Team Partners Research Articles

Unpacking Partnership, Engagement, and Collaboration Research to Inform Implementation Strategies Development: Theoretical Frameworks and Emerging Methodologies.

Background: Partnership, engagement, and collaboration (PEC) are critical factors in dissemination and implementation (D&I) research. Despite a growing recognition that incorporating PEC strategies in D&I research is likely to increase the relevance, feasibility, impacts, and of evidence-based interventions or practices (EBIs, EBPs), conceptual frameworks and methodologies to guide the development and testing of PEC strategies in D&I research are lacking. To address this methodological gap, a review was conducted to summarize what we know, what we think we know, and what we need to know about PEC to inform D&I research.Methods: A cross-field scoping review, drawing upon a broad range of PEC related literature in health, was conducted. Publications reviewed focused on factors influencing PEC, and processes, mechanisms and strategies for promoting effective PEC. The review was conducted separately for three forms of partnerships that are commonly used in D&I research: (1) consumer-provider or patient-implementer partnership; (2) delivery system or implementation team partnership; and (3) sustainment/support or interagency/community partnership. A total of 39 studies, of which 21 were review articles, were selected for an in-depth review.Results: Across three forms of partnerships, four domains (cognitive, interpersonal/affective, behavioral, and contextual domains) were consistently identified as factors and strategies for promoting PEC. Depending on the stage (preparation or execution) and purpose of the partnership (regulating performance or managing maintenance), certain PEC strategies are more or less relevant. Recent developments of PEC frameworks, such as Partnership Stage of Change and multiple dynamic processes, provide more comprehensive conceptual explanations for PEC mechanisms, which can better guide PEC strategies selection and integration in D&I research.Conclusions: This review contributes to D&I knowledge by identifying critical domain factors, processes, or mechanisms, and key strategies for PEC, and offers a multi-level PEC framework for future research to build the evidence base. However, more research is needed to test PEC mechanisms.

Intergroup Competition in Exergames: Further Tests of the Köhler Effect.

We examined how competing with a software-generated partner (SGP) against another human/virtual partner team, in an exercise video game (exergame), affects individual motivation as measured by effort. Participants (n = 90; 49 female; Mage = 19.93 ± 1.48) were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: individual control (IC); conjunctive partner, no competition (PNC); or conjunctive partner, with competition (PWC). Participants performed the first series of exercises alone. After resting, those in the partnered conditions performed the remaining trials with a same-sex SGP. Those in the PWC condition were told that they and their virtual partner would be competing against another human-virtual partner team. A significant motivation gain was observed in both partnered conditions compared to control (P < 0.001), but the partnered groups did not differ significantly. However, participants in the PWC condition enjoyed the task significantly (P < 0.05) more than those in the PNC and IC conditions and the PWC participants identified more with the SGP as a teammate than the PNC participants. Altogether, intergroup competition with an SGP may be an enjoyable way to enhance motivation and performance while exercising.

Target volume concepts in radiotherapy and their implications for imaging

Successful radiotherapy requires precise localization of the tumor and requires high-quality imaging for developing a treatment plan. Irradiation of the tumor region, including asafety margin. The target volume consists of the gross tumor volume (GTV) containing visible parts of the tumor, the clinical target volume (CTV) covering the GTV plus invisible tumor extensions, and the planning target volume (PTV) to account for uncertainties. The non-GTV parts of the CTV are based on historical patient data. The PTV margins are based on acalculation of possible uncertainties during planning, setup, or treatment. Normal tissue deserves the identical care in contouring, since its tolerance may limit the tumor dose, taking into account the contours of organs at risk. Serial risk organs benefit from defining aplanning organ of risk volume (PRV) to better limit the dose delivered to them. The better the imaging, the more reliable the definition of the GTV and treatment success will be. Multiple imaging sequences are desirable to support the delineation of the tumor. They may result in different CTVs that, depending on their tumor burden, may require different doses. The definition of standardized target volumes according to the ICRU reports50, 62, and 83 forms the basis for an individualized radiation treatment planning according to unified criteria on ahigh-quality level. Radio-oncology is by nature interdisciplinary, the diagnostic radiologist being an indispensable team partner. Aregular dialogue between the disciplines is pivotal for target volume definition and treatment success. Imaging for target volume definition requires highest quality imaging, the use of functional imaging methods and close cooperation with adiagnostic radiologist experienced in this field.

Redundant Automation Monitoring: Four Eyes Don't See More Than Two, if Everyone Turns a Blind Eye.

In safety-critical and highly automated environments, more than one person typically monitors the system in order to increase reliability. We investigate whether the anticipated advantage of redundant automation monitoring is lost due to social loafing and whether individual performance feedback can mitigate this effect. In two experiments, participants worked on a multitasking paradigm in which one task was the monitoring and cross-checking of an automation. Participants worked either alone or with a team partner on this task. The redundant group was further subdivided. One subgroup was instructed that only team performance would be evaluated, whereas the other subgroup expected to receive individual performance feedback after the experiment. Compared to participants working alone, those who worked collectively but did not expect individual feedback performed significantly less cross-checks and found 25% fewer automation failures. Due to this social loafing effect, even the combined team performance did not surpass the performance of participants working alone. However, when participants expected individual performance feedback, their monitoring behavior and failure detection performance was similar to participants working alone and a team advantage became apparent. Social loafing in redundant automation monitoring can negate the expected gain, if individual performance feedback is not provided. These findings may motivate safety experts to evaluate whether their implementation of human redundancy is vulnerable to social loafing effects.

Adapting medical guidelines to be patient-centered using a patient-driven process for individuals with sickle cell disease and their caregivers

BackgroundEvidence-based guidelines for sickle cell disease (SCD) health maintenance and management have been developed for primary health care providers, but not for individuals with SCD. To improve the quality of care delivered to individuals with SCD and their caregivers, the main purposes of this study were to: (1) understand the desire for patient-centered guidelines among the SCD community; and (2) adapt guideline material to be patient-centered using community-engagement strategies involving health care providers, community -based organizations, and individuals with the disease.MethodsFrom May–December 2016, a volunteer sample of 107 individuals with SCD and their caregivers gave feedback at community forums (n = 64) and community listening sessions (n = 43) about technology use for health information and desire for SCD-related guidelines. A team of community research partners consisting of community stakeholders, individuals living with SCD, and providers and researchers (experts) in SCD at nine institutions adapted guidelines to be patient-centered based on the following criteria: (1) understandable, (2) actionable, and (3) useful.ResultsIn community forums (n = 64), almost all participants (91%) wanted direct access to the content of the guidelines. Participants wanted guidelines in more than one format including paper (73%) and mobile devices (79%). Guidelines were adapted to be patient-centered. After multiple iterations of feedback, 100% of participants said the guidelines were understandable, most (88%) said they were actionable, and everyone (100%) would use these adapted guidelines to discuss their medical care with their health care providers.ConclusionsIndividuals with SCD and their caregivers want access to guidelines through multiple channels, including technology. Guidelines written for health care providers can be adapted to be patient-centered using Community-engaged research involving providers and patients. These patient-centered guidelines provide a framework for patients to discuss their medical care with their health care providers.

A-EQUIP: Pilot to Practice Through Partnership Power

This article chronicles the journey of the Coventry and Warwickshire A-EQUIP partnership; from undertaking the pilot phase of the new A-EQUIP model, through to a region-wide implementation. Partnership benefits include a ‘critical friend’ approach as well as shared learning and a wider appreciation of the challenges and successes touching midwives in maternity service delivery across the local patch. This partnership team is optimistic about the future benefits A-EQUIP will bring to midwives, women and babies in their area.

Investigating Joint-Action in Short-Cycle Repetitive Handover Tasks: The Role of Giver Versus Receiver and its Implications for Human-Robot Collaborative System Design

Human–human joint-action in short-cycle repetitive handover tasks was investigated for a bottle handover task using a three-fold approach: work-methods field studies in multiple supermarkets, simulation analysis using an ergonomics software package and by conducting an in-house lab experiment on human–human collaboration by re-creating the environment and conditions of a supermarket. Evaluation included both objective and subjective measures. Subjective evaluation was done taking a psychological perspective and showcases among other things, the differences in the way a common joint-action is being perceived by individual team partners depending upon their role (giver or receiver). The proposed approach can provide a systematic method to analyze similar tasks. Combining the results of all the three analyses, this research gives insight into the science of joint-action for short-cycle repetitive tasks and its implications for human–robot collaborative system design.

Pertanian Perdesaan Lampung: Peluang dan Tantangan Lampung Rural Agriculture; Opportunities And Challenges F

The numbers of Lampung residents with average monthly expenditure per capita below the poverty line are still quite large (14.86%). Most of the poor are in the district (76.26%) and are rural communities dependent on the agricultural sector for their livelihoods. Rural agricultural communities face complex problems including: the limitations of land access, capital, technology, markets, and institutions. This project, conducted in 2014, was a series of research collaboration of universities (PEKERTI) between State Polytechnic of Lampung (Polinela) as Research Team Proposer (TPP) with University of Lampung (Unila) as Research Partner Team (TPM). Method of depth analysis about Lampung rural agriculture society condition during 10 years and cross tabulation were conducted based on Lampung Input Output Table 2010. The secondary data were obtained from Provincial BPS (Lampung Statistic Office) and some other related technical agencies. The results of the discussion showed that the portrait of Lampung agriculture is dominated by rural farming which faces very complex problems. The complexity of the problems within agricultural society is a resultant of the limitations faced by farmers in accessing capital, land, technology and institutional resources. This condition boils down to structural poverty. The key to the work of sustainable rural agricultural development policy is the occurrence of synergy in overcoming obstacles which include: local agro-climatic conditions, site-specific technologies, availability of biomass, economic incentives, product markets, information access, land tenure, institutional, extension, and political constraints.

Learning Semantics of Gestural Instructions for Human-Robot Collaboration.

Designed to work safely alongside humans, collaborative robots need to be capable partners in human-robot teams. Besides having key capabilities like detecting gestures, recognizing objects, grasping them, and handing them over, these robots need to seamlessly adapt their behavior for efficient human-robot collaboration. In this context we present the fast, supervised Proactive Incremental Learning (PIL) framework for learning associations between human hand gestures and the intended robotic manipulation actions. With the proactive aspect, the robot is competent to predict the human's intent and perform an action without waiting for an instruction. The incremental aspect enables the robot to learn associations on the fly while performing a task. It is a probabilistic, statistically-driven approach. As a proof of concept, we focus on a table assembly task where the robot assists its human partner. We investigate how the accuracy of gesture detection affects the number of interactions required to complete the task. We also conducted a human-robot interaction study with non-roboticist users comparing a proactive with a reactive robot that waits for instructions.

PROMOTING INTERCULTURAL EXCHANGE THROUGH A CORNERSTONE ENGINEERING DESIGN PROJECT

Abstract – First-year engineering students at Vancouver Island University in Canada and second-year engineering students at Tra Vinh University in Vietnam have been brought together to work on a cooperative cornerstone design project as a means to introduce intercultural competencies early in the students' academic experience. Student teams at each institution were partnered, whereby a design proposal developed by a team at one institution was constructed by their partner team at the other institution. Each team provided stakeholder input early in the design stage, and team pairs established a change management structure to respond to challenges occurring during the construction phase of the project.&#x0D; We explore the challenges and successes of the students experience as they navigated the linguistic, cultural, technical, and geographic barriers towards successfully completing this major design project.&#x0D;

ISEP/INESC TEC Aerial Robotics Team for Search and Rescue Operations at the euRathlon 2015

This paper presents the results from search and rescue missions performed with the aerial robot OTUS in the the context of the ISEP/INESC TEC aerial robotics team participation on the euRathlon 2015 robotics competition. The multi-domain (land, sea and air) search and rescue scenario is described and technical solution adopted is presented with emphasis on the perception system. The calibration of the image based system is addressed. Results from the operational missions performed are also discussed. The aerial autonomous vehicle was able to successfully perform multiple tasks from the aerial reconnaissance and 3D mapping to the identification of leaking pipes, obstructed passages and missing workers. The system was validated a realistic operational scenario and won the Grand Challenge in cooperation with land and marine robotics partner teams. This challenge was the first time that a real time collaborative team of aerial, land and marine robots was deployed successfully in a search and rescue mission.

Framework for Research on Implementation of Process Redesigns.

Complex system interventions benefit from close attention to factors affecting implementation and resultant outcomes. This article describes a framework for examining these factors in process redesign (PR) and for assessing PR outcomes. Using literature scans and expert comment on draft frameworks based on the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, a team of researchers developed the PR framework for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. As a case study, an independent team of researchers in a large care system subsequently applied the PR framework to implementation of Lean-based primary care redesigns. The PR framework adds 2 domains to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research, focused on relevant measures of implementation and outcomes, as well as some new constructs to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research. Using the PR framework to guide a study of primary care PR, researchers found that the health care reform environment encouraged staff recognition of need for redesign, but physicians worried about key redesign issues, including colocation with care team partners and the competencies of the individuals assigned to manage new workflows. Team member acceptance of the redesign was also influenced by other features of the implementation process and contextual features, including the decision style of the local clinic. The PR framework helped guide the qualitative study and aided researchers in informing their leadership about critical issues affecting PR implementation.

Racial differences in symptom management experiences during breast cancer treatment.

Racial disparities in cancer treatment-related symptom burden are well documented and linked to worse treatment outcomes. Yet, little is known about racial differences in patients' treatment-related symptom management experiences. Such understanding can help identify modifiable drivers of symptom burden inequities. As part of the Cancer Health Accountability for Managing Pain and Symptoms (CHAMPS) study, we examined racial differences in symptom management experiences among Black and White breast cancer survivors (BCS). We conducted six focus groups (n=3 Black BCS groups; n=3 White BCS groups) with 22 stages I-IV BCS at two cancer centers. Focus groups were audio-recorded and transcribed verbatim. Based on key community-based participatory research principles, our community/academic/medical partner team facilitated focus groups and conducted qualitative analyses. All BCS described positive symptom management experiences, including clinician attentiveness to symptom concerns and clinician recommendations for pre-emptively managing symptoms. Black BCS commonly reported having to advocate for themselves to get information about treatment-related symptoms, and indicated dissatisfaction regarding clinicians' failure to disclose potential treatment-related symptoms or provide medications to address symptoms. White BCS often described dissatisfaction regarding inadequate information on symptom origins and clinicians' failure to offer reassurance. This study elucidates opportunities for future research aimed at improving equity for cancer treatment-related symptom management. For Black women, warnings about anticipated symptoms and treatment for ongoing symptoms were particular areas of concern. Routine symptom assessment for all women, as well as clinicians' management of symptoms for racially diverse cancer patients, need to be more thoroughly studied and addressed.

The Joint Action Effect on Memory as a Social Phenomenon: The Role of Cued Attention and Psychological Distance.

In contrast to individual tasks, a specific social setting is created when two partners work together on a task. How does such a social setting affect memory for task-related information? We addressed this issue in a distributed joint-action paradigm, where two team partners respond to different types of information within the same task. Previous work has shown that joint action in such a task enhances memory for items that are relevant to the partner’s task but not to the own task. By removing critical, non-social confounds, we wanted to pinpoint the social nature of this selective memory advantage. Specifically, we created joint task conditions in which participants were aware of the shared nature of the concurrent task but could not perceive sensory cues to the other’s responses. For a differentiated analysis of the social parameters, we also varied the distance between partners. We found that the joint action effect emerged even without sensory cues from the partner, and it declined with increasing distance between partners. These results support the notion that the joint-action effect on memory is in its core driven by the experience of social co-presence, and does not simply emerge as a by-product of partner-generated sensory cues.

Digital Media to ‘Engage the Disengaged’: Reaching out to Humanities Students at the University of Southampton

In 2014, Dr Eleanor Quince and a team of student partners created the ‘Mission Employable’ initiative in the University of Southampton’s Faculty of Humanities. The initiative aimed to put students back at the centre of their own employability and careers development activity, via five main areas: Peer Mentoring, a compulsory Employability Module, Student Working Group, Alumni Network and External Advisory Board. Two years on, Mission Employable provides employability and careers advice and guidance to over 3,000 students across seven disciplines. Not all of these students can have direct impact upon activity by creating content and working in close partnership, so how do we give every student a sense of ownership? This paper will explore the ways in which Mission Employable has harnessed and implemented digital media – in particular, social networks – to reach out to Humanities students who might not otherwise directly engage with us. From Facebook for off-campus Peer Mentoring support, to e-portfolios for extra-curricular development, to hashtag campaigns, Instagram selfies and animated module ‘trailers’, Mission Employable has embraced the digital as a space for all of its student partners to engage, network, advise and create.

Conquering HIV’s capsid

For most of his career at Gilead Sciences, medicinal chemist Winston Tse has lived and breathed one thing. While his peers at other companies hopped from project to project, Tse has spent the past decade obsessing over a single target: the HIV capsid. HIV’s capsid is a complex, protein-rich shell that protects the genetic payload the virus is trying to sneak into the cells of its host. Tse’s goal? To prove that a small molecule can disrupt that shield and keep the virus from replicating. Getting to his goal has taken tenacity. For perspective, Tse’s daughter was born the year he started working on capsid inhibitors; this fall, she’ll be in the fourth grade. Finally, Tse and a sizable team of medicinal chemists, biologists, virologists, and academic partners have done it. By 2018, Gilead expects to begin human studies of a capsid inhibitor with the potential to be dosed once

Collective self-efficacy expectations in Co-teaching teams – what are the influencing factors?

Scholars have studied collective teacher efficacy mainly at the school level. The present study also focuses on collective teacher efficacy expectations, but it emphasises the collaborative teaching of two teachers working together in one classroom. This study investigates personal, contextual, and systemic factors (e.g. experience, gender, class composition, pleasure with Co-teaching and its standards, knowledge about specific Co-teaching skills, the way how the team partner was chosen, etc.) that may influence collective self-efficacy expectations of Co-teacher teams. For the present study, 264 teachers who were part of a Co-teaching team finished an online questionnaire. Results from multiple regression analysis indicated that team characteristics influenced the subjective evaluation of efficacy expectations in teams much more than individual characteristics or the social context in which Co-teaching teams worked.

Dementia Guide for Carers and Care Providers

This app is for carers of people with dementia. Developed by Health Education England's Thames Valley team in partnership with the University of Reading and in collaboration with healthcare professionals and carers, it offers practical information to support users' understanding of the progressive nature of dementia and the challenges of caring for someone with the condition.

Efficient and Security Enhanced Evolved Packet System Authentication and Key Agreement Protocol

As people increasingly rely on mobile networks in modern society, mobile communication security is becoming more and more important. In the Long Term Evolution/System Architecture Evolution (LTE/SAE) architecture, the 3rd Generation Partnership (3GPP) team has also developed the improved Evolved Packet System Authentication and Key Agreement (EPS AKA) protocol based on the 3rd Generation Authentication and Key Agreement (3G AKA) protocol in order to provide mutual authentication and secure communication between the user and the network. Unfortunately, the EPS AKA also has several vulnerabilities such as sending the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) in plain text (which leads to disclosure of user identity and further causes location and tracing of the user, Mobility Management Entity (MME) attack), man-in-middle attack, etc. Hence, in this paper, we analyze the EPS AKA protocol and point out its deficiencies and then propose an Efficient and Security Enhanced Authentication and Key agreement (ESE-EPS AKA) protocol based on hybrid of Dynamic Pseudonym Mechanism (DPM) and Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) retaining the original framework and the infrastructure of the LTE network. Then, our evaluation proves that the proposed new ESE-EPS AKA protocol is relatively more efficient, secure and satisfies some of the security requirements such as confidentiality, integrity and authentication.

A continuous improvement approach to social and emotional competency measurement

A four-year research project by a researcher-practitioner partnership to develop a self-report measure of student social and emotional competency to identify at-risk students and guide practice is described. A continuous measure improvement approach facilitated work towards this goal. Items developed collaboratively by the partnership team were administered annually to all 5th, 6th, 8th, and 11th graders in WCSD in the context of their online school climate survey. Despite strong construct validity, initial Rasch analysis revealed a substantial ceiling effect inhibiting assessment of students at the mid-to-high range of social and emotional ability. Student focus groups informed by a latent class analysis were conducted and expert practitioners and scholars refined the items. The process resulted in an improved measure as well as more consistent district-wide survey administration. Strengths and challenges of the scale development process and data use strategies are discussed along with recommendations for future assessment development efforts.