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1 – 10 of 44Simon Wyke, Søren Munch Lindhard and Jesper Kranker Larsen
Cost and time are two of the primary benchmarks in which construction projects are measured. A variety of factors, however, affect cost and time on construction projects, as…
Abstract
Purpose
Cost and time are two of the primary benchmarks in which construction projects are measured. A variety of factors, however, affect cost and time on construction projects, as identified in previous research. This has led to a need for better understanding how factors affecting cost and time overruns on public construction projects can be managed more efficiently. The purpose of this paper is to address these issues.
Design/methodology/approach
In this study 26 factors affecting cost and time overruns on construction projects were identified, through qualitative interviews with project managers from Danish governmental agencies and through a literature review. Through principal component analyses the 26 factors were subsequently narrowed down to four primary latent factors.
Findings
The identified four latent factors affecting cost and time overruns on public construction projects were lack of quality management, lack of project pre-planning, lack of user management and lack of project management.
Originality/value
Previous research has focussed on increasing knowledge by identifying and ranking factors affecting time and cost performance. This has led to the identification of an overwhelming number of factors to use for managing construction projects. The present research reduced the number of factors by clustering them into key latent factors responsible for most of the deviation in performance, narrowing the scope of construction cost and time management into a few tangible key focus areas. This supports and improves fast decision-making that is necessary in a changeable environment such as construction.
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Heather Sequeira and Simon Halstead
The study examines the experiences of physical restraint procedures reported by nursing staff in a secure mental health service. Interview data were subjected to thematic content…
Abstract
The study examines the experiences of physical restraint procedures reported by nursing staff in a secure mental health service. Interview data were subjected to thematic content analysis in accordance with grounded theory methodology.Nursing staff reported a range of emotional responses to the use of restraint procedures. They included anxiety, anger, boredom, distress and crying. In some cases these responses were confirmed by descriptions from patients.Staff coped with the emotional responses to restraint in a variety of ways. Some staff discussed the ‘stigma’ attached to showing feelings to other staff. They described how laughter was used to reduce stress following an incident and how distressing emotions had to be taken home. Some staff described how they had become ‘hardened’ to the experience of restraint. A substantial proportion of staff suggested that they had ‘no’ emotional reactions and many reported ‘automatic’ responding during a restraint event in which they did not feel any emotion.Possible implications of these responses and clinical practice are discussed.
This study examined the ability of the HCR‐20 Scale (version 2) to predict incidents of in‐patient violence during a stay on a medium secure ward. The study was carried out…
Abstract
This study examined the ability of the HCR‐20 Scale (version 2) to predict incidents of in‐patient violence during a stay on a medium secure ward. The study was carried out retrospectively on a sample of 94 admissions, using reports pre‐existing at the time of admission and nursing observations of behaviour in the two weeks that followed admission. The sample group was made up of mentally disordered offenders and patients with challenging behaviour. Their episodes of care averaged two years.The H and C scores, singly or combined, did not show powerful predictive capacity for the sample as a whole, which had a high base rate for violence. Insufficient variance and poor inter‐rater reliability precluded use of the R variable. For purposes of analysis, violent patients were also grouped on the number of incidents committed during their episode of care. Here the C Scale items showed strong predictive capacity for patients with more than 10 incidents during their stay. The paper argues that the latter finding supports a method of predicting admissions at risk of frequent incidents of violence.
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Thomas Blomseth Christiansen, Dorthe Brogård Kristensen and Jakob Eg Larsen
This chapter provides an insider perspective on the Quantified Self (QS) community. It is argued that the overall approach and methods used in the QS community have not been…
Abstract
This chapter provides an insider perspective on the Quantified Self (QS) community. It is argued that the overall approach and methods used in the QS community have not been adequately described. Consequently, the aim of the chapter is to give an account of the work performed by self-trackers in what we coin the 1-Person-Laboratory (1PL). Additionally, the chapter describes other aspects of the 1PL, for example the methods, procedures and instrumentation that are being used and the knowledge sharing taking place in the QS community. With a point of departure in empirical cases it is demonstrated how QS self-trackers put their own questions, observations and subjective experience front and centre by using their own instrumentation and data sets in their personal laboratories. In the 1PL, the causalities that are looked for are not aimed at generalisation to an entire population; on the contrary, the causal connections on the level of the person are essential for discovery by the individual.
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Claire Curran, Martin Knapp and Jennifer Beecham
This paper brings together findings from current research into mental health and employment from an economic perspective. The economic impact of reduced employment and…
Abstract
This paper brings together findings from current research into mental health and employment from an economic perspective. The economic impact of reduced employment and productivity for people with mental health problems is described from both individual and societal viewpoints. Interventions reported to have an impact on employment are considered, looking at both clinical interventions that have reported employment outcomes and interventions that have as their primary target the improvement of employment outcomes. The paper also describes the impact of common mental health problems on employment and productivity and reports the findings of some studies in this area. However, the quantity and quality of economic information in this area are limited.
Simon Kroes, Kevan Myers, Grace McLoughlan, Sarah O'Connor, Erin Keily and Melissa Petrakis
The purpose of this study was to utilise a lived experience (LE) informed/co-designed approach to explore the service-user experience of using the reasons for use package (RFUP…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study was to utilise a lived experience (LE) informed/co-designed approach to explore the service-user experience of using the reasons for use package (RFUP) within a youth residential rehabilitation mental health setting.
Design/methodology/approach
LE researchers (those who have lived through mental illness or distress), Master of social work students, a community of mental health service manager, community of mental health researchers, dual diagnosis service researchers and university-based researchers collaborated on the project. The study used an exploratory, qualitative approach of semi-structured interviews to invite young people's experiences of the resource. The research team conducted a collaborative thematic analysis drawing on the range of perspectives.
Findings
Through five interviews with young people, key themes identified included: client factors and extra-therapeutic events, relationship factors, technique/model factors/delivery and outcomes/things noticed.
Practical implications
The RFUP was a useful clinical tool with the young people in this pilot as it improved awareness of reasons for drug use and impact on mental health, service user to staff relationship, quality of the resource, mode of delivery and participant self-knowledge.
Originality/value
Young people valued the supportive role that the RFUP played in facilitating positive relationships with their workers.
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Grace McKeon, Caroline Fitzgerald, Bonnie Furzer, Simon Rosenbaum, Robert Stanton, Oscar Lederman, Samuel B. Harvey and Kemi Wright
Physical activity is an important component of treatment for people living with mental illness, and exercise practitioners are well placed to deliver these interventions. In…
Abstract
Purpose
Physical activity is an important component of treatment for people living with mental illness, and exercise practitioners are well placed to deliver these interventions. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lock-down regulations, exercise professionals have rapidly adapted to the online delivery of services to continue care for their clients. To date, the research surrounding the delivery of exercise sessions via telehealth for this population has been scarce. Therefore, this study aims to explore how exercise professionals working in mental health have adapted to telehealth, the barriers and facilitators they have experienced and the implications for the future.
Design/methodology/approach
A qualitative study using semi-structure interviews was conducted. Interviews were audio recorded, transcribed and analysed using reflexive thematic analysis.
Findings
Nine exercise physiologists working in mental health settings in Australia participated in the interviews. Two main themes were explored. The first related to the implementation of telehealth and was divided into four sub-themes: service delivery, accessibility and suitability, technology barriers and facilitators, adaptations to exercise prescription. The second theme related to attitudes and was categorised into two sub-themes: attitudes towards telehealth and future recommendations.
Practical implications
Telehealth appears to be a feasible and well accepted platform to deliver exercise sessions for people with mental illness, and this study provides guidance for clinicians including service and training recommendations.
Originality/value
To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the experiences of exercise physiologists working in mental health and using telehealth.
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In the last few years, signs of material excess by organizational and political leaders have often evoked public outcry. The paper aims to argue that there is insight to be…
Abstract
Purpose
In the last few years, signs of material excess by organizational and political leaders have often evoked public outcry. The paper aims to argue that there is insight to be gleaned from drawing together strands from the leadership literature with the literatures on moral economy and conspicuous consumption. The premise is that views of leader conspicuous consumption are shaped by their moral economy, the interplay between moral attitudes and economic activities. The paper seeks to juxtapose tales of Cleopatra and Antony's display of wealth with current media accounts to contribute to the leadership literature on ethics, specifically its intersection with power and narrative representation.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper adopts an analytic approach, with an international orientation and an interdisciplinary perspective. It acknowledges the role of narrative representation in shaping leadership and the psychological ambivalence with which societies approach their leaders' practices, focus here on desire-disdain and discipline-decadence. Cleopatra and Antony's conspicuous consumption generated a legacy of condemnation for millennia. Drawing from the retellings of their story, four moralizing representations – by Plutarch, Shakespeare, Sarah Fielding and Hollywood – are analyzed and juxtaposed with current media accounts. Altogether, the paper combines the interest in leadership across history with moralizing perspectives on the display of wealth by leaders.
Findings
The intersection of the literatures on leadership, moral economy and conspicuous consumption draws together several dynamics of relevance to leadership. First, evaluations of the display of wealth on the part of a leader are contextual: they change across time and place. Second, interpretations of conspicuous consumption involve aesthetic judgment and so sit at the nexus of morality and taste. Third, following tragedies, tales of leader conspicuous consumption offer critics another knife to dig into the fallen tragic hero. Fourth, views of conspicuous consumption are gendered. Last, conspicuous consumption by leaders attracts condemnation through support for social responsibility and sustainability.
Originality/value
The paper establishes a novel articulation between the literatures on leadership, moral economy and conspicuous consumption.
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