Outcome Dimensions Research Articles

My assistive technology outcomes framework: rights-based outcome tools for consumers to ‘measure what matters’

ABSTRACT AT outcomes research is the systematic investigation of changes produced by AT in the lives of AT users and their environments. In contrast to focal outcome measures, My Assistive Technology Outcomes Framework (MyATOF) envisions an alternative starting point, co-designing a holistic and evidence-based set of outcome dimensions enabling AT users to quantify their own outcomes. International classification systems, research evidence, regulatory and service delivery frameworks underpin six optional tools: supports, outcomes, costs, rights, service delivery pathway and customer experience. Designed to empower the consumer-as-researcher and self-advocate, MyATOF has the potential to fill an identified gap in policy-relevant, consumer-focussed and consumer-directed outcome measurement in Australia and internationally. This paper presents the need for consumer-focussed measurement and articulates the conceptual foundations of MyATOF. The iterative development and results of MyATOF use-cases collected to date are presented. The paper concludes with next steps in using the Framework internationally, as well as its future development.

Differential sensitivity of intraindividual variability dispersion and global cognition in the prediction of functional outcomes and mortality in precariously housed and homeless adults

Objective To examine cognitive intraindividual variability (IIV) dispersion as a predictor of everyday functioning and mortality in persons who are homeless or precariously housed. Method Participants were 407 community-dwelling adults, followed for up to 13 years. Neurocognition was assessed at baseline and IIV dispersion was derived using a battery of standardized tests. Functional outcomes (social, physical) were obtained at baseline and last follow-up. Mortality was confirmed with Coroner’s reports and hospital records (N = 103 deaths). Linear regressions were used to predict current social and physical functioning from IIV dispersion. Repeated measures Analysis of Covariance were used to predict long-term change in functioning. Cox regression models examined the relation between IIV dispersion and mortality. Covariates included global cognition (i.e. mean-level performance), age, education, and physical comorbidities. Results Higher IIV dispersion predicted poorer current physical functioning (B = −0.46 p = .010), while higher global cognition predicted better current (B = 0.21, p = .015) and change in social functioning over a period of up to 13 years (F = 4.23, p = .040). Global cognition, but not IIV dispersion, predicted mortality in individuals under 55 years old (HR = 0.50, p = .013). Conclusions Our findings suggest that indices of neurocognitive functioning (i.e. IIV dispersion and global cognition) may be differentially related to discrete dimensions of functional outcomes in an at-risk population. IIV dispersion may be a complimentary marker of emergent physical health dysfunction in precariously housed adults and may be best used in conjunction with traditional neuropsychological indices.

How aging shapes our sense of agency

The sense of agency refers to the feeling of controlling one’s actions and their effects on the external environment. Here, we tested how the physiological process of aging affects the agency experience by taking advantage of a validated ecological experimental paradigm and exploring the different dimensions of agency. We tested 60 young and older adults during active and passive movements, causing, after a variable time delay, an external sensorial event. We collected overt agency judgments (i.e., explicit agency dimension), and we measured the perceived compression of the time interval between the active/passive movements and outcomes (to quantify the intentional binding phenomenon, an implicit index of agency). Our results indicate that the sense of agency significantly changes across the adult life span, with older participants exhibiting a reduced sense of agency, both at the explicit and implicit level. Crucially, the temporal dimension of the action outcome did not affect their agency experience. We suggest that elderly adults are more reliant on internal predictions, making them less sensitive to cognitive biases and external manipulations. We discuss these results in the domain of neurocognitive models of motor control, with reference to how aging affects the weighting process of predictive and sensory signals for efficient sensorimotor integration.

Integration Strategies of Sports Culture in Ethnic Areas and Volleyball Teaching in Colleges and Universities

Abstract The integration of ethnic area sports culture and college sports teaching in the multicultural environment is the inevitable development of education and teaching in the new era. This paper combines the analysis of the impact of the school sports curriculum in a multicultural environment and the form of development of sports culture, combines the sports culture of ethnic areas with college volleyball teaching in order to promote the implementation of sports ideological and political education in colleges and universities and to realize the development of differences and unity in the context of multivariate evaluation of college volleyball teaching. Combine the objectives of college volleyball teaching with the national sports culture to construct the volleyball course content system. Propose methods for training teachers, create a knowledge map of college volleyball teaching materials, and use the enhanced TF-IDF algorithm to extract keywords and increase volleyball teaching resource allocation. Statistics of volleyball teaching in colleges and universities integrating national sports culture, analyzing the influence of learning atmosphere*teaching level, learning atmosphere*attention on the cultivation of national sports culture. Combine the improvement of volleyball skills, physical quality, and independent learning ability before and after teaching to analyze the advantages of college volleyball teaching that integrates ethnic sports culture. The overall mean value of “the current situation of volleyball teaching integrating ethnic sports culture” is 8.97, which is at a good level. In the three dimensions of learning motivation, learning process, and learning outcome, the P-value of the experimental class and the control class is less than or equal to 0.05, which indicates that the students in the experimental class are better than the students in the control class in the three dimensions of independent learning ability in sports. Volleyball teaching that integrates the sports culture of ethnic regions has the beneficial effect of promoting the development of sports culture as well as enhancing the development of students’ volleyball skills.

The Fusion of Digital Technologies in Small Business for Ensuring the Socio-Economic Development: Panel Data Analysis

This paper analyzes the development of the activities of small business entities through the fusion of digital technologies in ensuring the social and economic development of Uzbekistan, its significant aspects in the development of the country’s economy. In Uzbekistan the economic, social and legal levels of small business entities in organizing their activities through digital technologies were determined. 5 directions of its economic and social support were analyzed based on today's policy, and the advantage of using the digital economy in the activities of small business entities compared to large enterprises was determined. The research employs a confluence of descriptive statistics, panel data regression models, and time-series analysis to unravel the intricate correlation matrix that binds various dimensions of investment outcomes within the country's distinct economic climate. A conclusion was made based on the results of the study of the main economic development indicators of the development of small business entities through digital technologies. In assessing the effectiveness of the development of the activities of small business entities through digital technologies, the effectiveness of digitalization on the activities of small business entities was determined using the Cobb-Douglas production function. Proposals and recommendations were developed according to the forecasting results.

The relationship between sleep quantity, sleep quality and weight loss in adults: A scoping review.

Sleep is hypothesized to interact with weight gain and loss; however, modelling this relationship remains elusive. Poor sleep perpetuates a cascade of cardiovascular and metabolic consequences that may not only increase risk of adiposity, but also confound weight loss efforts. We conducted a scoping review to assess the research on sleep and weight loss interventions. We searched six databases for studies of behavioural weight loss interventions that included assessments of sleep in the general, non-clinical adult human population. Our synthesis focused on dimensions of Population, Intervention, Control, and Outcomes (PICO) to identify research and knowledge gaps. We identified 35 studies that fell into one of four categories: (a) sleep at baseline as a predictor of subsequent weight loss during an intervention, (b) sleep assessments after a history of successful weight loss, (c) concomitant changes in sleep associated with weight loss and (d) experimental manipulation of sleep and resulting weight loss. There was some evidence of improvements in sleep in response to weight-loss interventions; however, randomized controlled trials of weight loss interventions tended not to report improvements in sleep when compared to controls. We conclude that baseline sleep characteristics may predict weight loss in studies of dietary interventions and that sleep does not improve because of weight loss alone. Future studies should enrol large and diverse, normal, overweight and obese short sleepers in trials to assess the efficacy of sleep as a behavioural weight loss treatment.

The end of welfare states as we know them? A multidimensional perspective

AbstractThis article highlights the limitations of unidimensional analyses in the comparative welfare state literature and emphasises the need for a more holistic, multidimensional approach incorporating social spending, welfare state outputs and outcomes. To illustrate the utility of a multidimensional approach, we examine the long‐term welfare state trajectories of Sweden and Germany, prototypical social‐democratic and conservative welfare states, respectively, and compare them against the baseline of Europe's prototypical liberal welfare state, the United Kingdom. The social spending (expenditure) and output (generosity) allowed us to identify significant changes in the Swedish welfare state (i.e., retrenchment). The outcome dimension alerts us to a policy drift in the German Welfare State, as relatively stable public spending and welfare generosity until the first half of the 2000s were nonetheless associated with sharply increased inequality and poverty. Overall, our findings suggest that a holistic, multidimensional approach is necessary to fully understand the complexities of welfare state change and continuity, as focusing solely on one dimension can lead to analytical misjudgments. The sharp rise in inequality and poverty across countries raises doubts about whether policymakers and researchers rely too much on outdated assumptions of normality that fail to meet the welfare state realities of today.

The Relationship Between Political Leader’s Personalities and Regional Social Governance Modernization

The study aims to investigate the relationship between the personalities exhibited by party and government leaders and the modernization of regional social governance. It aspires to offer novel insights to empower the local governments of Chinese provinces, thereby assisting them in augmenting the modernization of social governance.Led by upper echelons theory, we proposed an analytical framework to explore the relationship. We firstly collected the texts of the activity reports of the leaders in 31 provinces of mainland China during the years 2018 to 2020. Their personalities were discerned through the application of Latent Dirichlet Allocation (LDA) topic modeling and principal component analysis. Integrating the dimensions of processes and outcomes, we then devised an evaluation system to assess the level of regional social governance modernization. The system underwent a comprehensive evaluation employing principal component analysis. Finally, we employed regression analysis and the Quadratic Assignment Procedure (QAP) regression analysis to quantitatively assess the effect of political leader’s personalities on the modernization level of regional social governance.According to our results, the personalities exhibited by political leaders could be classified into six dimensions, aligning with the framework proposed by Holland vocational interest theory. We revealed that the six types of personalities indeed exert influence on the modernization of regional social governance. However, compared to the effect of environmental factors such as economic conditions and the availability of skilled personnel, their explanatory power is relatively weaker. Among the identified personalities, the leaders displaying realistic and research-oriented personalities demonstrate a heightened capacity to yield substantial positive impacts on social governance modernization. Additionally, social personality also plays a discernible role in the context. Furthermore, the amalgamation of political leaders’ personalities illuminates a nuanced picture marked by moderate influence and intricate complexity.

A Dyadic Analysis of Sexual Assertiveness and Sexual Outcomes in Adolescent Romantic Relationships

ABSTRACTAmid adolescence, youth are developing the relational skills necessary to form and maintain positive intimate relationships. Sexual assertiveness is a key skill that could be related to couples’ sexual outcomes (i.e. sexual satisfaction, sexual concerns, and sexual function). However, dyadic studies are lacking, and associations between sexual assertiveness and adolescents’ sexual health and well-being remain underexplored. This cross-sectional dyadic study examined associations between dimensions of sexual assertiveness and sexual outcomes in adolescent romantic relationships. The Actor-Partner Interdependence Model guided analyses of self-reported questionnaires from 110 romantic dyads (aged 14–19 years; M = 16.51). Participants’ gender was considered in the models, and gender differences emerged in the associations between study variables. Path analyses revealed that sexual needs and desires communication, refusal of unwanted sex, sexual intimacy initiation, and comfort talking about sex have significant actor and partner effects on adolescents’ sexual outcomes in mixed-gender dyads. These findings suggest that authentically expressing one’s own sexual needs, desires, and limits in adolescence may influence not only one’s own sexual satisfaction, sexual concerns, and sexual function, but also their partner’s. The aforementioned dimensions of sexual assertiveness could be important targets for research-based interventions to promote sexual health and well-being in adolescent romantic relationships.

Mediating role of social skills in the longitudinal relationship between intrapersonal perfectionism and psychological well-being of preadolescents

Intrapersonal perfectionism is the dispositional tendency to impose perfectionistic expectations on oneself and is considered a bidimensional construct that consists of standards perfectionism and discrepancy perfectionism. Although scholars established the links between standards perfectionism and psychological adjustment and between discrepancy perfectionism and psychopathology, the mechanisms that explain these associations remain relatively unknown. Thus, a better understanding of these mechanisms, especially in children, is warranted given their high prevalence in this developmental population and potential destructiveness on psychological well-being. The present study examined whether social skills with peers mediated the link between the dimensions of interpersonal perfectionism and psychological outcomes due to the salience of social skills acquisition in middle childhood. The study included 225 students (nfemale = 114; nmale = 111) with ages ranging from 7 to 10 years at Time 1 (T1; Mage = 8.55, SD = 1.15) and from 8 to 11 years at Time 2 (T2; Mage = 9.52, SD = 1.10). Participants provided responses on measures concerning standards perfectionism, discrepancy perfectionism, social skills, and psychological well-being at both time points. Longitudinal structural equation modeling indicated that standards perfectionism was positively associated with increases in social skills over time and psychological well-being, whereas discrepancy perfectionism was linked with decreases in social skills over time followed by psychological maladjustment. The study discusses implications for interventions and treatments.

An Online Interactive Model of University English Based on Comprehensive Evaluation Models

Abstract This paper combines the theory of multiple interactive teaching modes in the process of college English online teaching and constructs an interactive model of English online teaching from three dimensions: teacher-student interaction, student-student interaction, and human-computer interaction. Secondly, the learner portrait structure in the E-GPPE-C model was designed from the three dimensions of basic characteristics, behaviors, and outcomes. According to the planned group learning path, an improved convolutional neural network (CNN) is used to generate a personalized learning path. To divide the learning community, the group of learners is clustered using the mean clustering algorithm. Finally, three rounds of teaching practice were conducted to verify the effectiveness of this interactive teaching model. The results show that the ratio of verbal interaction between teachers and students after the use of the strategy of constructing learner profiles increased to 0.9 compared with the previous 0.1. The correlation coefficient between personalized learning and learning self-regulation is 0.682, and significant correlations all present a significant correlation at the 0.01 level. This paper provides lessons and references for further research and development of smart interactive instructional design in colleges and universities.

Middle-power behaviours: Australia’s status-quoist/Lockean and Indonesia’s reformist/Kantian approaches to crises of legitimacy in the Indo-Pacific

ABSTRACT This article maps the behaviours of two middle powers, Australia and Indonesia, as a response to the emergence and evolution of the Indo-Pacific concept. The background for this analysis is the emergence and development of the ‘Indo-Pacific’ concept as a response to crises of legitimacy enveloping the region and how countries in the region, including middle powers, respond to it. Using a minimalist definition which I have developed of a middle power as a country with a middle level of power capabilities and a penchant for cooperation, this article develops a framework based on two dimensions of outcome (ranging from status-quoist to reformist outlooks) and process (ranging from Lockean to Kantian strategies) to facilitate a more open-ended approach towards looking at middle-power behaviours beyond the common categorisation of traditional/emerging, and Western/non-Western. Using Australia’s 2017 Foreign Policy White Paper and 2023 National Defence: Defence Strategic Review, and Indonesia’s 2015 Defence White Paper and 2019 ASEAN Outlook on the Indo-Pacific, this article concludes that while Australia is exhibiting a status-quoist/Lockean approach, Indonesia is demonstrating a reformist/Kantian approach towards the Indo-Pacific. The outcome-process dimension framework developed in this article is useful as a tool to map other middle power behaviours in various contexts.

Peningkatan Hasil Belajar Dan Gotong Royong Pembelajaran Pak Dengan Model Pbl Berbantuan LKPD Di Kelas 2 Fase A SDN 03 Nanga Kalan

The implementation of the Merdeka curriculum at SDN 03 Nanga Kalan experiences obstacles, especially in the geographical aspect, with access that is difficult to reach, which affects the attitude of students who are tired due to the long journey. This affects the dynamics of learning Catholic religious education in phase A in class 2. Overcoming this, a classroom action research was carried out which was oriented towards a sense of mutual strengthening contained in the Pancasila student profile, namely the mutual cooperation dimension. The purpose of this study was to determine the increase in the dimension of mutual cooperation and learning outcomes in learning Catholic Religious Education through the Problem Based Learning learning model assisted by LKPD. Data collection techniques using observation, written tests, interviews and documentation conducted on 12 children. In cycle 1, the results of observing the dimensions of mutual cooperation based on the average achievement of the instrument obtained an average of 64% and learning outcomes reached 45% reaching KKTP, In cycle 2, the data obtained on the dimensions of mutual cooperation reached 87%, while for learning outcomes 100% of students reached KKTP. The conclusion obtained is that there is an increase in the dimension of mutual cooperation by 23% and an increase in learning outcomes by 65% from cycle 1 to cycle 2. This proves that the application of Problem Based Learning assisted by LKPD is effective for increasing the dimensions of mutual cooperation and student learning outcomes.

Perception of CSR Activities, Organizational Trust, and Employee Outcome: Evidence from Iraq Telecom Market in Post-Pandemic COVID-19

Purpose: This study investigates the intermediary role of organizational trust in the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) and employee outcomes. Theoretical framework: Building on Carroll’s pyramid adapted to the unique context of Iraq, the study explores the dimensions of organizational trust, CSR initiatives, and tangible employee outcomes. Design/Methodology/Approach: Employing a quantitative approach, the research was conducted within four telecommunications firms in Iraq, involving 359 employees with at least one year of work experience. Data collection spanned from September 2021 to October 2022, achieving a commendable 97.55% response rate. Structural equation modeling, utilizing the partial least squares (PLS) method and a bootstrapping technique involving 5,000 resamples, assessed the statistical significance of hypotheses. Findings: The study reveals a subtle yet noteworthy positive influence of CSR on employee loyalty, job satisfaction, and turnover intention. Importantly, organizational trust emerges as a robust mediator, influencing employee outcomes positively. Research, Practical & Social implications: This research suggests extending the conceptual framework to diverse industry sectors and geographical settings. Additionally, the inclusion of alternative mediators, such as perceived organizational justice, warrants exploration in future studies. Originality/Value: In contrast to studies using Western-centric metrics for CSR, this research adopts an alternative conceptual framework tailored to the unique context of Iraq, contributing to a deeper understanding of the interplay between organizational trust, CSR initiatives, and employee outcomes.

Performance measurement and user-centeredness in the healthcare sector: Opening the black box adapting the framework of Donabedian.

The framework of Donabedian is widely applied to performance assessment at the healthcare system level. Donabedian categorised the care quality measurement around three dimensions, namely structure, process, and outcomes. The first dimension concerns the inputs; the second one, the combinations of factors and inputs; the last one, the effectiveness in terms of patients' health status. Donabedian early included in the last dimension the patient satisfaction. Nevertheless, nowadays, outcomes are generally measured through hard endpoints, such as re-admissions and mortality indicators. Recently, the Patient-Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs) have been included among the outcome measures within the Donabedian framework. How to move the concept of patient-centeredness to a macro level, including the patient point of view in care quality measurement, evaluation, and improvement? This paper integrates the Donabedian structure-process-outcome framework, by incorporating in the proper dimension the patient-indicators, namely the abovementioned PROMs and Patient-Reported Experience Measures (PREMs). While PROMs are clearly measures of outcome, PREMs can be collocated in the process dimension, since they can be useful for mapping processes and care pathways, in a lean perspective, as well as in the outcome dimension, because inherently linked to outcome, and enablers of patient-centeredness.

Rating scales in psychiatric disorders - why?

Clinical and research instruments are available for assessing patients with psychiatric illness along specific dimensions of symptoms, comorbidities, and other health outcomes. Rating scales in clinical practice and research standardize diagnosis and assessment. Here, we focus on rating scales for common psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, anxiety disorder, and stress-related disorders. Structured observation is most commonly used with this tool. Here are a few tools with basic characteristics, such as clarity, relevance, variety, objectives, and uniqueness. Rating scales will be discussed in clinical and research settings and future directions in their use. People using scales for commercial purposes should check for access and availability since some scales are copyrighted. The more standardization can be achieved, the easier it will be to compare individuals or groups of individuals. We will be able to assess care quality and outcomes across settings.

The role of health literacy in evaluation of health promotion and prevention interventions

Abstract One specific contribution to the workshop is the consideration of the role of health literacy in the evaluation of health promotion and prevention interventions both as an outcome variable and as a determinant of health-related behaviour. Health literacy has a detectable impact on health status and quality of life and is a necessary prerequisite for health-promoting behaviour. Health promotion should therefore address the determinants of health literacy. The causal relationships reported in the literature between the determinants of health literacy and the dimensions of health literacy (finding health information, understanding, evaluating, implementing) and outcomes can be illustrated in impact models. By using them it becomes clear that health literacy programmes should aim to improve situational determinants as well as individual determinants. It also highlights the central importance of the availability of accessible, understandable and trustworthy health information. Health literacy outcomes are only relevant when they lead to health-related decisions and related actions of individuals. Therefore, measuring health literacy is essential, especially at the decision-making level.

The Measurement Approaches to Partnership Success (MAPS) Questionnaire and Facilitation Guide: A Validated Measure of CBPR Partnership Success.

Partnerships that effectively engage in certain key structural and process functions are more likely to meet their research goals and contribute to longer-term health equity outcomes. Ongoing evaluation of partnerships' level of achievement of these key functions, along with their fidelity to the guiding principles of community-based participatory research (CBPR), is therefore essential to understand how they can achieve desired partnership outcomes. This article describes the validated Measurement Approaches to Partnership Success (MAPS) Questionnaire and the use of an accompanying Facilitation Guide in helping members of CBPR partnerships evaluate their partnership's state of development and interpret findings to improve its structure, processes, and outcomes. We describe the conceptual framework guiding the development of the MAPS Questionnaire and its 81-item across seven key outcome dimensions, along with 28 items measuring precursor characteristics of CBPR partnership outcomes. The Facilitation Guide provides general guidelines for sharing, interpreting, and applying results within partnerships using a participatory process, definitions and items for each dimension, an example of presenting summary means, and dimension-specific reflective questions for discussion. We offer recommendations for practical uses of the MAPS Questionnaire and Facilitation Guide. Whether used as a comprehensive tool or by dimension, the MAPS Questionnaire is conceptually sound and empirically validated for evaluating how CBPR partnerships can achieve long-standing success. CBPR partnerships at any stage of development will find the MAPS Questionnaire and Facilitation Guide useful in measuring and interpreting indicators of partnership success, sharing results, and improving their ability to contribute to achieving health equity goals.

Composite Indices of Social Determinants of Health: Overview, Measurement Gaps, and Research Priorities for Health Equity.

The goal of health equity is for all people to have opportunities and resources for optimal health outcomes regardless of their social identities, residence in marginalized communities, and/or experience with oppressive systems. Social determinants of health (SDOH)-the conditions in which we are born, grow, live, work, and age-are inextricably tied to health equity. Advancing health equity thus requires reliable measures of SDOH. In the United States, comprehensive individual-level data on SDOH are difficult to collect, may be inaccurate, and do not capture all dimensions of inequitable outcomes. Individual area-based indicators are widely available, but difficult to use in practice. Numerous area-level composite indices are available to describe SDOH, but there is no consensus on which indices are most appropriate to use. This article presents an analytic taxonomy of currently available SDOH composite indices and compares their components and predictive ability, providing insights into gaps and areas for further research.

Rhodiola rosea as an adaptogen to enhance exercise performance: a review of the literature.

Rhodiola rosea (RR) is a plant whose bioactive components may function as adaptogens, thereby increasing resistance to stress and improving overall resilience. Some of these effects may influence exercise performance and adaptations. Based on studies of rodents, potential mechanisms for the ergogenic effects of RR include modulation of energy substrate stores and use, reductions in fatigue and muscle damage and altered antioxidant activity. At least sixteen investigations in humans have explored the potential ergogenicity of RR. These studies indicate acute RR supplementation (∼200 mg RR containing ∼1 % salidroside and ∼3 % rosavin, provided 60 min before exercise) may prolong time-to-exhaustion and improve time trial performance in recreationally active males and females, with limited documented benefits of chronic supplementation. Recent trials providing higher doses (∼1500 to 2400 mg RR/d for 4–30 d) have demonstrated ergogenic effects during sprints on bicycle ergometers and resistance training in trained and untrained adults. The effects of RR on muscle damage, inflammation, energy system modulation, antioxidant activity and perceived exertion are presently equivocal. Collectively, it appears that adequately dosed RR enhances dimensions of exercise performance and related outcomes for select tasks. However, the current literature does not unanimously show that RR is ergogenic. Variability in supplementation dose and duration, concentration of bioactive compounds, participant characteristics, exercise tests and statistical considerations may help explain these disparate findings. Future research should build on the longstanding use of RR and contemporary clinical trials to establish the conditions in which supplementation facilitates exercise performance and adaptations.