Search Results (809)

Background/Objectives: Informal caregivers play a crucial role in healthcare, but when caregiving ends the “post-caregivers” often remain invisible and unsupported. Post-caregivers face needs such as reconstructing their identity and finding space and time to grieve. This study aimed to design a support network for informal post-caregivers by exploring perceptions of diverse stakeholders. Methods: A qualitative inductive study was conducted using three focus groups (n = 15; ages 35–70; 12 women, 3 men) held online between June and July 2023. Participants included palliative care team members, home support professionals, general practitioners, informal caregivers, post-caregivers, and members of civil society. A semi-structured guide was used, and narratives were analyzed with a Narrative Medicine-informed approach and thematic analysis. Results: Community-For-Care emerged as an overarching and distinctive concept that, while aligned with the ethos of Compassionate Communities, specifically addresses the transition after caregiving ends, a phase largely absent from existing models. It symbolizes the “living forces of the community” mobilized to accompany informal post-caregivers through identity reconstruction, bereavement, and reintegration. Three interrelated thematic axes structure this concept: (1) Compassion Axis—emphasizing a compassionate community that values caregiving; (2) Coordinated Action Axis—highlighting coordinated, continuous support across healthcare and community services; and (3) Care Literacy Axis—underscoring education and training for caregivers, post-caregivers, and professionals. These axes dynamically interact to empower post-caregivers and stitch the holes in the support network. Conclusions: A community-centered, post-caregiver-focused framework such as Community-For-Care offers a novel extension of compassionate communities by directly addressing the loneliness, identity rupture, and invisibility that often characterize the transition after caregiving. Reinforcing compassion, coordinated action, and care literacy can enable communities to better acknowledge the contributions and ongoing needs of post-caregivers, supporting their emotional recovery, social reintegration, and reconstruction of daily life. By integrating these three axes into community practice, the model introduces a post-care-specific structure that can enhance well-being, reduce preventable health decline, and relieve pressure on formal services by mobilizing local, civic, and relational assets. Full article

This paper mainly studies tax inspection decision-making technology, aiming to improve the accuracy and robustness of target recognition, state estimation, and autonomous decision making in complex environments by constructing an application that integrates visual, radar, and inertial navigation information. Tax inspection is a universally complex phenomenon, but little is known about the use of innovative technology to arm tax auditors with tools in monitoring it. Thus, based on the legitimacy theory, there is an agreement between taxpayers and the tax authorities regarding adequate compliance with tax legislation. The use of systemic controls by tax authorities is essential to track stakeholders’ contracts and ensure the upholding of this mandate. The case study is exploratory, using participant observation, and interventionist approach to a tax auditing. The results indicated that partnership between experienced tax auditors and IT tax auditors offered several tangible benefits to the in-house development and monitoring of an innovative application. It also indicates that OCR supports a data lake for inspectors in which stored information is available on standby during inspection. Furthermore, auditors’ use of mobile applications programmed with intelligent perception and tracking resources instead of using searches on mainframes streamlined the inspection process. The integration of professional skepticism, empathy among users, and technological innovation created a surge in independence among tax auditors and ensured focus. This paper’s contribution lies in the discussion of the enhancement of tax inspection through target recognition, drawing on legitimacy theory to rethink the relationship between taxpayers and tax authorities regarding adequate compliance with tax legislation, and presenting an exploratory case study using a participant observation, interventionist approach focused on a tax auditor. The implications of this study for policy makers, auditors, and academics are only the peak of the iceberg, as innovation in public administration presupposes efficiency. As a suggestion for future dimensions of research, we recommend the infusion of AI into these tools for further efficacy and effectiveness to mitigate fraud in the undue appropriation of taxes and undue competition. Full article

This work introduces a low-cost, wearable assistive mouse designed to support digital interaction for individuals with motor impairments. The system combines inertial sensing for head-movement tracking and a pressure-based interface for simulating mouse clicks via “sip-and-puff” actions. The device enables full mouse control (pointer movement, clicks, and double-clicks) without relying on hand mobility. Preliminary evaluations, conducted with input from occupational therapy professionals, demonstrated promising usability and functionality comparable to commercial devices. The proposed solution offers a cost-effective, open-source alternative to existing adaptive technologies, with future development aimed at broader testing and integration in rehabilitation settings. Future work will include usability testing with individuals presenting real motor impairments to validate clinical applicability. Full article

Background: Population aging represents a growing public health challenge, with falls being one of the leading causes of morbidity, mortality, and loss of autonomy among older adults. In nursing homes, the risk is exacerbated by physical, cognitive, and environmental factors, yet which interventions are most actionable in nursing homes remains unclear, requiring effective and evidence-based prevention strategies. Objective: We aimed to map the evidence on interventions in fall risk management among institutionalized older adults, highlighting assessment, exercise, environmental, and educational strategies. Methods: A scoping review was conducted according to JBI guidelines. The search was carried out in MEDLINE, CINAHL, Scopus, Cochrane, and Web of Science. The review included studies, published between 2019 and 2024, involving older adults (≥65 years) in nursing homes, focusing on nursing interventions for fall risk management. Results: The initial search identified 1146 records across electronic databases and gray literature sources. After removing duplicates and screening titles, abstracts, and full texts, 18 studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in this scoping review. The inclusion criteria were as follows: (i) fall risk assessment, using functional and clinical scales such as the Timed Up and Go (TUG), Berg Balance Scale (BBS), Morse Fall Scale, to identify predisposing factors; (ii) exercise programs, such as the Otago Exercise Program and multicomponent training, which demonstrated benefits in strength, balance, and mobility; (iii) environmental modifications, aimed at reducing extrinsic risks and promoting safer surroundings; and (iv) educational programs, targeting professionals, residents, and families, with positive effects on adherence to preventive practices and on strengthening the safety culture. Conclusions: Effective fall risk management in nursing homes requires an integrated, multidisciplinary, and person-centered approach, with nurses playing a central role in assessment, coordination, and implementation of interventions. However, gaps remain regarding standardization, validation of assessment tools specific to the institutional context, and evaluation of long-term outcomes. Full article

Background: ECHO Pain is a health professions education model that uses telehealth technology to connect specialists in academic centres to healthcare professionals who work in the community to disseminate best practice knowledge and foster interprofessional collaboration to support real patient cases. Methods: This paper summarizes 10 years of ECHO Pain implementation and evaluation in Ontario. We reviewed participants’ demographics, characteristics of cases presented in ECHO sessions, and the research output of this ECHO Pain program. Results: From June 2014 to June 2024, there were 529 sessions, 1527 healthcare professionals from urban and rural regions attended ECHO, and 25,898 h of continuing medical education credits were provided. We published 11 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals using qualitative and quantitative research methods. Conclusions: ECHO Pain has been implemented and sustained in Ontario for 10 years, with demonstrated interprofessional education and an ongoing community of practice to discuss chronic pain cases. ECHO Pain is filling a significant gap in health professions education related to chronic pain in Ontario, especially for primary care professionals living in rural, remote, and underserved areas. Full article

Citizen journalism is gaining increasing popularity as a means of distributing information using digital technology. As technology continues to improve, particularly in the realms of social media and mobile technology, direct involvement and creation of content are becoming more accessible to individual users. Digital media platforms promote and facilitate public engagement in processes of decision-making. They enhance the dissemination of information, promote transparency, and ensure accountability. The aim of this research is to elucidate the impact of digital technologies on user engagement in citizen journalism. This research also identifies pull factors that inspire individuals to engage in user-generated content creation and promotion. A qualitative approach was used to understand the motivation for citizens to practice journalism. Purposive sampling was used to select the samples. Young citizen journalists, media professionals, and citizen journalism platform coordinators were interviewed. KII (Key Informant Interviews) and IDI (In-Depth Interviews) were conducted using unstructured questionnaires to collect qualitative data, which were analyzed thematically. The results of this study show that the involvement of citizens in journalism has increased due to the emergence of the internet, digital platforms, and mobile technologies. Full article

Background/Objectives: Hamstring injuries are highly prevalent in sports and often occur, particularly among recreational and professional athletes. Assessing eccentric hamstring strength is critical for injury prevention and rehabilitation, with isokinetic dynamometry being considered the gold standard. However, its accessibility is limited by cost and logistics. This study aimed to evaluate the validity and reliability of the My Jump Lab (version 4.0) mobile application in estimating eccentric peak torque in the break-point angle, compared with isokinetic dynamometry. Methods: Twenty-seven recreational athletes (twenty-six male, one female) were assessed bilaterally using the mobile application and isokinetic dynamometer, which is considered the gold standard for this type of strength assessment. Statistical analysis included Pearson’s correlation, intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), standard error of measurement (SEM), coefficient of variation (CV), and Bland–Altman plots. Results: Results showed excellent inter-rater reliability (ICC = 0.999; CV = 0.66%) for both smartphone application evaluators and good comparative validity and reliability (ICC ≈ 0.76 with confidence interval: 0.5367–0.876; p < 0.001 and r ≈ 0.705;) when comparing with isokinetic dynamometry. Conclusions: My Jump Lab is a mobile application which can provide a practical and accessible mean for monitoring eccentric hamstring strength in field settings. The app may serve as a feasible field-based alternative to laboratory dynamometry for eccentric strength monitoring. Full article

Background: Academic burnout significantly impacts students’ cognitive and psychological well-being and may result in adverse behavioral changes. An effective and timely detection of burnout in the student population is crucial as it enables educational institutions to mobilize necessary support systems and implement intervention strategies. However, current survey-based detection methods are susceptible to response biases and administrative overhead. This study investigated the feasibility of detecting academic burnout symptoms using machine learning trained exclusively on university records, eliminating reliance on psychological surveys. Methods: We developed models to detect three burnout dimensions—exhaustion, cynicism, and low professional efficacy. Five machine learning algorithms (i.e., logistic regression, support vector machine, naive Bayes, decision tree, and extreme gradient boosting) were trained using features engineered from administrative data. Results: Results demonstrated considerable variability across burnout dimensions. Models achieved the highest performance for exhaustion detection, with logistic regression obtaining an F1 score of 68.4%. Cynicism detection showed moderate performance, while professional efficacy detection has the lowest performance. Conclusions: Our findings showed that automated detection using passively collected university records is feasible for identifying signs of exhaustion and cynicism. The modest performance highlights the challenges of capturing psychological constructs through administrative data alone, providing a foundation for future research in unobtrusive student burnout detection. Full article

The transition to electric mobility requires salespeople to go beyond technical expertise and develop advanced social–cognitive skills that shape consumer decision-making. This study examines how empathy, perspective-taking, and trust influence interactions between salespeople and potential buyers of electric vehicles (EVs). Through a systematic literature review and bibliometric analysis, we identify the key cognitive and emotional competencies that enable sales professionals to interpret customer intentions, manage uncertainty, and guide rational yet emotionally influenced purchase decisions. Findings suggest that successful EV sales rely on understanding consumer beliefs about sustainability, risk, and technology, as well as on the salesperson’s ability to align messages with these cognitive frames. Based on this analysis, we propose a competency development framework that emphasizes empathy-driven communication, adaptive reasoning, and the integration of social cognition into training strategies. This perspective contributes to the broader understanding of how social–cognitive processes affect human judgment and decision-making in the emerging electric vehicle market. Full article

Transportation infrastructure underpins national mobility and economic growth, yet material sourcing for road construction imposes significant environmental and financial costs. As South Africa advances towards road construction, upcycling the reuse of reclaimed materials in higher-value applications offers opportunities to reduce waste and improve circular resource efficiency. This study assesses stakeholders’ perception and adoption of upcycling in the Material Utilisation Plans (MUPs) for road construction. A mixed-methods approach combined nine semi-structured interviews and thirty-two survey responses from professionals involved in the National Route 3 upgrade project. Thematic analysis identified key qualitative themes, while quantituative data from a five-point Likert scale were examined through descriptive statistics, reliability, and correlation analysis. Respondents supported existing downcycling practices (mean = 3.682, SD = 1.088) and expressed readiness to adopt upcycling for pavement surfacing, base, subbase, and subgrade (mean > 3.00, SD < 1.30). Major barriers included client specifications, limited awareness and material cost constraints. Reliability analysis (Cronbach’s α = 0.64–0.88) confirmed internal consistency across qualitative themes. Also, there was a positive correlation between reclaimed materials and cost, design specifications, and optimised cost (r > 0.30, p < 0.05), while downcycling correlated negatively with costs (r = −0.400, p < 0.05). This study provides new empirical evidence on the systemic barriers hindering upcycling adoption in South African road projects and offers a validated mixed-method framework linking perceptual, technical, and economic dimensions of material reuse. It recommends integrating upcycling criteria into design, testing, and procurement processes, shifting from compliance-based recycling to performance-based circular material management in national road infrastructure. Full article

Objective: This in vitro study aimed to evaluate and compare the trueness and precision of four extraoral 3D facial scanning systems using a standardized 3D-printed human head model. Methods: A 3D-printed head model with 16 anatomical landmarks and 17 inter-landmark linear distances was fabricated using a high-resolution 3D printer. Caliper measurements were used as reference standards. The model was scanned 15 times by four systems: a handheld scanner (MetiSmile, Shining 3D, Hangzhou, China), a desktop scanner (RAYFace v2.0, Ray Co., Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do, Republic of Korea), and two mobile applications (Heges and Polycam, iPhone 15, Apple Inc., Cupertino, CA, USA). All digital distances were measured in Blender software. To assess intra-observer reliability, all measurements were repeated twice by the same examiner with a 3-week interval between sessions, and intra-class correlation coefficients were calculated using a two-way mixed-effects, single-measurement, absolute-agreement model (ICC 3,1). Trueness, defined as the absolute deviation from the reference caliper values, was compared across scanners using the Kruskal–Wallis test due to its non-normal distribution. Precision, regional trueness and precision values across the four scanners defined as the standard deviation of repeated scans, was analyzed using One-way ANOVA with Tukey post-hoc comparisons for normally distributed datasets (α = 0.05). Distances were measured digitally in Blender software, and trueness (absolute deviation from reference) and precision (standard deviation of repeated scans) were analyzed using the Kruskal–Wallis test and One-way ANOVA with Tukey post hoc comparisons (α = 0.05). Results: The Polycam application demonstrated the highest trueness (0.49 ± 0.32 mm), followed by MetiSmile (0.51 ± 0.36 mm), RAYFace (0.58 ± 0.39 mm), and Heges (0.73 ± 0.42 mm). The MetiSmile scanner showed the highest precision (0.12 ± 0.07 mm), while RAYFace and Polycam exhibited moderate precision (0.28 ± 0.19 mm and 0.15 ± 0.06 mm, respectively). Vertical measurements tended to be more accurate than horizontal ones, and the lower facial region showed smaller deviations; however, these differences were not statistically significant (p > 0.05). Conclusions: MetiSmile achieved the highest precision and Polycam the highest trueness. Although all systems showed mean deviations < 1 mm, only three demonstrated <0.6 mm accuracy (except for Heges scanner). These results suggest that professional and mobile-based scanners can provide clinically acceptable facial data for educational and preliminary digital workflow applications, though further validation under clinical conditions is required. This study provides quantitative evidence on the accuracy and repeatability of commonly available extraoral 3D facial scanning systems under controlled laboratory conditions. The results indicate that both professional-grade and mobile-based scanners can reproduce facial morphology with clinically acceptable deviations, particularly in flat and stable regions such as the forehead and chin. Although only three systems achieved mean trueness below 0.6 mm, all demonstrated errors within 1 mm, sufficient for diagnostic visualization, digital smile design, and preliminary virtual patient modeling. These findings support the safe and cost-effective adoption of extraoral facial scanning in dental education and treatment planning, while emphasizing the need for further validation in real clinical environments where motion, lighting, and soft-tissue variability may affect accuracy. Full article

Background: Varicose veins (VVs) are a chronic venous condition that can negatively affect mobility, psychosocial health, and occupational function, especially in professions involving prolonged standing or sitting. Teaching professionals are particularly at risk due to static postural demands and limited workplace ergonomic support. Objective: This study aimed to estimate the prevalence of VVs among teaching professionals in Saudi Arabia and assess their impact on quality of life (QoL) and job performance. Methods: A cross-sectional study was conducted employing a stratified convenience sampling strategy among 400 school and university educators across different regions of Saudi Arabia. Data collection took place over four months, from mid-January to end-April 2025. Data were collected through a validated self-administered online questionnaire comprising demographic information and three standardized tools: The Arabic version of the Aberdeen Varicose Vein Questionnaire (AVVQ), the World Health Organization Quality of Life–BREF (WHOQOL-BREF), and Individual Work Performance Questionnaire (IWPQ). Descriptive statistics, t-tests, ANOVA, chi-square, and correlation were used for analysis. Ethical approval for this study was obtained from the Institutional Review Board of Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University (IRB Log Number: 25-0008). Results: The prevalence of VVs was 18.8%. Male gender, prolonged static postures, and obesity were significantly associated with higher VV rates (p < 0.05). Logistic regression identified gender as the only independent predictor of VV presence (p < 0.001). Participants with VVs reported significantly lower QoL across all WHOQOL domains and reduced work performance scores. Two-way ANOVA showed a significant main effect of gender on work performance (p = 0.002), while VV status and occupation showed no significant interaction effects. VV severity was negatively correlated with job performance (r = −0.138, p = 0.006), while QoL positively correlated with performance (r = 0.149, p = 0.003). University faculty demonstrated significantly higher VV severity than schoolteachers (p = 0.013). Conclusions: It is concluded that the prevalence of varicose veins among teaching professionals in Saudi Arabia is associated with significantly lower quality of life and reduced work performance, highlighting the occupational impact of the condition. Preventive workplace interventions and further longitudinal research are recommended to confirm and expand these findings. Full article

This paper argues for a reconceptualisation of migrant work as a critical site for negotiating borders and belonging, focusing on highly skilled Syrian migrants in the UK, a group often overlooked in migration scholarship. Through 17 narrative conversations, the study examines how borders are embodied, negotiated, carried and crossed in the everyday professional lives of this group. Grounded in affect and bordering theories and guided by a decolonial methodology, the study explores how these professionals navigate racial, political and social hierarchies within the UK’s socio-political context. Our study asks: What does it mean to cross a border when mobility gives way to emplacement? How do borders persist within racialised migrant bodies as they navigate work and belonging? Findings highlight the affective dimensions of migrant work, revealing tensions between imposed identities and the agency to redefine the self beyond victimhood. Work functions as both an anchor and a contested terrain where identities are negotiated, transformed, and, at times, placed at risk. As the first study of its kind on highly skilled Syrian migrants in the UK, this research contributes to migration scholarship by foregrounding work as a critical space where selfhoods are actively negotiated, with significant implications for migration scholarship and the politics of identity and belonging. Full article

In the last decade, interactive tabletops have emerged as a hardware solution for collaborative interactions, providing shared workspaces that support group learning and work. However, despite a variety of studies highlighting their benefits, adoption in educational and professional environments remains limited due to high cost, weight, and spatial constraints. This paper presents an alternative hybrid approach of augmenting static surfaces (e.g., printed images or plans) with off-the-shelf mobile devices through a dynamic peephole interaction. The system uses a rotating, asymmetric static magnet and magnetometers commonly found in all mobile devices, requiring solely software on the device to calculate its relative position based on field strength and relative angle. This first prototype is affordable (∼€10), easy to build with a minimal set of components (e.g., LEGO or 3D-printed parts), device-independent, and offers an accuracy of 1.4 cm, with potential for improvements both to accuracy and the currently limited operating range of 30 cm. Full article

Despite notable progress in reducing childhood morbidity and mortality, achieving Sustainable Development Goal 3 remains a challenge in sub-Saharan Africa, where many children under five die before accessing formal healthcare services. This study explored the roles of the community in the implementation of the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) programme from the perspectives of caregivers and professional nurses. Using an interpretative phenomenological analysis design, 18 participants were purposively selected from four primary healthcare facilities. Data was collected through audio-recorded interviews, transcribed verbatim and analysed using the IPA framework. The findings underscore the critical role of community health workers (CHWs) within the Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) framework, particularly in health promotion, child assessments and follow-up home visits. Support from early childhood development educators and community leaders further enhances these efforts. Nurses highlighted mobile health teams as vital for delivering integrated services, though challenges such as limited transport and inadequate training hinder CHWs’ effectiveness. Community-based care offers a cost-effective, accessible model in low-resource settings by leveraging local structures. Strengthening the connection between communities and formal health systems is essential. To sustain IMCI, investment in CHW-led initiatives, including training and logistical support, is recommended to improve service delivery and child health outcomes. Full article