Interprofessional Healthcare Collaboration on the Front Lines: A Qualitative Exploration of the Facilitators and Barriers to Effective Collaboration in Qatar.

Background:
Healthcare in Qatar is undergoing a period of major reform, driven by a strong economy and vision for a world-class healthcare system. One area identified as a potential contributor to developing a world-class healthcare system is interprofessional education (IPE), with the goal of facilitating healthcare workers to work together collaboratively. Several key steps have been taken towards developing IPE in Qatar, such as the formation of the Qatar Interprofessional Health Council (QIHC), the development of an IPE program for undergraduate healthcare students, the development of a set of shared core competencies, the receipt of substantial buy-in from leaders across the healthcare system, and recent approval of funding to develop a post-licensure healthcare IPE program. In order to improve IPE in Qatar, it is important to better understand the facilitators and barriers to interprofessional collaboration in Qatar. This study seeks to do so by qualitatively exploring facilitators and barriers to interprofessional collaboration for healthcare professional in Qatar from the perspective of health care professionals. By better understanding how health care workers give meaning to interprofessional education and collaboration, this research can assist in improving interprofessional activities in healthcare in Qatar.

Objectives
The purpose of this paper-presentation is to report on finding from a qualitative study that explored different facilitators and barriers of interprofessional practice in Qatar.

Method:
Ten healthcare professionals who work in Qatar were interviewed using semi-structured, open-ended interviews. Interview questions were organized by phenomenological (e.g. exploring the lived-experiences of healthcare workers) and ethnographic interviewing techniques (e.g. focusing on what people do). The questions explored the barriers, facilitators, and what is working well in terms of interprofessional practice for health care professional in Qatar.

Findings and Implications:
Different factors associated with interprofessional collaborations will be discussed. In doing so, this research adds to the literature on IPE by shedding light on interprofessional collaboration and education in the Middle East. Furthermore, this study identifies barriers for health care workers to work collaboratively in health care settings in Qatar. Addressing such barriers, and building off of what is working well, will facilitate Qatar in reaching one of the Vision 2030 goals of improving Qatar’s health and wellness.

Interprofessional Healthcare Collaboration on the Front Lines: A Qualitative Exploration of the Facilitators and Barriers to Effective Collaboration in Qatar.

Background:

Healthcare in Qatar is undergoing a period of major reform, driven by a strong economy and vision for a world-class healthcare system. One area identified as a potential contributor to developing a world-class healthcare system is interprofessional education (IPE), with the goal of facilitating healthcare workers to work together collaboratively. Several key steps have been taken towards developing IPE in Qatar, such as the formation of the Qatar Interprofessional Health Council (QIHC), the development of an IPE program for undergraduate healthcare students, the development of a set of shared core competencies, the receipt of substantial buy-in from leaders across the healthcare system, and recent approval of funding to develop a post-licensure healthcare IPE program. In order to improve IPE in Qatar, it is important to better understand the facilitators and barriers to interprofessional collaboration in Qatar. This study seeks to do so by qualitatively exploring facilitators and barriers to interprofessional collaboration for healthcare professional in Qatar from the perspective of health care professionals. By better understanding how health care workers give meaning to interprofessional education and collaboration, this research can assist in improving interprofessional activities in healthcare in Qatar.

Objectives

The purpose of this paper-presentation is to report on finding from a qualitative study that explored different facilitators and barriers of interprofessional practice in Qatar.

Method:

Ten healthcare professionals who work in Qatar were interviewed using semi-structured, open-ended interviews. Interview questions were organized by phenomenological (e.g. exploring the lived-experiences of healthcare workers) and ethnographic interviewing techniques (e.g. focusing on what people do). The questions explored the barriers, facilitators, and what is working well in terms of interprofessional practice for health care professional in Qatar.

Findings and Implications:

Different factors associated with interprofessional collaborations will be discussed. In doing so, this research adds to the literature on IPE by shedding light on interprofessional collaboration and education in the Middle East. Furthermore, this study identifies barriers for health care workers to work collaboratively in health care settings in Qatar. Addressing such barriers, and building off of what is working well, will facilitate Qatar in reaching one of the Vision 2030 goals of improving Qatar’s health and wellness.

What counts and what is being counted – The social organization of knowledge on the front lines of emergency medical services.

Paramedics are trained to use specialized medical knowledge and a variety of medical procedures and pharmaceutical interventions to “save patients and prevent further damage” in emergency situations, both as members of “health-care teams” in hospital emergency departments (Swanson, 2005: 96) and on the streets – unstandardized contexts “rife with chaotic, dangerous, and often uncontrollable elements” (Campeau, 2008: 3). The paramedic’s unique skill-set and ability to function in diverse situations have resulted in the occupation becoming ever more important to health care systems (Alberta Health and Wellness, 2008: 12).
Today, prehospital emergency services, while varying, exist in every major city and many rural areas throughout North America (Paramedics Association of Canada, 2008) and other countries around the world (Roudsari et al., 2007). Services in North America, for instance, treat and/or transport 2 million Canadians (over 250,000 in Alberta alone ) and between 25 and 30 million Americans annually (Emergency Medical Services Chiefs of Canada, 2006; National EMS Research Agenda, 2001). In Canada, paramedics make up one of the largest groups of health care professionals, with numbers exceeding 20,000 (Pike and Gibbons, 2008; Paramedics Association of Canada, 2008). However, there is little known about the work practices of paramedics, especially in light of recent changes to how their work is organized, making the profession “rich with unexplored opportunities for research on the full range of paramedic work” (Campeau, 2008: 2).

This presentation reports on findings from an institutional ethnography that explored the work of paramedics and different technologies of knowledge and governance that intersect with and organize their work practices. More specifically, my tentative focus of this presentation is on discussing some of the ruling discourses central to many of the technologies used on the front lines of EMS in Alberta and the consequences of such governance practices for both the front line workers and their patients. In doing so, I will demonstrate how IE can be used to answer Rankin and Campbell’s (2006) call for additional research into “the social organization of information in health care and attention to the (often unintended) ways ‘such textual products may accomplish…ruling purposes but otherwise fail people and, moreover, obscure that failure’ (p. 182)” (cited in McCoy, 2008: 709).

Technologies of Knowledge and Governance on the Front Lines of Emergency Services.

Using institutional ethnography, a sociology and critical method of inquiry used primarily in North America, this presentation discusses new forms and technologies of knowledge and governance – “forms of language, technologies of representation and communication, and text-based, objectified modes of knowledge through which local particularities are interpreted or rendered actionable in abstract, translocal terms” (McCoy, 2008: 701) on the front line of emergency medical services. I focus specifically on technologies central to health reforms that attempt to reshape how health care is delivered, experienced, and made accountable (Anantharaman, 2004; Ball, 2005; Alberta Health Services, 2008). In additional to exemplifying how institutional ethnography can be used to answer Rankin and Campbell’s (2006) call for additional research into “the social organization of information in health care and attention to the (often unintended) ways ‘such textual products may accomplish…ruling purposes but otherwise fail people and, moreover, obscure that failure’ (p. 182)” (cited in McCoy, 2008: 709), this presentation will introduce the audience to a critical approach to social inquiry that explores how knowledge is socially organized.

Assessment Work of Paramedics on the Front lines of Emergency Health Services

This article draws on an institutional ethnographic inquiry into the work of paramedics and the institutional setting that organizes and coordinates their work processes. Drawing on over 200 hours of observations and over 100 interviews with paramedics (average length of 18 minutes) and other emergency medical personnel, this article explores the standard and not so standard work of paramedics as they assess and care for their patients on the front lines of emergency health services. More specifically, I focus on the multiplicity of interfacing social, demographic, locational, situational, and institutional factors that shape and organize the work of paramedics. In doing so, this article provides insights into how paramedics orient to the social context in which their work occurs and contrasts this actual work with how their work is institutionally reported and made visible; what gets counted institutionally is not necessarily the same as what counts for the paramedics. This article problematizes this demarcation between what is known institutionally and “systematic practices of ‘not knowing’” (DeVault, 2008, p. 290).

Street Medicine – Assessment Work Strategies of Paramedics on the Front lines of Emergency Health Services

This article is based on an institutional ethnographic inquiry into the work of paramedics and the institutional setting that organizes and coordinates their work processes in a major City in Canada. Drawing on over 200 hours of observations and over 100 interviews with paramedics (average length of 18 minutes) and other emergency medical personnel, this article explores the standard and not so standard work of paramedics as they assess and care for their patients on the front lines of emergency health services. The multiplicity of interfacing social, demographic, locational, and situational factors that shape and organize the work of paramedics are analyzed. In doing so, this article provides insights into the complex work of an understudied yet ever-important profession in healthcare.

Review of A Guerra e as Igrejas: Angola 1961-1991 by Benedict Schubert

Book review of A GUERRA E AS IGREJAS: ANGOLA 1961-1991. By Benedict Schubert.
Basel, Switzerland: P. Schlettwein Publishing, 2000. Pp. vii; 251; Introduction
by Christine Messiant. CHF. 30, NAM 70, ZAR 70 paper.

Measuring persistence in inflation: evidence for Angola

The purpose of this paper is to examine the degree of persistence in five inflation indicators for Angola, and to identify the implications for decision making. Our results suggest that when structural breaks are accounted for, all five inflation indicators are stationary. Second, our findings suggest that persistence is not too high. Moreover, the degree of persistence is similar among the five inflation indicators and throughout the sample period. Finally, our results also show that extracting the most volatile components of the headline inflation indicator does not generate a new inflation indicator that is less volatile and more persistent than the original. These results have important policy implications as the National Bank of Angola is preparing to change its monetary policy focus to a more inflation-targeting regime

A supervisão pedagógica em ensino da biologia no Instituto Superior de Ciências da Educação: ISCED/Huíla-Angola: contributos metodológicos para o seu desenvolvimento

O desenvolvimento de uma sociedade depende do nível intelectual e educacional revelado pelos seus cidadãos, o que é determinado também pela qualidade de ensino. A consecução de tal qualidade implica uma adequada formação de professores e esta requer uma reflexão que permita atualização e inovação constantes do processo de Supervisão Pedagógica. Esta deve garantir a mudança e a inovação necessárias das Práticas Pedagógicas (PP), fator relevante na preparação pessoal e profissional dos docentes. Não há ensino de qualidade sem uma adequada formação de professores e esta é assegurada, obviamente, pela implementação adequada, reflexiva e permanentemente inovada das Práticas Pedagógicas. As instituições formadoras arcam com a grande responsabilidade de procurar mecanismos para dotarem os seus quadros, ou seja, os Supervisores Pedagógicos, de competências que lhes permitam exercer essa missão de forma cientificamente sustentada. Esta investigação tem por objetivo apresentar um plano de estratégias metodológicas inovadoras de Supervisão com a finalidade de introduzir melhorias no Sistema de Supervisão Pedagógica, consubstanciado fundamentalmente, nas Práticas Pedagógicas, no Curso de Biologia do ISCED/HUÍLA - Instituto Superior de Ciências da Educação. O estudo foi desenvolvido no âmbito do Curso de Doutoramento de Didática e Formação da Universidade de Aveiro (Portugal) e enquadradas pelo paradigma eclético. Decorreu em duas Fase, I e II. A Fase I - estudo preliminar - teve a participação de dois Professores Supervisores (PS) e 59 Alunos Futuros Professores (AFP) do 3º e 4º anos do Curso do Ensino de Biologia. Nesta fase, para a recolha de dados foram realizados inquéritos (entrevistas aos PS e questionários aos AFP). Para o tratamento de dados, recorreu-se à análise de conteúdo para as entrevistas dos PS e para as questões abertas dos questionários aos AFP; para as questões fechadas utilizou-se Microsoft Excel. Esta fase de diagnóstico teve como objetivo recolher a perceção dos participantes sobre a pertinência das estratégias metodológicas em uso na PP no Curso de Biologia e obter as suas sugestões para a respetiva melhoria. Os resultados apontaram fundamentalmente para uma mudança das estratégias das PP e para a inclusão de trabalhos práticos (laboratorial e de campo). A Fase II - estudo principal - teve como base os resultados obtidos na fase anterior. Foram concebidas, implementadas e avaliadas ações formativas e investigativas no campo da Supervisão Pedagógica, quer aos PS, quer aos AFP, visando responder às necessidades colocadas bem como as sugestões recebidas dos participantes. A recolha de dados foi realizada no âmbito das ações formativas/investigativas realizadas com os participantes. A recolha de dados foi realizada através de fichas administradas no final de cada sessão, de um questionário intermédio, para a obtenção de opiniões acerca das atividades já realizadas para serem introduzidas as emendas julgadas pertinentes com vista a melhoria do processo e de um questionário final. Como fonte complementar foram usados os portefólios dos AFP, as auscultações dos participantes, durante e no final do processo, anotados no teaching portefólio do investigador. Foi efetuada uma exposição com todo o material desenvolvido no âmbito de uma sessão de reflexão sobre as PP. Ficou consensualmente institucionalizado a realização anual de um evento para apresentação e discussão dos trabalhos das PP e, sobretudo, para a meta-reflexão das atividades supervisivas desenvolvidas ao longo do ano. As conclusões resultantes de todo o estudo, refletem a satisfação de todos os participantes, bem como o reconhecimento de que foi dada uma contribuição para a resposta ao problema levantado, às questões e subquestões da investigação, obtendo-se assim a consecução dos objetivos preconizados. Como sugestão para futuras investigações, aponta-se a conceção de ações que visem a mudança das PP para um Estágio Pedagógico. Como implicações, deste estudo, julga-se poder ter contribuído na melhoria das competências dos PS, o que poderá favorecer as suas estratégias da Supervisão Pedagógica. Tudo isto aponta para uma melhor formação do futuro professor, garantindo um ensino de qualidade que proporcionará uma melhor formação de cidadãos.

Characterization and modelling of software defined radio front-ends

O presente trabalho tem por objectivo estudar a caracterização e modelação de arquitecturas de rádio frequência para aplicações em rádios definidos por software e rádios cognitivos. O constante aparecimento no mercado de novos padrões e tecnologias para comunicações sem fios têm levantado algumas limitações à implementação de transceptores rádio de banda larga. Para além disso, o uso de sistemas reconfiguráveis e adaptáveis baseados no conceito de rádio definido por software e rádio cognitivo assegurará a evolução para a próxima geração de comunicações sem fios. A ideia base desta tese passa por resolver alguns problemas em aberto e propor avanços relevantes, tirando para isso partido das capacidades providenciadas pelos processadores digitais de sinal de forma a melhorar o desempenho global dos sistemas propostos. Inicialmente, serão abordadas várias estratégias para a implementação e projecto de transceptores rádio, concentrando-se sempre na aplicabilidade específica a sistemas de rádio definido por software e rádio cognitivo. Serão também discutidas soluções actuais de instrumentação capaz de caracterizar um dispositivo que opere simultaneamente nos domínios analógico e digital, bem como, os próximos passos nesta área de caracterização e modelação. Além disso, iremos apresentar novos formatos de modelos comportamentais construídos especificamente para a descrição e caracterização não-linear de receptores de amostragem passa-banda, bem como, para sistemas nãolineares que utilizem sinais multi-portadora. Será apresentada uma nova arquitectura suportada na avaliação estatística dos sinais rádio que permite aumentar a gama dinâmica do receptor em situações de multi-portadora. Da mesma forma, será apresentada uma técnica de maximização da largura de banda de recepção baseada na utilização do receptor de amostragem passa-banda no formato complexo. Finalmente, importa referir que todas as arquitecturas propostas serão acompanhadas por uma introdução teórica e simulações, sempre que possível, sendo após isto validadas experimentalmente por protótipos laboratoriais.