[Workplace Health Promotion in Small, Medium-Sized and Large Enterprises of the Health-Care Sector - Frequency, Reasons for the Company Management to Take Action and Barriers to Implementation]. / Betriebliche Gesundheitsförderung in kleinen, mittleren und großen Unternehmen des Gesundheitssektors - Häufigkeit, Handlungsgründe der Unternehmensleitungen und Hürden der Realisierung.

PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to gain insight into worksite health promotion in small and medium-sized companies compared to large concerns in Middle Franconia. Action in worksite health promotion, obstacles and demand for networks for workplace health promotion were determined. METHOD: A standardised telephone interview served for collecting data for this cross-sectional study. The interviewee was always the manager or their proxy. 106 companies were contacted. The results of this study were analysed via qualitative and quantitative methods in SPSS(®) 20. RESULTS: It was possible to reach and interview 80 companies, a return rate of 75.5%. More than half the companies (68.8%) implemented at least one activity for worksite health promotion, especially ergonomic measures and measures to promote physical activity. Taking the size of the company into consideration when analysing the results, previous study results are confirmed. With an increasing size of the company, the relative frequency of measures for workplace health promotion rises. The motivation for worksite health promotion ranges from keeping the employees healthy (38.2%) to worksite health promotion as part of the business culture (9.1%). 81.1% of the companies consider their activity in worksite health promotion to be successful. Furthermore, 80.0% of the firms that implemented worksite health promotion were supported by a partner like a health insurance (43.2%). Those companies that did not implement any activities for worksite health promotion, state as a prime reason that they did not think about it as yet (44.0%). Besides, 44.0% of the companies without any worksite health promotion would like to implement measures. 65.5% of the companies that already took action in worksite health promotion and 56.0% of the companies that did not would like to cooperate with other firms in a network for workplace health promotion. Mutual exchange is the most important factor for them. CONCLUSION: The results of this study show that almost half of the companies that did not implement measures for worksite health promotion as yet would like to take action in this regard. For a bigger establishment of worksite health promotion, networks are predestinated and are best accompanied and supported by external professionals like health insurances, mutual indemnity associations or universities.

It takes a team: creating a hematology/hematopoietic cell therapy day hospital.

It is anticipated that by the year 2020, the United States will double the number of hematopoietic cell therapy transplants completed in this country. As a freestanding cancer hospital with one of the largest hematopoietic cell therapy transplant programs in the country, City of Hope embarked on an innovative strategy to address current capacity issues and prospectively plan for future expansion of transplant volumes. This article describes the planning process that was undertaken using various content-specific focused teams to address all components of designing and opening an outpatient day hospital suitable for management of patients undergoing transplant in an ambulatory setting. The deliverables of the 11 teams that drove this planning process are addressed.

Autoeficacia para el Liderazgo Emprendedor. Adaptación y Validación de la Escala CESE en España / Entrepreneurial leadership self-efficacy. Adaptation and Validation of CESE Scale in Spain

Este estudio tiene como objetivo adaptar a nuestro idioma y validar la escala de autoeficacia para el liderazgo emprendedor (Corporate Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy Scale, CESE) en una muestra de más de doscientos directivos y mandos intermedios españoles. Esta escala fue desarrollada originalmente por Ehrlich, De Noble y Singh (2005) para medir las habilidades necesarias en el liderazgo y gestión de equipos, así como en la comunicación con los accionistas y grupos internos de interés para obtener apoyo y recursos de la organización para desarrollar nuevos proyectos innovadores. Los resultados obtenidos, a través de la técnica PLS (Partial Least Square), permiten confirman la validez y fiabilidad de la versión española de la escala CESE para evaluar las principales habilidades y actividades necesarias para liderar iniciativas emprendedoras dentro de la organización (AU)

This study aims to adapt and validate a Spanish-language version of the Corporate Entrepreneurial Self-Efficacy (CESE) scale in a sample of more than two hundred Spanish managers and middle managers. This scale was originally developed by Ehrlich, De Noble and Singh (2005) in order to measure the skills needed for leading and managing teams and communicating with internal stakeholders to obtain support and corporate resources to develop new innovative projects. The results obtained, using Partial Least Square (PLS) technique, allow confirming that the Spanish version of CESE scale has a high reliability and validity to measure the main skills and activities necessaries to lead entrepreneurial initiatives inside the organization (AU)

Fostering change within organizational participants of multisectoral health care alliances.

BACKGROUND: A touted advantage of multisectoral health care alliances is their ability to coordinate diverse constituencies and pursue community health goals in ways that allow them to make greater progress than each constituency could independently. However, participating organizations may have goals that do not entirely overlap or necessarily align with the alliance's goals, which can weaken or undermine an alliance's efforts. Fostering changes within participating organizations in ways that are consistent with the alliance's goals (i.e., alliance-oriented change) may be one mechanism by which alliances can coordinate diverse activities and improve care in their local communities. PURPOSE: We examined whether alliance-oriented change within participating organizations is associated with alliance decision-making and conflict management style, level of participation, perceptions of alliance participation benefits and costs, and awareness of alliance activities within participating organizations. METHODOLOGY: The study used two rounds of survey data collected from organizational participants of 14 alliances participating in the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Aligning Forces for Quality program. FINDINGS: Alliance participants generally reported low levels of alliance-oriented change within their organizations as a result of the alliance and its activities. However, participants reporting higher levels of internal change in response to alliance activities had more positive perceptions of alliance decision-making style, higher levels of participation in alliance activities, more positive perceptions of alliance participation benefits relative to costs, and greater awareness of alliance activities across multiple levels of their respective organizations. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: Despite relatively low levels of alliance-oriented change within participating organizations, alliances may still have the means to align the goal orientations of a diverse membership and foster change that may extend the reach of the alliance in the community.

Radical external beam radiotherapy for prostate cancer in Japan: results of the 1999-2001 patterns of care process survey.

BACKGROUND: The Patterns of Care Study evaluated standards of practice for patients with clinically localized prostate cancer treated with radiotherapy in Japan. This study examined the influence of institutional stratification on care for patients receiving radical external beam radiotherapy. METHODS: A national survey of 66 institutions was conducted using two-stage cluster sampling, and detailed information was accumulated on 283 patients who received radiotherapy between 1999 and 2001. RESULTS: In A (academic) and B (non-academic) institutions, more than 80% of patients had intermediate or unfavorable risk disease. Although there were no significant differences in disease characteristics between A and B institutions, institutional stratification significantly affected radiotherapy practice patterns, such as the use of a CT-based treatment planning (A1: 91.5%, B: 77.1%; P = 0.0007) and the use of conformal therapy (A: 56.4%, B: 24.1%; P < 0.0001). CT-based treatment planning and conformal therapy significantly influenced total radiation dose (P < 0.0001 for each). Hormonal therapy was commonly used in both A and B institutions (A: 89.0%, B: 90.7%). Many patients with a favorable prognosis (A: 62.5%, B: 91.7%) received hormonal therapy, and most patients with unfavorable risk disease (A: 93.6%, B: 91.6%) also received hormonal therapy. CONCLUSION: During the period 1999-2001, the majority of prostate cancer patients treated in Japan with radical external beam radiotherapy had advanced diseases. Institutional stratification significantly affected radiotherapy practice patterns, with the notable exception that radiotherapy was commonly combined with hormonal therapy regardless of the institutional stratification and individual risk.

Exploring the role of community mental health team managers.

AIM: To explore the perceptions that managers of community mental health teams have of their role, along with their responsibilities and frustrations. SAMPLE: Managers of community mental health teams. METHOD: The method consisted of using focus groups and a survey questionnaire of CMHT managers in seven mental health trusts. RESULTS: The study found that the job of the CMHT manager is challenging and demanding, working with adults with severe mental health problems, managing community multidisciplinary teams and meeting the standards of service delivery set out in the National Service Framework for Mental Health (Department of Health, 1999). The data also showed that CMHT managers had a strong commitment to, and positive working relationships with, CMHT staff. CONCLUSION: There were significant findings about the pressures that undermined the ability of the CMHT managers to carry out the role effectively. The most notable of these being insufficient resources and poor relationships with line managers, who do not seem to understand the role and its pressures. The study also found that the role of CMHT managers was reasonably well reflected in their job descriptions, but there were some disparities that may require a review of job descriptions.

Multidisciplinary top management teamwork: effects on local health department performance.

Local health departments often use multidisciplinary top management teams (TMTs) to organize the work of the agency. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of TMTs in North Carolina local health departments and how TMTs use affected agency performance. TMT diversity and TMT performance positively affected the local health departments' (LHDs) performance. As well, the TMTs' agenda affected LHD performance. The more that TMTs discussed community health assessment and political changes in the community, the better the LHD performance on the core functions. Implications for public health practice and leadership in local health departments are discussed.

Performance and retention of professional employees who work in teams: the effects of commitment and support.

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of support and commitment on job performance and turnover intentions of professionals working in a team environment. As hypothesized, the results indicated that job performance was influenced positively by both professional and team commitment as well as by perceived organizational and team support. Intention to quit the organization went down as organizational support and commitment went up, and intention to leave the profession similarly was related to team support and commitment Interestingly, professional commitment had a deleterious effect on intention to quit the organization, whereas organizational support had a positive effect on professional commitment.

Work process redesign for blood banks and transfusion services.

Blood banks and transfusion services generally have been slower than other clinical laboratory areas to look into redesigning their work processes. Work process redesign (WPR) provides a tool for facilities to critically review their current work processes for improvement opportunities. This article provides blood banks and transfusion services with a redesign road map and the experiences of a large, metropolitan transfusion service in undertaking a WPR project.

Is there a future for planning teams?

Health care planning in the NHS is undergoing a revolution. The proposals in Working for Patients, which involve the separation of funding from the provision of services, and the proposals for community care in Caring for People have profound consequences for the planning and provision of services for the so-called priority groups. Planning teams, which were first established after the 1974 reorganisation, have been one of the main vehicles for planning coordinated care for such groups. The current study, which updates earlier findings, was carried out shortly before the publication of Working for Patients. It found an increased number of planning teams catering for a wider range of client groups, increasing unit involvement in care group planning and more emphasis on joint planning with local authorities. The implications of the findings for the post-review NHS are discussed, in particular the future of joint planning, the future of CHC involvement in planning and the future of planning teams themselves.

Power in top management teams: dimensions, measurement, and validation.

Top managers' power plays a key role in strategic decision making. However, although numerous scholars have recognized its importance, very few have attempted to measure the phenomenon. In this article, I present a set of dimensions measuring top managers' power and suggest a measurement methodology to facilitate empirical inquiry. Data from a group of 1,763 top managers in three industries were used to assess the validity and reliability of the power dimensions in three studies. Results demonstrate strong support for the proposed power dimensions.

Meeting the challenges of information systems planning.

Strategic information systems planning (SISP) is the process of deciding the objectives of computing for an organization and then identifying the applications that the organization should computerize. SISP has become increasingly important as information systems have begun to play a more critical role in implementing business strategies. However, SISP is beset with problems that hinder organizations from determining their computing objectives and applications. This article identifies the impediments to SISP and offers some constructive actions for business planners to take to increase their chances of success. It also suggests that planners may face greater difficulties implementing their information systems plans than in initially creating them.