Developing a framework for planning healthy communities : the Logan Beaudesert health decision support system

In the last few decades, the focus on building healthy communities has grown significantly (Ashton, 2009). There is growing evidence that new approaches to planning are required to address the challenges faced by contemporary communities. These approaches need to be based on timely access to local information and collaborative planning processes (Murray, 2006; Scotch & Parmanto, 2006; Ashton, 2009; Kazda et al., 2009). However, there is little research to inform the methods that can support this type of responsive, local, collaborative and consultative health planning (Northridge et al., 2003). Some research justifies the use of decision support systems (DSS) as a tool to support planning for healthy communities. DSS have been found to increase collaboration between stakeholders and communities, improve the accuracy and quality of the decision-making process, and improve the availability of data and information for health decision-makers (Nobre et al., 1997; Cromley & McLafferty, 2002; Waring et al., 2005). Geographic information systems (GIS) have been suggested as an innovative method by which to implement DSS because they promote new ways of thinking about evidence and facilitate a broader understanding of communities. Furthermore, literature has indicated that online environments can have a positive impact on decision-making by enabling access to information by a broader audience (Kingston et al., 2001). However, only limited research has examined the implementation and impact of online DSS in the health planning field. Previous studies have emphasised the lack of effective information management systems and an absence of frameworks to guide the way in which information is used to promote informed decisions in health planning. It has become imperative to develop innovative approaches, frameworks and methods to support health planning. Thus, to address these identified gaps in the knowledge, this study aims to develop a conceptual planning framework for creating healthy communities and examine the impact of DSS in the Logan Beaudesert area. Specifically, the study aims to identify the key elements and domains of information that are needed to develop healthy communities, to develop a conceptual planning framework for creating healthy communities, to collaboratively develop and implement an online GIS-based Health DSS (i.e., HDSS), and to examine the impact of the HDSS on local decision-making processes. The study is based on a real-world case study of a community-based initiative that was established to improve public health outcomes and promote new ways of addressing chronic disease. The study involved the development of an online GIS-based health decision support system (HDSS), which was applied in the Logan Beaudesert region of Queensland, Australia. A planning framework was developed to account for the way in which information could be organised to contribute to a healthy community. The decision support system was developed within a unique settings-based initiative Logan Beaudesert Health Coalition (LBHC) designed to plan and improve the health capacity of Logan Beaudesert area in Queensland, Australia. This setting provided a suitable platform to apply a participatory research design to the development and implementation of the HDSS. Therefore, the HDSS was a pilot study examined the impact of this collaborative process, and the subsequent implementation of the HDSS on the way decision-making was perceived across the LBHC. As for the method, based on a systematic literature review, a comprehensive planning framework for creating healthy communities has been developed. This was followed by using a mixed method design, data were collected through both qualitative and quantitative methods. Specifically, data were collected by adopting a participatory action research (PAR) approach (i.e., PAR intervention) that informed the development and conceptualisation of the HDSS. A pre- and post-design was then used to determine the impact of the HDSS on decision-making. The findings of this study revealed a meaningful framework for organising information to guide planning for healthy communities. This conceptual framework provided a comprehensive system within which to organise existing data. The PAR process was useful in engaging stakeholders and decision-making in the development and implementation of the online GIS-based DSS. Through three PAR cycles, this study resulted in heightened awareness of online GIS-based DSS and openness to its implementation. It resulted in the development of a tailored system (i.e., HDSS) that addressed the local information and planning needs of the LBHC. In addition, the implementation of the DSS resulted in improved decision- making and greater satisfaction with decisions within the LBHC. For example, the study illustrated the culture in which decisions were made before and after the PAR intervention and what improvements have been observed after the application of the HDSS. In general, the findings indicated that decision-making processes are not merely informed (consequent of using the HDSS tool), but they also enhance the overall sense of ‗collaboration‘ in the health planning practice. For example, it was found that PAR intervention had a positive impact on the way decisions were made. The study revealed important features of the HDSS development and implementation process that will contribute to future research. Thus, the overall findings suggest that the HDSS is an effective tool, which would play an important role in the future for significantly improving the health planning practice.

Entrepreneur optimism and the new venture creation process

By integrating two theoretical approaches to entrepreneurship research, the psychology of the entrepreneur and the entrepreneurship process, this paper proposes a new conceptual model examining entrepreneur behaviour and emotion across the new venture development process. Existing macro level research on the new venture creation process recognises the entrepreneur as a central agent in the process yet generally avoids, at each stage of the process, an examination of the micro level psychological experiences of the individual entrepreneur. Similarly, behavioural research examining entrepreneur individual differences has neglected to systematically explore the emotion and behaviour of the entrepreneur across the cycle of the new venture creation process. We propose a conceptual framework that integrates the exploitation phase of the new venture creation process with the psychological capital element of optimism and behaviour of the individual entrepreneur. Propositions for future research to facilitate deeper insight into the impact of entrepreneur behaviour and emotion on the new venture creation process and ultimately the success or failure of the new venture are offered.

Development of a data mining-based analysis framework for multi-attribute construction project information

Data mining techniques extract repeated and useful patterns from a large data set that in turn are utilized to predict the outcome of future events. The main purpose of the research presented in this paper is to investigate data mining strategies and develop an efficient framework for multi-attribute project information analysis to predict the performance of construction projects. The research team first reviewed existing data mining algorithms, applied them to systematically analyze a large project data set collected by the survey, and finally proposed a data-mining-based decision support framework for project performance prediction. To evaluate the potential of the framework, a case study was conducted using data collected from 139 capital projects and analyzed the relationship between use of information technology and project cost performance. The study results showed that the proposed framework has potential to promote fast, easy to use, interpretable, and accurate project data analysis.

Flexible airport terminal design : towards a framework

Flexibility is a key driver of any successful design, specifically in highly unpredictable environment such as airport terminal. Ever growing aviation industry requires airport terminals to be planned and constructed in such a way that will allow flexibility for future design, alteration and redevelopment. The concept of flexibility in terminal design is a relatively new initiative, where existing rules or guidelines are not adequate to assist designers. A shift towards flexible design concept would allow terminal buildings to be designed to accommodate future changes and to make passengers’ journey as simple, timely and hassle free as possible. Currently available research indicates that a theoretical framework on flexible design approach for airport terminals would facilitate the future design process. The generic principles of flexibility are investigated in the current research to incorporate flexible design approaches within the process of an airport terminal design. A conceptual framework is proposed herein, which is expected to ascertain flexibility to current passenger terminal facilities within their corresponding locations as well as in future design and expansion.

Anticipating user experience with a desired product : the AUX Framework

Positive user experience (UX) has become a key factor in designing interactive products. It acts as a differentiator which can determine a product’s success on the mature market. However, current UX frameworks and methods do not fully support the early stages of product design and development. During these phases, assessment of UX is challenging as no actual user-product interaction can be tested. This qualitative study investigated anticipated user experience (AUX) to address this problem. Using the co-discovery method, participants were asked to imagine a desired product, anticipate experiences with it, and discuss their views with another participant. Fourteen sub-categories emerged from the data, and relationships among them were defined through co-occurrence analysis. These data formed the basis of the AUX framework which consists of two networks which elucidate 1) how users imagine a desired product and 2) how they anticipate positive experiences with that product. Through this AUX framework, important factors in the process of imagining future products and experiences were learnt, including the way in which these factors interrelate. Focusing on and exploring each component of the two networks in the framework will allow designers to obtain a deeper understanding of the required pragmatic and hedonic qualities of product, intended uses of product, user characteristics, potential contexts of experience, and anticipated emotions embedded within the experience. This understanding, in turn, will help designers to better foresee users’ underlying needs and to focus on the most important aspects of their positive experience. Therefore, the use of the AUX framework in the early stages of product development will contribute to the design for pleasurable UX.

A proposed validation framework for expert elicited Bayesian Networks

The popularity of Bayesian Network modelling of complex domains using expert elicitation has raised questions of how one might validate such a model given that no objective dataset exists for the model. Past attempts at delineating a set of tests for establishing confidence in an entirely expert-elicited model have focused on single types of validity stemming from individual sources of uncertainty within the model. This paper seeks to extend the frameworks proposed by earlier researchers by drawing upon other disciplines where measuring latent variables is also an issue. We demonstrate that even in cases where no data exist at all there is a broad range of validity tests that can be used to establish confidence in the validity of a Bayesian Belief Network.

A capability framework visualisation for multiple heterogeneous UAVs : from a mission commander's perspective

There is an increased interested in Uninhabited Aerial Vehicle (UAV) operations and research into advanced methods for commanding and controlling multiple heterogeneous UAVs. Research into areas of supervisory control has rapidly increased. Past research has investigated various approaches of autonomous control and operator limitation to improve mission commanders' Situation Awareness (SA) and cognitive workload. The aim of this paper is to address this challenge through a visualisation framework of UAV information constructed from Information Abstraction (IA). This paper presents the concept and process of IA, and the visualisation framework (constructed using IA), the concept associated with the Level Of Detail (LOD) indexing method, the visualisation of an example of the framework. Experiments will test the hypothesis that, the operator will be able to achieve increased SA and reduced cognitive load with the proposed framework.

Organisational knowledge integration: towards a conceptual framework

This study analyses organisational knowledge integration processes from a multi-level and systemic perspective, with particular reference to the case of Fujitsu. A conceptual framework for knowledge integration is suggested focusing on team-building capability, capturing and utilising individual tacit knowledge, and communication networks for integrating dispersed specialist knowledge required in the development of new products and services. The research highlights that knowledge integration occurring in the innovation process is a result of knowledge exposure, its distribution and embodiment and finally its transfer, which leads to innovation capability and competitive advantage in firm.

Stress at work : a new theoretical framework for psychologists

This paper examines the way psychologists and others in teh helping professions can deal with stressors in their lives and still work effectively. Three questions will be asked. First "What are the essential ingredients of an environment that supports psychologists going through personal stressors? Second, "What are the personal characteristics and strategies that give resilience to a professional during this period?" and third,"How does the stressor or grieving process influence a psychologist's therapy?" The whole will be fitted into a visual framework and the interaction of the three main variables (client, therapist and stressor) will be explored.

Sustainable urban development : an integrated framework for urban planning and development

Sustainable development has long been promoted as the best answer to the world’s environmental problems. This term has generated mass appeal as it implies that both the development of the built environment and its associated resource consumption can be achieved without jeopardising the natural environment. In the urban context, sustainability issues have been reflected in the promotion of sustainable urban development, which emphasises the sensible exploitation of scarce natural resources for urbanisation in a manner that allows future generations to repeat the process. This chapter highlights attempts to promote sustainable urban development through an integration of three important considerations: planning, development and the ecosystem. It highlights the fact that spatial planning processes were traditionally driven by economic and social objectives, and rarely involved promoting the sustainability agenda to achieve a sustainable urban future. As a result, rapid urbanisation has created a variety of pressures on the ecosystem upon which we rely. It is believed that the integration of the urban planning and development processes within the limitations of the ecosystem, monitored by a sustainability assessment mechanism, would offer a better approach to maintaining sustainable resource use without compromising urban development.

Community development with survivors of torture and trauma : an evaluation framework

Despite an increase in community development initiatives in refugee contexts, there is a lack of evaluation frameworks to assess the effectiveness of interventions in the recovery of refugee communities. In response to this gap, the Forum of Australian Services for Survivors of Torture and Trauma has developed an evaluation framework in consultation with refugee client groups and agencies' staff members. This paper contextualizes the goals, principles and strategies of services implementing community development initiatives with torture and trauma survivors and describes the process of developing the framework within a participatory action approach. Both outcome evaluation and process evaluation are discussed, and examples of the framework are presented. Community development agencies and professionals working with survivors of torture and trauma can play a significant role by fostering community empowerment through evaluation.

Ecological dynamics as a theoretical framework for development of sustainable behaviours towards the environment

This paper proposes how the theoretical framework of ecological dynamics can provide an influential model of the learner and the learning process to pre-empt effective behaviour changes. Here we argue that ecological dynamics supports a well established model of the learner ideally suited to the environmental education context because of its emphasis on the learner-environment relationship. The model stems from perspectives on behaviour change in ecological psychology and dynamical systems theory. The salient points of the model are highlighted for educators interested in manipulating environmental constraints in the learning process, with the aim of designing effective learning programs in environmental education. We conclude by providing generic principles of application which might define the learning process in environmental education programs.

Process based synthesis to evaluate design flexibility in airport terminal layout

Flexible design concept is a relatively new trend in airport terminal design which is believed to facilitate the ever changing needs of a terminal. Current architectural design processes become more complex every day because of the introduction of new building technologies where the concept of flexible airport terminal would apparently make the design process even more complex. Previous studies have demonstrated that ever growing aviation industry requires airport terminals to be planned, designed and constructed in such a way that should allow flexibility in design process. In order to adopt the philosophy of ‘design for flexibility’ architects need to address a wide range of differing needs. An appropriate integration of the process models, prior to the airport terminal design process, is expected to uncover the relationships that exist between spatial layout and their corresponding functions. The current paper seeks to develop a way of sharing space adjacency related information obtained from the Business Process Models (BPM) to assist in defining flexible airport terminal layouts. Critical design parameters are briefly investigated at this stage of research whilst reviewing the available design alternatives and an evaluation framework is proposed in the current paper. Information obtained from various design layouts should assist in identifying and defining flexible design matrices allowing architects to interpret and to apply those throughout the lifecycle of the terminal building.

Using the Donabedian framework to examine the quality and safety of nursing service innovation

Aims and objectives To evaluate the safety and quality of nurse practitioner service using the audit framework of Structure,Process and Outcome. Background Health service and workforce reform are on the agenda of governments and other service providers seeking to contain healthcare costs whilst providing safe and effective health care to communities. The nurse practitioner service is one health workforce innovation that has been adopted globally to improve timely access to clinical care, but there is scant literature reporting evaluation of the quality of this service innovation. Design. A mixed-methods design within the Donabedian evaluation framework was used. Methods The Donabedian framework was used to evaluate the Structure, Process and Outcome of nurse practitioner service. A range of data collection approaches was used, including stakeholder survey (n=36), in-depth interviews (11 patients and 13 nurse practitioners) and health records data on service processes. Results The study identified that adequate and detailed preparation of Structure and Process is essential for the successful implementation of a service innovation. The multidisciplinary team was accepting of the addition of nurse practitioner service, and nurse practitioner clinical care was shown to be effective, satisfactory and safe from the perspective of the clinician stakeholders and patients. Conclusions This study demonstrated that the Donabedian framework of Structure, Process and Outcome evaluation is a valuable and validated approach to examine the safety and quality of a service innovation. Furthermore, in this study, specific Structure elements were shown to influence the quality of service processes further validating the framework and the interdependence of the Structure, Process and Outcome components. Relevance to clinical practice Understanding the structure and process requirements for establishing nursing service innovation lays the foundation for safe, effective and patient-centred clinical care.

Custom digital workflows : a new framework for design analysis integration

Flexible information exchange is critical to successful design-analysis integration, but current top-down, standards-based and model-oriented strategies impose restrictions that contradicts this flexibility. In this article we present a bottom-up, user-controlled and process-oriented approach to linking design and analysis applications that is more responsive to the varied needs of designers and design teams. Drawing on research into scientific workflows, we present a framework for integration that capitalises on advances in cloud computing to connect discrete tools via flexible and distributed process networks. We then discuss how a shared mapping process that is flexible and user friendly supports non-programmers in creating these custom connections. Adopting a services-oriented system architecture, we propose a web-based platform that enables data, semantics and models to be shared on the fly. We then discuss potential challenges and opportunities for its development as a flexible, visual, collaborative, scalable and open system.