Tool for Climate Change Adaptation

As built environment professionals face more pressing and difficult issues related to climate change mitigation and adaptation, it can be useful to look at examples of how other living organisms or ecosystems have solved the same problems. This paper examines global climate change impacts on society and ecosystems, primarily caused by human activities and built environments. It explores how buildings can mitigate climate change drivers while adapting to ongoing challenges. Through interdisciplinary perspectives and case studies, it presents strategies for climate-resilient building design. Looking at plants or animals that are highly adaptable or survive extreme climates or climate change can provide insight into how buildings could or should work. Exploring the properties of ecosystems that enable their adaptability and resilience can also offer potential opportunities. Therefore, this chapter explores whether bio mimicry, where organisms or ecosystems are imitated in human design, can be an effective means of mitigating the causes of climate change for which the built environment is responsible, or adapting to the effects on climate change. Different bio mimicry designs are discussed and categorized, a case study and examples illustrate the advantages and disadvantages of each approach. In light of the findings of the study, it is argued that an ecosystem-mimicking model that exploits synergies between climate change mitigation and adaptation strategies can be useful for the long-term biomimetic response of the built environment to climate to change there are also presented theoretical justifications that support it. Key Words: Biomimicry, Climate Change, Adaptation.

Potential and risks of water reuse in Brandenburg (Germany) – an interdisciplinary case study

Abstract For Brandenburg, a region in Germany with increasing water shortage and drought events, water reuse can counteract competition scenarios between drinking water supply, agricultural irrigation, and industrial use. Centralized and decentralized sources for reclaimed water are found to potentially substitute 245 or 28% of irrigation water, respectively, in agriculture production in Brandenburg. For such a reuse scenario, the fate of organic micro-pollutants is examined for diatrizoate (DZA) and carbamazepine (CBZ). Retention in local sandy soil and transfer into roots and leaves of arugula are analyzed in lysimeter studies and greenhouse pot experiments. Vertical transport was found for DZA and accumulation in or on arugula roots with a root concentration factor of 1,925 ± 34% but a low bioconcentration factor due to intrinsic molecule properties. CBZ was not found to be mobile in the sandy soil but accumulates in arugula roots and leaves by factors of 70 ± 7% and 155 ± 12%, respectively. Further research on potential plant uptake and groundwater enrichment for more substances is highly recommended as well as tertiary wastewater treatment prior to water reuse.

Bacteria to Brains in Backyard Coyotes: An Interdisciplinary Pedagogical Case Study

Bacteria to Brains in Backyard Coyotes: An Interdisciplinary Pedagogical Case Study

Kruijthoff, Dirk. 2023. “Healing after Prayer, an Interdisciplinary Case Study.”

Kruijthoff, Dirk. 2023. “Healing after Prayer, an Interdisciplinary Case Study.”

Case Technologies as an Evaluation Tool for the State Final Certification of Bachelors of Nursing

Our experience of using interdisciplinary case studies for the state final certification of graduates of the Bachelor's degree program in the field of training 34.03.01 Nursing at the Tyumen State Medical University has demonstrated the validity as an evaluation material that allows you to objectively assess the skills and possessions of a graduate according to indicators of achievement of general professional and professional competencies, to identify positive aspects and weaknesses in the preparation of bachelors of nursing primarily in the interests of employers.

Drivers of conflict and resilience in shifting transboundary fisheries

Climate change is causing fish stocks to shift, upending the social-ecological systems that rely on the historic distributions of these stocks and creating or exacerbating fisheries conflicts. The movements of internationally shared stocks between Exclusive Economic Zones (EEZs) or between EEZs and the high seas are especially concerning because they bring into play a variety of geopolitical factors and equity issues surrounding missing or conflicting regulations of jurisdictional boundary zones. Though many studies have explored the responses to and repercussions of shifting stocks on fisheries management, there is a dearth of interdisciplinary case studies that provide insight into the complexity of conflict formation in shifting transboundary fisheries, and that highlight the initial response stages where inclusion of proactive and cooperative measures can greatly improve a system’s resilience to conflict. Our study helps to fill this gap by drawing on the knowledge of a diverse group of experts to analyze four case studies where transboundary stock shifts, geopolitical or governance tensions, and uncertainty regarding the future of the marine environment collide. Through synthesis of case study findings, we create a causal model of fishery conflict, within which we highlight factors that may heighten or mitigate the risk of conflict over shifting resources such as complex histories of power imbalance, unequal access to resources, or a lack of consistent and transparent data collection. Cooperation and equitable decision-making processes are recognized as vital components of internationally shared stock management which can promote lasting, effective, and conflict-resilient fisheries.

Quantitative impact assessment of the 2019 tropical cyclone Kammuri lahars: Mayon volcano, Philippines

Lahars (volcanic mudflows) are frequent occurrences in communities near active Philippine volcanoes due to intense and prolonged rainfall. Mayon Volcano is the most active volcano in the Philippines, ejecting pyroclastic deposits that serve as erodible materials for lahars. Damaging lahars have occurred in the past, with the more recent ones in 2006, 2015, 2019 and 2020 posing impacts such as erosion, burial, and flash flooding in low-lying areas. This paper presents the results of an interdisciplinary case study on lahar impact assessment for a selected pilot community at Mayon Volcano. Lahar hazard modeling, an exposure database, and a Filipinized lahar damage state table were combined to estimate potential lahar impacts to buildings for the study area using a lahar impact assessment software tool called REDAS Quick Lahar Impact Simulation Tool (REDAS-QLIST). The tool can estimate lahar losses such as physical damage, economic loss, and total population affected including age-sex distribution. Being able to accurately quantify impact and damage is one of the added values provided by REDAS-QLIST. The damage and loss estimates produced for our case study area were tested using an actual lahar event scenario from Tropical Cyclone (TC) Kammuri in 2019. Stakeholders, especially from local government units, can utilize the methods and results presented to plan and apply adaptable and sustainable disaster risk reduction programs in their communities. Importantly, the methodology can be used with additional lahar modeling results and exposure data through the REDAS QLIST to assess hazard and loss for other volcanic regions in the Philippines.

From idea to systems solution: enhancing access to primary care in Malawi

Malawi, like many other countries, faces challenges in providing accessible, affordable, and quality health services to all people. The Malawian policy framework recognizes the value of communities and citizens, as co-creators of health and leaders of localized and innovative initiatives, such as social innovations.Social innovations involve and include communities and citizens, as well as bring about changes in the institutions responsible for care delivery. In this article, we describe the institutionalization process of a citizen-initiated primary care social innovation, named Chipatala Cha Pa Foni, focused on extending access to health information and appropriate service-seeking behavior.An interdisciplinary multi-method qualitative case study design was adopted, drawing on data collected from key informant interviews, observations, and documents over an 18-month period. A composite social innovation framework, informed by institutional theory and positive organizational scholarship, guided the thematic content analysis. Institutional-level changes were analyzed in five key dimensions as well as the role of actors, operating as institutional entrepreneurs, in this process.A subset of actors matched the definition of operating as Institutional Entrepreneurs. They worked in close collaboration to bring about changes in five institutional dimensions: roles, resource flows, authority flows, social identities and meanings. We highlight the changing role of nurses; redistribution and decentralization of health information; shared decision-making, and greater integration of different technical service areas.From this study, the social innovation brought about key institutional and socio-cultural changes in the Malawi health system. These changes supported strengthening the system’s integrity for achieving Universal Health Coverage by unlocking and cultivating dormant human-based resources. As a fully institutionalized social innovation, Chipatala Cha Pa Foni has enhanced access to primary care and especially as part of the Covid-19 response.

Drought hazards and stakeholder perception: Unraveling the interlinkages between drought severity, perceived impacts, preparedness, and management

The future risk for droughts and water shortages calls for substantial efforts by authorities to adapt at local levels. Understanding their perception of drought hazards, risk and vulnerability can help to identify drivers of and barriers to drought risk planning and management in a changing climate at the local level. This paper presents a novel interdisciplinary drought case study in Sweden that integrates soft data from a nationwide survey among more than 100 local practitioners and hard data based on hydrological measurements to provide a holistic assessment of the links between drought severity and the perceived levels of drought severity, impacts, preparedness, and management for two consecutive drought events. The paper highlights challenges for drought risk planning and management in a changing climate at the local level and elaborates on how improved understanding of local practitioners to plan for climate change adaptation can be achieved.

Energy- and water-integrated management system to promote the low-carbon manufacturing industry: an interdisciplinary Mexican case study

Energy- and water-integrated management system to promote the low-carbon manufacturing industry: an interdisciplinary Mexican case study

Audiovisual Means to Therapeutic Ends. The Cinematic Dispositive within Medical Humanities

Dominant narratives across Medical Humanities have been focused on the cultural construction of the notion of medicine as epistemic discourse and social practice, on the role of humanities in medical design of the disease as well as on the humanization of the clinical encounter in order to facilitate the anamnesis, the therapy and the care. Among the main declinations, a more complex point of view arises, suggesting the critical integration and exploitation of a variety of methodologies, previously used by art and humanities research, into a peculiar human-centered dispositive, both narrative and therapeutic, in which audiovisual practices and languages acquire new healing potential and activate bias for unprecedented processes of subjectivization for particular target of suffering human beings. Based on the aforementioned premises, the essay aims at investigating the therapeutic set as performative and methodological model, consistent with art-therapy and narrative-based medical approaches, applicable in specific pathological conditions and health-care contexts. Within such reflexive and operational framework including documentary studies and visual anthropology, self-representational and amateur theories, the therapeutic set becomes a media environment where the formative encounter, both technical and pragmatic, finally ethical, between the self and the world, the action and the awareness takes place. My purpose is to explore the theoretical pillars of the therapeutic set as transformative interplay between profaned cinematic dispositive and psychotherapy setting, dwelling on bodily involvement, audiovisual gestures and amateur self representation to which active participants, storytellers of their own illness and treatment, are called in the making of therapy and narrative. The paper finally intends to illustrate selected interdisciplinary case studies in order to discuss the healing potential of creative participatory processes and self-representations, occurring thanks to the relocation and amateurization of the contemporary cinematic experience.

The role of human experience when making sense of brain monitoring: an interdisciplinary case study to assess wearable, non-invasive, brain-monitoring devices for rehabilitation

ABSTRACT Wearable, non-invasive, brain-monitoring technologies could take research outside the laboratory, to make discoveries about the human brain in different, and sometimes more relevant, settings for the specific research. While this could lead to new scientific discoveries, there is a need to understand how individuals benefit from and make sense of interactions with such technology. This study considered patient experiences with wearable, non-invasive, brain-monitoring devices in a rehabilitation context. The research project Patient-Centric Engineering in Rehabilitation (PACER) provided examples from research practice to assess and discuss the potential for using such devices in patient-centric rehabilitation for lower limb amputees. Project findings suggest that concepts from technology mediation theory strengthen the discussion by describing how relations with the technology differ, depending on whether you are a health professional, researcher or patient, which is an essential understanding when assessing novel technologies for practical applications.

Song of a deaf-mute shepherd : a Czech broadside ballad between the oral and printed tradition : an interdisciplinary case study

This is a case study of a critical edition and an analysis of one song from a collection of Czech broadside ballads published in the monograph To a Familiar Melody. The following text is an example of an interdisciplinary approach to Czech broadside ballads, combining insights from ethnology, ethnomusicology, linguistics, and literary history. Methodologically, it takes its starting point in twentieth century oral tradition accounts and historical retrospectives. The historical retrospective methodology traces the reception and variation of songs, the tradition of tunes, motifs, or elements of language in different social, territorial and media settings.

Improvisation and Social Aesthetics

Improvisation and Social Aesthetics

On the reconfiguring value creation logic and networks of the forest sector in a changing business environment

Numerous phenomena, such as sustainability challenges and the increasing importance of knowledge and digitalisation, have tremendous impacts on the global socio-economic system. These phenomena affect the dynamic and complex business environment where different actors from various sectors interact with each other. Responding to the phenomena and changes in the business environment calls for a systemic change in the ways that value-creating activities are performed. One suggested systemic change is a transition to a sustainable circular bioeconomy. Changes in the business environment pressure established business sectors, such as the forest sector, to reconfigure their networks and value creation logic, i.e., the ways in which actors co-create value. In this dissertation I investigated how the value creation logic of the forest sector changes when entering the sustainable circular forest-based bioeconomy. The research design followed a qualitative theory-guided interdisciplinary case study strategy. I analysed scientific and non-scientific documents to determine the past and currently occurring adaptations within the forest industry’s value creation logic. I conducted interviews to identify the possible future value creation logic of forestry service providers and the readiness of forest owners to respond to the occurring changes. According to the findings, the forest sector’s value creation logic is incrementally changing towards holistically sustainable, collaborative and cross-sectoral value co-creation logic. The sector has been able to reconfigure its networks and value creation logic in the past and it seems that the sector’s actors have understood the importance of cross-sectoral collaboration and intangible resources in the sustainable value-creating activities. They have acknowledged that their attitudes and actions will affect the future value creation within the sector. To reach holistic sustainability, actors need to consider the whole forest ecosystem as a capital and a resource base from where value and benefits for the common good are co-created in a forest-based sector.

Why did so few refugees return to the Fukushima fallout-impacted region after remediation? An interdisciplinary case study from Iitate village, Japan

Large volumes of radionuclides were deposited on the soils in North-eastern Japan after the accident at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear Power Plant (FDNPP) in March 2011. The village of Iitate, with a population of 6544 inhabitants in early 2011, was located in the main radioactive plume. Its population was evacuated between 2011 and 2017, when the town reopened after decontamination was completed in some cultivated and residential areas. This situation is unprecedented in history. Even around Chernobyl, access to the most contaminated area has remained forbidden until today. This manuscript compiles measurements of radiation dose rates and sediment radioactive contamination, socio-economic statistics, and reports the results of interviews conducted among refugees since 2011. Despite this reopening, which was presented as desirable by the authorities, less than ten percent of the original population - almost all of them over 70 years old – had returned to live in the village by January 2022. An analysis of the evolution of the population shows that it is now declining again. When the village was evacuated in 2011, most of the families that used to live with three generations under the same roof were often separated. The majority of the inhabitants took refuge in neighbouring municipalities, and many lived in temporary housing sites with a strong feeling of promiscuity. This study shows the difficulty for the majority of villagers who had never heard of Becquerels before the accident in 2011 to return to a very different environment with forests remaining contaminated and major landscape transformations having occurred after several years of abandonment and through the remediation process itself. Before 2011, forests and cropland were the main land uses in the village, and the local authorities promoted a model of eco-village. While decontamination has been effective in limiting the dispersion of radionuclides across the landscape, it did not affect the large stock of radionuclides stored in forests that cover ∼80% of the surface area. Moreover, the lack of facilities and public services remains problematic for an elderly population that has a limited mobility to travel to nearby towns to find the necessities of everyday life. This study provides a benchmark for comparison with the evolution of the seven other municipalities located nearby FDNPP that are being reopened to settlement. This research, which shows the situation after a remediation tentative, will provide a unique reference in post-accident management.

How collaborative mental health care for competitive and high-performance athletes is implemented: A novel interdisciplinary case study.

Collaborative care is considered a best practice in mental health care delivery and has recently been applied in high-performance sport to address athletes' mental health needs. However, how the collaborative process unfolds in practice in the sport setting has not yet been well documented. The purpose of this illustrative case study was to investigate a novel interdisciplinary approach used within the Canadian Centre for Mental Health and Sport (CCMHS) to provide mental health care to clients. Focusing on 'how' the approach was implemented, the aim of the study was to provide insight into the collaboration that occurred between mental performance and mental health practitioners to provide care to a high-performance athlete over an 11-month period, as well as factors facilitating and impeding the team's collaboration. The case involved three practitioners and a 16-year-old female athlete experiencing chronic pain, low mood, and elevated anxiety. In the first phase of the data collection process, each practitioner engaged in guided reflective journaling to describe the case and reflect on their practice and outcomes. During the second phase, practitioners co-created a case timeline to describe the collaborative process using clinical documents. Lastly, practitioners participated in collaborative reflection to collectively reflect more broadly on collaboration practice occurring within the CCMHS and Canadian sport system. The data depict a complex care process in which the necessity and intensity of collaboration was primarily driven by the client's symptoms and needs. A content analysis showed that collaboration was facilitated by the CCMHS' secure online platform and tools, as well as individual practitioner and team characteristics. Collaboration was, however, hindered by logistical challenges, overlapping scopes of practice, and client characteristics. Overall, there were more perceived benefits than drawbacks to providing collaborative care. While flexibility was required during the process, deliberate and systematic planning helped to ensure success. Factors such as interdependence of collaborative practice, complementarity of practice within care teams, compensation for collaboration, in-person versus virtual delivery, and intricacies of care coordination should be further examined in the future to optimize collaborative mental health care in sport.