Dalarna University's logo and link to the university's website

Although preschool principals are important for integrating sustainability,studies on this topic are scarce. Using an embedded mixed methodsapproach, this study explored and compared 50 principals’ views andactions relating to sustainability in the operations of 25 eco- and 25non-eco-certified randomly sampled preschools from 25 municipalities(of a total 290) in Sweden. Using a semi-structured questionnaire, datawas collected from the principals of the preschools. Whole SchoolApproach Flower Model was used as an analytical framework to analyzequalitative data, while quantitative data was subject to OrthogonalProjections to Latent Structures Discriminatory Analysis. According to theparticipating principals, eco-certified preschools focused on increasingchildren’s knowledge about and interests in sustainability, whereasnon-eco-certified preschools focused on strategies to develop teachers’sustainability competence. This is consistent with findings that principalsat eco-certified preschools have a more nuanced and multifaceted viewof sustainability in their leadership practice, indicating thateco-certification, to some extent, plays an important role in making adifference. The study also highlights the potential of adopting a wholeschool approach to sustainability within preschool education.Cross-validation supported the generalizability of the conclusions, at leastwithin a Swedish context.

The concept of digital twin has captured significant attention in recent years and its potential application within the domain of home care has been explored in several studies. This review endeavors to provide a comprehensive overview of digital twin technology and its applications in the realm of home care, delineating the key attributes and challenges entailed in their implementation. A systematic search was conducted across five databases, namely ACM digital library, IEEE Xplore, PubMed, Scopus, and Web of Science. Findings from forty-five included articles were categorized employing a systematic approach, highlighting the technology’s deployment in remote older adults’ care monitoring, health issue prediction and personalized treatment planning. Furthermore, this review identified challenges of integrating digital twins into the home care sector. Despite recognition of its potential, there is a distinct lack in the literature of in-depth studies specifically exploring the implementation of digital twin technology in home care, highlighting the need for further research.

Digital homecare twin expectations among Swedish social service professionals – a qualitative study

Background and purpose

Designing care and support interventions that are tailored to the persons’ needs is essential to high-quality care and is increasingly recognised as associated with positive effects on the health and well-being of older adults and caregivers. In line with demographic trends observed in many countries, Sweden is confronted with a double demographic challenge where the proportion of older adults is increasing while the proportion of people of working age is decreasing. This will lead to a significant shortage of personnel within the sector of health and social care services by the year 2030 with the risk of deteriorations in the quality of care. This pressing situation underscores an urgent need for novel and innovative solutions in municipal homecare. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to identify expectations of social service professionals in Sweden concerning a digital homecare twin intended to support person-centeredness and enhance the working environment in homecare. A digital twin serves as a digital representation of assets, processes, and systems, which in the context of homecare includes older adults and their homes, as well as homecare services and personnel. This study constitutes an integral part of a broader research project aimed at the co-development and evaluation of a digital twin for homecare, which is based on Industry 4.0 technology. 

Methods

The present study adopted a qualitative design with four focus groups involving thirty participants working in municipal homecare in urban and rural locations. They represented a diverse spectrum of social service roles: homecare workers, planners, IT specialists, and managers across various levels of responsibility. During the two-hour focus group sessions, the participants discussed three topics: valuable aspects of homecare; knowledge needs for effective homecare delivery; and anticipations related to a digital twin. The focus group sessions were recorded, transcribed verbatim and analysed thematically. 

Findings

The analysis will be completed by the end of 2023 and the preliminary results will be presented at ECSWR 2024.

Conclusions and implications

The present study can contribute to valuable knowledge on how a digital twin can be used in homecare, and the results are expected to support person-centered homecare and increase job satisfaction for homecare workers. The main outcomes and their implications for practice and further research will be presented at ECSWR 2024. 

Background and purpose

The older population is steadily increasing globally and in Sweden and there is a fear that dwindling human and financial resources will not be sufficient to provide high-quality person-centred homecare in the near future. To address this situation initiatives have been taken to use digital technologies as a part of the solution. To explore the potential of using artificial intelligence-supported Industry 4.0 technology in the homecare setting, a research project was initiated in Sweden. This study aimed to identify preferences and expectations of older homecare users for a digital homecare twin to facilitate ageing in place and is an integral part of the project. A digital twin in this context is a digital representation of homecare clients and their homes, as well as homecare services and personnel, which is informed by sensor data. Sensor data may include information on older adults’ daily life in real time, their movement patterns and behaviors, as well as information on deviations in health indicators. It is believed that a digital twin with this kind of data, has the potential to add value for older people. The digital twin can lead to a better understanding of the homecare system and identifying areas for improvement. The digital twin is expected to support the homecare services and lead to more personalized services, and thereby improve homecare user satisfaction.  

Methods

This study employs a qualitative strategy in which focus groups discussions are conducted in two municipalities in Sweden, involving a total of 24 older homecare users. The participants represent people of various age and gender, with diverse living and housing situations as well as homecare needs. During the two-hour focus group sessions, the participants discuss valued outcomes of homecare services, how a digital twin can help with reaching valued outcomes, and preferences and expectations for a digital homecare twin. The focus groups are recorded, transcribed and analyzed thematically. 

Findings

The analysis will be completed by the end of 2023 and the results will be presented at ECSWR 2024.

Conclusions and implications

This study explores the potential of digital twins in homecare services by capturing the voices and preferences of older adults to tailor specific solutions. Employing focus group discussions will engage older adults in expressing their needs and concerns which later can be incorporated into the development of personalized digital twins.  The main outcomes of the study and their implications for practice and further research will be added once the findings are ready. 

Worldwide, one out of every three individuals requires assistive products to enjoy and exercise their human rights. In certain nations, only 3% have access to the assistive products they need. Digital technology, and specifically digital health interventions, stands as a powerful solution to improve access and maximize the benefits for users, their families, service providers, and society. Digital health interventions can enable user engagement, support service planning and monitoring, streamline procurement and stock management, boost service efficiency and coverage, and provide avenues for workforce competency development. By harnessing the potential of digital health, universal access to assistive technology can be accelerated.

This paper responds to previous calls for a deeper sociotechnical understanding of Internet of Things (IoT) adoption within healthcare. Through a systematic literature review, it synthesizes existing empirical research on the factors influencing IoT adoption, identifying 94 distinct factors grouped into 24 themes. By leveraging sociotechnical systems theory, the paper thoroughly analyzes these factors and proposes a specialized sociotechnical systems framework tailored specifically to IoT adoption in healthcare settings. This study underscores the current dearth of empirical research in this area and emphasizes the need for more studies, particularly those focused on the actual adoption processes of IoT solutions in healthcare contexts. By addressing these gaps, the review aims to significantly contribute to the literature, offering a novel sociotechnical perspective on IoT adoption that complements and enriches prior reviews that have predominantly focused on technical aspects. © 2024 The Authors

Although a whole school approach (WSA) to sustainability has been described as one of the most meaningful education approaches, the concept of WSA has not yet been widely explored within the context of preschool education, where the play, learning, and care are preconditions for a wholeness in childhood. The concept of the WSA considers raising quality and standard across entire education institution (Henderson & Tilbury, 2004). This approach also emphasizes the needs for (pre)school to engage children, teachers, parents, and the wider community in sustainability (Mogren, Gericke & Scherp, 2019). The principals have important roles to play in reforming and prioritizing preschools activities towards sustainability (Borg & Vinterek, 2020). This paper explores 50 principals’ views and attitudes towards sustainability from a WSA perspective. Using randomized sampling, the principals were selected from 25 eco-certified and 25 non-eco-certified preschools in 25 municipalities in Sweden, out of 290. A questionnaire was utilized to collect demographic information about the preschools, number of children, number of qualified teachers, principals’ attitudes towards preschool’s activities with sustainability, and also an open-ended question about how the principals themselves integrate sustainability in their planning of preschool activities and what they actually do. The qualitative data was analyzed by using Wals and Mathie’s (2022) six component Whole School Approach Flower Model. The components are: 1. Vision, ethos, leadership and coordination; 2. Institutional practices; 3. Pedagogy and learning; 4. Curriculum; 5. Community connections; and 6. Capacity building. The components were adapted and operationalized within a preschool context. The quantitative data was analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) in the SIMCA statistical software (Umetrics 2020). This study is a part of a project, “Eco-certified preschools and children’s learning for sustainability: Researching holistic outcomes of preschool education for sustainability (HOPES)” (Swedish Research Council, Dnr. 2018-04445). The analyses will be completed by June, 2023. 

References

Borg, F., & Vinterek, M. (2020). Principals´ Views on and Descriptions of Preschool Education for Sustainable Development. Journal of Applied Technical and Educational Sciences, 10(2), 18-40. doi:10.24368/jates.v10i2.170

Henderson, K., & Tilbury, D. (2004). Whole school approaches to sustainability: An international review of sustainable school programs. Report prepared by Macquarie University for the Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage. Sydney.

Mogren, A., Gericke, N., & Scherp, H.-Å. (2019). Whole school approaches to education for sustainable development: a model that links to school improvement. Environmental Education Research, 25(4), 508-531. https://doi:10.1080/13504622.2018.1455074  

Umetrics. (2020). SIMCA-P+. In (Version 16.0) [Computer software]. Sartorius Stedim Inc. https://www.sartorius.com/en/products/process-analytical-technology/data-analytics-software/mvda-software/simca?gclid=Cj0KCQiAvvKBBhCXARIsACTePW-oD9sm_Ng1dgNBivHH9GFSApdp5wo2G0EDOydryNnzZQ-20Xoj_vIaApIwEALw_wcB  

WHO implemented the Rapid Assistive Technology Assessment in 2021. This is a household survey on self-reported use, need and barriers for accessing AT in 35 countries globally. In order to obtain comparable data, all surveys followed guidelines developed by WHO, including national two-stage random sampling of households. The 2021 rATA survey included 32 of a total of 140 LMICs globally. Around 40 % of the total respondents (all countries) estimated travel distance to be <5 km, varying from less than 10 % to almost 60 % among the countries. Around 15 % had to travel more than 50 km, varying from 1.3 % to 37.5 %. More individuals living in rural as compared to urban areas had to travel more than 25 km to get their main assistive product. Gender differences were marginal. By far the most prevalent barrier to access assistive products was "Cannot afford", amounting to 39.9% and varying from 6.7 % to 79.1 % among countries. This was followed by "No support" with 14.3 %, varying from 2.3 % to 36.9 %, and "Not available" with 8.1 %, varying from 1 % to 21.5 %. More barriers were reported in rural than urban areas and women report more barriers than men. Variation between countries in both travel time and barriers is substantial and country-specific service development is needed to guide service development.