Browsing by Subject "barriers"

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
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    Awareness of and Readiness for Medication Therapy Management Among Community Pharmacists in New York City: Results from a Focus Group
    (University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy, 2013) Arya, Vibhuti; Pinto, Sharrel; Khan, Tasmiya
    For pharmacist-provided Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services to operate effectively and efficiently, pharmacists must understand the process of MTM delivery, assess the barriers and challenges in creating a sustainable MTM program, and realize the willingness and readiness of their colleagues to deliver such services. In order to assess feasibility of such services among high-risk neighborhoods in New York City (NYC), a focus group design was used to qualitatively assess pharmacists’ perceptions of MTM. Findings showed that reimbursement and allocation of resources were the most discussed challenges/barriers to the provision of pharmacist-provided MTM services. Overall, pharmacists were willing, but not yet ready, to provide MTM services on a large scale. Lack of understanding of MTM structure/process, reimbursement challenges, and the need for collaboration between providers were key components to pharmacists’ willingness to provide services. Additional training opportunities were deemed necessary for them to feel confident to conduct clinical services. Although pharmacists discussed several issues regarding MTM, they were still interested in participating and seeing how MTM would impact their community practice settings. Understanding these perceptions of pharmacists on MTM allowed us to better understand and assess ways for continuous quality improvement of services that will enhance patient care.
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    Employee Motives for Engaging in Environmentally Sustainable Behaviors: A Multi-Study Analysis
    (2015-08) Klein, Rachael
    This research examines motives for environmentally sustainable (or “green”) employee behavior. Although individuals’ motives for pro-environmental behavior were previously explored in non-workplace domains, systematic attempts to identify the barriers and motives of employee green behavior are lacking. Thus, the aim of this research is to understand and assess why employees engage in green behavior, build a nomological network around these motive constructs, and explore the implications for how employee green behavior can be best supported given different motivations. These overarching research questions were addressed through a series of studies. First, in Study 1, a taxonomy of motives of and barriers to employee green behaviors was developed through an analysis of critical incident interviews with U.S. employees and then replicated in the U.S. and cross-culturally with a European sample. Sixteen motives and barriers were identified. In Study 2, sex differences in pro-environmental behaviors and its determinants were examined. The meta-analysis included environmental motivation (social responsibility, self-efficacy, expectancy, social norms, lack of knowledge), motivationally-relevant variables (environmental values, concern, commitment, behavioral intentions), environmental attitudes, and informational variables (environmental awareness, environmental knowledge) as well as pro-environmental behaviors (general, avoiding harm, conserving, influencing others, responsible product choices, and taking initiative). Generalizable sex differences were observed, with women more likely to report higher levels of specific environmental concern, greater motivation stemming from social norms, self-efficacy, and social responsibility, and more behaviors aimed at avoiding environmental harm. Men were more likely to have higher levels of environmental knowledge, however this effect seems to be diminishing over time. In the third study, the taxonomy of motives and barriers was used to develop an Environmental Sustainability Motives Scale to assess motives for green behavior performance and omission, as well as ungreen commission and avoidance. Exploratory factor analyses revealed four similarly interpretable factors across these behavioral quadrants: Prosocial, Enabling Capabilities, Extrinsic, and Image motive factors. Examinations of the nomological network of these factors showed differing relationships with how factors related to the Big Five personality factors and facets, sex, and green behavior across behavioral quadrants. The findings in this dissertation highlight the benefits of identifying and being able to measure the motivational determinants and barriers of employee green behavior in promoting environmental sustainability in organizations.
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    A Mixed Methods Investigation of Student Nonparticipation in Secondary School Music
    (2015-07) Hawkinson, Jennifer
    Providing opportunities for students to participate in music as part of a comprehensive education remains a core value of American education. However, the small proportion of school music participants suggests that existing music programs may not be serving all students. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to investigate those factors and barriers associated with students' decisions not to participate in school music programs, with an emphasis on the experiences of students from underserved populations. This investigation was guided by the expectancy-value and constraint negotiation theories related to activity choice behaviors. Constraint negotiation, from leisure sociology, posits that participation in any activity is the result of successfully navigating constraints, and when constraints become barriers, nonparticipation results. In the first, quantitative phase of the study, data were collected from students in a Midwestern high school (N = 319). Quantitative results indicated seven predictors of school music participation and nonparticipation in a logistic regression model: race/ethnicity, free or reduced lunch status, perceptions and attitudes toward school music, musical task difficulty, and personal perception, conflicting activity, and school music structural constraints. In the second, qualitative phase of the study, an instrumental collective case study (N = 12) was used to examine student nonparticipation. Data were collected through interviews, transcripts, observations of music classes, interviews with music teachers, field notes, and artifacts. Qualitative results revealed five cross-case themes: nonparticipant musicians, choice as a hierarchy of personal values, school music as a closed system, the power of personal perceptions, and a desire for student-centered pedagogy. A connected mixed methods analysis identified areas of convergence and divergence between the quantitative and qualitative data that primarily confirmed the statistical analysis. Based on these results, a preliminary model of school music constraints was developed to explain student experiences with school music. The results suggested that recognizing the barriers to school music participation and implementing student-centered pedagogical practices may assist in the engagement and sustained participation of more students in school music. Further research exploring constraint negotiation is recommended to develop a greater understanding of the experiences of both school music participants and nonparticipants.
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    Patient-perceived value of Medication Therapy Management (MTM) services: a series of focus groups
    (University of Minnesota, College of Pharmacy, 2012-12) Schultz, Heidi; Westberg, Sarah M.; Oliveira, Djenane Ramalho de; Brummel, Amanda
    Objective: To determine the patient-perceived value of MTM services and non-financial barriers preventing patients with insurance coverage from receiving MTM services. Design: Focus groups. Setting: Fairview Pharmacy Services, Minneapolis, MN. Participants: Three focus groups, each with five to nine participants, consisting of different participant populations: (i) patients who paid out-of-pocket to receive MTM services; (ii) insurance beneficiaries, under which MTM is a covered benefit and participants may have received incentives for receiving MTM services; (iii) patients with an insurance plan which covers MTM services who were recruited to receive MTM services but declined. Intervention: MTM services. Main Outcome Measure: Patient-perceived value of MTM services and non-financial barriers. Results: Seven themes were identified relating to the patient-perceived value of MTM services: collaboration of the health care team, MTM pharmacist as a supporter/advocate/confidant, MTM pharmacist as a resource for questions and education, accessibility to the MTM pharmacist, financial incentives for participation in MTM services, MTM pharmacy as a specialty field, and the MTM pharmacist as a coordinator. Three themes were identified regarding patient-perceived non-financial barriers to receiving MTM services, including: availability of the MTM pharmacist, patient/physician lack of knowledge of MTM services, patient’s belief that MTM services are not needed. Conclusion: MTM is a service which patients identify as valuable. Patients are able to identify non-financial barriers that may prevent some patients from receiving MTM services. This study provides preliminary evidence of both the value and barriers perceived by patients.
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    The Perspectives on Health Care of Women Living Poverty
    (2020) Strehlke, Kathleen
    Today, in the United States, women living in poverty are faced with many barriers to health care that affect their quality of life and life expectancy. Between the richest 1% and poorest 1% of women in the U.S., there is a life expectancy gap of 10 years (Chetty et al., 2016). Very few studies have investigated the perceptions on health care of people living in poverty. A study that explored perspectives on accessing health care found that parents living in poverty often must choose between three ideals: acceptability, availability, and affordability (Angier et al., 2014). The current study involved group interviews over Zoom and an online Qualtrics survey with a sample of 10 women from a population of 100 adults at the Steve O’Neil Apartments in Duluth, Minnesota. Guided by the Health Belief Model developed by Hochbaum, Kegels, and Rosenstock, this study explores perceptions of health care barriers, quality of health care, and health literacy among women living in poverty. Health care services were, in general, acceptable, available, and affordable with the exception of two components. Diagnostic tests and dental care services were often not available or affordable for participants. A small portion of participants may have low health literacy which indicates they need assistance with reading, talking about, and understanding health information. The combination of low health literacy and low access to diagnostic tests and dental services could contribute to poor health outcomes for people living in poverty in Duluth, Minnesota. This study contributes to data on the acceptability, affordability, and availability of health care for women living in poverty.
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    The Role of Technical Communicators in Open-Source Software: A Systematic Review
    (2021) Hull, Mary Frances
    To survive, Free/Open-Source Software (FOSS) projects need to attract and retain new contributors. Research has studied the many barriers that newcomers face when trying to contribute to FOSS projects. These barriers can cause newcomers to give up on contributing to FOSS projects. Many of the hurdles that newcomers face can be reduced or eliminated by skills that technical writers possess. In this paper, I aim to 1) present the results of a systematic literature review to identify the barriers that newcomers face, 2) identify roles that technical writers can take to help alleviate those barriers, and 3) identify ways that contributing to FOSS as part of the technical communication curriculum would be beneficial to students.