Exploring experiences of loneliness among Canadian long-term care residents during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study.

BACKGROUND: The COVID-19 pandemic has significant impact on long-term care (LTC) residents' health and well-being. OBJECTIVES: This study investigated resident experiences of loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic in Canadian LTC homes to offer lessons learned and implications. METHODS: 15 residents and 16 staff members were recruited from two large urban Canadian LTC homes with large outbreaks and fatalities. We used a telepresence robot to conduct one-on-one semi-structured interviews with participants remotely. We applied the Collaborative Action Research (CAR) methodology and report the early phase of CAR focused on collecting data and reporting findings to inform actions for change. Thematic analysis was performed to identify themes. RESULTS: Four themes were identified. The first two themes characterise what commonly generated feelings of loneliness amongst residents, including (1) social isolation and missing their family and friends and (2) feeling hopeless and grieving for lives lost. The second two themes describe what helped residents alleviate loneliness, including (3) social support and (4) creating opportunities for recreation and promoting positivity. CONCLUSIONS: Residents living in LTC experienced significant social isolation and grief during the pandemic that resulted in loneliness and other negative health consequences. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Promoting meaningful connection, safe recreational activities and a positive atmosphere in LTC homes during the pandemic may help mitigate residents' experiences of loneliness due to social isolation and/or grief and enhance their quality of life.

Intensive care nurses' lived experience of altruism and sacrifices during the Covid-19 pandemic: A phenomenological study.

AIM: The aim of this study was to understand the lived experience of altruism and sacrifices among Swedish nurses working in intensive care units (ICU) during the COVID-19 pandemic. DESIGN: This was a descriptive phenomenological study. METHODS: The study was conducted between June 2020 and March 2021 and included 20 nurses who were directly involved in the ICU care of COVID-19 patients in Sweden during the pandemic. The text transcripts were analysed using Malterud's Systematic Text Condensation. FINDINGS: The analysis revealed four themes. The work situation changed from 1 day to another-the nurses were brutally confronted with a new and highly demanding situation. Adapting to the chaotic situation-despite fear, anguish and exhaustion, the nurses adapted to the new premises. They shouldered the moral responsibility and responded to the needs of the patients and the health care system since they had the competence. Being confronted with ethical and moral challenges-the nurses were overwhelmed by feelings of helplessness and inadequacy because despite how hard they worked, they were still unable to provide care with dignity and of acceptable quality. The importance of supporting each other-collegiality was fundamental to the nurses' ability to cope with the situation. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, being exposed to a constantly changing situation, facing the anguish and misery of patients, families, and colleagues, and being confronted with a conflict between the moral obligation to provide care of high quality and the possibility to fulfil this commitment resulted in suffering among the nurses. Collegial back-up and a supportive culture within the caring team were important for the nurses' endurance. IMPACT: The study contributes an understanding of nurses' lived experience of working during the COVID-19 pandemic and highlights the importance of protecting and preparing nurses and nursing organisation for potential future crises.

Demographic characteristics, outcomes and experience of patients using virtual urgent care services from 14 emergency department led sites in Ontario.

INTRODUCTION: As part of the COVID-19 pandemic response, the Ontario Ministry of Health funded a virtual care pilot program intended to support emergency department (ED) diversion of patients with low acuity complaints and reduce the need for face-to-face contact. The objective was to describe the demographic characteristics, outcomes and experience of patients using the provincial pilot program. METHODS: This was a prospective cohort study of patients using virtual care services provided by 14 ED-led pilot sites from December 2020 to September 2021. Patients who completed a virtual visit were invited by email to complete a standardized, 25-item online survey, which included questions related to satisfaction and patient-reported outcome measures. RESULTS: There were 22,278 virtual visits. When patients were asked why they contacted virtual urgent care, of the 82.7% patients who had a primary care provider, 31.0% said they could not make a timely appointment with their family physician. Rash, fever, abdominal pain, and COVID-19 vaccine queries represented 30% of the presenting complaints. Of 19,613 patients with a known disposition, 12,910 (65.8%) were discharged home and 3,179 (16.2%) were referred to the ED. Of the 2,177 survey responses, 94% rated their overall experience as 8/10 or greater. More than 80% said they had answers to all the questions they had related to their health concern, believed they were able to manage the issue, had a plan they could follow, and knew what to do if the issue got worse or came back. CONCLUSIONS: Many presenting complaints were low acuity, and most patients had a primary care provider, but timely access was not available. Future work should focus on health equity to ensure virtual care is accessible to underserved populations. We question if virtual urgent care can be safely and more economically provided by non-emergency physicians.

RéSUMé: INTRODUCTION: Dans le cadre de la réponse à la pandémie de COVID-19, le ministère de la Santé de l'Ontario a financé un programme pilote de soins virtuels visant à soutenir la réorientation vers les services d'urgence des patients présentant des problèmes de faible acuité et à réduire le besoin de contact en personne. L'objectif était de décrire les caractéristiques démographiques, les résultats et l'expérience des patients utilisant le programme pilote provincial. MéTHODES: Il s'agissait d'une étude de cohorte prospective de patients utilisant des services de soins virtuels fournis par 14 sites pilotes dirigés par des services d'urgence, de décembre 2020 à septembre 2021. Les patients qui ont effectué une visite virtuelle ont été invités par courriel à répondre à une enquête en ligne standardisée de 25 questions, qui comprenait des questions relatives à la satisfaction et aux résultats rapportés par les patients. RéSULTATS: Il y a eu 22 278 visites virtuelles. Lorsqu'on a demandé aux patients pourquoi ils avaient contacté les soins urgents virtuels, sur les 82,7 % de patients qui avaient un prestataire de soins primaires, 31,0 % ont répondu qu'ils n'avaient pas pu obtenir un rendez-vous en temps voulu avec leur médecin de famille. Les éruptions cutanées, la fièvre, les douleurs abdominales et les interrogations sur le vaccin COVID-19 représentaient 30 % des plaintes présentées. Sur les 19 613 patients dont la disposition était connue, 12 910 (65,8 %) ont été renvoyés chez eux et 3 179 (16,2 %) ont été orientés vers les urgences. Sur les 2 177 réponses à l'enquête, 94 % ont attribué une note de 8/10 ou plus à leur expérience globale. Plus de 80 % d'entre eux ont déclaré avoir obtenu des réponses à toutes les questions qu'ils se posaient sur leur problème de santé, se croire capables de le gérer, avoir un plan qu'ils pouvaient suivre et savoir quoi faire si le problème s'aggravait ou revenait. CONCLUSIONS: De nombreuses plaintes présentées étaient de faible acuité, et la plupart des patients avaient un fournisseur de soins primaires, mais l'accès en temps opportun n'était pas disponible. Les travaux futurs devraient se concentrer sur l'équité en matière de santé pour s'assurer que les soins virtuels sont accessibles aux populations mal desservies et nous nous demandons si ces services peuvent être fournis en toute sécurité et de manière plus économique par des médecins non urgentistes.

Understanding Experience of Patients With Highly Infectious Diseases During Extended Isolation: A Design Perspective.

OBJECTIVES: This study aimed to develop a better understanding of the unique needs of patients with highly infectious diseases and their perceptions of being placed in isolation. We explore the subjective experiences of patients treated for Ebola in a biocontainment unit (BCU) and the healthcare personnel who cared for them. BACKGROUND: The 2014 Ebola outbreak and the COVID-19 pandemic have brought to focus some major challenges of caring for patients with serious infectious diseases. Previous studies on BCU design have looked at ways to prevent self- and cross-contamination, but very few have examined how the built environment can support an improved patient experience. METHOD: A qualitative study was conducted with four patients treated for Ebola and two critical care nurses who provided direct care to them at a single BCU in the U.S. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews to capture the actual patients' perception and experience of isolation. The interviews were analyzed using the thematic analysis approach. RESULTS: The Ebola patients placed in source isolation perceived the BCU as an artificial environment where they lacked control, agency, autonomy, and independence. The physical separation from other patients, visitor restrictions, and staff wearing PPE contributed to feelings of social and emotional isolation, and loneliness. CONCLUSIONS: The isolation can take a toll on physiological and psychological well-being. A thoughtful design of isolation units may improve patients' experience by supporting human and social interactions, empowering patients through space flexibility and personalization of space, and supporting a more holistic approach to isolation care.

Measuring Training Disruptions Using an Informatics Based Tool.

OBJECTIVE: Training disruptions, such as planned curricular adjustments or unplanned global pandemics, impact residency training in ways that are difficult to quantify. Informatics-based medical education tools can help measure these impacts. We tested the ability of a software platform driven by electronic health record data to quantify anticipated changes in trainee clinical experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS: We previously developed and validated the Trainee Individualized Learning System (TRAILS) to identify pediatric resident clinical experiences (i.e. shifts, resident provider-patient interactions (rPPIs), and diagnoses). We used TRAILS to perform a year-over-year analysis comparing pediatrics residents at a large academic children's hospital during March 15-June 15 in 2018 (Control #1), 2019 (Control #2), and 2020 (Exposure). RESULTS: Residents in the exposure cohort had fewer shifts than those in both control cohorts (P < .05). rPPIs decreased an average of 43% across all PGY levels, with interns experiencing a 78% decrease in Continuity Clinic. Patient continuity decreased from 23% to 11%. rPPIs with common clinic and emergency department diagnoses decreased substantially during the exposure period. CONCLUSIONS: Informatics tools like TRAILS may help program directors understand the impact of training disruptions on resident clinical experiences and target interventions to learners' needs and development.

Clinical experiences of final-year nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic: A systematic review and meta-synthesis.

OBJECTIVES: This systematic review aimed to qualitatively synthesise existing literature to examine the clinical nursing experiences of final-year nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic and provide recommendations for the effective management of clinical placement of nursing students. DESIGN: A qualitative systematic review was conducted and reported following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines. DATA SOURCES: Five electronic databases were searched and qualitative studies were included for analysis if they focussed on the clinical nursing experiences of final-year nursing students during the COVID-19 pandemic. REVIEW METHODS: Data synthesis was conducted by extracting all findings, developing categories, and producing synthesised findings. RESULTS: Four synthesised findings were concluded: 1) facing the unknown and willingness to help, 2) challenging the clinical environment, 3) transition improving professional identity, and 4) finding ways out of the pandemic. CONCLUSIONS: The transition of nursing students to clinical nursing practice during the pandemic is a personally and professionally challenging process, while nursing students try to adapt to the changing clinical environment and enhance their professional identity. Nursing managers and health policymakers should acknowledge the challenges encountered by nursing students during the pandemic and support the professional growth of future nursing teams by providing high-quality supervision.

Reporting and conducting patient journey mapping research in healthcare: A scoping review.

AIM: To identify how patient journey mapping is being undertaken and reported. DESIGN: A scoping review of the literature was undertaken using JBI guidance. DATA SOURCES: Databases were searched in July 2021 (16th-21st), including Ovid's Medline, Embase, Emcare and PsycINFO; Scopus; Web of Science Core Collection, the Directory of Open Access Journals; Informit and; ProQuest Dissertations and Theses Global. REVIEW METHODS: Eligible articles included peer-reviewed literature documenting journey mapping methodologies and studies conducted in healthcare services. Reviewers used Covidence to screen titles and abstracts of located sources, and to screen full-text articles. A table was used to extract data and synthesize results. RESULTS: Eighty-one articles were included. An acceleration of patient journey mapping research was observed, with 76.5% (n = 62) of articles published since 2015. Diverse mapping approaches were identified. Reporting of studies was inconsistent and largely non-adherent with relevant, established reporting guidelines. CONCLUSION: Patient journey mapping is a relatively novel approach for understanding patient experiences and is increasingly being adopted. There is variation in process details reported. Considerations for improving reporting standards are provided. IMPACT: Patient journey mapping is a rapidly growing approach for better understanding how people enter, experience and exit health services. This type of methodology has significant potential to inform new, patient centred models of care and facilitate clinicians, patients and health professionals to better understand gaps and strategies in health services. The synthesised results of this review alert researchers to options available for journey mapping research and provide preliminary guidance for elevating reporting quality.

The influence of emotion regulation flexibility on negative emotions: Evidence from experience sampling

In our complex social environments, life situations are ever-changing. When dealing with these changes, there is no one-size-fits-all response or regulatory strategy suitable for all situations. Emotion regulation flexibility (ERF)—a framework for understanding individual differences in adaptive responding to ever-changing life contexts—emphasizes that individuals can flexibly deploy and adjust emotion regulation strategies according to specific characteristics of stressful situations in daily life. To achieve regulatory efficacy, it is important that one can utilize a balanced profile of ER strategies and select strategies that fit well with particular stressful situations. Specifically, using multiple ER strategies in daily life, rather than relying on only single-strategies, would indicate higher ERF. Additionally, based on leading models of strategy-situation fit, certain ER strategies are more appropriate for high versus low intensity stressful events. For instance, distraction involves with shielding oneself from negative stimuli and replacing them with irrelevant things, which may have a greater regulatory effect in high-intensity negative situations. Conversely, strategies such as reappraisal, which involves the processing of negative situations through deep cognitive change, may be more effective in lower-intensity negative situations and as a cornerstone of longer-term ER. We used the experience-sampling method (ESM) to quantify individual's ERF;more specifically we assess participants for 1) having more or less balanced ER strategy profiles and 2) showing greater strategy-situation fit, in regard to the use of distraction versus reappraisal in the regulation of high-intensity versus low-intensity negative life events. To test the adaptive value of ERF on negative emotions and mental health, we investigated the influence of ERF on depressive and anxiety symptoms in two samples. We hypothesized that individuals with a more balanced profile of ER strategy use and a great level of strategy-situation fit would have higher levels of mental health, indicated by low levels of anxiety and depressive feelings. In sample 1, two hundred eight college students finished the ESM procedure (2859 beeps). Intensity of negative situations was measured by self-reported negative feelings for the time points where participants reported an adverse event. Simultaneously, we assessed participants' use of two ER strategies (i.e., distraction and reappraisal). Considering the negative impact of COVID-19 on people's daily life, we collected another sample (sample 2, 3462 beeps) with one hundred people who lived in Hubei Province, where Wuhan was in lockdown during the severe phase of COVID-19 (March 7-13, 2020). We measured intensity of negative situations (by averaging individuals' negative feelings), as well as the use of two ER strategies at corresponding time points. After completing the ESM procedure, the participants were asked to fill out a series of emotional health questionnaires, including Beck Depression Inventory-II, Beck Anxiety Inventory and Spielberger State Anxiety Scale. Multilevel models were used to fit the covariation between the use of distraction versus reappraisal ER strategies and the intensity of negative events. Additionally, we used multiple level regression models to test whether high level of strategy-situation fit would result in lower negative feelings. To test whether a single-strategy preference would lead to higher levels of anxiety and depressive feelings compared to a multiple-strategy preference, latent profile analyses (LPA) was used. Results from the LPA indicated that individuals with preferences for rumination and express suppression reported higher levels depression and anxiety than individuals with a multi-strategy preference. In the multilevel models, results of the two independent samples both suggested individuals who were more inclined to use a higher level of distraction in response to high-intensity negative situations (e.g., adverse events or during COVID-19) and use hi her levels of reappraisal during low-intensity situations (i.e., high level of ERF) reported lower levels of anxiety and depressive feelings. On the converse, individuals who tended to use more distraction in low intensity situations and more reappraisal in high intensity situations, (i.e., those showing lower ERF) reported a higher level of negative feelings. Together, our findings revealed a negative relationship between ERF and mental health problems in two samples, suggesting that having balanced ER profiles and flexibly deploying strategies in specific life contexts may have adaptive value in facilitating positive mental health. This work deepens our understanding of the interaction between ER strategies and situational demands, paving the way for future intervention research to help alleviate negative emotions associated with affective disorders or the experience of major traumatic events (such as epidemics, earthquakes, etc.). © The Authors.

Research on the Innovation Path of College Students' Volunteer Service under the Background of Epidemic Prevention and Control: Taking Beijing University of Chinese Medicine as an Example

Volunteer service is an important way for contemporary Chinese college students to carry out social practice, and an effective carrier for strengthening ideological and political work in the new era. During the prevention and control of the COVID-19, college students, as a solid force in the volunteer team, actively participated in the anti-epidemic volunteer service, which not only improved their practical ability, but also practiced the core socialist values and inherited the excellent traditional Chinese culture. Based on the existing practical experience in volunteer service, Beijing University of Chinese Medicine has made use of multiple channels and resources to improve the volunteer training system, strengthen the guarantee of volunteer service, realize the high-quality leapfrog development of college students' volunteer service, and provide experience and reference for the innovation of college students' volunteer service in the new era. © 2023, Editorial department of Chinese Medical Ethics. All rights reserved.

Clubhouse—A UX/UI Case Study on the Audio Social App

For the past few years, the world has seen a paradigm shift in the way of life. Daily activities of working, learning, etc. were shifted to an online mode so that the spread of the covid virus can be contained. During this time, usage of social media apps was at an all-time high since it was the only way people could socialize. The clubhouse was one such social media app that gained popularity during the lockdown and showed exponential growth in terms of user engagement. But, it was observed that from the survey conducted among 33 users, almost 82% of users showed reluctance in using Clubhouse over time. 84.8% of users welcomed the need for a better User Experience for the platform. An average of 64.2% of users reported different User Experience (UX) related issues in the app. In this paper, the UX side of the app is studied and discussed. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Rethinking the donor's role in strengthening health systems through sexual and reproductive health and rights partnerships: A qualitative analysis of Ugandan case studies

International donors continue to prefer vertical programming over systems strengthening despite the universal health agenda. This study explored Dutch policy and practice towards health systems within sexual and reproductive health and rights-focused partnerships between the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs and civil society, through a document analysis, 13 in-depth interviews and a stakeholder workshop. The findings revealed that partnerships supported the Ugandan health system in unstructured ways and had difficulties finding synergies. To ensure sustained outcomes and respond to the renewed urgency of strong health systems in the face of crises, donors should incorporate systems strengthening as an explicit goal.

Cancer nurses have experienced ‘moral injury' due to the pandemic

First, a Happy New Year to you all. I hope you enjoyed the festive break. In this issue, our cover article (evidence and practice, page 21) explains how emotional labour can lead to exhaustion and burnout, which contributes to a high turnover in the nursing workforce. It examines the differences in resilience and coping strategies of less experienced nurses compared with their more experienced counterparts.

Factors influencing tourists' nightlife experience in Belgrade

Purpose: This study aims to understand the impact that the experience environment has on the nightlife experience, as well as to identify the factors from the nightlifescape that most influence the tourists' experience in Belgrade. Additionally, this study seeks to discover whether these factors changed after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design/methodology/approach: To achieve the study's objectives, 679 tourist reviews were collected from one of the most popular travel platforms, TripAdvisor, and analyzed using RapidMiner, the popular software for data/text mining. Findings: The perception of the physical aspects of the experience environment, the presence of other tourists and the feeling of acceptance are identified as the key factors that influence tourists' nightlife experience. This study also found that certain factors from the social and sensory environment, such as staff, the presence of other people, the atmosphere and music, had a positive impact on the tourist experience and their intention to recommend the nightlife experience in Belgrade. Moreover, it was discovered that the COVID-19 pandemic did not provoke changes in the main factors influencing tourists' nightlife experience. Originality/value: The perception of tourists about Belgrade during the night contributes to the growing body of tourism literature on destination image. Focusing solely on the perception of tourists about Belgrade during the night, this study adds a temporal determinant to the destination image, which can be considered as a valuable add on to the current knowledge in the field. © 2022, Emerald Publishing Limited.

Passive Video Quality Assessment Using Lab and Remote Testing

In this chapter, research about the assessment of video quality for gaming content will be provided. At first, a dataset that was used for the development of the ITU-T Rec. G.1072 will be presented. The dataset was created in a laboratory environment using the passive test paradigm described in Chap. 3. Next, some results of the collected video quality ratings will be illustrated. While QoE assessment studies traditionally make use of controlled laboratory environments, there are also other possibilities to conduct user studies without a laboratory environment. Especially during the COVID-19 pandemic, which prevented many researchers from performing lab studies, the concept of supervised and unsupervised remote studies got lots of attention. By using such a remote study design, two studies assessing video quality ratings of similar conditions as in the previously mentioned dataset were conducted. These two studies allow to address three research topics that will be the focus of the remainder of this chapter. At first, it will be investigated whether video quality ratings obtained using the remote study design are comparable to those collected in the lab environment. Second, a comparison between video quality ratings collected using a stimulus duration of 20 s instead of 30 s will be performed, which tries to answer whether it is enough to use a shorter stimulus duration as proposed in ITU-T Rec. P.809. Lastly, the differences between using a discrete 5-point ACR scale and the extended continuous 7-point scales will be investigated. © 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG.

TEACHING-EDUCATING AND PROFESSORALITY/PROFESSORSHIP: unfolding conversation in station rotation turns

This paper pursues the production of subjectivities during the process of teaching -educating developed in Teaching and Diversity, a curricular component offered by a multiprofessional graduate program in a Bahia Public University. It aims at presenting experience as education/formation in the constitution of professorality, intertwined with diversity, as a formative ontological and epistemic principle. Conversation is the elected method, founded on Freire's dialogical presuppositions, interfacing with online education during covid 19 pandemic context. The assessment-formation dispositives proposed were: online station rotation and conversation circles registered in collective and individual journals, which have spread themselves as a rhizome via hyperlinks. The findings point to evidence of learning, creation and co authorship embodied in diverse strategies to appropriate the concepts and provocations posed, such as: creation of a co authorial metaphor, anti-art intervention, and the production of narratives In Derrida's supplement perspective. The organizative and epistemological principles as well as the didactic design allowed students and professors to immerse in hybrid environments to exercise and experiment teaching collectively. Conversation circles, also, were pointed as triggers to experiences-experiments as a way to confer new meanings to the nostalgia of traditional (face-to-face) teaching and initial resistances, such as cameras in off and low student-student and student-professors interaction. However, Self and hetero assessment emerged as a fragility since moral aspetcts (interest and effort) took the role of main parameters, and gaps in teaching-educating backgrounds were viewed as flaws and projected onto other aspects (professors, the readings, the theories etc), avoinding the assumption of corresponsability towards self and collective formative processes.

The Student Learning Experience: A Case Study in Object-Based Learning

Artifacts are a primary source of information for fashion history students participating in object-based learning through careful observation, analysis and interpretation. Object-based learning is an advantage that allows students to connect the course material with the physical artifact in-person. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, classes at a Midwestern university moved midterm to an online format. Artifacts previously viewed in person were posted digitally, thus this was the first semester that artifact analysis included both in-person and online. Students evaluated their learning experience in artifact analysis in-person and online with the goal to understand their perspective on advantages and disadvantages. In-person, students could examine details such as textile weave and hand or machine stitching. Online, multiple views of a garment on a mannequin were available to better understand the shape and silhouette of the garment. In the future, we will incorporate both venues, taking advantage of the best student learning experiences from each. © 2022 ITAA.

The influence of the ethics of E-retailers on online customer experience and customer satisfaction

The COVID-19 pandemic and the lockdown pushed people to buy more online. With the increase in online shopping, there was also an increase in ethical issues with electronic retailers resulting from problems with products, misleading price practices, lack of customers' personal and financial data protection, non-delivery of goods, and misleading advertising. This study aimed to determine whether consumers' perceptions of e-retailers' ethics influence online customer experience and satisfaction when purchasing products and services. A research model was developed based on the literature on ethics in e-commerce. To fulfill the objective, a research model on consumer perceptions of ethics in online retailing was tested based on answers of 501 Brazilian online shoppers. Data were gathered through an online questionnaire and analyzed using structural equation modeling with an estimation of minimum least squares. The results indicated significant relations between the e-retailer's ethics, the online experience, and customer satisfaction with the mediation of ethical beliefs, suggesting that the e-retailer's ethics can potentially stimulate a good online consumer experience and satisfaction when purchasing on the internet and may contribute to the relationship between the consumer and the e-retailer. Furthermore, ethical beliefs can mediate these relations, collaborating with the effect of e-retailers' ethics on the consumer's experience and satisfaction. These results represent an advance in the study of new ethical dimensions in electronic retail, which currently are reduced to security and privacy issues. In practice, this study resulted in new knowledge about ethical practices that can guide electronic retailers in the adoption of new customer prospecting strategies. It also highlights the importance of improving regulations that prevent certain behaviors from happening. © 2022 Elsevier Ltd

Designing and developing a virtual reality escape game for youth vocational rehabilitation

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, youth unemployment has been growing with increased risks of social exclusion. Vocational rehabilitation helps young people to plan their future and find their way into education and working life. New methods based on the needs of young people are needed for youth vocational rehabilitation, whose target group is young people aged 16–29. This article describes the design and development process of a virtual reality escape game for vocational rehabilitation. The study uses a design-based research methodology. As a result of the research process, a new and innovative tool, an escape game played with a virtual headset and controllers, was developed for young people needing support with life management skills. The results of testing sessions held as part of the process showed that young people, social workers and rehabilitation professionals found gaming useful for vocational rehabilitation. As a practical implication, the virtual reality escape game can be used with young people to identify and develop life management, study and work skills. However, more research is needed on its use and effectiveness in vocational rehabilitation. © The Author(s) 2023.

Decoding employee experiences during pandemic through online employee reviews: insights to organizations

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to unearth various dimensions of employee experience (EX) and explore how pandemic impacted various EX factors using online employee reviews. The authors identify employee-discussed EX-factors and quantify the associated sentiments and importance. Design/methodology/approach: This paper employs Latent Dirichlet Allocation on the online employee reviews to identify the key EX-factors. The authors probe sentiments and importance associated with key EX-factors using sentiment analysis, importance analysis, regression analysis and dominance analysis. Findings: The result of topic modeling identifies 20 EX-factors that shape overall EX. While skill development plays a major role in shaping overall EX, employees perceived Salary and Growth as the most important EX-factor and expressed negative sentiments during the pandemic. Employee sentiments significantly influence overall EX. Practical implications: When employees have extensive change experience, managers should consider various facets of EX to manage the smooth change and deliver a better EX. This research offers key EX-factors to be considered by managers while dealing with employees. Online employee reviews websites are recommended to include the identified key EX-factors to comprehend the holistic EX. Originality/value: This study contributes to the growing literature on the employee experience as a concept by identifying various EX-factors. The authors expand the extant EX scales by identifying an inclusive and updated set of EX-factors. © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.