Business & Humanities - Theses ITC
https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/2308
2024-03-28T09:03:54ZHealth service design for older people the role of community, and the community and voluntary sector in the implementation of the living well at home piece of the integrated care programme for older people in kilkenny
https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/4420
Health service design for older people the role of community, and the community and voluntary sector in the implementation of the living well at home piece of the integrated care programme for older people in kilkenny
Finegan, Trish
The Integrated Care Programme for Older People (ICPOP) is part of how health and social care delivery is being envisaged in Ireland (ICPOP, 2018). The Living Well at Home piece of ICPOP, includes community and the community and voluntary sector in healthcare delivery (ICPOP, 2018).
This research looks at the role of co-designing with community the implementation of the Living Well at Home piece of ICPOP answering two questions –
1. Through co-design investigating what is important to all stakeholders in the design and delivery of healthcare for older people.
2. What role can the community in which an older person resides, and the community and voluntary sector play in the delivery of healthcare, enabling people to age well in place.
The literature review investigates
• the concepts of co-production, integrated care and person-centredness mentioned in ICPOP
• in addition, it examines the impact of power, perceived or real, within and across medical disciplines and systems and, between patients and clinicians, and how it can be alleviated
• furthermore, it considers the impact Covid-19 had on older people and its implications on healthcare delivery
• finally, it explores social prescribing and how it can improve health and wellbeing alleviating pressure on healthcare delivery.
Research through design (RtD), a qualitative methodology, was used over three stages of field research: interviews, a co-design session with older people and a stakeholders’ co- production workshop. Data were thematically analysed using grounded theory and findings from one stage informed the next, allowing a ‘collective voice’ to emerge (Smithson, 2000. P. 109).
The research findings show:
• an organisational culture and leadership style of innovative and collaborative practice is essential to the implementation of ICPOP
• a culture of person-centredness, as espoused by McCormack and McCance (2017), is important
• good communication between disciplines and practitioners and, practitioners and the older person is critical
• and key to ICPOP delivery is the involvement of community and the community and voluntary sector.
Finally, the research examined the practice of co-design and concluded that co-design is the first stage of the co-design process which includes co-production and co-creation. It is a reflective, iterative, and democratic practice involving all stakeholders at all stages.
Areas for future research include
• widening the geographical area to verify the findings nationally
• examining the concepts of person-centredness and co-production to ascertain a universally accepted definition in a healthcare context
• using the framework developed through this project, examining how a comprehensive understanding of RtD can be put in place
• and finally further investigation into power and trust in the co-design process is warranted for a comprehensive understanding of its practice.
2023-01-12T00:00:00ZCo-designing interactive systems to increase autonomy and improve the door-to-door customer journey for irish rail
https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/4419
Co-designing interactive systems to increase autonomy and improve the door-to-door customer journey for irish rail
Kennedy, Fintan
Public transport companies like Irish Rail have a vital role to play in countering the many
problems that modern society is facing, such as climate change, energy independence while at
the same time increasing the mobility of citizens and improving their independence. Accessible,
high-quality public transport with low barriers is more likely to be sustainable and potentially
contribute to a modal switch whereby private vehicle owners reduce their dependency and
increase their utilisation of public transportation (Doyle et al , 2020, Ch. 5). Literature highlights
the increased use of technology and digital platforms and the transport and travel industry
globally has been quick to embrace new opportunities that these platforms afford. However,
even the most cursory look at the selection of smartphone apps provided by the industry shows
a focus on the ticketing / commercial / timetabling aspects of their business, overlooking the
in-depth needs of public transport travellers. In the absence of deep design research on Irish
Rail to determine gaps and unmet customer needs, this research considers these needs in the
context of the broadest possible door-to-door journey.
The overall objectives of this research are to inform Irish Rail on new areas for interactive
systems for travellers through a user centred design process, learning how to do so and to
provide information on how to do this type of design activity in the future. The research
questions for this study are as follows
1. What interactive systems should be designed to improve experience and autonomy
for Irish Rail's customer’s door to door journey?
2. How can user centred design frameworks assist Irish Rail to meet this objective?
To answer these questions the study applies a mixed-methods methodology using qualitative
and quantitative data from surveys (N=316) and co-design workshops (4 workshops N=15),
following the guidance of Irish Standard I.S. EN 17161:2019 Design for All. The research collects
deep insights into the mindsets and needs of Irish Rail travellers to show the potential to
improve the door to the door customer journey. Interpreting and analysing these needs,
emerging outcomes vis-à-vis the complex stakeholder relationship are reviewed, to parse out
the results related to Irish Rail in the context of information technology. The research concludes
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that travellers' autonomy and the sense of freedom they experience can be improved,
particularly if their needs across the complete door-to-door customer are supported in the
areas of information accuracy, personal safety and general accessibility.
The study proposes a high-level conceptual model for a new digital assistant for travellers
supporting most of their needs throughout the door-to-door journey which Irish Rail will
consider in their technology roadmap for 2022 to 2025. This model and several data
visualisations showing the general findings from this research and recommendations for further
research will be provided to Irish Rail.
The process of user-centred design and 'co-designing' has successfully yielded many positive
outcomes in this study. This method of 'designing with, not for customers' is a method that Irish
Rail can and should adopt. This study provides a Design Guide for the company and summarises
many of the lessons learned throughout the study to communicate the need for improved usercentred
design and further design research by Irish Rail.
2022-05-01T00:00:00ZExperiences of humanistic and integrative psychotherapists of the therapeutic relationship with autistic clients: an interpretative phenomenological approach
https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/4418
Experiences of humanistic and integrative psychotherapists of the therapeutic relationship with autistic clients: an interpretative phenomenological approach
Connolly, Felicity
This study explores the role and lived experience of the therapeutic relationship with autistic clients in humanistic and integrative psychotherapy and what, if any, flexibility and adaptations therapists bring to this work. An interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA) was adopted. Involving a sample of five accredited humanistic and integrative psychotherapists who work with autistic clients.
2021-07-01T00:00:00ZAn examination of social media as a customer engagement tool for visitor attractions
https://research.thea.ie/handle/20.500.12065/3571
An examination of social media as a customer engagement tool for visitor attractions
Mohan, Arya Presanna
Since its development, social media has been a constantly changing phenomenon. Social media, in simple terms can be defined as an online platform that facilitates online communication, networking, and/or collaboration. The recognition by marketers that they should regain some control over the customer-controlled social media space has prompted many businesses to invest in their social media presence. Social media has an immense significance in an ‘information-intensive’ industry such as tourism as it allows for the revision and implementation of their business models and operations. Social media could be used as a powerful marketing tool when it comes to customer engagement in tourism, given the opportunities presented by these media to facilitate close relationships with tourists.
By adopting a customer engagement model proposed by Sashi (2011) and applying it to social media marketing within the tourism industry, this paper seeks to evaluate how social media could be a marketing tool for Irish tourism providers. By doing so, ultimately this research hopes to create a clear understanding of the degree and nature of interaction between Irish tourism providers and customers in social media platforms.
This study adopts an inductive approach seeking to explore the nature and degree of the usage of social media among a selected sample of Irish tourist providers. The research utilises the concurrent triangulation method under mixed methodology to examine in what ways, and for what purposes, Irish tourist providers are employing social media as a marketing tool in their customer engagement process. The research approach of this study is qualitative in the form of semi-structured interview and analysis of social media content and quantitative in the form of content analysis including social media analytics. An appropriate sampling frame for the study was identified and a small purposeful sample of five tourism providers from visitors’ attraction points were selected.
The research findings supported the research objective of this study, that social media can be utilised as a customer engagement tool for visitor attractions. This study also showed that visitor attractions have made significant progress towards understanding the existing social media features and are evolving their customer engagement activities alongside new technological developments.
Drawing on these research findings, clear and practical guidance is offered to Irish tourist providers that are seeking to actively incorporate social media in their customer engagement activities. This study has undertaken an in-depth analysis of each stage of the customer engagement cycle in order to establish a clear indication of the role of social media in the customer engagement activities of Irish tourist providers. Thus, this research could play a crucial role in filling the existing research gap and educating tourist providers in how they can reap the benefits of social media to further facilitate the sectors growth and improve customer engagement.
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z