Teaching Small Group Communication: The Do Good Project

Science.gov (United States)

Minei, Elizabeth M.

2016-01-01

This paper focuses on the parameters of a semester-long project called the "Do Good" project, geared towards developing small group communication skills in undergraduate students. This project highlights participation in a social engagement project that allows students to bridge concepts learned in small group communication lectures…

Crisis Communication Competence in Co-Producing Safety with Citizen Groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anne Laajalahti

2016-03-01

Full Text Available The aim of this article is to explore interpersonal communication competence needed by crisis communication and management experts when co-operating with citizen groups in response to emergencies. Moreover, the purpose is to understand how response organizations can further develop this crisis communication competence and so contribute to the functioning of response networks. The research task is approached qualitatively by eliciting crisis communication and management experts’ (n = 33 perceptions of the interpersonal communication competence response organizations needs when co-operating with citizen groups. The data were gathered via an international online questionnaire using a method referred to as “thematic writing” and consist of written responses to open-ended questions on what constitutes the core of crisis communication competence and what aspects of it need more attention. The research findings indicate that co-producing safety with citizen groups demands crisis communication competence related to message production, message reception, and interaction between experts and citizen groups. In addition, the findings clarify what areas of crisis communication competence need to be further developed to facilitate co-operation between experts and citizen groups. However, the authors suggest that crisis communication competence should not be seen solely as a characteristic of individual crisis communicators but approached as a networked and co-created area of competence.

Demographic diversity, communication and learning behaviour in healthcare groups

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Curseu, P.L.

2013-01-01

An integrative model of group learning was tested in a sample of 40 healthcare groups (434 respondents), and the results show that age diversity reduces the frequency of face-to-face communication whereas educational diversity reduces the frequency of virtual communication in healthcare groups.

The communication of "pure" group-based anger reduces tendencies toward intergroup conflict because it increases out-group empathy.

Science.gov (United States)

de Vos, Bart; van Zomeren, Martijn; Gordijn, Ernestine H; Postmes, Tom

2013-08-01

The communication of group-based anger in intergroup conflict is often associated with destructive conflict behavior. However, we show that communicating group-based anger toward the out-group can evoke empathy and thus reduce intergroup conflict. This is because it stresses the value of maintaining a positive long-term intergroup relationship, thereby increasing understanding for the situation (in contrast to the communication of the closely related emotion of contempt). Three experiments demonstrate that the communication of group-based anger indeed reduces destructive conflict intentions compared with (a) a control condition (Experiments 1-2), (b) the communication of group-based contempt (Experiment 2), and (c) the communication of a combination of group-based anger and contempt (Experiments 2-3). Moreover, results from all three experiments reveal that empathy mediated the positive effect of communicating "pure" group-based anger. We discuss the implications of these findings for the theory and practice of communicating emotions in intergroup conflicts.

Using Group Communication to Implement a Fault-Tolerant Directory Service

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kaashoek, M.F.; Tanenbaum, A.S.; Verstoep, C.

1993-01-01

Group communication is an important paradigm for building distributed applications. This paper discusses a fault-tolerant distributed directory service based on group communication, and compares it with the previous design and implementation based on remote procedure call. The group directory

Reinforcing Visual Grouping Cues to Communicate Complex Informational Structure.

Science.gov (United States)

Bae, Juhee; Watson, Benjamin

2014-12-01

In his book Multimedia Learning [7], Richard Mayer asserts that viewers learn best from imagery that provides them with cues to help them organize new information into the correct knowledge structures. Designers have long been exploiting the Gestalt laws of visual grouping to deliver viewers those cues using visual hierarchy, often communicating structures much more complex than the simple organizations studied in psychological research. Unfortunately, designers are largely practical in their work, and have not paused to build a complex theory of structural communication. If we are to build a tool to help novices create effective and well structured visuals, we need a better understanding of how to create them. Our work takes a first step toward addressing this lack, studying how five of the many grouping cues (proximity, color similarity, common region, connectivity, and alignment) can be effectively combined to communicate structured text and imagery from real world examples. To measure the effectiveness of this structural communication, we applied a digital version of card sorting, a method widely used in anthropology and cognitive science to extract cognitive structures. We then used tree edit distance to measure the difference between perceived and communicated structures. Our most significant findings are: 1) with careful design, complex structure can be communicated clearly; 2) communicating complex structure is best done with multiple reinforcing grouping cues; 3) common region (use of containers such as boxes) is particularly effective at communicating structure; and 4) alignment is a weak structural communicator.

Quantum Secure Group Communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Zheng-Hong; Zubairy, M Suhail; Al-Amri, M

2018-03-01

We propose a quantum secure group communication protocol for the purpose of sharing the same message among multiple authorized users. Our protocol can remove the need for key management that is needed for the quantum network built on quantum key distribution. Comparing with the secure quantum network based on BB84, we show our protocol is more efficient and securer. Particularly, in the security analysis, we introduce a new way of attack, i.e., the counterfactual quantum attack, which can steal information by "invisible" photons. This invisible photon can reveal a single-photon detector in the photon path without triggering the detector. Moreover, the photon can identify phase operations applied to itself, thereby stealing information. To defeat this counterfactual quantum attack, we propose a quantum multi-user authorization system. It allows us to precisely control the communication time so that the attack can not be completed in time.

75 FR 49527 - Caps Visual Communications, LLC; Black Dot Group; Formerly Known as Caps Group Acquisition, LLC...

Science.gov (United States)

2010-08-13

... DEPARTMENT OF LABOR Employment and Training Administration [TA-W-74,195] Caps Visual Communications, LLC; Black Dot Group; Formerly Known as Caps Group Acquisition, LLC Chicago, IL; Amended... of Caps Visual Communications, LLC, Black Dot Group, formerly known as Caps Group Acquisition, LLC...

Configuring Web-based Media for Communication in Dispersed Project Groups

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Scheepers, Rens; Nicolajsen, Hanne Westh

2006-01-01

meetings, telephone) are not always viable options. Instead, computer-based communication media such as email, project intranets and extranets become surrogate conduits for day-to-day project communication and exchange of project-related content. We examined the effect of different media configurations......We studied how project groups in a pharmaceutical organization communicate project content. The project groups are geographically dispersed, and operate in different time zones. In such project environments, synchronous or geographically bounded modes of communication channels (e.g., face to face...... on the nature of content created by the project groups. We found that configuration decisions, notably the responsibility for content provision and who had access to content, influenced medium choice and the nature of communication taking place via the medium. More substantive content resulted when content...

Sex Role Identity, Communication Skills, and Group Popularity

OpenAIRE

Loredana Ivan

2017-01-01

Using two groups of undergraduate students (N = 71) the present paper argues about the importance of sex role identity (Bem, 1981) as a potential predictor of group popularity. The results show that participants with psychological androgine identity tend to use better their communication skills and become popular among their peers. Contray to previous studies (e.g. Hall, 1984; Saarni, 1999) focused on gender gap in communication skills, the current study emphasis on the importance of the sex ...

Mediated Intercultural Communication Barrier in No Drama Zone! Group

OpenAIRE

Lizal, Valentino

2015-01-01

This research study aimed to describe the mediated intercultural communication barriers in the No Drama Zone! group. This study is a qualitative descriptive type of research, with case study method. By doing in depth interview and observation, researcher found two barriers that generates other barriers in the group's mediated intercultural communication. The two big barriers were: language and physical barriers. Language barriers in this group generated two barriers, emotional barrier and pe...

Patients’ perspectives on antenatal group consultations: Identifying communicative strengths and weaknesses

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Matilde Nisbeth; Fage-Butler, Antoinette Mary

Introduction and objectives: The doctor-patient dyad has constituted the main paradigmatic relationship in Western medicine, and provided a central focus for health communication research and clinical teaching endeavors. With new technologies, other constellations are enabled, such as patient......-patient communication, which is increasingly taking place in online patient communities. One novel offline setting which can support patient-patient communication is the group consultation where an individual healthcare professional and a group of patients engage. The purpose of this study is to investigate how patient......-patient communication unfolds in a group consultation with a midwife in order to identify its communicative strengths and weaknesses. Methods: Using a sequential multi-methods design, we performed eight individual interviews with pregnant women from a Danish antenatal clinic about their experiences of two group...

Security Analysis of Accountable Anonymous Group Communication in Dissent

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-31

instance, group discussion forums or instant messaging. Misbehaving users may abuse this anonymity to disrupt communication, however, and existing...Abstract Users often wish to communicate anonymously on the Internet using, for instance, group discussion forums or instant messaging. Misbehaving users may...personal reprisal (Stein 2003). Yet anonymity makes it difficult to trace or exclude misbehaving participants (Davenport 2002). Online proto- cols

Nuclear post-accident communication: reflections of CODIR-PA's 'Communication' work group (GT8)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2010-01-01

This document briefly presents the approach adopted in France to define a communication doctrine to be applied in a post-accident situation, to make practical recommendations to actors, and to develop practical tools (speech elements). It evokes the main themes dealt with (such as safety culture, communication, etc.) by a specific work group

Small-Group Discourse: Establishing a Communication-Rich Classroom

Science.gov (United States)

Quebec Fuentes, Sarah

2013-01-01

Establishing a communication-rich classroom can be difficult. This article describes the process and findings of a practitioner action research study addressing the question of how teachers can interact with their students while they are working in groups to encourage and enhance student-to-student communication. Recommended research-based teacher…

COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

CERN Multimedia

L. Taylor

2011-01-01

Communications Infrastructure The 55 CMS Centres worldwide are well used by physicists working on remote CMS shifts, Computing operations, data quality monitoring, data analysis and outreach. The CMS Centre@CERN in Meyrin is particularly busy at the moment, hosting about 50 physicists taking part in the heavy-ion data-taking and analysis. Three new CMS meeting room will be equipped for videoconferencing in early 2012: 40/5B-08, 42/R-031, and 28/S-029. The CMS-TV service showing LHC Page 1, CMS Page 1, etc. (http://cmsdoc.cern.ch/cmscc/projector/index.jsp) is now also available for mobile devices: http://cern.ch/mcmstv. Figure 12: Screenshots of CMS-TV for mobile devices Information Systems CMS has a new web site: (http://cern.ch/cms) using a modern web Content Management System to ensure content and links are managed and updated easily and coherently. It covers all CMS sub-projects and groups, replacing the iCMS internal pages. It also incorporates the existing CMS public web site (http:/...

COMMUNICATIONS GROUP

CERN Multimedia

L. Taylor

2012-01-01

  Outreach and Education We are fortunate that our research has captured the public imagination, even though this inevitably puts us under the global media spotlight, as we saw with the Higgs seminar at CERN in December, which had 110,000 distinct webcast viewers. The media interest was huge with 71 media organisations registering to come to CERN to cover the Higgs seminar, which was followed by a press briefing with the DG and Spokespersons. This event resulted in about 2,000 generally positive stories in the global media. For this seminar, the CMS Communications Group prepared up-to-date news and public material, including links to the CMS results, animations and event displays [http://cern.ch/go/Ch8thttp://cern.ch/go/Ch8t]. There were 44,000 page-views on the CMS public website, with the Higgs news article being by far the most popular item. CMS event displays from iSpy are fast becoming the iconic media images, featuring on numerous major news outlets (BBC, CNN, MSN...) as well as in the sci...

Short Communications Strength Properties and Groups of Major ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Short Communications Strength Properties and Groups of Major Commercial Timbers Grown in Kenya. ... The strength groups developed revealed that most species in Kenya are suitable for heavy engineering works and building construction. ... strength properties, commercial timber, physical and mechanical properties

The Finite Heisenberg-Weyl Groups in Radar and Communications

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Calderbank AR

2006-01-01

Full Text Available We investigate the theory of the finite Heisenberg-Weyl group in relation to the development of adaptive radar and to the construction of spreading sequences and error-correcting codes in communications. We contend that this group can form the basis for the representation of the radar environment in terms of operators on the space of waveforms. We also demonstrate, following recent developments in the theory of error-correcting codes, that the finite Heisenberg-Weyl groups provide a unified basis for the construction of useful waveforms/sequences for radar, communications, and the theory of error-correcting codes.

Moving on in life after intensive care--partners' experience of group communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Ahlberg, Mona; Bäckman, Carl; Jones, Christina; Walther, Sten; Hollman Frisman, Gunilla

2015-09-01

Partners have a burdensome time during and after their partners' intensive care period. They may appear to be coping well outwardly but inside feel vulnerable and lost. Evaluated interventions for partners on this aspect are limited. The aim of this study was to describe the experience of participating in group communication with other partners of former intensive care patients. The study has a descriptive intervention-based design where group communication for partners of former, surviving intensive care unit (ICU) patients was evaluated. A strategic selection was made of adult partners to former adult intensive care patients (n = 15), 5 men and 10 women, aged 37-89 years. Two group communication sessions lasting 2 h were held at monthly intervals with three to five partners. The partners later wrote, in a notebook, about their feelings of participating in group communications. To deepen the understanding of the impact of the sessions, six of the partners were interviewed. Content analysis was used to analyse the notebooks and the interviews. Three categories were identified: (1) Emotional impact, the partners felt togetherness and experienced worries and gratitude, (2) Confirmation, consciousness through insight and reflection and (3) The meeting design, group constellation and recommendation to participate in group communication. Partners of an intensive care patient are on a journey, constantly trying to adapt to the new situation and find new strategies to ever-changing circumstances. Group communications contributed to togetherness and confirmation. To share experiences with others is one way for partners to be able to move forward in life. Group communication with other patients' partners eases the process of going through the burden of being a partner to an intensive care patient. Group communications needs to be further developed and evaluated to obtain consensus and evidence for the best practice. © 2015 British Association of Critical Care Nurses.

Communication as group process media of aircrew performance

Science.gov (United States)

Kanki, B. G.; Foushee, H. C.

1989-01-01

This study of group process was motivated by a high-fidelity flight simulator project in which aircrew performance was found to be better when the crew had recently flown together. Considering recent operating experience as a group-level input factor, aspects of the communication process between crewmembers (Captain and First Officer), were explored as a possible mediator to performance. Communication patterns were defined by a speech act typology adapted for the flightdeck setting and distinguished crews that had previously flown together (FT) from those that had not flown together (NFT). A more open communication channel with respect to information exchange and validation and greater First Officer participation in task-related topics was shown by FT crews while NFT crews engaged in more non-task discourse, a speech mode less structured by roles and probably serving a more interpersonal function. Relationships between the speech categories themselves, representing linguistic, and role-related interdependencies provide guidelines for interpreting the primary findings.

The Interactive Dimension of Communication: The Pragmatics of the Palo Alto Group

OpenAIRE

Codruţa Porcar; Cristian Hainic

2011-01-01

Our paper proposes to analyze from a semiotic perspective the process of communication as conceived within the Palo Alto Group. We will firstly show that, as a result of the Group's critiques and revisions of the linear or mechanistic theories of communication, new perspectives are brought about for the essential axes of transformation within communication: we do not communicate as from a distinct atom to another, through an isolated channel, but through parts which are equal to the whole, th...

GRAS: A Group Reliant Authentication Scheme for V2V Communication in VANET

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Auxeeliya Jesudoss

2013-08-01

Full Text Available Unlike fixed or wired networks, mobile ad-hoc networks pose a number of challenges for peer-to-peer communication due to their dynamic nature. This paper presents a novel framework for vehicleto- vehicle communication controlled and facilitated by a group leader within a group of vehicles. A communication model for a pure ad-hoc network is developed with much concern about the privacy and security of the system, for the ease of effective communication between vehicles with a reduced communication and computational overhead when no fixed infrastructure is present in the roadsides. In the proposed protocol, vehicles within a radio frequency form a group. They elect their leader based on some criteria who is then responsible for generating a group public and private key pair. Each vehicle is equipped with a tamper resistant OBU which is capable of generating public/private keys pairs and also self-certifies the generated keys based on one way hash chaining technique. Any vehicle joins the group communicates the group leader, authenticates itself to obtain the group key. Later, the vehicle uses the group key to send traffic related messages to the group leader who is responsible for batch verifying the authenticity of the message from different sources and one hop broadcast them to reduce the computation overhead on message verification in each vehicle. In addition, our scheme adopts the k-anonymity approach to protect user identity privacy, where an attacker cannot associate a message with the sending vehicle. Extensive analysis and simulations show that the proposed architecture provides an efficient and fully self organized system management for car-to-car communication without the need of any external infrastructure.

How Cultural Differences Affect Written and Oral Communication: The Case of Peer Response Groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Nelson, Gayle L.

1997-01-01

Peer response groups contribute to students' effectiveness as writers in any field, but cultural differences in communication affect interactions within the group. Culture-based dimensions on which communication may differ include individualism/collectivism, power distance, concept of "face," and communication style. Recommendations are…

Communication and Social Exchange Processes in Community Theater Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Kramer, Michael W.

2005-01-01

This study explores the communication experiences of two volunteer groups involved in the production of community theater musicals. Based on social exchange theory, it examined what group members perceived to be the positive benefits (primarily meeting people and having an opportunity to perform) and the negative costs (primarily disorganization,…

The Big Information and Communication Groups in the World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José Rebelo

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The present article addresses the form major world information and communication groups operate, based on strategies of verticalisation of activities that encompass the distinct media segments – newspapers and magazines, television and radio – and stretch to the new technologies, namely telecommunications and Internet access services. Operating through a vertical system, these groups work as a network system by establishing association or merger agreements, protocols to strengthen their commercial relations, and through interpersonal connections. Their corresponding capitals tend to disperse and their ownership is constantly changing, particularly thanks to the involvement of pension funds, which do not disregard the opportunity of alienating property whenever the profit obtained justifies it.Both directly, thanks to the strength of their own products – “global products” that inundate the world market, and indirectly, through the influence they have on others around them, the leading information and communication groups are a decisive factor in the speeding up of the processes of naturalization, the fixing of stereotypes, and in putting on the agenda the topics that will cross through public space.It is undeniable that the advent and massive spread of the new technologies pose a serious threat to the homogenization and the media standardization carried out by the major groups. However, there are still issues that call for moderation when analyzing this issue. Firstly, the power public authorities still detain, especially in non-democratic countries, to interrupt the circulation of contents. Secondly, the attack launched by the large information and communication groups in order to occupy online space themselves. Thirdly, the excess of information flow and the difficulty associated with the need to select and verify.

Shared reality in intergroup communication: Increasing the epistemic authority of an out-group audience.

Science.gov (United States)

Echterhoff, Gerald; Kopietz, René; Higgins, E Tory

2017-06-01

Communicators typically tune messages to their audience's attitude. Such audience tuning biases communicators' memory for the topic toward the audience's attitude to the extent that they create a shared reality with the audience. To investigate shared reality in intergroup communication, we first established that a reduced memory bias after tuning messages to an out-group (vs. in-group) audience is a subtle index of communicators' denial of shared reality to that out-group audience (Experiments 1a and 1b). We then examined whether the audience-tuning memory bias might emerge when the out-group audience's epistemic authority is enhanced, either by increasing epistemic expertise concerning the communication topic or by creating epistemic consensus among members of a multiperson out-group audience. In Experiment 2, when Germans communicated to a Turkish audience with an attitude about a Turkish (vs. German) target, the audience-tuning memory bias appeared. In Experiment 3, when the audience of German communicators consisted of 3 Turks who all held the same attitude toward the target, the memory bias again appeared. The association between message valence and memory valence was consistently higher when the audience's epistemic authority was high (vs. low). An integrative analysis across all studies also suggested that the memory bias increases with increasing strength of epistemic inputs (epistemic expertise, epistemic consensus, and audience-tuned message production). The findings suggest novel ways of overcoming intergroup biases in intergroup relations. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

A Measure of the Personal Perception of In-group Communication about Social Objects

OpenAIRE

João Wachelke

2016-01-01

The aim of the study was to create a measure of group communication on social objects. An instrument was elaborated, and validity evidence was sought for two topics. The participants were 803 undergraduate students. For both topics, the instrument was adequate to the theoretical structure of three factors: communication frequency; importance of group opinion; similarity with group opinion. Other than presenting satisfactory indexes and precision, the instrument discriminated parti...

76 FR 13438 - In the Matter of AdAl Group, Inc., Com/Tech Communications Technologies, Inc., Dialog Group, Inc...

Science.gov (United States)

2011-03-11

... Communications Technologies, Inc., Dialog Group, Inc., Eurogas, Inc., Golden Books Family Entertainment, Inc. (n/k/a GB Holdings Liquidation, Inc.), Information Management Technologies Corporation, Interiors, Inc... accurate information concerning the securities of Com/Tech Communications Technologies, Inc. because it has...

Qualitative assessment of student-teacher communication using focus group discussion in a Dental College in India

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mahasweta Joshi

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Introduction: The communication between faculty and students is a vital component of optimal facilitation of knowledge and learning. Various factors influence this dynamic. Aim: To assess communication levels between students and teachers in a dental college scenario via focus group discussion. Materials and Methods: The focus group discussion consisted of 10 groups; 5 groups representing the teachers, and 5 groups representing the students. Each group consisted of 6 participants. Hence there were a total of 30 teacher and 30 student participants. Focus group discussion was conducted for each of the groups for 30–45 min duration in the presence of a moderator and a note-taker. Open-ended questions were put across by the moderator to initiate and continue the discussions. The hand-written data taken by the note-taker were transcribed onto a computer on the same day of the discussion. Based on the transcription, domains were created for the student and teacher groups. Results: The issues raised by both the teacher and student groups in this focus group discussion were broadly classified into the following themes: (1 Past versus current scenario, (2 attitudes toward communication and learning, (3 hindrances to effective communication, and (4 potential solutions. Conclusions: Focus group discussion exposed many differences in the perceptions of teachers and students to communication. Each group, however, felt that bridging the teacher-student communication barrier was crucial to improve the teaching-learning experience. Many constructive solutions were provided by both the groups which can help to improve the quality of teaching-learning experience resulting in better quality of education.

The present moment and implicit communication in group psychotherapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Ulman, Kathleen Hubbs

2011-04-01

The importance of the concepts of present moment and implicit communication to group psychotherapy is discussed in relation to the articles by Gans and by Counselman and Abernethy and to the life work of Anne Alonso. Clinical examples are used to illustrate the discussion.

Communication patterns within a group of shelter dogs and implications for their welfare.

Science.gov (United States)

Petak, Irena

2013-01-01

Keeping shelter dogs in groups provides them with a more socially and physically enriched environment, but eventually it may cause them stress. Understanding dogs' communication could help shelter staff recognize and prevent undesirable communicative patterns and encourage desirable ones. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine communication patterns in a group of dogs in a shelter. The observed dogs were engaged in different classes of dyadic and group interactions. Certain dogs were frequently initiators of dyadic interactions, and different dogs were the recipients. The predominant form of dyadic interactions was a neutral one, and aggressive behavior was rarely observed. The tendency of certain dogs to interact continuously may represent a nuisance for less social individuals. All of the dogs participated in 3 defined classes of group interactions. At the group level, the dogs frequently interact vocally or olfactorily. A major welfare problem may be very vocal dogs because their vocalizations are noisy and broadcast far-reaching signals. The frequency of some group interactions was reduced by the amount of time the dogs had in the shelter.

Group Communication Training for Young People with Combined Visual and Hearing Impairments

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Khokhlova A. Yu.

2018-04-01

Full Text Available The article presents the experience of the communication training for young people with visual and hearing impairments. Boys and girls aged 16–25 with simultaneous hearing and visual impairments of varying severity took part in the group trainings. The variety of means of communication used by them described, conditions of effective training work outlined. The results showed that young people with visual and hearing impairments demonstrate a fairly high level of possession of various means of communication without pronounced additional violations. Communicative needs and preferences in young people with visual and hearing impairments are age-appropriate. Communication training allows the following: to eliminate some of the objective communicative difficulties which are exists in deaf-blind people, to motivate participants to show initiative in communication, to learn new about each other. Also communicative training creates a positive experience of communication with a wider range of people. The most important result is the opportunity to talk about ones feelings in a supportive atmosphere.

Group consultations in antenatal care: Patients’ perspectives on what patient-patient communication provides

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Jensen, Matilde Nisbeth; Fage-Butler, Antoinette Mary

Background and objectives: The group consultation, where a medical professional engages simultaneously with a group of patients, is increasingly being used in healthcare encounters. Its introduction has been associated with two perceived advantages: 1) that it can provide a more economically...... in our understanding of the group consultation. Our specific focus is on interpersonal communication in group consultations, with specific focus on patient-patient communication. This paper presents findings from a research project on pregnant women’s experiences of group consultations with a midwife...... in the Danish setting. Methods: Using a sequential mixed methods design, we first performed a discourse analysis of the written materials provided to the women about the group consultations. In the second step, we interview the women about their experiences of the group consultations. Findings: The analysis...

Using Web-Based, Group Communication Systems to Support Case Study Learning at a Distance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Liam Rourke

2002-10-01

Full Text Available This study explored the capacity of Web-based, group communication systems to support case-based teaching and learning. Eleven graduate students studying at a distance were divided into three groups to collaborate on a case study using either a synchronous voice, an asynchronous voice, or a synchronous text communication system. Participants kept a detailed log of the time they spent on various activities, wrote a 1,500-word reflection on their experience, and participated in a group interview. Analysis of these data reveals that each group supplemented the system that had been assigned to them with additional communication systems in order to complete the project. Each of these systems were used strategically: email was used to share files and arrange meetings, and synchronous voice systems were used to brainstorm and make decisions. Learning achievement was high across groups and students enjoyed collaborating with others on a concrete task.

Analyzing Effective Communication in Mathematics Group Work: The Role of Visual Mediators and Technical Terms

Science.gov (United States)

Ryve, Andreas; Nilsson, Per; Pettersson, Kerstin

2013-01-01

Analyzing and designing productive group work and effective communication constitute ongoing research interests in mathematics education. In this article we contribute to this research by using and developing a newly introduced analytical approach for examining effective communication within group work in mathematics education. By using data from…

EU-US standards harmonization task group report : status of ITS communication standards.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-01

Harmonization Task Groups 1 and 3 (HTG1 and 3) were established by the EU-US International Standards Harmonization Working Group to attempt to harmonize standards (including ISO, CEN, ETSI, IEEE) on security (HTG1) and communications protocols (HTG3)...

Effectiveness of communication strategies for deaf or hard of hearing workers in group settings.

Science.gov (United States)

Haynes, Scott

2014-01-01

In group settings, background noise and an obstructed view of the speaker are just a few of the issues that can make workplace communication difficult for an individual who is deaf or hard of hearing. Accommodation strategies such as amplification of the speaker's voice or the use of text-based alternatives exist to address these issues. However, recent studies have shown that there are still unmet needs related to workplace communication in group settings for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing. Identify the most common strategies used by individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing to improve communication in group settings and gauge the perceived effectiveness of those strategies. An online survey was conducted with individuals who self-identified as deaf or hard of hearing. The survey presented specific communication strategies based on three functional approaches (aural/oral, text, visual). The strategies applied to both receptive and expressive communication in five different meeting types ranging in size and purpose. 161 adults (age 22-90 yrs.) with limited hearing ability completed the survey. Text-based strategies were typically the least frequently used strategies in group settings, yet they ranked high in perceived effectiveness for receptive and expressive communication. Those who used an interpreter demonstrated a strong preference for having a qualified interpreter present in the meeting rather than an interpreter acting remotely. For expressive communication, participants in general preferred to use their own voice or signing abilities and ranked those strategies as highly effective. A more accessible workplace for individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing would incorporate more ubiquitous text-based strategy options. Also, qualified interpreters, when used, should be present in the meeting for maximum effectiveness.

Narratives of empowerment and compliance: studies of communication in online patient support groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Wentzer, Helle S; Bygholm, Ann

2013-12-01

New technologies enable new forms of patient participation in health care. The article discusses whether communication in online patient support groups is a source of individual as well as collective empowerment or to be understood within the tradition of compliance. The discussion is based on a qualitative analysis of patient communication in two online groups on the Danish portal sundhed.dk, one for lung patients and one for women with fertility problems. The object of study is the total sum of postings during a specific period of time - a total of 4301 posts are included. The textmaterial was analyzed according to the textual paradigm of Paul Ricoeur, and the three steps of critical interpretation. Thus, the analysis moves from describing communicative characteristics of the site to a thorough semantic analysis of its narrative structure of construing meaning, interaction and collective identity, and finally as a source of collective action. The meta-narratives of the two groups confirm online patient support groups for individual empowerment, for collective group identity, but not for collective empowerment. The collective identities of patienthood on the two sites are created by the users (patients) through specific styles of communication and interaction, referred to as 'multi-logical narratives'. In spite of the potential of online communities of opening up health care to the critical voice of the public, the analysis points to a synthesis of the otherwise opposite positions of empowerment and compliance in patient care. On a collective level, the site is empowering the individual users to comply with 'doctor's recommendations' as a group. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Electronic Support Groups: An Open Line of Communication in Contested Illness.

Science.gov (United States)

Murphy, Michael; Kontos, Nicholas; Freudenreich, Oliver

Patients with functional somatic syndromes are often difficult to treat. The relationship between doctors and patients can be strained, which limits communication. Instead, patients often communicate with each other over the Internet in electronic support groups. This perspective summarizes studies of patient-to-patient communication over the Internet and uses the concept of contested illness to provide insights into the experiences of patients with functional somatic disorders. Conflict between a patient and their physician is a key feature of functional somatic syndromes. Physicians and patients do not have a shared understanding or appreciation of the patient's experiences. Patients with functional somatic syndromes often value their own embodied experience over medical knowledge. At the same time, they remain deeply invested in finding a "good doctor" who believes that the patient is suffering, agrees with their conception of the cause, and assents to the treatment as directed by the patient. Electronic support groups reinforce these beliefs. Patients may benefit from a compromising, collaborative approach that is realistic about the limitations of medical knowledge. However, physicians should not engage in unsafe treatment practices. Electronic support groups exist for a wide range of illnesses and the issues that rise to the surface in functional somatic syndromes likely occur to some extent with almost every patient. Copyright © 2016 The Academy of Psychosomatic Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Teachers and Facebook: using online groups to improve students’ communication and engagement

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Rezende Da Cunha Junior, F.; van Kruistum, C.J.; van Oers, B.

2016-01-01

This paper reports on how teachers, from different cities in Brazil, used groups on Facebook and how communication between teachers and students was affected by using such groups. This study is framed under the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) perspective, and is conceived from a

Experimental Evaluation of Unicast and Multicast CoAP Group Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Isam Ishaq

2016-07-01

Full Text Available The Internet of Things (IoT is expanding rapidly to new domains in which embedded devices play a key role and gradually outnumber traditionally-connected devices. These devices are often constrained in their resources and are thus unable to run standard Internet protocols. The Constrained Application Protocol (CoAP is a new alternative standard protocol that implements the same principals as the Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP, but is tailored towards constrained devices. In many IoT application domains, devices need to be addressed in groups in addition to being addressable individually. Two main approaches are currently being proposed in the IoT community for CoAP-based group communication. The main difference between the two approaches lies in the underlying communication type: multicast versus unicast. In this article, we experimentally evaluate those two approaches using two wireless sensor testbeds and under different test conditions. We highlight the pros and cons of each of them and propose combining these approaches in a hybrid solution to better suit certain use case requirements. Additionally, we provide a solution for multicast-based group membership management using CoAP.

Communication constraints, indexical countermeasures, and crew configuration effects in simulated space-dwelling groups

Science.gov (United States)

Hienz, Robert D.; Brady, Joseph V.; Hursh, Steven R.; Banner, Michele J.; Gasior, Eric D.; Spence, Kevin R.

2007-02-01

Previous research with groups of individually isolated crews communicating and problem-solving in a distributed interactive simulation environment has shown that the functional interchangeability of available communication channels can serve as an effective countermeasure to communication constraints. The present report extends these findings by investigating crew performance effects and psychosocial adaptation following: (1) the loss of all communication channels, and (2) changes in crew configuration. Three-person crews participated in a simulated planetary exploration mission that required identification, collection, and analysis of geologic samples. Results showed that crews developed and employed discrete navigation system operations that served as functionally effective communication signals (i.e., “indexical” or “deictic” cues) in generating appropriate crewmember responses and maintaining performance effectiveness in the absence of normal communication channels. Additionally, changes in crew configuration impacted both performance effectiveness and psychosocial adaptation.

Effect of communication skill training using group psychoeducation method on the stress level of psychiatry ward nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Ghazavi, Zahra; Lohrasbi, Fatemeh; Mehrabi, Tayebeh

2010-12-01

Nursing is a dynamic and supportive job, with the main role of taking care of patients. Maintaining appropriate communication of the nurse with the patients is particularly known as the main core of care in mental health. However, in spite of the importance of providing communication, one of the main sources of stress in nurses of psychiatry wards is communication with the patients. Some important reasons for inappropriate relationship between the nurse and patient can be lack of necessary skills to communicate with patients because of insufficient training. Although training communication skills is an important part of the education of medical and paramedical students, in recent studies it has been demonstrated that the communication skills learned in theoretical courses would not necessarily be transferred to clinical settings, and proving training in clinical settings is a must. The present study was carried out to determine the effect of training communication skills using psychoeducation method on the stress level of nurses of psychiatry wards in 2010. This is a quasi-experimental study. The participants were 45 nurses; 23 and 22 in the experiment and control groups, respectively, working in psychiatry wards of Noor and Farabi hospitals, Isfahan, Iran. The sampling was carried out by the census method, and then the participants were randomly assigned to the two groups of experiment and control, using random number table. The two groups filled out the demographic data form and also the questionnaire on nurses' occupational stress, designed by the researcher. The questionnaire was filled out three times; before, immediately after, and one month after the training. Training of communication skills was carried out using group psychoeducation method, in six sessions, each lasted for 1.5 hours. The training sessions of the experiment group were held in Farabi Hospital. The findings indicated that before the intervention, the members of the two groups had a high

Using Electronic Communication Tools in Online Group Activities to Develop Collaborative Learning Skills

Science.gov (United States)

Khalil, Hanan; Ebner, Martin

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of using synchronous and asynchronous communication tools in online group activities to develop collaborative learning skills. An experimental study was implemented on a sample of faculty of education students in Mansoura University. The sample was divided into two groups, a group studied…

Some Practical Issues in the Design and Implementation of Group Communication Services

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Mishra, Shivakant

2000-01-01

The main objective of the proposed research was to investigate four important practical issues in the understanding, design, and implementation of group communication services. These issues were (1) Performance...

Task Group on Computer/Communication Protocols for Bibliographic Data Exchange. Interim Report = Groupe de Travail sur les Protocoles de Communication/Ordinateurs pour l'Exchange de Donnees Bibliographiques. Rapport d'Etape. May 1983.

Science.gov (United States)

Canadian Network Papers, 1983

1983-01-01

This preliminary report describes the work to date of the Task Group on Computer/Communication protocols for Bibliographic Data Interchange, which was formed in 1980 to develop a set of protocol standards to facilitate communication between heterogeneous library and information systems within the framework of Open Systems Interconnection (OSI). A…

Nurses' perceptions and experiences of communication in the operating theatre: a focus group interview

Science.gov (United States)

Nestel, Debra; Kidd, Jane

2006-01-01

Abstract Nurses' perceptions and experiences of communication in the operating theatre: a focus group interview Background Communication programmes are well established in nurse education. The focus of programmes is most often on communicating with patients with less attention paid to inter-professional communication or skills essential for working in specialised settings. Although there are many anecdotal reports of communication within the operating theatre, there are few empirical studies. This paper explores communication behaviours for effective practice in the operating theatre as perceived by nurses and serves as a basis for developing training. Methods A focus group interview was conducted with seven experienced theatre nurses from a large London teaching hospital. The interview explored their perceptions of the key as well as unique features of effective communication skills in the operating theatre. Data was transcribed and thematically analysed until agreement was achieved by the two authors. Results There was largely consensus on the skills deemed necessary for effective practice including listening, clarity of speech and being polite. Significant influences on the nature of communication included conflict in role perception and organisational issues. Nurses were often expected to work outside of their role which either directly or indirectly created barriers for effective communication. Perceptions of a lack of collaborative team effort also influenced communication. Conclusion Although fundamental communication skills were identified for effective practice in the operating theatre, there were significant barriers to their use because of confusion over clarity of roles (especially nurses' roles) and the implications for teamwork. Nurses were dissatisfied with several aspects of communication. Future studies should explore the breadth and depth of this dissatisfaction in other operating theatres, its impact on morale and importantly on patient safety

Effects of communication strategy training on EFL students’ performance in small-group discussions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stuart Benson

2013-10-01

Full Text Available In recent years, a number of studies have been conducted with regard to communication strategy training and performance on communicative tasks (Lam, 2009; Nakatani, 2010; Naughton, 2006. This study aims to add to the literature by examining how two strategies, clarifying/confirming and extending a conversation, and two methods of teaching the strategies, affected the interactional sequences and overall group discussion performance of EFL students at a university in Japan. Pre and posttreatment small-group discussions were recorded for assessment, and a stimulated recall interview was administered to determine the participants’ perceptions of their learning and language use. Posttest results reveal that the experimental groups that were taught predetermined phrases aimed at clarifying/confirming and extending a conversation employed such phrases more frequently than the control group. However, this employment of phrases did not lead to higher gains in group discussion skills as the control group enjoyed the largest gains from pre to posttest. The researchers consider the findings in light of previous research, and conclude with recommendations for future research on the topic with special regard to research design.

How young people communicate risks of snowmobiling in northern Norway: a focus group study.

Science.gov (United States)

Mehus, Grete; Germeten, Sidsel; Henriksen, Nils

2011-04-01

This study aims to understand how the risks of snowmobiling are communicated among northern Norwegian youths. Study design. A qualitative design with focus group interviews was chosen. Interviews centred on safety precautions and estimation of risks related to snowmobiling and driving patterns. Eighty-one students (31 girls and 50 boys) aged between 16 and 23 years from 8 high schools were interviewed in 17 focus groups that were segregated by gender. Interview data were analysed using qualitative content analysis. Boys and girls communicated differently about risks. Peer-group conformity appeared stronger among boys than girls. Boys did not spontaneously relate risks to their snowmobile activities, while girls did. Boys focused upon training, coping and balance between control and lack of control while driving. Girls talked about risks, were aware of risks and sought to avoid risky situations, in contrast to boys. Boys' risk communication in groups was about how to manage challenging situations. Their focus overall was on trying to maintain control while simultaneously testing their limits. Three risk categories emerged: those who drive as they ought to (mostly girls), those who occasionally take some risks (boys and girls) and those who are extreme risk-takers (a smaller number of boys). Perceptions of and communication about risk are related to gender, peer group and familiarity with risk-taking when snowmobiling. Northern Norwegian boys' driving behaviour highlights a specific need for risk reduction, but this must also draw upon factors such as acceptance of social and cultural codes and common sense related to snowmobiling.

Social influence in computer-mediated communication : The effects of anonymity on group behavior

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Postmes, T; Spears, R; Sakhel, K; de Groot, D

2001-01-01

Two studies examined hypotheses derived from a Social Identity model of Deindividuation Effects (SIDE) as applied to social influence in computer-mediated communication (CMC) in groups. This model predicts that anonymity can increase social influence if a common group identity is salient. In a first

Digital communication between clinician and patient and the impact on marginalised groups: a realist review in general practice.

Science.gov (United States)

Huxley, Caroline J; Atherton, Helen; Watkins, Jocelyn Anstey; Griffiths, Frances

2015-12-01

Increasingly, the NHS is embracing the use of digital communication technology for communication between clinicians and patients. Policymakers deem digital clinical communication as presenting a solution to the capacity issues currently faced by general practice. There is some concern that these technologies may exacerbate existing inequalities in accessing health care. It is not known what impact they may have on groups who are already marginalised in their ability to access general practice. To assess the potential impact of the availability of digital clinician-patient communication on marginalised groups' access to general practice in the UK. Realist review in general practice. A four-step realist review process was used: to define the scope of the review; to search for and scrutinise evidence; to extract and synthesise evidence; and to develop a narrative, including hypotheses. Digital communication has the potential to overcome the following barriers for marginalised groups: practical access issues, previous negative experiences with healthcare service/staff, and stigmatising reactions from staff and other patients. It may reduce patient-related barriers by offering anonymity and offers advantages to patients who require an interpreter. It does not impact on inability to communicate with healthcare professionals or on a lack of candidacy. It is likely to work best in the context of a pre-existing clinician-patient relationship. Digital communication technology offers increased opportunities for marginalised groups to access health care. However, it cannot remove all barriers to care for these groups. It is likely that they will remain disadvantaged relative to other population groups after their introduction. © British Journal of General Practice 2015.

Group Communication through Computers. Volume 1: Design and Use of the FORUM System. IFF Report R-32.

Science.gov (United States)

Vallee, Jacques; And Others

To explore the feasibility and usefulness of group communication via computer, a system called FORUM was constructed and used in research and management tasks using ARPANET, an international computer network. Working softward and data regarding the dynamics of groups using network communication were developed, and a prototype hardware system for…

The intergroup protocols: Scalable group communication for the internet

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berket, Karlo [Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)

2000-12-04

Reliable group ordered delivery of multicast messages in a distributed system is a useful service that simplifies the programming of distributed applications. Such a service helps to maintain the consistency of replicated information and to coordinate the activities of the various processes. With the increasing popularity of the Internet, there is an increasing interest in scaling the protocols that provide this service to the environment of the Internet. The InterGroup protocol suite, described in this dissertation, provides such a service, and is intended for the environment of the Internet with scalability to large numbers of nodes and high latency links. The InterGroup protocols approach the scalability problem from various directions. They redefine the meaning of group membership, allow voluntary membership changes, add a receiver-oriented selection of delivery guarantees that permits heterogeneity of the receiver set, and provide a scalable reliability service. The InterGroup system comprises several components, executing at various sites within the system. Each component provides part of the services necessary to implement a group communication system for the wide-area. The components can be categorized as: (1) control hierarchy, (2) reliable multicast, (3) message distribution and delivery, and (4) process group membership. We have implemented a prototype of the InterGroup protocols in Java, and have tested the system performance in both local-area and wide-area networks.

Problem Based Learning as a Shared Musical Journey – Group Dynamics, Communication and Creativity

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Charlotte Lindvang

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The focus of this paper is how we can facilitate problem based learning (PBL more creatively. We take a closer look upon the connection between creative processes and social communication in the PBL group including how difficulties in the social interplay may hinder creativity. The paper draws on group dynamic theory, and points out the importance of building a reflexive milieu in the group. Musical concepts are used to illustrate the communicative and creative aspects of PBL and the paper uses the analogy between improvising together and do a project work together. We also discuss the role of the supervisor in a PBL group process. Further we argue that creativity is rooted deep in our consciousness and connected to our ability to work with a flexible mind. In order to enhance the cohesion as well as the creativity of the group a model of music listening as a concrete intervention tool in PBL processes is proposed.

EU-US standards harmonization task group report : feedback to ITS standards development organizations communications.

Science.gov (United States)

2012-11-01

Harmonization Task Groups 1 and 3 (HTG1 and 3) were established by the EU-US International Standards Harmonization Working Group to attempt to harmonize standards (including ISO, CEN, ETSI, IEEE) on security (HTG1) and communications protocols (HTG3)...

Women On-Line: Cultural and Relational Aspects of Women's Communication in On-line Discussion Groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Ferris, Sharmila Pixy

1996-01-01

Women's online communication often mirrors that of face-to-face communication, linguistically and relationally. Women-only online communities, however, provide an opportunity to develop a distinct relational and cultural style. Discusses gender differences in face-to-face language use, and in mixed gender online discussion groups. Describes…

Psychometrics of shared decision making and communication as patient centered measures for two language groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Alvarez, Kiara; Wang, Ye; Alegria, Margarita; Ault-Brutus, Andrea; Ramanayake, Natasha; Yeh, Yi-Hui; Jeffries, Julia R; Shrout, Patrick E

2016-09-01

Shared decision making (SDM) and effective patient-provider communication are key and interrelated elements of patient-centered care that impact health and behavioral health outcomes. Measurement of SDM and communication from the patient's perspective is necessary in order to ensure that health care systems and individual providers are responsive to patient views. However, there is a void of research addressing the psychometric properties of these measures with diverse patients, including non-English speakers, and in the context of behavioral health encounters. This study evaluated the psychometric properties of 2 patient-centered outcome measures, the Shared Decision-Making Questionnaire-9 (SDM-Q) and the Kim Alliance Scale-Communication subscale (KAS-CM), in a sample of 239 English and Spanish-speaking behavioral health patients. One dominant factor was found for each scale and this structure was used to examine whether there was measurement invariance across the 2 language groups. One SDM-Q item was inconsistent with the configural invariance comparison and was removed. The remaining SDM-Q items exhibited strong invariance, meaning that item loadings and item means were similar across the 2 groups. The KAS-CM items had limited variability, with most respondents indicating high communication levels, and the invariance analysis was done on binary versions of the items. These had metric invariance (loadings the same over groups) but several items violated the strong invariance test. In both groups, the SDM-Q had high internal consistency, whereas the KAS-CM was only adequate. These findings help interpret results for individual patients, taking into account cultural and linguistic differences in how patients perceive SDM and patient-provider communication. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2016 APA, all rights reserved).

Group Trust, Communication Media, and Interactivity: Toward an Integrated Model of Online Collaborative Learning

Science.gov (United States)

Du, Jianxia; Wang, Chuang; Zhou, Mingming; Xu, Jianzhong; Fan, Xitao; Lei, Saosan

2018-01-01

The present investigation examines the multidimensional relationships among several critical components in online collaborative learning, including group trust, communication media, and interactivity. Four hundred eleven university students from 103 groups in the United States responded survey items on online collaboration, interactivity,…

FAA and NASA UTM Research Transition Team: Communications and Navigation (CN) Working Group (WCG) Kickoff Meeting

Science.gov (United States)

Jung, Jaewoo; Larrow, Jarrett

2017-01-01

This is NASA FAA UTM Research Transition Team Communications and Navigation working group kick off meeting presentation that addresses the followings. Objectives overview Overall timeline and scope Outcomes and expectations Communication method and frequency of meetings Upcoming evaluation Next steps.

Uncertainty communication in the Environmental Balance 2005. Results of the User Group Policy Makers

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Wardekker, J.A.; Van der Sluijs, J.P.; Janssen, P.H.M.

2006-02-01

In 2003 recommendations were formulated how to deal with uncertainties in scientific studies. Currently a so-called 'Styleguide for Uncertainty Communication' is under development to report on information about uncertainties. The guide is based on literature survey and knowledge from experts in the field. A group of users of the Dutch Environmental Balance 2005 was set up to communicate and inform about uncertainties with respect to the Balance [nl

An observational study of cross-cultural communication in short-term, diverse professional learning groups

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Robinson, Leslie; Hogg, Peter; Higgins, Robert

2014-01-01

This paper reports the evaluation of a European funded 3-week summer school which took place in 2013 involving 60 staff and students from five universities. The evaluation looked at one group in detail using a qualitative approach to consider whether students and teachers can work together in multicultural groups in order to achieve their goal. Method: One group was observed during 2 two-hour sessions of group activity; at the beginning and end of the summer school task. Video data was analysed using the Rapport Management framework, a model of cross-cultural communication, to determine what motivated this group's interactions. Results: As the group's deadline became imminent ‘face-threatening acts’ (FTAs) were more apparent. These were tolerated in this group because of the development of a strong social bond. There was inequity in participation with members of the group falling into either high- or low-involvement categories. This was also well-tolerated but meant some students may not have gained as much from the experience. The group lacked guidance on managing group dynamics. Conclusion: Cultural differences in communication were not the main threat to multi-cultural working groups. Potential problems can arise from failing to provide the group with a framework for project and team management. An emphasis on ground rules and the allocation of formal roles is important as is the encouragement of socialisation which supports the group during challenging times

Teachers and Facebook: Using Online Groups to Improve Students' Communication and Engagement in Education

Science.gov (United States)

Rezende da Cunha, Fernando, Jr.; van Kruistum, Claudia; van Oers, Bert

2016-01-01

This paper reports on how teachers, from different cities in Brazil, used groups on Facebook and how communication between teachers and students was affected by using such groups. This study is framed under the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) perspective, and is conceived from a methodological background that invites participants to…

Gladwell and Group Communication: Using "The Tipping Point" as a Supplemental Text

Science.gov (United States)

Browning, Blair W.

2011-01-01

This article describes an activity using Malcolm Gladwell's "The Tipping Point" as a supplemental text in an undergraduate group communication course. This book will help stimulate conversation and promote easy avenues for classroom discussion. In addition to weekly quizzes over each chapter to help facilitate rich classroom discussions, the…

Group Communication and Critical Thinking Competence Development Using a Reality-Based Project

Science.gov (United States)

Paulson, Edward

2011-01-01

The presented merger and acquisition classroom exercise is based on a real yet incomplete transaction transpiring during the period of the class. The approach enables adult students to apply their previously acquired business experience to a strategic analysis project facilitating the development of group communication, critical thinking, and…

Problembased learning as a shared musical journey - group dynamics, communication and creativity

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lindvang, Charlotte; Beck, Bolette Daniels

2015-01-01

The focus of this paper is how we can facilitate problem based learning (PBL) more creatively. We take a closer look upon the connection between creative processes and social communication in the PBL group including how difficulties in the social interplay may hinder creativity. The paper draws o...

The Group Objective Structured Clinical Experience: building communication skills in the clinical reasoning context.

Science.gov (United States)

Konopasek, Lyuba; Kelly, Kevin V; Bylund, Carma L; Wenderoth, Suzanne; Storey-Johnson, Carol

2014-07-01

Students are rarely taught communication skills in the context of clinical reasoning training. The purpose of this project was to combine the teaching of communication skills using SPs with clinical reasoning exercises in a Group Objective Structured Clinical Experience (GOSCE) to study feasibility of the approach, the effect on learners' self-efficacy and attitude toward learning communication skills, and the effect of providing multiple sources of immediate, collaborative feedback. GOSCE sessions were piloted in Pediatrics and Medicine clerkships with students assessing their own performance and receiving formative feedback on communication skills from peers, standardized patients (SPs), and faculty. The sessions were evaluated using a retrospective pre/post-training questionnaire rating changes in self-efficacy and attitudes, and the value of the feedback. Results indicate a positive impact on attitudes toward learning communication skills and self-efficacy regarding communication in the clinical setting. Also, learners considered feedback by peers, SPs, and faculty valuable in each GOSCE. The GOSCE is an efficient and learner-centered method to attend to multiple goals of teaching communication skills, clinical reasoning, self-assessment, and giving feedback in a formative setting. The GOSCE is a low-resource, feasible strategy for experiential learning in communication skills and clinical reasoning. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emotions facilitate the communication of ambiguous group memberships.

Science.gov (United States)

Tskhay, Konstantin O; Rule, Nicholas O

2015-12-01

It is well known that emotions intersect with obvious social categories (e.g., race), influencing both how targets are categorized and the emotions that are read from their faces. Here, we examined the influence of emotional expression on the perception of less obvious group memberships for which, in the absence of obvious and stable physical markers, emotion may serve as a major avenue for group categorization and identification. Specifically, we examined whether emotions are embedded in the mental representations of sexual orientation and political affiliation, and whether people may use emotional expressions to communicate these group memberships to others. Using reverse correlation methods, we found that mental representations of gay and liberal faces were characterized by more positive facial expressions than mental representations of straight and conservative faces (Study 1). Furthermore, participants were evaluated as expressing more positive emotions when enacting self-defined "gay" and "liberal" versus "straight" and "conservative" facial expressions in the lab (Study 2). In addition, neutral faces morphed with happiness were perceived as more gay than when morphed with anger, and when compared to unmorphed controls (Study 3). Finally, we found that affect facilitated perceptions of sexual orientation and political affiliation in naturalistic settings (Study 4). Together, these studies suggest that emotion is a defining characteristic of person construal that people tend to use both when signaling their group memberships and when receiving those signals to categorize others. (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved).

What do people appreciate in physicians' communication? An international study with focus groups using videotaped medical consultations.

Science.gov (United States)

Mazzi, Maria A; Rimondini, Michela; Deveugele, Myriam; Zimmermann, Christa; Moretti, Francesca; van Vliet, Liesbeth; Deledda, Giuseppe; Fletcher, Ian; Bensing, Jozien

2015-10-01

The literature shows that the quality of communication is usually determined from a professional perspective. Patients or lay people are seldom involved in the development of quality indicators or communication. To give voice to the lay people perspective on what constitutes 'good communication' by evoking their reactions to variations in physician communication. Lay people from four different countries watched the same videotaped standardized medical encounters and discussed their preferences in gender-specific focus groups who were balanced in age groups. Two hundred and fifty-nine lay people (64 NL, 72 IT, 75 UK and 48 BE) distributed over 35 focus groups of 6-8 persons each. Comments on doctors' behaviours were classified by the GULiVer framework in terms of contents and preferences. Participants prevalently discussed 'task-oriented expressions' (39%: competency, self-confident, providing solutions), 'affective oriented/emotional expressions' (25%: empathy, listening, reassuring) and 'process-oriented expressions' (23%: flexibility, summarizing, verifying). 'Showing an affective attitude' was most appreciated (positive percentage within category: 93%, particularly facilitations and inviting attitude), followed by 'providing solution' (85%). Among disfavoured behaviour, repetitions (88%), 'writing and reading' (54%) and asking permission (42%) were found. Although an affective attitude is appreciated by nearly everybody, people may vary widely in their communication needs and preferences: what is 'good communication' for one person may be disliked or even a source of irritation for another. A physician should be flexible and capable of adapting the consultation to the different needs of different patients. This challenges the idea of general communication guidelines. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Communication and Collective Consensus Making in Animal Groups via Mechanical Interactions

Science.gov (United States)

Várkonyi, Péter L.

2011-06-01

Mechanical constraints have a strong influence on the dynamics and structure of granular aggregations. The contact forces within dense suspensions of active particles may give rise to intriguing phenomena, including anomalous density fluctuations, long-range orientational ordering, and spontaneous pattern formation. Various authors have proposed that these physical phenomena contribute to the ability of animal groups to move coherently. Our systematic numerical simulations confirm that spontaneous interactions of elongated individuals can trigger oriented motion in small groups. They are, however, insufficient in larger ones, despite their significant imprint on the group's internal structure. It is also demonstrated that preferred directions of motion of a minority of group members can be communicated to others solely by mechanical interactions. These findings strengthen the link between pattern formation in active nematics and the collective decision making of social animals.

What is competent communication behaviour of patients in physician consultations? - Chronically-ill patients answer in focus groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Schmidt, Erika; Schöpf, Andrea C; Farin, Erik

2017-09-01

Many desirable outcomes depend on good patient-physician communication. Patient-based perspectives of what constitutes competent communication behavior with physicians are needed for patient-oriented health care. Therefore it was our main aim to identify competent patient communication skills from the patient's perspective. We also wanted to reveal any differences in opinion among various groups (chronic ischemic heart disease, chronic low back pain, breast cancer). This study examined nine guideline-supported focus groups in rehabilitation centers. The criterion for study inclusion was any one of the three diagnoses. Enrolled in the study were N = 49 patients (32 women) aged M = 60.1 (SD = 12.8). The interview recordings were transcribed and subjected to content analysis. We documented 396 commentaries in these interviews that were allocated to 82 different codes; these in turn resulted in the formation of 12 main topics. Examples are: posing questions, being an active and participatory patient, being aware of emotions and communicating them. This study represents stage two ('documentation of patient and clinician views') in the seven-stage model of communication research. Findings reveal that chronically-ill patients name behaviours that contribute to successful discussion with a physician. These enable us to develop communication trainings and design-measuring tools used for patient-based communication skills.

Leader-based and self-organized communication: modelling group-mass recruitment in ants.

Science.gov (United States)

Collignon, Bertrand; Deneubourg, Jean Louis; Detrain, Claire

2012-11-21

For collective decisions to be made, the information acquired by experienced individuals about resources' location has to be shared with naïve individuals through recruitment. Here, we investigate the properties of collective responses arising from a leader-based recruitment and a self-organized communication by chemical trails. We develop a generalized model based on biological data drawn from Tetramorium caespitum ant species of which collective foraging relies on the coupling of group leading and trail recruitment. We show that for leader-based recruitment, small groups of recruits have to be guided in a very efficient way to allow a collective exploitation of food while large group requires less attention from their leader. In the case of self-organized recruitment through a chemical trail, a critical value of trail amount has to be laid per forager in order to launch collective food exploitation. Thereafter, ants can maintain collective foraging by emitting signal intensity below this threshold. Finally, we demonstrate how the coupling of both recruitment mechanisms may benefit to collectively foraging species. These theoretical results are then compared with experimental data from recruitment by T. caespitum ant colonies performing group-mass recruitment towards a single food source. We evidence the key role of leaders as initiators and catalysts of recruitment before this leader-based process is overtaken by self-organised communication through trails. This model brings new insights as well as a theoretical background to empirical studies about cooperative foraging in group-living species. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preparing Students for 21st Century Teamwork: Effective Collaboration in the Online Group Communication Course

Science.gov (United States)

Messersmith, Amber S.

2015-01-01

Facilitating meaningful interaction among students is a significant challenge of teaching in the online environment. This paper presents a semester-long approach that enables quality interaction among group members within undergraduate online group communication courses while experiencing the challenges of working with geographically dispersed…

Effects of longitudinal small-group learning on delivery and receipt of communication skills feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

Chou, Calvin L; Masters, Dylan E; Chang, Anna; Kruidering, Marieke; Hauer, Karen E

2013-11-01

Although feedback is a critical component of learning, recent data suggest that learners may discount feedback they receive. The emotional threat inherent in feedback can contribute to its ineffectiveness, particularly for sensitive topics like communication skills. Longitudinal relationships among peers may increase their sense of safety and soften the perceived threat of feedback to allow students to give, receive and potentially more effectively incorporate feedback. We studied the effects of prior shared learning experiences among medical students in the delivery and receipt of feedback on clinical (communication) skills. During a formative clinical skills examination, we divided Year 3 students at a US medical school into two subgroups comprising, respectively, small-group classmates from a 2-year longitudinal pre-clerkship clinical skills course (with prior peer-learning relationships), and peers with no prior shared small-group coursework. Students in both subgroups observed peers in a simulated clinical case and then provided feedback, which was videotaped, transcribed and coded. Feedback recipients also completed a survey on their perceptions of the feedback. Students valued the feedback they received and intended to enact it, regardless of whether they had prior peer-learning relationships. Coding of feedback revealed high specificity. Feedback providers who had prior peer-learning relationships with recipients provided more specific corrective feedback on communication skills than those with no such relationships (p = 0.014); there was no significant difference between subgroups in the provision of reinforcing feedback on communication skills. Year 3 medical student peers can deliver specific feedback on clinical skills; prior peer-learning relationships in pre-clerkship clinical skills courses enrich the provision of specific corrective feedback about communication skills. Feedback between peers with pre-existing peer-learning relationships represents

Stereotyped perceptions and their influence on interaction and communication of groups involved in the political planning of big technologies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Eisenhardt, G.; Krebsbach, C.

1978-01-01

The experiences with communication problems in planning processes show that the participating groups (politicians, experts, citizens/'non-experts') do not communicate in terms of carrying out a real dialogue but tend to talk past one another. The research hypothesis of the study is that the failure of communication resp. its 'disturbance' can be attributed to a considerable degree to the auto- and hetero-assessments (stereotyped perceptions/labelings) of the participating groups. The empirical data collected in this study show clearly: that stereotyped perceptions/labelings indeed exist and that these are both central and stable, that these perceptions continue troughout the communication process, and that this process is 'disturbed' because of the non-observance of basic characteristics of communication. Consequences for problemsolving are discussed. (orig.) [de

Computer-mediated and face-to-face communication in metastatic cancer support groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Vilhauer, Ruvanee P

2014-08-01

To compare the experiences of women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC) in computer-mediated and face-to-face support groups. Interviews from 18 women with MBC, who were currently in computer-mediated support groups (CMSGs), were examined using interpretative phenomenological analysis. The CMSGs were in an asynchronous mailing list format; women communicated exclusively via email. All the women were also, or had previously been, in a face-to-face support group (FTFG). CMSGs had both advantages and drawbacks, relative to face-to-face groups (FTFGs), for this population. Themes examined included convenience, level of support, intimacy, ease of expression, range of information, and dealing with debilitation and dying. CMSGs may provide a sense of control and a greater level of support. Intimacy may take longer to develop in a CMSG, but women may have more opportunities to get to know each other. CMSGs may be helpful while adjusting to a diagnosis of MBC, because women can receive support without being overwhelmed by physical evidence of disability in others or exposure to discussions about dying before they are ready. However, the absence of nonverbal cues in CMSGs also led to avoidance of topics related to death and dying when women were ready to face them. Agendas for discussion, the presence of a facilitator or more time in CMSGs may attenuate this problem. The findings were discussed in light of prevailing research and theories about computer-mediated communication. They have implications for designing CMSGs for this population.

The Referential Function of Internal Communication Groups in Complex Organizations: An Empirical Analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Taylor, James A.; Farace, Richard V.

This paper argues that people who interact regularly and repetitively among themselves create a conjoint information space wherein common values, attitudes, and beliefs arise through the process of information transmission among the members in the space. Three major hypotheses concerning informal communication groups in organizations were tested…

Detailed temporal structure of communication networks in groups of songbirds.

Science.gov (United States)

Stowell, Dan; Gill, Lisa; Clayton, David

2016-06-01

Animals in groups often exchange calls, in patterns whose temporal structure may be influenced by contextual factors such as physical location and the social network structure of the group. We introduce a model-based analysis for temporal patterns of animal call timing, originally developed for networks of firing neurons. This has advantages over cross-correlation analysis in that it can correctly handle common-cause confounds and provides a generative model of call patterns with explicit parameters for the influences between individuals. It also has advantages over standard Markovian analysis in that it incorporates detailed temporal interactions which affect timing as well as sequencing of calls. Further, a fitted model can be used to generate novel synthetic call sequences. We apply the method to calls recorded from groups of domesticated zebra finch (Taeniopygia guttata) individuals. We find that the communication network in these groups has stable structure that persists from one day to the next, and that 'kernels' reflecting the temporal range of influence have a characteristic structure for a calling individual's effect on itself, its partner and on others in the group. We further find characteristic patterns of influences by call type as well as by individual. © 2016 The Authors.

Gender differences in computer-mediated communication: a systematic literature review of online health-related support groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Mo, Phoenix K H; Malik, Sumaira H; Coulson, Neil S

2009-04-01

Previous research has contended that the unique characteristics of the Internet might remove some of the gender differences that exist in face-to-face healthcare. The aims of the present study were to systematically review studies that have examined gender differences in communication within online health communities. A literature search was conducted to identify studies addressing gender differences in messages posted to online health-related support groups. Out of the 1186 articles identified, twelve were retrieved for review. Half of the studies examined gender differences by comparing male and female cancer discussion boards. The literature review revealed that some gender differences were observed in these studies. However, for studies that analysed mixed-gender communities, gender differences were less evident. Results seemed to reveal gender differences in communications in single-sex online health support groups, and similarities in communication patterns in mixed-sex online health support groups. However, findings should be treated with caution due to the diversity in studies and methodological issues highlighted in the present review. There is a need for health care professionals to take into account a range of situational and contextual factors that may affect how men and women use online health support groups. However, more robust research is needed before concrete guidelines can be developed to help health care professionals develop effective online support interventions.

Reimagining publics and (non)participation: Exploring exclusion from science communication through the experiences of low-income, minority ethnic groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Dawson, Emily

2018-01-01

This article explores science communication from the perspective of those most at risk of exclusion, drawing on ethnographic fieldwork. I conducted five focus groups and 32 interviews with participants from low-income, minority ethnic backgrounds. Using theories of social reproduction and social justice, I argue that participation in science communication is marked by structural inequalities (particularly ethnicity and class) in two ways. First, participants' involvement in science communication practices was narrow (limited to science media consumption). Second, their experiences of exclusion centred on cultural imperialism (misrepresentation and 'Othering') and powerlessness (being unable to participate or change the terms of their participation). I argue that social reproduction in science communication constructs a narrow public that reflects the shape, values and practices of dominant groups, at the expense of the marginalised. The article contributes to how we might reimagine science communication's publics by taking inclusion/exclusion and the effects of structural inequalities into account.

Factors influencing the development of end-of-life communication skills: A focus group study of nursing and medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Gillett, Karen; O'Neill, Bernadette; Bloomfield, Jacqueline G

2016-01-01

Poor communication between health care professionals and dying patients and their families results in complaints about end-of-life care. End-of-life communication skills should be a core part of nursing and medical education but research suggests that qualified doctors and nurses find this a challenging area of practice. The aim of this study was to explore factors influencing the development of end-of-life communication skills by nursing and medical students. A qualitative study comprising five focus groups. Second year undergraduate nursing (n=9 across 2 focus groups) and fourth year undergraduate medical students (n=10 across 3 focus groups) from a London University. Barriers and facilitators influenced nursing and medical students' experience of communication with dying patients and their families in clinical practice. Extrinsic barriers included gatekeeping by qualified staff and lack of opportunity to make sense of experiences through discussion. Intrinsic barriers included not knowing what to say, dealing with emotional responses, wasting patients' time, and concerns about their own ability to cope with distressing experiences. Facilitating factors included good role models, previous experience, and classroom input. In addition to clinical placements, formal opportunities for reflective discussion are necessary to facilitate the development of students' confidence and skills in end-of-life communication. For students and mentors to view end-of-life communication as a legitimate part of their learning it needs to be specified written practice-learning outcome. Mentors and supervisors may require training to enable them to facilitate students to develop end-of-life communication skills. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

On the influence of latency estimation on dynamic group communication using overlays

Science.gov (United States)

Vik, Knut-Helge; Griwodz, Carsten; Halvorsen, Pål

2009-01-01

Distributed interactive applications tend to have stringent latency requirements and some may have high bandwidth demands. Many of them have also very dynamic user groups for which all-to-all communication is needed. In online multiplayer games, for example, such groups are determined through region-of-interest management in the application. We have investigated a variety of group management approaches for overlay networks in earlier work and shown that several useful tree heuristics exist. However, these heuristics require full knowledge of all overlay link latencies. Since this is not scalable, we investigate the effects that latency estimation techqniues have ton the quality of overlay tree constructions. We do this by evaluating one example of our group management approaches in Planetlab and examing how latency estimation techqniues influence their quality. Specifically, we investigate how two well-known latency estimation techniques, Vivaldi and Netvigator, affect the quality of tree building.

Predicting psychological ripple effects: the role of cultural identity, in-group/out-group identification, and attributions of blame in crisis communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Anagondahalli, Deepa; Turner, Monique Mitchell

2012-04-01

Incidents of intentional food contamination can produce ripple effects in consumers such as reduced trust and increased anxiety. In their postcrisis communication, food companies often direct the blame at the perpetrator in an effort to mitigate potential losses and regain consumer trust. The attempt to placate consumers may, in itself, potentially create psychological ripple effects in message readers. This study examined the interacting influence of two message characteristics: identity of the perpetrator of the crime (in-group/out-group membership), and the attribution of blame (reason why the perpetrator committed the crime), with message receiver characteristic (cultural identity) on psychological ripple effects such as blame, trust, anxiety, and future purchase intention. Results indicated that although group membership of the perpetrator was not significant in predicting outcomes for the organization, the attribution communicated in the message was. American message receivers blamed the organization more and trusted it less when personal dispositional attributions were made about the perpetrator. Asian message receivers blamed the organization more and trusted it less when situational attributions were made about the perpetrator. Lowered trust in the company and increased anxiety correlated with lower purchase intent for both American and Asian message receivers. Implications for crisis message design are discussed. © 2011 Society for Risk Analysis.

A study of grouphate in a course on small group communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Myers, Scott A; Goodboy, Alan K

2005-10-01

This study explored the relationship between grouphate and cohesion, consensus, relational satisfaction, affective learning, and cognitive learning. Participants were 83 undergraduate students enrolled in an introductory course on small group communication. Participants completed the Grouphate scale, the Classroom Cohesion scale, the Consensus scale, the Relational Satisfaction scale, three subscales of the Instructional Affect Assessment Instrument, and the Cognitive Learning Loss measure. Mean grouphate significantly increased during the semester, and negative correlations were found between scores for grouphate and cohesion (-.50), consensus (-.45), relational satisfaction (-.58), attitude toward the behaviors recommended in the course (-.23), the likelihood of developing an appreciation for the course content (-.33), and cognitive learning (-.32). Results may imply that students' grouphate is not associated with prosocial outcomes of the group work in this course.

Privacy enhanced group communication in clinical environment

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Mingyan; Narayanan, Sreeram; Poovendran, Radha

2005-04-01

Privacy protection of medical records has always been an important issue and is mandated by the recent Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) standards. In this paper, we propose security architectures for a tele-referring system that allows electronic group communication among professionals for better quality treatments, while protecting patient privacy against unauthorized access. Although DICOM defines the much-needed guidelines for confidentiality of medical data during transmission, there is no provision in the existing medical security systems to guarantee patient privacy once the data has been received. In our design, we address this issue by enabling tracing back to the recipient whose received data is disclosed to outsiders, using watermarking technique. We present security architecture design of a tele-referring system using a distributed approach and a centralized web-based approach. The resulting tele-referring system (i) provides confidentiality during the transmission and ensures integrity and authenticity of the received data, (ii) allows tracing of the recipient who has either distributed the data to outsiders or whose system has been compromised, (iii) provides proof of receipt or origin, and (iv) can be easy to use and low-cost to employ in clinical environment.

The Correlation between Interpersonal Communication Skills of Inspection Groups and Their Conflict Management Strategies

Science.gov (United States)

Sabanci, Ali; Sahin, Ahmet; Özdemir, Izzet

2018-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the correlation between interpersonal communication skills and conflict management strategies in the case of inspection groups constituted by a number of inspectors based on the geographical and demographic dispersion of the school population in Turkey. This research was conducted as a survey. The…

Communications device identification methods, communications methods, wireless communications readers, wireless communications systems, and articles of manufacture

Science.gov (United States)

Steele, Kerry D [Kennewick, WA; Anderson, Gordon A [Benton City, WA; Gilbert, Ronald W [Morgan Hill, CA

2011-02-01

Communications device identification methods, communications methods, wireless communications readers, wireless communications systems, and articles of manufacture are described. In one aspect, a communications device identification method includes providing identification information regarding a group of wireless identification devices within a wireless communications range of a reader, using the provided identification information, selecting one of a plurality of different search procedures for identifying unidentified ones of the wireless identification devices within the wireless communications range, and identifying at least some of the unidentified ones of the wireless identification devices using the selected one of the search procedures.

A teachable moment communication process for smoking cessation talk: description of a group randomized clinician-focused intervention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Flocke Susan A

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Effective clinician-patient communication about health behavior change is one of the most important and most overlooked strategies to promote health and prevent disease. Existing guidelines for specific health behavior counseling have been created and promulgated, but not successfully adopted in primary care practice. Building on work focused on creating effective clinician strategies for prompting health behavior change in the primary care setting, we developed an intervention intended to enhance clinician communication skills to create and act on teachable moments for smoking cessation. In this manuscript, we describe the development and implementation of the Teachable Moment Communication Process (TMCP intervention and the baseline characteristics of a group randomized trial designed to evaluate its effectiveness. Methods/Design This group randomized trial includes thirty-one community-based primary care clinicians practicing in Northeast Ohio and 840 of their adult patients. Clinicians were randomly assigned to receive either the Teachable Moments Communication Process (TMCP intervention for smoking cessation, or the delayed intervention. The TMCP intervention consisted of two, 3-hour educational training sessions including didactic presentation, skill demonstration through video examples, skills practices with standardized patients, and feedback from peers and the trainers. For each clinician enrolled, 12 patients were recruited for two time points. Pre- and post-intervention data from the clinicians, patients and audio-recorded clinician‒patient interactions were collected. At baseline, the two groups of clinicians and their patients were similar with regard to all demographic and practice characteristics examined. Both physician and patient recruitment goals were met, and retention was 96% and 94% respectively. Discussion Findings support the feasibility of training clinicians to use the Teachable Moments

An understanding about the process of communicative interactions in Joint Planning Groups among professors of the physics degree course based on Theory of Communicative Acts

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Ricardo Neves da Silva

2016-04-01

Full Text Available This article presents the results of a study that aims to understand the possibilities from the accession of professors who teach specific topics of physics and physics teaching in the teachers formation degree in a Joint Planning Group about the relations among their disciplines. The study was built from the establishment and monitoring of a group of professors who met regularly during a year to plan their courses in the degree in physics together. Based on the theoretical perspective of the Theory of Communicative Acts, by Jürgen Habermas, the analysis aimed to understand the planning process through the use of language as a means of inter-subjective interaction and intention of understanding through the use of valid claims. The possibilities presented enable conceptualize the elements of a Joint Planning Group from the perspective of joint construction of concepts and practices, actions coordinating and theming of the practice in a an environment that enables communicative acts.

Communicating about overdiagnosis: Learning from community focus groups on osteoporosis.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ray Moynihan

Full Text Available Overdiagnosis is considered a risk associated with the diagnosis of osteoporosis-as many people diagnosed won't experience harm from the condition. As yet there's little evidence on community understanding of overdiagnosis outside cancer- where it is an established risk of some screening programs-or effective ways to communicate about it. We examined community understanding around overdiagnosis of osteoporosis, to optimise communication strategies about this problem.Using a qualitative design we recruited a community sample of women, 50-80 years, from the Gold Coast community around Bond University, Australia, using random digit dialing, and conducted 5 focus groups with 41 women. A discussion guide and 4-part presentation were developed and piloted, with independent review from a consumer and clinical experts. Initial discussion had 4 segments: osteoporosis; bone density vs. other risk factors; medication; and overdiagnosis. The second half included the 4 short presentations and discussions on each. Analysis used Framework Analysis method. Initially participants described osteoporosis as bone degeneration causing some fear, demonstrated imprecise understanding of overdiagnosis, had a view osteoporosis couldn't be overdiagnosed as bone scans provided "clear cut" results, expressed belief in early diagnosis, and interest in prevention strategies enabling control. Following presentations, participants expressed some understanding of overdiagnosis, preference for describing osteoporosis as a "risk factor" not "disease", concern about a poor risk-benefit ratio for medications, and surprise and unease the definition of osteoporosis decided bone density of young women was "normal", without age adjustment. Limitations include English-speaking backgrounds of the sample and complex materials.Our findings suggest a gap between community expectations and how experts sometimes arbitrarily set low diagnostic thresholds which label those at risk as "diseased

A Study of the Communication Behaviors and Members' Roles in the Interaction Process of a Project-based Learning Group

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wei-Jane Lin

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The infusion of information and communication technology into instruction has gained the foothold within many classrooms in higher education by its advantages to enable the variety and accessibility of school teaching and learning. However, to engage students with the technology enhanced learning experiences calls for attentions on more the processes than the mere outcome of technology use. This study examines the common phenomenon in college campus where network technology, group activities and project works are available with the intention to explore how student performance of teamwork and learning is affected by the micro factors of group compositions, members’ roles and their communication behaviors. Results show that the group performed most procedure-, task-, and social-communication behaviors during the execution stage than that of preparation and completion stages. Additionally, members’ roles performed and interfered within these stages positively affected the project performance to different extent. [Article content in Chinese; Extended abstract in English

SOCIOMETRIC INVESTIGATION OF PONY-MANIA CONNECTION IN COMMUNICATION WITH COGNITIVE STYLES OF MEMBERS OF THE GROUP

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Roza Ismailovna Kadieva

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the analysis of mutual understanding in communication with the cognitive styles of the members of the group and revealing the connection between the productivity of people's understanding of each other in communication and the degree of their psychologic differentiation. Our study is that subjects - schoolchildren in the mass do not differentiate such aspects in a person as "ability to understand, to be understood" and "sympathy, pleasantness". Thus, due to the "halo effect", people pleasant and sympathetic in communication stand out in the implicit theories of our subjects and positive traits by the criterion of "understanding." The above experiment allows further analysis of the influence of cognitive style on understanding in communication. Sufficiently differentiate the subjects under investigation in the sphere of interpersonal relations and distinguish the criterion of "understanding" from the other criteria used in sociometry.

Interprofessional communication skills training for serious illness: evaluation of a small-group, simulated patient intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Bays, Alison M; Engelberg, Ruth A; Back, Anthony L; Ford, Dee W; Downey, Lois; Shannon, Sarah E; Doorenbos, Ardith Z; Edlund, Barbara; Christianson, Phyllis; Arnold, Richard W; O'Connor, Kim; Kross, Erin K; Reinke, Lynn F; Cecere Feemster, Laura; Fryer-Edwards, Kelly; Alexander, Stewart C; Tulsky, James A; Curtis, J Randall

2014-02-01

Communication with patients and families is an essential component of high-quality care in serious illness. Small-group skills training can result in new communication behaviors, but past studies have used facilitators with extensive experience, raising concerns this is not scalable. The objective was to investigate the effect of an experiential communication skills building workshop (Codetalk), led by newly trained facilitators, on internal medicine trainees' and nurse practitioner students' ability to communicate bad news and express empathy. Trainees participated in Codetalk; skill improvement was evaluated through pre- and post- standardized patient (SP) encounters. The subjects were internal medicine residents and nurse practitioner students at two universities. The study was carried out in anywhere from five to eight half-day sessions over a month. The first and last sessions included audiotaped trainee SP encounters coded for effective communication behaviors. The primary outcome was change in communication scores from pre-intervention to post-intervention. We also measured trainee characteristics to identify predictors of performance and change in performance over time. We enrolled 145 trainees who completed pre- and post-intervention SP interviews-with participation rates of 52% for physicians and 14% for nurse practitioners. Trainees' scores improved in 8 of 11 coded behaviors (p<0.05). The only significant predictors of performance were having participated in the intervention (p<0.001) and study site (p<0.003). The only predictor of improvement in performance over time was participating in the intervention (p<0.001). A communication skills intervention using newly trained facilitators was associated with improvement in trainees' skills in giving bad news and expressing empathy. Improvement in communication skills did not vary by trainee characteristics.

Secure Group Communications for Large Dynamic Multicast Group

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

Liu Jing; Zhou Mingtian

2003-01-01

As the major problem in multicast security, the group key management has been the focus of research But few results are satisfactory. In this paper, the problems of group key management and access control for large dynamic multicast group have been researched and a solution based on SubGroup Secure Controllers (SGSCs) is presented, which solves many problems in IOLUS system and WGL scheme.

Korea's nuclear public information experiences-target groups and communication strategies

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Chung, J.K.

1996-01-01

Why public information activities in Korea are needed is first explained. There are three basic reasons; 1) to secure necessary sites for construction of large nuclear facilities; such as nuclear power plants, radwaste management facilities, and nuclear fuel-cycle related facilities 2) to maintain a friendly relationship between the local communities and the nuclear industries, 3) to promote better understanding about the nation's peaceful nuclear programs to the various target groups. Categorization of target groups and messages are reviewed. By whom the public information programs are implemented is also explained. An orchestrated effort together with the third communicators is stressed. Basic philosophy of nuclear public information programs is introduced. A high-profile information campaign and a low-profile information campaign are explained. Particular information strategies suitable to Korean situation as examined. In addition, the Korean general public perception on nuclear energy is briefly introduced. Also, some real insights of anti-nuclear movement in Korea together with the arguments are reviewed. In conclusion, the paper stresses that nuclear arguments became no more technical matters but almost socio-political issues. (author)

Leaders' limitations and approaches to creating conditions for interaction and communication in parental groups: A qualitative study.

Science.gov (United States)

Frykedal, Karin Forslund; Rosander, Michael; Barimani, Mia; Berlin, Anita

2018-01-01

The aim of this study was to describe and understand parental group (PG) leaders' experiences of creating conditions for interaction and communication. The data consisted of 10 interviews with 14 leaders. The transcribed interviews were analysed using thematic analysis. The results showed that the leaders' ambition was to create a parent-centred learning environment by establishing conditions for interaction and communication between the parents in the PGs. However, the leaders' experience was that their professional competencies were insufficient and that they lacked pedagogical tools to create constructive group discussions. Nevertheless, they found other ways to facilitate interactive processes. Based on their experience in the PG, the leaders constructed informal socio-emotional roles for themselves (e.g. caring role and personal role) and let their more formal task roles (e.g. professional role, group leader and consulting role) recede into the background, so as to remove the imbalance of power between the leaders and the parents. They believed this would make the parents feel more confident and make it easier for them to start communicating and interacting. This personal approach places them in a vulnerable position in the PG, in which it is easy for them to feel offended by parents' criticism, questioning or silence.

Smart Video Communication for Social Groups - The Vconect Project

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M. Ursu; P. Stollenmayer; D. Williams; P. Torres; P.S. Cesar Garcia (Pablo Santiago); N. Farber; E. Geelhoed

2014-01-01

htmlabstractThis article introduces the Vconect project. Vconect (Video Communications for Networked Communities) is a collaborative European research and development project dealing with high-quality enriched video as a medium for mass communication within social communities. The technical

Research Paper: Effectiveness of Group Play Therapy on the Communication of 5-8 Years Old Children With High Functioning Autism

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Fateme Rafati

2016-11-01

Conclusion It is concluded that the group play therapy can help the children to understand and communicate well. This therapy can be used as a complementary training and therapeutic method for children with high functioning autism to help improve their communication deficiencies.

Analysis of activity of information inquired group on radioecology and public communication in Ozersk (the town of nuclear industry)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Govyrina, E.

2000-01-01

The Information Inquiry Group on Radioecology and Public Communication is a branch of the Department of Production Association Mayak. Mayak was formed in 1989. The main tasks as well as main functions of the group are presented. (author)

Identification of influencing factors and strategies to improve communication between general practitioners and community nurses: a qualitative focus group study.

Science.gov (United States)

Nieuwboer, Minke S; Perry, Marieke; van der Sande, Rob; Maassen, Irma T H M; Olde Rikkert, Marcel G M; van der Marck, Marjolein A

2018-02-26

As the number of patients with complex healthcare needs grows, inter-professional collaboration between primary care professionals must be constantly optimized. General practitioners (GPs) and community nurses (CNs) are key professions in primary care; however, poor GP-CN communication is common, and research into the factors influencing its quality is limited. To explore patient-related GP-CN communication and facilitating and hindering factors, and to identify strategies to enhance this communication. A qualitative focus group design was used to identify the facilitating and hindering factors and strategies for improvement. In a Dutch primary care setting, 6 mono-professional focus group interviews (3 meetings of 13 GPs; 3 meetings of 18 CNs) were organized between June 2015 and April 2016, recorded and transcribed verbatim. Two independent researchers performed the coding of these interviews, identifying their categories and themes. Results show that, despite the regular contact between GPs and CNs, communication was generally perceived as poor in effectiveness and efficiency by both professions. Mutual trust was considered the most important facilitating factor for effective communication. Profession-specific factors (e.g. differences in responsibility and profession-specific language) and organizational factors (e.g. lack of shared care plans, no in-person communication, lack of time) may be of influence on communication. Participants' suggestions for improvement included organizing well-structured and reimbursed team meetings and facilitating face-to-face contact. GP-CN patient-related communication benefits most from trusting inter-personal relationships. Inter-professional training programmes should address both professional and organizational factors and should be evaluated for their effect on quality of care.

Communication. Problem learning in the communication across expert areas

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drottz Sjoeberg, B. M.

2001-05-01

The report presents results from a project on communication involving nuclear safety personnel and members of the safety council and personnel in administrative positions within the community of Oskarshamn. Data were collected in discussions and by questionnaires. Totally 42 persons participated in the study. The aim of the project was to pinpoint problems in communication about safety issues and thus to facilitate a development of communication between groups and in the work on nuclear safety within the local community. A number of open ended questions were included in the questionnaire together with large number of rating tasks. The participants rated items, developed primarily in the group discussions, regarding information transmission, handling of difficult situations and what could be done to improve the communication situation. The results showed e.g. that communicative ability was best predicted by the index of 'context uncertainty' in both groups, but that the groups differed with respect to the salience of other predictors. Thus, an index named 'ability to synthesize' was a good predictor in the group of nuclear personnel, whereas human and structural aspects of information transmission, as well as the ability to reach across boundaries, were additional predictors in the group of Oskarshamn community personnel. The results thus showed that the participants viewed communication problems and solutions from the perspective of their own work perspective rather than as issues to be dealt with across different expert groups. The report underlines the necessity to regard contents of communicated messages as well as the framework to which they are related within the same context for an optimal adjustment to expectations, attitudes and requirements. Suggestions for future work included clarifications of which groups that are relevant for information and their specific interests, increased clarity regarding specific roles and information paths with respect to

Young patients', parents', and survivors' communication preferences in paediatric oncology: Results of online focus groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kamps Willem A

2007-11-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Guidelines in paediatric oncology encourage health care providers to share relevant information with young patients and parents to enable their active participation in decision making. It is not clear to what extent this mirrors patients' and parents' preferences. This study investigated communication preferences of childhood cancer patients, parents, and survivors of childhood cancer. Methods Communication preferences were examined by means of online focus groups. Seven patients (aged 8–17, 11 parents, and 18 survivors (aged 8–17 at diagnosis participated. Recruitment took place by consecutive inclusion in two Dutch university oncological wards. Questions concerned preferences regarding interpersonal relationships, information exchange and participation in decision making. Results Participants expressed detailed and multi-faceted views regarding their needs and preferences in communication in paediatric oncology. They agreed on the importance of several interpersonal and informational aspects of communication, such as honesty, support, and the need to be fully informed. Participants generally preferred a collaborative role in medical decision making. Differences in views were found regarding the desirability of the patient's presence during consultations. Patients differed in their satisfaction with their parents' role as managers of the communication. Conclusion Young patients' preferences mainly concur with current guidelines of providing them with medical information and enabling their participation in medical decision making. Still, some variation in preferences was found, which faces health care providers with the task of balancing between the sometimes conflicting preferences of young cancer patients and their parents.

Patterns of call communication between group-housed zebra finches change during the breeding cycle.

Science.gov (United States)

Gill, Lisa F; Goymann, Wolfgang; Ter Maat, Andries; Gahr, Manfred

2015-10-06

Vocal signals such as calls play a crucial role for survival and successful reproduction, especially in group-living animals. However, call interactions and call dynamics within groups remain largely unexplored because their relation to relevant contexts or life-history stages could not be studied with individual-level resolution. Using on-bird microphone transmitters, we recorded the vocalisations of individual zebra finches (Taeniopygia guttata) behaving freely in social groups, while females and males previously unknown to each other passed through different stages of the breeding cycle. As birds formed pairs and shifted their reproductive status, their call repertoire composition changed. The recordings revealed that calls occurred non-randomly in fine-tuned vocal interactions and decreased within groups while pair-specific patterns emerged. Call-type combinations of vocal interactions changed within pairs and were associated with successful egg-laying, highlighting a potential fitness relevance of calling dynamics in communication systems.

The effects of scenario-based communication training on nurses' communication competence and self-efficacy and myocardial infarction knowledge.

Science.gov (United States)

Hsu, Li-Ling; Huang, Ya-Hsuan; Hsieh, Suh-Ing

2014-06-01

The aim of the study was to determine the effects of a simulated communication training course on nurses' communication competence, self-efficacy, communication performance, myocardial infarction knowledge, and general satisfaction with their learning experience. A randomized controlled trial was conducted with a pre-test and two post-tests. The experimental group underwent simulated communication training course and the control group received a case-based communication training course. The experimental group made more significant improvement in competence and self-efficacy in communication from pre-test to the second post-test than the control group. Although both groups' satisfaction with their learning experience significantly increased from the first post-test to the second post-test, the experimental group was found to be more satisfied with their learning experience than the control group. No significant differences in communication performance and myocardial infarction knowledge between the two groups were identified. Scenario-based communication training can be more fully incorporated into in-service education for nurses to boost their competence and self-efficacy in communication and enhance their communication performance in myocardial infarction patient care. Introduction of real-life communication scenarios through multimedia in communication education could make learners more motivated to practice communication, hence leading to improved communication capacity. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Message Collision Avoidance Protocols for Detecting Stray Nodes in a Scuba Diving Group Using Ultrasonic Multi-Hop Message Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Shinya Kaido

2017-12-01

Full Text Available Recent years have seen a growing interest in underwater communication and some progress has been made in this area. However, underwater communication is still immature compared with terrestrial communication. A prime reason for this is that the underwater environment is intrinsically not suitable for propagation of electric waves. Instead, ultrasonic waves are mainly used for underwater communication. Since ultrasonic waves cannot provide sufficient communication speed or capacity, they cannot use existing network technologies, which assume use of radio waves. In particular, communication in shallow water is still an uncharted territory. Few communication technologies are employed in environments where people enjoy scuba diving. This paper addresses problems faced by recreational scuba divers. It proposes constructing an ad hoc mesh-shaped network between divers within a group and use ultrasonic waves as transmission media in order to enable the detection of a stray diver. It also proposes a communication protocol in which messages are relayed in multiple hops, and a message collision avoidance method, which is intended to reduce the rate of packet loss caused by message propagation delay. We have implemented the proposed methods in a network simulator, and compared them with an existing communication method that has no message collision avoidance function, in terms of the packet loss rate, the stray driver detection rate, and the rate of the ability to communicate in multiple hops.

Communicating the Nature of Science through "The Big Bang Theory": Evidence from a Focus Group Study

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Rashel; Orthia, Lindy A.

2016-01-01

In this paper, we discuss a little-studied means of communicating about or teaching the nature of science (NOS)--through fiction television. We report some results of focus group research which suggest that the American sitcom "The Big Bang Theory" (2007-present), whose main characters are mostly working scientists, has influenced…

Attending to Communication and Patterns of Interaction: Culturally Sensitive Mental Health Care for Groups of Urban, Ethnically Diverse, Impoverished, and Underserved Women.

Science.gov (United States)

Molewyk Doornbos, Mary; Zandee, Gail Landheer; DeGroot, Joleen

2014-07-01

The United States is ethnically diverse. This diversity presents challenges to nurses, who, without empirical evidence to design culturally congruent interventions, may contribute to mental health care disparities. Using Leininger's theory of culture care diversity and universality, this study documented communication and interaction patterns of ethnically diverse, urban, impoverished, and underserved women. Using a community-based participatory research framework, 61 Black, Hispanic, and White women participated in focus groups around their experiences with anxiety/depression. Researchers recorded verbal communication, nonverbal behavior, and patterns of interaction. The women's communication and interaction patterns gave evidence of three themes that were evident across all focus groups and five subthemes that emerged along ethnic lines. The results suggest cultural universalities and cultural uniquenesses relative to the communication and interaction patterns of urban, ethnically diverse, impoverished, and underserved women that may assist in the design of culturally sensitive mental health care. © The Author(s) 2014.

A Trace-Driven Analysis of Wireless Group Communication Mechanisms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Surendar Chandra

2012-08-01

Full Text Available Wireless access is increasingly ubiquitous while mobile devices that use them are resource rich. These trends allow wireless users to collaborate with each other. We investigate various group communication paradigms that underly collaboration applications. We synthesize durations when members collaborate using wireless device availability traces. Wireless users operate from a variety of locations. Hence, we analyzed the behavior of wireless users in universities, corporations, conference venues, and city-wide hotspots. We show that the availability durations are longer in corporations followed by university and then in hotspots. The number of simultaneously available wireless users is small in all the scenarios. The session lengths are becoming smaller while the durations between sessions are becoming larger. We observed user churn in all the scenarios. We show that synchronous mechanisms require less effort to maintain update synchronicity among the group members. However, distributed mechanisms require a large number of replicas in order to propagate updates among the users. For asynchronous mechanisms, we show that pull-based mechanisms naturally randomize the times when updates are propagated and thus achieve better performance than push based mechanisms.We develop an adaptive approach that customizes the update frequency using the last session duration and show that this mechanism exhibits good performance when the required update frequency intervals are large. We also show that for a given number of gossips, it is preferable to propagate updates to all available nodes rather than increasing the frequency while correspondingly reducing the number of nodes to propagate updates.We develop a middleware to illustrate the practicality of our approach.

Communicating geological hazards: assisting geoscientists in communication skills

Science.gov (United States)

Liverman, D. G. E.

2009-04-01

Communication is important in all aspects of the geosciences but is more prominent in the area of geological hazards, as the main audience for scientific information often lacks a geoscience background; and because the implications of not communicating results effectively can be very serious. Geoscientists working in the hazards area face particular challenges in communicating the concepts of risk, probability and uncertainty. Barriers to effective communication of geoscience include the complex language used by geoscientists, restriction of dissemination of results to traditional scientific media, identification of the target audience, inability to tailor products to a variety of audiences, and lack of institutional support for communication efforts. Geoscientists who work in the area of natural hazards need training in risk communication, media relations, and communicating to non-technical audiences. Institutions need to support the efforts of geoscientists in communicating their results through providing communications training; ensuring access to communications professionals; rewarding efforts to engage the public; and devoting sufficient staff and budget to the effort of disseminating results. Geoscientists themselves have to make efforts to change attitudes towards social science, and to become involved in decision making at a community level. The International Union of Geological Sciences Commission for "Geoscience for Environmental Management" established a working group to deal with these issues. This group is holding workshops, publishing collections of papers, and is looking at other means to aid geoscientists in addressing these problems.

A Multistage Control Mechanism for Group-Based Machine-Type Communications in an LTE System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wen-Chien Hung

2013-01-01

Full Text Available When machine-type communication (MTC devices perform the long-term evolution (LTE attach procedure without bit rate limitations, they may produce congestion in the core network. To prevent this congestion, the LTE standard suggests using group-based policing to regulate the maximum bit rate of all traffic generated by a group of MTC devices. However, previous studies on the access point name-aggregate maximum bit rate based on group-based policing are relatively limited. This study proposes a multistage control (MSC mechanism to process the operations of maximum bit rate allocation based on resource-use information. For performance evaluation, this study uses a Markov chain with to analyze MTC application in a 3GPP network. Traffic flow simulations in an LTE system indicate that the MSC mechanism is an effective bandwidth allocation method in an LTE system with MTC devices. Experimental results show that the MSC mechanism achieves a throughput 22.5% higher than that of the LTE standard model using the group-based policing, and it achieves a lower delay time and greater long-term fairness as well.

Communication in Practice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Drottz-Sjoeberg, Britt-Marie [Norwegian Univ. of Science and Technology, NTNU, Trondheim (Norway). Dept. of Psychology

2001-07-01

The paper presents results from the 'Communication 2000' project within the Nordic Nuclear Safety Research (NKS) framework which aimed at developing methods as well as knowledge related to problems in risk communication. Focus groups and questionnaires were used to explicitly pinpoint the problems encountered when informing about or discussing risk and technologically advanced information (e.g. PSA-results) relative the public and across professional groups with different types of expertise. Personnel at a nuclear power plant and politicians of a local safety board provided their views of essential communication problems related to their work tasks in focus group discussions. Central topics that emerged from these discussions were later used in a questionnaire study, distributed to similar groups of power plant personnel, and politicians and administrators, in the local community. Some results are presented, together with a comparison of the two modes of investigating what is problematic in risk communication (e.g. focus groups vs. questionnaires). The difficulties involved in establishing a similar understanding of a phenomenon is addressed in the discussion.

Communication in Practice

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drottz-Sjoeberg, Britt-Marie

2001-01-01

The paper presents results from the 'Communication 2000' project within the Nordic Nuclear Safety Research (NKS) framework which aimed at developing methods as well as knowledge related to problems in risk communication. Focus groups and questionnaires were used to explicitly pinpoint the problems encountered when informing about or discussing risk and technologically advanced information (e.g. PSA-results) relative the public and across professional groups with different types of expertise. Personnel at a nuclear power plant and politicians of a local safety board provided their views of essential communication problems related to their work tasks in focus group discussions. Central topics that emerged from these discussions were later used in a questionnaire study, distributed to similar groups of power plant personnel, and politicians and administrators, in the local community. Some results are presented, together with a comparison of the two modes of investigating what is problematic in risk communication (e.g. focus groups vs. questionnaires). The difficulties involved in establishing a similar understanding of a phenomenon is addressed in the discussion

A large and aggressive fibromatosis in the axilla: a rare case report and review of the literature

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Duan M

2018-05-01

Full Text Available Mingyue Duan,1 Hua Xing,1 Keren Wang,1 Chunbo Niu,2 Chengwei Jiang,2 Lijuan Zhang,1 Shereen Ezzat,3 Le Zhang1 1Department of Breast Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, People’s Republic of China; 2Department of Pathology, China-Japan Union Hospital, Jilin University, Changchun, Jilin, People’s Republic of China; 3Ontario Cancer Institute and The Endocrine Oncology Site Group, Princess Margaret Hospital, University Health Network, Toronto, ON, Canada Abstract: Aggressive fibromatosis (AF is a rare benign tumor, which occurs in the deep part of bone and muscle fibrous tissue. Clinical and pathological features can be challenging for definitive diagnosis. Here, we report a rare case of a large AF in the axilla. Interestingly, 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose-positron emission tomography/computed tomography showed significant increase in standard uptake value. Surgical resection yielded a spindle cell tumor likely of fibromatosis origin which was positive for β-catenin expression. Keywords: aggressive fibromatosis, desmoid-type fibromatosis, axilla, 18 F-fluorodeoxyglucose, PET/CT, β-catenin

The Influence of Perception Training on Communication Between Polarized Groups of Officers and Inmates at the Colorado Women's Correctional Institution.

Science.gov (United States)

Fox, Denamae Dawson

Those who wish to bring about positive communication between two groups with strongly polarized attitudes cannot do so merely by bringing the groups together for interaction. A study of inmates and officers at a women's prison revealed the potential of perception training for changing initially polarized conceptions. Analyses of subjects'…

Communication in natural resource management: agreement between and disagreement within stakeholder groups

NARCIS (Netherlands)

de Nooy, W.

2013-01-01

Communication among stakeholders is commonly held to improve agreement on facts and management goals. Results from statistical network analyses of six natural resource management systems indicate that the effects of communication depend on context. If communication affects stakeholder knowledge and

[The effect of a scenario-based simulation communication course on improving the communication skills of nurses].

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Ya-Hsuan; Hsieh, Suh-Ing; Hsu, Li-Ling

2014-04-01

Limited disease knowledge is frequently the cause of disease-related anxiety in myocardial infarction patients. The ability to communicate effectively serves multiple purposes in the professional nursing practice. By communicating effectively with myocardial infarction patients, nurses may help reduce their anxiety by keeping them well informed about their disease and teaching them self-care strategies. This research evaluates the communication skills of nurses following scenario-based simulation education in the context of communication with myocardial infarction patients. This study used an experimental design and an educational intervention. The target population comprised nurses of medicine (clinical qualified level N to N2 for nursing) working at a municipal hospital in Taipei City, Taiwan. A total 122 participants were enrolled. Stratified block randomization divided participants into an experimental group and a control group. The experimental group received clinical scenario-based simulation education for communication. The control group received traditional class-based education for communication. Both groups received a pre-test and a Communication Skills Checklist post-test assessment. Results were analyzed using SPSS 17.0 for Windows software. A t-test showed significant increases in communication skills (p skills following the education intervention. The results indicate that clinical scenario-based simulation education for communication is significantly more effective than traditional class-based education in enhancing the ability of nurses to communicate effectively with myocardial infarction patients.

Communication from ST Group

CERN Multimedia

TS Department

2008-01-01

In order to prepare the organization of the Open Days, please note that FM Group will not able to take into account either specific requests for waste collection from 2nd to 6th of April, either removal or PC transport requests between the 31st and the 11th of March. We kindly ask you to plan the collection of any type of waste and the urgent transport of office furniture or PC before the 31st of March. Waste collection requests shall be formulated contacting FM Support at 77777 or at the email address mailto:Fm.Support@cern.ch; removal of office furniture or PC transport requests must be made using the EDH ‘Transport request’ form selecting the "Removals" or the "PC transport" category from the drop-down menu. For any question concerning the waste sorting, please consult the following web address: http://dechets-waste.web.cern.ch/dechets-waste/. Thank you for your understanding and collaboration. TS/FM Group

Communication from ST Group

CERN Document Server

TS Department

2008-01-01

Please note that owing the preparations for the Open Days, the FM Group will not able to handle specific requests for waste collection from 2nd to 6th of April, nor removal or PC transport requests between the 31 March and 11 April. We kindly ask you to plan the collection of all types of waste and any urgent transport of office furniture or PCs before 31 March. Waste collection requests must be made by contacting FM Support on 77777 or at the e-mail address mailto:Fm.Support@cern.ch; removal of office furniture or PC transport requests must be made using the EDH ‘Transport request’ form (select "Removals" or "PC transport" from the drop-down menu). For any question concerning the sorting of waste, please consult the following web site: http://dechets-waste.web.cern.ch/dechets-waste/ Thank you for your understanding and collaboration. TS/FM Group

The Effectiveness of Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) Training for Teachers of Children with Autism: A Pragmatic, Group Randomised Controlled Trial

Science.gov (United States)

Howlin, Patricia; Gordon, R. Kate; Pasco, Greg; Wade, Angie; Charman, Tony

2007-01-01

Objective: To assess the effectiveness of expert training and consultancy for teachers of children with autism spectrum disorder in the use of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS). Method: Design: Group randomised, controlled trial (3 groups: immediate treatment, delayed treatment, no treatment). Participants: 84 elementary school…

Results of the Working Group 'Risk Communications for Emergencies and Disasters'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sorensen, J.H.; Dombrowsky, W.R.

1988-01-01

Enhancing crisis communication is important to industry, government and the public. The public is becoming increasingly concerned about technological failures as our reliance on technology increases. Better preparedness and more public awareness can increase public acceptance of and confidence in ability to manage high consequence technologies including ability to manage its failures. Failed communications in emergencies has increased the loss of life and property and public scepticism. Effective communication can a) engender confidence and trust in authorities; b) give rise of acceptance of risks and risk management and c) reduce the consequences of disasters. (orig./HSCH)

Patients' communication with doctors: a randomized control study of a brief patient communication intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Talen, Mary R; Muller-Held, Christine F; Eshleman, Kate Grampp; Stephens, Lorraine

2011-09-01

In research on doctor-patient communication, the patient role in the communication process has received little attention. The dynamic interactions of shared decision making and partnership styles which involve active patient communication are becoming a growing area of focus in doctor-patient communication. However, patients rarely know what makes "good communication" with medical providers and even fewer have received coaching in this type of communication. In this study, 180 patients were randomly assigned to either an intervention group using a written communication tool to facilitate doctor-patient communication or to standard care. The goal of this intervention was to assist patients in becoming more effective communicators with their physicians. The physicians and patients both rated the quality of the communication after the office visit based on the patients' knowledge of their health concerns, organizational skills and questions, and attitudes of ownership and partnership. The results supported that patients in the intervention group had significantly better communication with their doctors than patients in the standard care condition. Physicians also rated patients who were in the intervention group as having better overall communication and organizational skills, and a more positive attitude during the office visit. This study supports that helping patients structure their communication using a written format can facilitate doctor-patient communication. Patients can become more adept at describing their health concerns, organizing their needs and questions, and being proactive, which can have a positive effect on the quality of the doctor-patient communication during outpatient office visits. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved).

Technologies That Assist in Online Group Work: A Comparison of Synchronous and Asynchronous Computer Mediated Communication Technologies on Students' Learning and Community

Science.gov (United States)

Rockinson-Szapkiw, Amanda; Wendt, Jillian

2015-01-01

While the benefits of online group work completed using asynchronous CMC technology is documented, researchers have identified a number of challenges that result in ineffective and unsuccessful online group work. Fewer channels of communication and lack of immediacy when compared to face-to-face group work are a few of the noted limitations. Thus,…

Integration of social aspects in radiation protection. The AIRP Work group on communication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Cantone, Marie C.; Magnoni, Mauro; Sturloni, Giancarlo

2008-01-01

Radiation protection has never been confined just to its scientific and quantitative aspects as it also incorporates a real and proper social factor. In most developed countries, considerations on the social and ethical issues of radiation protection and discussions on the approaches to stakeholder involvement are in a state of positive turmoil. Scientific and practical experts are identifying and promoting dialogue procedures, embracing ethical and social aspects, and are moving together to add to their experience in new and improved practices for the decision-making process. In early 2006, the Italian Radiation Protection Association (AIRP) set up a workgroup for the purpose of: 1-) Promoting dialogue among RP experts, experts in other disciplines, national and local authorities and the public, in relation to social awareness issues in the fields of ionising and non-ionising radiation protection; 2-) Promoting reflection on the mutual interactions between radiation protection and society; 3-) Contributing to the development and diffusion in the RP community of the culture of stakeholder engagement in the decision-making process. Aiming at promoting continual dialogue between the radiation protection community and society, an initial meeting was held in June 2006 on the fundamentals and objectives of RP communication, by focusing on issues such as: the credibility of information sources, the role of the mass media and institutions in risk communication. A workshop was held in November 2006 on the social aspects of radiation protection: experts in scientific journalism, sociology and medical physics, representatives of consumer associations, participants in a Government task commission, local authorities and representatives of the leading local and national institutions involved in RP, were given the opportunity of communicating and discussing the main socially-sensitive aspects of RP. The work of the AIRP group continued in 2007 with two events related on the

An Efficient Causal Group Communication Protocol for Free Scale Peer-to-Peer Networks

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Grigory Evropeytsev

2016-08-01

Full Text Available In peer-to-peer (P2P overlay networks, a group of n (≥2 peer processes have to cooperate with each other. Each peer sends messages to every peer and receives messages from every peer in a group. In group communications, each message sent by a peer is required to be causally delivered to every peer. Most of the protocols designed to ensure causal message order are designed for networks with a plain architecture. These protocols can be adapted to use in free scale and hierarchical topologies; however, the amount of control information is O(n, where n is the number of peers in the system. Some protocols are designed for a free scale or hierarchical networks, but in general they force the whole system to accomplish the same order viewed by a super peer. In this paper, we present a protocol that is specifically designed to work with a free scale peer-to-peer network. By using the information about the network’s architecture and by representing message dependencies on a bit level, the proposed protocol ensures causal message ordering without enforcing super peers order. The designed protocol is simulated and compared with the Immediate Dependency Relation and the Dependency Sequences protocols to show its lower overhead.

Communication in Adult Education

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mihaela Časar

1997-12-01

Full Text Available In their paper the authors point to the importance of communication in adult education, seeing man as a relational creature. They stress the importance verbal as well as non-verbal communication, which discloses the speaker's attitude to both what is being said and the students. The authors detail the components of non-verbal communication, which the group leaders can use as guide­ lines in their educational work. They define constructive and destructive, content-related and relationship-related types of communication, concluding that communication is at its best when it is relaxed and involves all members of the group as well as the tutor-organiser. Only then can feedback be generated, resulting in a closer connectedness and enhanced quality of the process of education.

US DOE-EM On-Site Disposal Cell Working Group - Fostering Communication On Performance Assessment Challenges

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Seitz, Roger R. [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States); Suttora, Linda C. [U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Site Restoration, Germantown, MD (United States); Phifer, Mark [Savannah River Site (SRS), Aiken, SC (United States)

2014-03-01

On-site disposal cells are in use and being considered at several U.S. Department of Energy (USDOE) sites as the final disposition for large amounts of waste associated with cleanup of contaminated areas and facilities. These facilities are typically developed with regulatory oversight from States and/or the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) in addition to USDOE. The facilities are developed to meet design standards for disposal of hazardous waste as well as the USDOE performance based standards for disposal of radioactive waste. The involvement of multiple and different regulators for facilities across separate sites has resulted in some differences in expectations for performance assessments and risk assessments (PA/RA) that are developed for the disposal facilities. The USDOE-EM Office of Site Restoration formed a working group to foster improved communication and sharing of information for personnel associated with these Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act (CERCLA) disposal cells and work towards more consistent assumptions, as appropriate, for technical and policy considerations related to performance and risk assessments in support of a Record of Decision and Disposal Authorization Statement. The working group holds teleconferences, as needed, focusing on specific topics of interest. The topics addressed to date include an assessment of the assumptions used for performance assessments and risk assessments (PA/RAs) for on-site disposal cells, requirements and assumptions related to assessment of inadvertent intrusion, DOE Manual 435.1-1 requirements, and approaches for consideration of the long-term performance of liners and covers in the context of PAs. The working group has improved communication among the staff and oversight personnel responsible for onsite disposal cells and has provided a forum to identify and resolve common concerns.

Communicating with the public following radiological terrorism: results from a series of focus groups and national surveys in Britain and Germany.

Science.gov (United States)

Pearce, Julia M; Rubin, G James; Selke, Piet; Amlôt, Richard; Mowbray, Fiona; Rogers, M Brooke

2013-04-01

Incidents involving the exposure of large numbers of people to radiological material can have serious consequences for those affected, their community and wider society. In many instances, the psychological effects of these incidents have the greatest impact. People fear radiation and even incidents which result in little or no actual exposure have the potential to cause widespread anxiety and behavior change. The aim of this study was to assess public intentions, beliefs and information needs in the UK and Germany in response to a hidden radiological exposure device. By assessing how the public is likely to react to such events, strategies for more effective crisis and risk communication can be developed and designed to address any knowledge gaps, misperceptions and behavioral responses that are contrary to public health advice. This study had three stages. The first stage consisted of focus groups which identified perceptions of and reactions to a covert radiological device. The incident was introduced to participants using a series of mock newspaper and broadcast injects to convey the evolving scenario. The outcomes of these focus groups were used to inform national telephone surveys, which quantified intended behaviors and assessed what perceptions were correlated with these behaviors. Focus group and survey results were used to develop video and leaflet communication interventions, which were then evaluated in a second round of focus groups. In the first two stages, misperceptions about the likelihood and routes of exposure were associated with higher levels of worry and greater likelihood of engaging in behaviors that might be detrimental to ongoing public health efforts. The final focus groups demonstrated that both types of misunderstanding are amenable to change following targeted communication. Should terrorists succeed in placing a hidden radiological device in a public location, then health agencies may find that it is easier to communicate effectively

A communication-theory based view on telemedical communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Schall, Thomas; Roeckelein, Wolfgang; Mohr, Markus; Kampshoff, Joerg; Lange, Tim; Nerlich, Michael

2003-01-01

Communication theory based analysis sheds new light on the use of health telematics. This analysis of structures in electronic medical communication shows communicative structures with special features. Current and evolving telemedical applications are analyzed. The methodology of communicational theory (focusing on linguistic pragmatics) is used to compare it with its conventional counterpart. The semiotic model, the roles of partners, the respective message and their relation are discussed. Channels, sender, addressee, and other structural roles are analyzed for different types of electronic medical communication. The communicative processes are shown as mutual, rational action towards a common goal. The types of communication/texts are analyzed in general. Furthermore the basic communicative structures of medical education via internet are presented with their special features. The analysis shows that electronic medical communication has special features compared to everyday communication: A third participant role often is involved: the patient. Messages often are addressed to an unspecified partner or to an unspecified partner within a group. Addressing in this case is (at least partially) role-based. Communication and message often directly (rather than indirectly) influence actions of the participants. Communication often is heavily regulated including legal implications like liability, and more. The conclusion from the analysis is that the development of telemedical applications so far did not sufficiently take communicative structures into consideration. Based on these results recommendations for future developments of telemedical applications/services are given.

Radiation protection and communication. Sociology and communication impact in radiation protection; Radioprotection et Communication. Sociologie et impact de la communication en radioprotection

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berne, G [CEA/Cadarache, Service de Protection contre les Rayonnements, 13 - Saint Paul lez Durance (France); Bicheron, G; Franco, P [CEA/Fontenay aux Roses, Inst. de Protection et de Surete Nucleaire, IPSN, 92 (France); and others

2000-07-01

Communication about nuclear energy was the subject of this conference. Different examples of communications are detailed in fields as different as impact of iodine 131 release in waste waters or public information about radiation protection, the north Cotentin radioecology group or what information to give to the patients in nuclear medicine. (N.C.)

Learners' Willingness to Communicate in Face-to-Face versus Oral Computer-Mediated Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Yanguas, Íñigo; Flores, Alayne

2014-01-01

The present study had two main goals: to explore performance differences in a task-based environment between face-to-face (FTF) and oral computer-mediated communication (OCMC) groups, and to investigate the relationship between trait-like willingness to communicate (WTC) and performance in the FTF and OCMC groups. Students from two intact…

Effectiveness of the Lunch is in the Bag program on communication between the parent, child and child-care provider around fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods: A group-randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharma, Shreela V; Rashid, Tasnuva; Ranjit, Nalini; Byrd-Williams, Courtney; Chuang, Ru-Jye; Roberts-Gray, Cynthia; Briley, Margaret; Sweitzer, Sara; Hoelscher, Deanna M

2015-12-01

To evaluate the effectiveness of the parent- and early care education (ECE) center-based Lunch is in the Bag program on communication between parent, child, and their ECE center providers around fruits, vegetables and whole grain foods (FVWG). A total of n=30 ECE center; 577 parent-child dyads participated in this group-randomized controlled trial conducted from 2011 to 2013 in Texas (n=15 ECE center, 327 dyads intervention group; n=15 ECE center, 250 dyads comparison group). Parent-child and parent-ECE center provider communication was measured using a parent-reported survey administered at baseline and end of the five-week intervention period. Multilevel linear regression analysis was used to compare the pre-to-post intervention changes in the parent-child and parent-ECE center provider communication scales. Significance was set at pparent-child and parent-ECE center provider communication scores were low. There was a significant increase post-intervention in the parent-ECE center provider communication around vegetables (Adjusted β=0.78, 95%CI: 0.13, 1.43, p=0.002), and around fruit (Adjusted β=0.62, 95%CI: 0.04, 0.20, p=0.04) among the parents in the intervention group as compared to those in the comparison group. There were no significant intervention effects on parent-child communication. Lunch is in the Bag had significant positive effects on improving communication between the parents and ECE center providers around FVWG. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Facilitating practitioner research into strategies for improving communication in classroom groups: Action research and interaction analysis — A reconciliation?

Science.gov (United States)

Sadler, Jo; Fawns, Rod

1993-12-01

This study involved collaborative classroom-based observation of student communication and cognition in small groups after the implementation of two management strategies in science departments in several schools. The paper presents the data and provides insights into the conduct of research and teacher development in the midst of educational change.

'Information on the fly': Challenges in professional communication in high technological nursing. A focus group study from a radiotherapy department in Sweden.

Science.gov (United States)

Widmark, Catarina; Tishelman, Carol; Gustafsson, Helena; Sharp, Lena

2012-07-23

Radiotherapy (RT) units are high-tech nursing environments. In Sweden, RT registered nurses (RNs) provide and manage RT in close collaboration with other professional groups, as well as providing nursing care for patients with cancer. Communication demands on these RNs are thus particularly complex. In this study, we aimed to better understand problems, strengths and change needs related to professional communication with and within the RT department, as a basis for developing a situation-specific intervention. Focus groups discussions (FGDs) were conducted with different professional (RNs, assistant nurses, physicians, engineers and physicists) and user stakeholders. Transcripts of the FGDs were inductively analyzed by a team of researchers, to generate clinically relevant and useful data. These findings give insight into RT safety climate and are presented under three major headings: Conceptualization of professional domains; Organization and leadership issues; and Communication forms, strategies and processes. The impact of existing hierarchies, including how they are conceptualized and acted out in practice, was noted throughout these data. Despite other differences, participating professionals agreed about communication problems related to RT, i.e. a lack of systems and processes for information transfer, unclear role differentiation, a sense of mutual disrespect, and ad hoc communication taking place 'on the fly'. While all professional groups recognized extensive communication problems, none acknowledged the potential negative effects on patient safety or care described in the FGD with patient representatives. While RNs often initially denied the existence of a hierarchy, they placed themselves on a hierarchy in their descriptions, describing their own role as passive, with a sense of powerlessness. Potential safety hazards described in the FGDs include not reporting medical errors and silently ignoring or actively opposing new guidelines and regulations

Communication Games: Participant's Manual.

Science.gov (United States)

Krupar, Karen R.

Using a series of communicational games, the author leads the participant through self-awareness, verbal and nonverbal communication, decision-making, problem-solving, and skills in perception, listening, and small group, organizational, and cultural communications. The thesis behind the book is that model-making, role-playing, or other forms of…

Communication for performance in aerospace

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Aurelian Virgil BALUTA

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The paper outlines rules for employees in the aerospace field about general procedures, accounting, budgets, employees involvement in the companies goals as a team or as a group. The quality of all communications activities is presented in correlation with performance. For us, performance means economic and social references, stability and credibility of the business and, not least, a good communication within the existing groups or teams. We take in account long-term, medium and short performance for a new and modern field such as the aerospace industry. The paper highlights the group communication aspects, the process needed to optimize communication within a group, the team characteristics and mission, the team involvement versus group involvement, organization of the work team and defining/definition of roles in a team according to individual skills and some technics; to apply the Belbin test for determining the role of individuals within the team, for identifying the types of communication in order to get the information transmitted to the different types of individuals such as “analytical type”, “director type”, “friendly type”, “expressive type”, the needs and interest of these individuals, assessing how the information was received and the impact of the feedback.

Effective communication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuntz, B.S.

1989-01-01

At the Waste Isolation Pilot Plant (WIPP) the responsibilities assigned to public affairs (PA) include communications to two main groups: institutional representatives and the general public. Research data indicates that these two populations perceive risk in different fashions. This paper discusses these distinct perceptions and how the communication programs at WIPP have been designed to accommodate these two differences

Organizational communication process

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kenan Spaho

2012-12-01

Full Text Available Managers spend majority of their time communicating in several forms: meeting, face-to –face dis- cussion, letters, emails etc. Also more and more employees realize that communication is a very im- portant part of their work because a lot of their work activities are based on teamwork among workers in different functional groups. This is the reason why communication has become more important in companies. The experience shows that there are significant differences in manners of communication and that it appears to be a very important factor which makes some organizations more successful than others. Communication is the most important for managers because research shows that the spent long period in work time in communication.

A Cluster Based Group Signature Mechanism For Secure Vanet Communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Navjot Kaur

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Vehicular adhoc network is one of the recent area of research to administer safety to human lives controlling of messages and in disposal of messages to users and passengers. VANETs allows communication of moving vehicular nodes. Movement of nodes leads in changing network size and scenario. Whenever a new node joins the network there is a threat of malicious node attack. So we need an environment that is secure and trust worthy. Therefore a new cluster based secure technique is proposed where cluster head is responsible for providing communication between the vehicular nodes. Performance parameters used in this paper are message drop ratio packet delay ratio and verification time.

Age-group differences in risk perceptions of non-communicable ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Background. Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) in South Africa (SA) occur simultaneously with an ageing HIV-positive population, resulting in premature deaths in persons <70 years of age. Poor risk perception of NCDs results in poor adoption practices of NCD preventive measures. There is a gap in age-related ...

La centralidad en las comunicaciones y la influencia percibida en los pequeños grupos The communication centrality and the perceived influence in small groups

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nancy Noemi Terroni

2003-06-01

Full Text Available Este trabajo reporta los resultados de medidas del análisis de redes en la comunicación de pequeños grupos que resuelven una tarea de recuperación de memoria y su asociación con la influencia percibida. El reactivo empleado es una historia y los 65 participantes, alumnos de la Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, debieron reconstruir la misma primero en forma individual, luego grupal colaborativa y nuevamente en forma individual. Se registraron las interacciones grupales con comunicación cara a cara y mediada por computadora; se analizaron las medidas de prominencia, la centralidad y el prestigio de la comunicación y el tipo de alocución, orientado a la gestión grupal o hacia la tarea. Se observaron asociaciones significativas entre las medidas reticulares y la influencia percibida para ambos medios de comunicación y se hallaron diferencias en la comunicación de gestión grupal. Se discuten estos resultados con relación a las restricciones que imponen los canales de comunicación mediados.This work reports reticular measures of the social network analysis in the communication of small groups while solving a recall memory task and their association with the perceived influence. The task used is a story and the 65 subjects, students at the Mar del Plata University had to reconstruct the story, first individually, then in collaborative groups and again individually. The subjects’ interactions in face to face and computer mediated communication groups were recorded; the prominence measures, the centrality and the prestige of the communication and the type of speech were analyzed, oriented to the group management or towards the task (conceptual. Significant associations between the reticular measures and the perceived influence were observed, for both media, and differences in the group management communications were found. These results in relation to the restrictions of the communication mediated channels are discussed.

Information and Communication Technologies : A World Bank Group Strategy

OpenAIRE

World Bank

2002-01-01

Information and communication technologies provide the basis for increasing and applying knowledge in the private and public sectors. Countries with strong information infrastructures that employ innovative information technology applications, have many advantages for sustained economic growth and social development. This book is, primarily, a business strategy which explains the World Ban...

The Effect of Group Dynamics-Oriented Instruction on Developing Iranian EFL Learners' Speaking Ability and Willingness to Communicate

Science.gov (United States)

Alikhani, Mohsen; Bagheridoust, Esmaeil

2017-01-01

The study investigated how group-dynamics instruction techniques of adaptable nature can be to the benefit of EFL (English as a Foreign Language) learners so as to develop and improve their willingness-to-communicate and speaking-ability in the long run. After analyzing the data via ANCOVA and EFA, the researcher selected 108 young Iranian male…

Theories in Developing Oral Communication for Specific Learner Group

Science.gov (United States)

Hadi, Marham Jupri

2016-01-01

The current article presents some key theories most relevant to the development of oral communication skills in an Indonesian senior high school. Critical analysis on the learners' background is employed to figure out their strengths and weaknesses. The brief overview of the learning context and learners' characteristic are used to identify which…

Improving symptom communication through personal digital assistants: the CHAT (Communicating Health Assisted by Technology) project.

Science.gov (United States)

Post, Douglas M; Shapiro, Charles L; Cegala, Donald J; David, Prabu; Katz, Mira L; Krok, Jessica L; Phillips, Gary S; McAlearney, Ann Sheck; Lehman, Jennifer S; Hicks, William; Paskett, Electra D

2013-12-01

Communication problems impede effective symptom management during chemotherapy. The primary aim of this pilot randomized controlled trial was to test the effects of a personal digital assistant-delivered communication intervention on pain, depression, and fatigue symptoms among breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. Secondary aims included assessment of 1) study feasibility, 2) patient and clinician responses to study participation, and 3) intervention effects on health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and communication self-efficacy. Intervention group participants (n = 27) completed symptom inventories at baseline, once per week during treatment, and at posttreatment. Depending on symptom severity, they viewed race-concordant videos on how to communicate about pain, depression and/or fatigue, using the personal digital assistant. Symptom records were tracked and shared with clinicians. Control group participants (n = 23) received usual care. Longitudinal random effects modeling assessed the changes in average symptom scores over time. Descriptive statistics assessed study feasibility and intervention effects on HRQoL and communication self-efficacy. Postintervention focus groups, interviews, and surveys assessed responses to study participation. Mean age of the participants was 51.0 years; 42 participants (84%) were white. In comparison with control, intervention group participants reported lower average pain severity over time (P = .015). Mean pain interference scores over time were marginally different between groups (P = .07); mean depression and fatigue scores over time were statistically nonsignificant. Feasibility outcomes and perspectives about study participation were positive. Mean pre-post decreases in HRQoL were generally higher among intervention group participants; pre-post changes in communication self-efficacy were equivalent. Mixed findings of the study indicate the need for future research.

[The development and effects of a comprehensive communication course for nursing students].

Science.gov (United States)

Kim, Sunah; Park, Jung-Hwa; Lee, Hyun-Hwa

2004-06-01

The purposes of this study were to: (a) develop a comprehensive communication course combined with a group program for improving communication skills; and (b) examine the effects of the comprehensive communication course on interpersonal communication, relationship change, self-esteem, and depression in nursing students. The experimental group consisted of 82 nursing students, and the control group, 108 nursing students. Both groups each took communication courses from March to June, 2002 and 2003. A group program for improving communication skills was conducted for each 8 subgroups of the experimental group for 90 minutes once a week during the 6 weeks, while the existing communication lecture was conducted for the control group. Both groups were post-tested after the intervention for verifying the difference of variables between the two groups, and the experimental group was also pre-tested for verifying the difference between before and after the treatment. Interpersonal communication score of the post-test in the experimental group was significantly higher than in the control group and the depression score of the post-test in the experimental group was significantly lower than in the control group. Interpersonal communication, relationship change and self-esteem scores were significantly increased and the depression score was significantly decreased in experimental group after the treatment. In conclusion, the comprehensive communication course that was developed in this study had positive effects on communication skills in nursing students.

Improving nurse-patient communication with patients with communication impairments: hospital nurses' views on the feasibility of using mobile communication technologies.

Science.gov (United States)

Sharpe, Bridget; Hemsley, Bronwyn

2016-05-01

Nurses communicating with patients who are unable to speak often lack access to tools and technologies to support communication. Although mobile communication technologies are ubiquitous, it is not known whether their use to support communication is feasible on a busy hospital ward. The aim of this study was to determine the views of hospital nurses on the feasibility of using mobile communication technologies to support nurse-patient communication with individuals who have communication impairments. This study involved an online survey followed by a focus group, with findings analyzed across the two data sources. Nurses expected that mobile communication devices could benefit patient care but lacked access to these devices, encountered policies against use, and held concerns over privacy and confidentiality. The use of mobile communication technologies with patients who have communication difficulties is feasible and may lead to improvements in communication and care, provided environmental barriers are removed and facilitators enhanced. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving risk communication through interactive training in communication skills

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

White, D.A.; White, R.K.

1991-01-01

This paper describes a workshop in communication and public speaking skills recently conducted for a group of public officials whose responsibilities include presenting risk information at public meetings associated with hazardous waste sites. We detail the development and solution of the 2 1/2-day workshop, including the development and integration of a 45-minute video of a simulated public meeting used to illustrate examples of good and bad communication behaviors. The workshop uses a mock public meeting video, participatory video exercises, role-playing, an instructor and a resource text. This interactive approach to teaching communication skills can help sensitize scientists to the public's understanding of risk and improve scientists confidence and effectiveness in communicating scientific information

Differences in oncologist communication across age groups and contributions to adjuvant decision outcomes.

Science.gov (United States)

Step, Mary M; Siminoff, Laura A; Rose, Julia H

2009-11-01

The objective of this study was to assess potential age-related differences in oncologist communication during conversations about adjuvant therapy decisions and subsequent patient decision outcomes. Communication was observed between a cross-section of female patients aged 40 to 80 with early-stage breast cancer (n=180) and their oncologists (n=36) in 14 academic and community oncology practices in two states. Sources of data included audio recordings of visits, followed by post-visit patient interviews. Communication during the visit was assessed using the Siminoff Communication Content and Affect Program. Patient outcome measures included self-reported satisfaction with decision, decision conflict, and decision regret. Results showed that oncologists were significantly more fluent and more direct with older than middle-aged patients and trended toward expressing their own treatment preferences more with older patients. Satisfaction with treatment decisions was highest for women in their 50s and 60s. Decision conflict was significantly associated with more discussion of oncologist treatment preferences and prognosis. Decision regret was significantly associated with patient age and education. Older adults considering adjuvant therapy may find that oncologists' communication accommodations to perceived deficiencies in older adult cognition or communication challenge their decision-making involvement. Oncologists should carefully assess patient decision-making preferences and be mindful of accommodating their speech to age-related stereotypes.

A comparison of clinical communication skills between two groups of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

a comprehensive clinical model and a “golden thread” for communication skills in the ... sity, South Africa, based on the primary ..... Planning: shared decision making ... Explanation and planning. Incorporate clinical reasoning skills. Develop.

‘Information on the fly’: Challenges in professional communication in high technological nursing. A focus group study from a radiotherapy department in Sweden

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Widmark Catarina

2012-07-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Radiotherapy (RT units are high-tech nursing environments. In Sweden, RT registered nurses (RNs provide and manage RT in close collaboration with other professional groups, as well as providing nursing care for patients with cancer. Communication demands on these RNs are thus particularly complex. In this study, we aimed to better understand problems, strengths and change needs related to professional communication with and within the RT department, as a basis for developing a situation-specific intervention. Methods Focus groups discussions (FGDs were conducted with different professional (RNs, assistant nurses, physicians, engineers and physicists and user stakeholders. Transcripts of the FGDs were inductively analyzed by a team of researchers, to generate clinically relevant and useful data. Results These findings give insight into RT safety climate and are presented under three major headings: Conceptualization of professional domains; Organization and leadership issues; and Communication forms, strategies and processes. The impact of existing hierarchies, including how they are conceptualized and acted out in practice, was noted throughout these data. Despite other differences, participating professionals agreed about communication problems related to RT, i.e. a lack of systems and processes for information transfer, unclear role differentiation, a sense of mutual disrespect, and ad hoc communication taking place ‘on the fly’. While all professional groups recognized extensive communication problems, none acknowledged the potential negative effects on patient safety or care described in the FGD with patient representatives. While RNs often initially denied the existence of a hierarchy, they placed themselves on a hierarchy in their descriptions, describing their own role as passive, with a sense of powerlessness. Potential safety hazards described in the FGDs include not reporting medical errors and silently ignoring

Communication skills training in orthopaedics.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundine, Kristopher; Buckley, Richard; Hutchison, Carol; Lockyer, Jocelyn

2008-06-01

Communication skills play a key role in many aspects of both medical education and clinical patient care. The objectives of this study were to identify the key components of communication skills from the perspectives of both orthopaedic residents and their program directors and to understand how these skills are currently taught. This study utilized a mixed methods design. Quantitative data were collected with use of a thirty-item questionnaire distributed to all Canadian orthopaedic residents. Qualitative data were collected through focus groups with orthopaedic residents and semistructured interviews with orthopaedic program directors. One hundred and nineteen (37%) of 325 questionnaires were completed, twelve residents participated in two focus groups, and nine of sixteen program directors from across the country were interviewed. Both program directors and residents identified communication skills as being the accurate and appropriate use of language (i.e., content skills), not how the communication was presented (i.e., process skills). Perceived barriers to effective communication included time constraints and the need to adapt to the many personalities and types of people encountered daily in the hospital. Residents rarely have explicit training in communication skills. They rely on communication training implicitly taught through observation of their preceptors and clinical experience interacting with patients, peers, and other health-care professionals. Orthopaedic residents and program directors focus on content and flexibility within communication skills as well as on the importance of being concise. They value the development of communication skills in the clinical environment through experiential learning and role modeling. Education should focus on developing residents' process skills in communication. Care should be taken to avoid large-group didactic teaching sessions, which are perceived as ineffective.

Using focus groups and social marketing to strengthen promotion of group prenatal care.

Science.gov (United States)

Vonderheid, Susan C; Carrie, S Klima; Norr, Kathleen F; Grady, Mary Alice; Westdahl, Claire M

2013-01-01

Centering Pregnancy, an innovative group model of prenatal care, shows promise to reduce persistent adverse maternal-infant outcomes and contain costs. Because this innovation requires systemwide change, clinics reported needing support enrolling women into groups and obtaining organizational buy-in. This study used the 3-step social marketing communication strategy to help clinic staff identify key customers and customer-specific barriers to adopting or supporting Centering Pregnancy. They developed targeted information to reduce barriers and built skills in communicating with different customers through role-playing. Findings provide practical information for others to use this communication strategy to improve implementation of Centering Pregnancy.

Improving communication in cancer pain management nursing: a randomized controlled study assessing the efficacy of a communication skills training program.

Science.gov (United States)

Canivet, Delphine; Delvaux, Nicole; Gibon, Anne-Sophie; Brancart, Cyrielle; Slachmuylder, Jean-Louis; Razavi, Darius

2014-12-01

Effective communication is needed for optimal cancer pain management. This study assessed the efficacy of a general communication skills training program for oncology nurses on communication about pain management. A total of 115 nurses were randomly assigned to a training group (TG) or control group (CG). The assessment included the recording of interviews with a simulated cancer patient at baseline for both groups and after training (TG) or 3 months after baseline (CG). Two psychologists rated the content of interview transcripts to assess cancer pain management communication. Group-by-time effects were measured using a generalized estimating equation. Trained nurses asked the simulated patient more questions about emotions associated with pain (relative rate [RR] = 4.28, p = 0.049) and cognitions associated with pain treatment (RR = 3.23, p management (RR = 0.40, p = 0.006) compared with untrained nurses. The general communication skills training program improved only a few of the communication strategies needed for optimal cancer pain management in nursing. General communication skills training programs should be consolidated using specific modules focusing on communication skills related to cancer pain management.

Setting the research agenda for governmental communication

NARCIS (Netherlands)

M. Vos

2006-01-01

The Research Group for Governmental Communication has carried out a trend study of governmental communication within The Netherlands (1). Research topics were: the major tasks for communication, current issues, profiling the communication department, and policy plans for communication. Another study

Mobile technologies and communication strategies in an urban Midwifery Group Practice setting. An exploratory study.

Science.gov (United States)

Forti, Amanda; Stapleton, Helen; Kildea, Sue

2013-12-01

Around-the-clock access to a known midwife is a distinct feature of Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) and caseload midwifery settings; although the literature suggests this aspect of working life may hinder recruitment and retention to this model of care. Mobile technologies, known as mHealth where they are used in health care, facilitate access and hence communication, however little is known about this area of midwifery practice. Which communication modalities are used, and most frequently, by MGP midwives and clients? A prospective, cross sectional design included a purposive sample of MGP midwives from an Australian tertiary maternity hospital. Data on modes of midwife-client contact were collected 24h/day, for two consecutive weeks, and included: visits, phone-calls, texts and emails. Demographic data were also collected. Details about 1442 midwife-client contacts were obtained. The majority of contact was via text, between the hours of 07:00 and 14:59, with primiparous women, when the primary midwife was on-call. An average of 96 contacts per fortnight occurred. The majority of contact was between the midwife and their primary clients, reiterating a key tenet of caseload models and confirming mobile technologies as a significant and evolving aspect of practice. The pattern of contact within social (or daytime) hours is reassuring for midwives considering caseload midwifery, who are concerned about the on-call burden. The use of text as the preferred communication modality raises issues regarding data security and retrieval, accountability, confidentiality and text management during off-duty periods. The development of Australian-wide guidelines to inform local policies and best practice is recommended. Copyright © 2013 Australian College of Midwives. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Organizational communication process

OpenAIRE

Kenan Spaho

2012-01-01

Managers spend majority of their time communicating in several forms: meeting, face-to –face dis- cussion, letters, emails etc. Also more and more employees realize that communication is a very im- portant part of their work because a lot of their work activities are based on teamwork among workers in different functional groups. This is the reason why communication has become more important in companies. The experience shows that there are significant differences in manners of ...

A mathematical model of communication between groups of circadian neurons in Drosophila melanogaster.

Science.gov (United States)

Risau-Gusman, Sebastián; Gleiser, Pablo M

2014-12-01

In the fruit fly, circadian behavior is controlled by a small number of specialized neurons, whose molecular clocks are relatively well known. However, much less is known about how these neurons communicate among themselves. In particular, only 1 circadian neuropeptide, pigment-dispersing factor (PDF), has been identified, and most aspects of its interaction with the molecular clock remain to be elucidated. Furthermore, it is speculated that many other peptides should contribute to circadian communication. We have developed a relatively detailed model of the 2 main groups of circadian pacemaker neurons (sLNvs and LNds) to investigate these issues. We have proposed many possible mechanisms for the interaction between the synchronization factors and the molecular clock, and we have compared the outputs with the experimental results reported in the literature both for the wild-type and PDF-null mutant. We have studied how different the properties of each neuron should be to account for the observations reported for the sLNvs in the mutant. We have found that only a few mechanisms, mostly related to the slowing down of nuclear entry of a circadian protein, can synchronize neurons that present these differences. Detailed immunofluorescent recordings have suggested that, whereas in the mutant, LNd neurons are synchronized, in the wild-type, a subset of the LNds oscillate faster than the rest. With our model, we find that a more likely explanation for the same observations is that this subset is being driven outside its synchronization range and displays therefore a complex pattern of oscillation.

Using Telestrations™ to Illustrate Small Group Communication Principles

Science.gov (United States)

Fedesco, Heather Noel

2014-01-01

This single class activity described here: (1) illustrates the importance of interdependence in groups; (2) can be used to measure group productivity and performance; (3) can encourage groups to engage in group learning; and (4) can facilitate group cohesion for newly formed groups. Students will be working in groups for the majority of their…

Improving risk communication through interactive training in communication skills

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

White, D.A.; White, R.K.

1990-01-01

This paper describes a workshop in communication and public speaking skills recently conducted for a group of public officials whose responsibilities include presenting risk information at public meetings associated with hazardous waste sites. We detail the development and execution of the 2 1/2 day workshop, including the development and integration of a 45-minute video of a simulated public meeting used to illustrate examples of good and bad communication behaviors. The workshop uses a mock public meeting video, participatory video exercises, role-playing, and instructor, and a resource text. This interactive approach to teaching communication skills can help sensitize scientists to the public's understanding of risk and improve scientists' confidence and effectiveness in communicating scientific information. 10 refs., 1 fig.

Effect of training the communication skills with cognitive-behavioral model to drug dependent couples on communication patterns and recurrent relapse

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Rahbarian

2016-12-01

Full Text Available Background: One of the main challenges in methadone maintenance treatment is relapse and lack of sustainability on treatment. Therefore, considering the effective factors in this regard and reducing it through psychological interventions as an adjunct to medication is necessary. Objective: The current study aimed to determine the effectiveness of communication skill training based on cognitive-behavioral model on communication patterns and recurrent relapse in drug dependent couples. Methods: This study was a quasi-experimental intervention with pretest-posttest and control group in 2013 which carried on 40 couple referred to public addiction treatment center of Qazvin city. These people had troubled communication patterns and were selected using convenience sampling and were divided into two groups of intervention and control, randomly. Two groups were assessed by relapse prediction scale (RPS and structured clinical interview for DSM (SCID-I for men and communication pattern questionnaire (CPQ for couples in pre and post-test. Intervention group received 9 two hours sessions of communication skill training based on cognitive-behavioral model. Data were analyzed using Levin and Box tests and multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA. Findings: The difference between the intervention and control groups in the constructive communication pattern with 51% (p<0/05, in mutual avoidance pattern with 61% (p<0/0001 and in the demand / withdraw pattern with 45% (p<0/05 was statistically significant. Also, the difference between the two groups in the rate of relapse with 64% (p<0/0001 was statistically significant. Conclusion: According to the findings it seems group training of communication skill based on cognitive-behavioral model can improve the communication patterns in drug-dependent couples, as well as prevents relapse in men.

A study on the effects of marketing communication using integrated marketing communication

OpenAIRE

Solmaz Sellahvarzi; Vahid Reza Mirabi; Mehdi Iran Nejad Parizi

2014-01-01

Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC) is one of the needed concepts in competitive edge. IMC is defined as a cross functional process for creating and nourishing profitable relationships with customers and other stakeholders by strategically controlling or impacting all messages sent to these groups. It ensures that all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together. This study investigates the effectiveness of marketing communication in an Iranian automaker named Khodr...

Linguistic intergroup bias in political communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Anolli, Luigi; Zurloni, Valentino; Riva, Giuseppe

2006-07-01

The Linguistic Intergroup Bias (LIB) illustrates the disposition to communicate positive in-group and negative out-group behaviors more abstractly than negative in-group and positive out-group behaviors. The present research examined the function of language in reinforcing this bias in political communication. To illustrate the LIB, the Linguistic Category Model (LCM) was used, including a nouns category. Because social stereotypes are usually conveyed by nominal terms, the aim was to observe the relationship between stereotypes and language in political communication. Moreover, we were interested in analyzing the psychological processes that drive the LIB. Therefore, we verified whether the LIB is more related to language abstractness than to agent-patient causality. Several political debates and interviews, which took place before the latest Italian provincial elections, were analyzed. Results suggested that the language politicians use in communicating about political groups are conceptualized as stereotypes rather than as trait-based categories. Moreover, it seems that the LIB could not be explained only at a lexical level. Social implications of the present findings in interpersonal relations and causal attribution were discussed.

Social-communicative effects of the Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) in autism spectrum disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Lerna, Anna; Esposito, Dalila; Conson, Massimiliano; Russo, Luigi; Massagli, Angelo

2012-01-01

The Picture Exchange Communication System (PECS) is a common treatment choice for non-verbal children with autism. However, little empirical evidence is available on the usefulness of PECS in treating social-communication impairments in autism. To test the effects of PECS on social-communicative skills in children with autism, concurrently taking into account standardized psychometric data, standardized functional assessment of adaptive behaviour, and information on social-communicative variables coded in an unstructured setting. Eighteen preschool children (mean age = 38.78 months) were assigned to two intervention approaches, i.e. PECS and Conventional Language Therapy (CLT). Both PECS (Phases I-IV) and CLT were delivered three times per week, in 30-min sessions, for 6 months. Outcome measures were the following: Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS) domain scores for Communication and Reciprocal Social Interaction; Language and Personal-Social subscales of the Griffiths' Mental Developmental Scales (GMDS); Communication and Social Abilities domains of the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS); and several social-communicative variables coded in an unstructured setting. Results demonstrated that the two groups did not differ at Time 1 (pre-treatment assessment), whereas at Time 2 (post-test) the PECS group showed a significant improvement with respect to the CLT group on the VABS social domain score and on almost all the social-communicative abilities coded in the unstructured setting (i.e. joint attention, request, initiation, cooperative play, but not eye contact). These findings showed that PECS intervention (Phases I-IV) can improve social-communicative skills in children with autism. This improvement is especially evident in standardized measures of adaptive behaviour and measures derived from the observation of children in an unstructured setting. © 2012 Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists.

Radiation protection and communication. Sociology and communication impact in radiation protection

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Berne, G.; Bicheron, G.; Franco, P.

2000-01-01

Communication about nuclear energy was the subject of this conference. Different examples of communications are detailed in fields as different as impact of iodine 131 release in waste waters or public information about radiation protection, the north Cotentin radioecology group or what information to give to the patients in nuclear medicine. (N.C.)

A window into learning: case studies of online group communication and collaboration

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard E. Jones

2006-12-01

Full Text Available The two case studies presented explore the potential offered by in-depth qualitative analysis of students' online discussion to enhance our understanding of how students learn. Both cases are used to illustrate how the monitoring and moderation of online student group communication can open up a ‘window into learning', providing us with new insights into complex problem-solving and thinking processes. The cases offer examples of students' ‘thinking aloud' while problem-solving, showing how and why they arrived at particular outcomes and the underlying thought processes involved. It is argued that these insights into students' learning processes can in turn offer us the opportunity to adapt our own teaching practice in order to achieve a better pedagogical ‘fit' with the learning needs of our students; for example, through a more precise or more timely intervention. It is also suggested that looking through this ‘window' enables us to concentrate our assessment more closely on the process of task completion, rather than focusing solely on the end product.

Information Aggregation and Communication in Organizations

OpenAIRE

Philippe Jehiel

1999-01-01

Operating units must communicate their private information regarding decisions to be taken in organizations. This paper characterizes the optimal communication structures assuming that (i) a decision maker is fired whenever he makes a decision that proves wrong ex post relative to the status quo; and (ii) direct communication in a group of kunits may result in the loss of messages with a probability that solely depends on the group size. Several levels of partitioning with direct communicatio...

Intercultural Communication and Disabilities from a Communication Complex Perspective

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Джон Пэрриш-Спраул

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Intercultural communication presents a number of challenges that are less of an issue in same-culture interactions. This is important because travel and technological capability enable more and more immigrants, business people, tourists, etc. to engage in such interactions. One group of people that comprises 10% of the world population, the disabled, is increasingly being mainstreamed within cultures as well as traveling to other countries. Research finds that the disabled are often marginalized and discriminated against within their own country. When the abled enter an intercultural interaction with the disabled the communication challenges are even greater. Communication Complex, a metatheoretical perspective on communication that embraces a constitutive definition of communication combined with a neuroscience understanding of interaction, offers a deeper, yet highly practical explanation of the level of complexity that such an encounter entails. This article offers a brief introduction to this way of understanding intercultural communication, along with the suggestion that future studies and practical guides should take disabilities into account when analyzing or building skills.

Ordinateur et communication (Computer and Communication).

Science.gov (United States)

Mangenot, Francois

1994-01-01

Because use of computers in second-language classrooms may tend to decrease interpersonal interaction, and therefore communication, ways to promote interaction are offered. These include small group computer projects, and suggestions are made for use with various computer functions and features: tutorials, word processing, voice recording,…

Communication in conversation in stroke patients.

Science.gov (United States)

Rousseaux, Marc; Daveluy, Walter; Kozlowski, Odile

2010-07-01

In stroke patients, it has been suggested that communication disorders could result from lexical and syntactic disorders in left hemisphere lesions and from pragmatics problems in right lesions. However, we have little information on patient behaviour in dyadic communication, especially in conversation. Here, we analyzed the various processes participating in communication difficulties at the rehabilitation phase (1-6 months) post-stroke, in order to define the main mechanisms of verbal and non-verbal communication (VC, NVC) disorders and their relationship with aphasic disorders. Sixty-three patients were recruited, who belonged to six groups, with left or right cortico-sub-cortical (L-CSC, R-CSC) or sub-cortical (L-SC, R-SC), frontal (Fro) or posterior fossa (PF) lesions. They were compared with an equivalent control group (gender, age, education level). We used the Lille Communication Test, which comprises three parts: participation to communication (greeting, attention, engagement), verbal communication (verbal comprehension, speech outflow, intelligibility, word production, syntax, verbal pragmatics and verbal feedback) and non-verbal communication (understanding gestures, affective expressivity, producing gestures, pragmatics and feedback). We also used the Functional Communication Profile and the Boston Diagnostic Aphasia Examination (BDAE). Decrease in participation was found in L-CSC, R-CSC and Fro patients. Verbal communication was essentially disrupted in L-SCS and L-SC groups, including by verbal pragmatic disorders, and to a lesser degree in frontal patients. Nonverbal communication was mainly affected in R-CSC patients, especially by pragmatic difficulties. L-CSC patients showed an increase in gesture production, compensating for aphasia. In conclusion, communication disorders were relatively complex and could not be summarised by syntactical and lexical difficulties in left stroke and pragmatic problems in right stroke. The former also showed severe

Analysis of activity of information inquired group on radioecology and public communication in Ozyorsk (the town of nuclear industry)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Govyrina, E.

2001-01-01

The aim of this report is an analysis of the activity of Information Inquired Group on radioecology and public communication, existed in the town of atomic industry Ozyorsk on the base of production association M ayak . Main tasks and functions of this organization, its management structure, forms of activity are considered in this report. In the report the emphasis is laid on the specification of nuclear branch and problems of the work with the public, connected with it. Conclusions maintain the practical recommendation by the work with the public, made on the experience of the Information Inquired Group's activity, and the results of functioning of the organization during ten years. (author)

Communication Competence among Teachers: The Ohio Solution.

Science.gov (United States)

DeWine, Sue; Pearson, Judy C.

1989-01-01

Describes a summer instructional program for elementary and secondary teachers involving a set of workshops on basic communication concepts, nonverbal communication, organizational communication, listening, and small group communication. Discusses issues of marketing the program, defending its academic validity, and decreasing the gap between the…

Technology, Talk, and Time: Patterns of Group Communication and Identity

Science.gov (United States)

Dahl, Laura Brown

2015-01-01

The effective use of technology is increasingly important in many fields where online and digital communication, collaboration, and production have become more prevalent. Although it is clear that many higher education students come into the classroom with skills involved with consuming technology, they often are much less capable of producing…

The Computer as Means of Communication for Peer-Review Groups

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van der Geest, Thea; Remmers, Tim

1994-01-01

In a scientific-writing course, 15 of 54 students used a review-supporting computer program, PREP-EDITOR (PREP), to communicate with their peers about drafts. In an exploratory study, 10 students were interviewed regularly: 5 used PREP and 5 met face-to-face to exchange comments on drafts. The study

Risk communication discourse among ecological risk assessment professionals and its implications for communication with nonexperts

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hunka, Agnieszka; Palmqvist, Annemette; Thorbek, Pernille

2013-01-01

Risk communication, especially to the general public and end users of plant protection products, is an important challenge. Currently, much of the risk communication the general public receives is via the popular press, and risk managers face the challenge of presenting their decisions...... and their scientific basis to the general public in an understandable way. Therefore, we decided to explore the obstacles in risk communication, as done by expert risk assessors and managers. Using the discourse analysis framework and readability tests, we studied perspectives of 3 stakeholder groups......—regulators, industry representatives, and academics across Europe. We conducted 30 confidential interviews (10 participants in each group), with part of the interview guide focused on communication of pesticide risk to the general public and the ideas experts in the field of risk assessment and management hold...

Molecular communications and nanonetworks from nature to practical systems

CERN Document Server

Atakan, Barış

2014-01-01

In this book, the concepts of molecular communications and nanonetworks are introduced. Throughout the book, the existing molecular communication paradigms are categorized into two main groups. The first group includes the Passive Molecular Communication (PMC) paradigms in which molecules freely diffuse to transfer information from a transmitter to a receiver. The second group includes the Active Molecular Communication (AMC) paradigms in which molecules are carried or guided by some mediators such as molecular motors, gap junction channels and bacteria. In the book, after briefly discussing why molecular communication is needed for the sophisticated nano and biotechnology applications, the existing molecular communication systems are first presented. Then, the principles of diffusion phenomena and molecular reception with absorbers and the ligand-receptor binding mechanism are introduced. Based on these principles, the communication theories and techniques are given for the PMC. Then, the physical dynamics o...

Intracultural Communication: Selected Bibliography.

Science.gov (United States)

Byrd, Marquita L.

The 63 books and journal articles listed in this bibliography address the problem of intracultural communication. A short introduction to the bibliography defines intracultural communication as the creation and sharing of meaning among citizens of the same geo-political system who come from various tributary cultures (groups distinguishable from…

Recommendable Practices for Effective Nuclear Crisis Communication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Chang Ju; Hah, Yeon Hee

2011-01-01

'Crisis communication' refers one of the activities done by the Nuclear Regulatory Organizations (NROs) in order to protect the public and the environment from the possible harmful effects. As denoted by the BMU, German NRO, crisis communication is not only 'public information' or 'information for the public', but also communication between authorities in order to guarantee that public information is consistent. This study proposes some recommendable practices for developing a guideline of well-prepared nuclear crisis communication system, including its management framework, and for introducing good insights, based on the study of international aspects provided by relevant OECD/NEA WPGC (Working Group on Public Communication for Nuclear Regulatory Organizations)i working group

Communicative Competence Development in the Course of Vocational Training

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

N. S. Abolina

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The paper, devoted to the communicative competence development, regards it as the key element of professional competence. Modern specialists in any sphere of professional activity need the necessary information and communication skills (i.e. the ability to use the principles of busyness communication for planning and analysis, goal-setting, choosing strategies, understanding the partners’ intentions and modifying the communication ways. The author highlights the labor market requirements to communication skills of the higher school graduates, and insists on introducing the theoretical and practical methods of communication competence development into the educational curricula. The paper specifies the aspects of perception and reflection in interpersonal contacts, and describes the group training methods with the main emphasis on such collective forms as role plays, group discussions, and training sessions. The outlines of the training program in business communication are given along with its approbation results including the improvements in students’ self-assessment, group communication, feelings, moods, activity, self-control in conflict situations, etc. 

Tailoring in risk communication by linking risk profiles and communication preferences: The case of speeding of young car drivers.

Science.gov (United States)

Geber, Sarah; Baumann, Eva; Klimmt, Christoph

2016-12-01

Speeding is one of the most relevant risk behaviors for serious and fatal accidents, particularly among young drivers. This study presents a tailoring strategy for anti-speeding communication. By referring to their motivational dispositions toward speeding derived from motivational models of health behavior, young car drivers were segmented into different risk groups. In order to ensure that risk communication efforts would actually be capable to target these groups, the linkage between the risk profiles and communication preferences were explored. The study was conducted on the basis of survey data of 1168 German car drivers aged between 17 and 24 years. The data reveal four types of risk drivers significantly differing in their motivational profiles. Moreover, the findings show significant differences in communication habits and media use between these risk groups. By linking the risk profiles and communication preferences, implications for tailoring strategies of road safety communication campaigns are derived. Promising segmentation and targeting strategies are discussed also beyond the current case of anti-speeding campaigns. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Patient-provider communication and low-income adults: age, race, literacy, and optimism predict communication satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Jensen, Jakob D; King, Andy J; Guntzviller, Lisa M; Davis, LaShara A

2010-04-01

To assess whether literacy, numeracy, and optimism are related to low-income adults' satisfaction with their healthcare provider's communication skills. Low-income adults (N=131) were recruited from seven counties in Indiana through University extension programs. To achieve research triangulation, participants were surveyed and interviewed about their communication satisfaction with health providers. Survey data revealed that four variables significantly predicted satisfaction: age, race, literacy, and optimism. Low-income adults in the current study were more critical of their healthcare provider's communication skills if they were younger, White, functionally literate, and pessimistic. Follow-up interviews confirmed this pattern and suggested it was a byproduct of patient activism. In low-income populations, communication satisfaction may be lower for groups that are traditionally active in doctor-patient interactions (e.g., younger patients, patients with higher literacy skills). Healthcare providers should be aware that older, non-White, optimistic, and literacy deficient patients report greater communication satisfaction than their younger, White, pessimistic, and functionally literate peers. Both groups may be coping with their situation, the former by withdrawing and the latter by actively pushing for a higher standard of care. Healthcare providers should continue to seek out ways to facilitate dialogue with these underserved groups. 2009 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Communication about risks

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1988-01-01

The conditions, difficulties and possibilities of communication on technological risks are detailed here. There is a description of the types and levels of argument on risks and the risk-concept itself, of the research field of risk communication, of the conceptional frame-work of the working-party, of the research programme and of the chances for a long-term prospect from the group. (DG) [de

Exploring Constrained Creative Communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Sørensen, Jannick Kirk

2017-01-01

Creative collaboration via online tools offers a less ‘media rich’ exchange of information between participants than face-to-face collaboration. The participants’ freedom to communicate is restricted in means of communication, and rectified in terms of possibilities offered in the interface. How do...... these constrains influence the creative process and the outcome? In order to isolate the communication problem from the interface- and technology problem, we examine via a design game the creative communication on an open-ended task in a highly constrained setting, a design game. Via an experiment the relation...... between communicative constrains and participants’ perception of dialogue and creativity is examined. Four batches of students preparing for forming semester project groups were conducted and documented. Students were asked to create an unspecified object without any exchange of communication except...

Inter-Cultural Communication in Student Research

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Hjaltadóttir, Rannveig Edda

This article describes a project undertaken at the University of Southern Denmark designed to support active group work and inter-cultural communication between international students. The project is based on using group work and cooperative learning principles to do student research, therefore...... challenging the students to solve problems as a group. The main aim of the research is to investigate the possible effects of using integrated student research and group work using cooperative learning methods to develop international communication skills of students in multi-cultural higher education courses....

COMMUNICATIONS

CERN Multimedia

L. Taylor and D. Barney

2010-01-01

CMS Centres, Outreach and the 7 TeV Media Event The new CMS Communications group is now established and is addressing three areas that are critical to CMS as it enters the physics operations phase: - Communications Infrastructure, including almost 50 CMS Centres Worldwide, videoconferencing systems, and CERN meeting rooms - Information systems, including the internal and external Web sites as well as the document preparation and management systems - Outreach and Education activities, including working with print, radio and TV media, visits to CMS, and exhibitions. The group has been active in many areas, with the highest priority being accorded to needs of CMS operations and preparations for the major media event planned for 7 TeV collisions. Unfortunately the CMS Centre@CERN suffered a major setback when, on 21st December, a cooling water pipe froze and burst on the floor above the CMS Centre main room. Water poured through the ceiling, flooding the floor and soaking some of the consoles, before e...

The Effect of Communication Strategy Training on the Development of EFL Learners' Strategic Competence and Oral Communicative Ability.

Science.gov (United States)

Rabab'ah, Ghaleb

2016-06-01

This study examines the effect of communication strategy instruction on EFL students' oral communicative ability and their strategic competence. In a 14-week English as a Foreign Language (EFL) course (English Use II) based on Communicative Language Teaching approach, 80 learners were divided into two groups. The strategy training group ([Formula: see text]) received CS training based on a training program designed for the purpose of the present research, whereas the control group ([Formula: see text]) received only the normal communicative course using Click On 3, with no explicit focus on CSs. The communication strategies targeted in the training program included circumlocution (paraphrase), appeal for help, asking for repetition, clarification request, confirmation request, self-repair, and guessing. Pre- and post-test procedures were used to find out the effect of strategy training on language proficiency and CS use. The effect of the training was assessed by three types of data collection: the participants' pre- and post-IELTS speaking test scores, transcription data from the speaking IELTS test, and 'Click On' Exit Test scores. The findings revealed that participants in the strategy training group significantly outperformed the control group in their IELTS speaking test scores. The results of the post-test transcription data also confirmed that the participants in the strategy training group used more CSs, which could be attributed to the CS training program. The findings of the present research have implications for language teachers, and syllabus designers.

The effects of training group exercise class instructors to adopt a motivationally adaptive communication style.

Science.gov (United States)

Ntoumanis, N; Thøgersen-Ntoumani, C; Quested, E; Hancox, J

2017-09-01

Drawing from self-determination theory (Deci & Ryan, 2002), we developed and tested an intervention to train fitness instructors to adopt a motivationally adaptive communication style when interacting with exercisers. This was a parallel group, two-arm quasi-experimental design. Participants in the intervention arm were 29 indoor cycling instructors (n = 10 for the control arm) and 246 class members (n = 75 for the control arm). The intervention consisted of face-to-face workshops, education/information video clips, group discussions and activities, brainstorming, individual planning, and practical tasks in the cycling studio. Instructors and exercisers responded to validated questionnaires about instructors' use of motivational strategies and other motivation-related variables before the first workshop and at the end of the third and final workshop (4 months later). Time × arm interactions revealed no significant effects, possibly due to the large attrition of instructors and exercisers in the control arm. Within-group analyses in the intervention arm showed that exercisers' perceptions of instructor motivationally adaptive strategies, psychological need satisfaction, and intentions to remain in the class increased over time. Similarly, instructors in the intervention arm reported being less controlling and experiencing more need satisfaction over time. These results offer initial promising evidence for the positive impact of the training. © 2016 The Authors Scandinavian Journal of Medicine & Science in Sports Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Effect of the patient-to-patient communication model on dysphagia caused by total laryngectomy.

Science.gov (United States)

Tian, L; An, R; Zhang, J; Sun, Y; Zhao, R; Liu, M

2017-03-01

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of a patient-to-patient communication model on dysphagia in laryngeal cancer patients after total laryngectomy. Sixty-five patients who had undergone total laryngectomy were randomly divided into three groups: a routine communication group, a patient communication group (that received the patient-to-patient communication model) and a physician communication group. Questionnaires were used to compare quality of life and swallowing problems among all patient groups. The main factors causing dysphagia in total laryngectomy patients were related to fear and mental health. The patient communication group had improved visual analogue scale scores at one week after starting to eat. Quality of life in swallowing disorders questionnaire scores were significantly higher in the patient communication and physician communication groups than in the routine communication group. In addition, swallowing problems were much more severe in patients educated to high school level and above than in others. The patient-to-patient communication model can be used to resolve swallowing problems caused by psychological factors in total laryngectomy patients.

Reducing public communication apprehension by boosting self confidence on communication competence

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eva Rachmi

2012-07-01

medical doctor should be competent in communicating with others. Some students at the medical faculty Universitas Mulawarman tend to be silent at public communication training, and this is thought to be influenced by communication anxiety. This study aimed to analyze the possibility of self-confidence on communication competence and communication skills are risk factors of communication apprehension. Methods: This study was conducted on 55 students at the medical faculty Universitas Mulawarman.  Public communication apprehension was measured using the Personal Report of Communication Apprehension (PRCA-24. Confidence in communication competence was determined by the Self Perceived Communication Competence scale (SPCC.  Communication skills were based on the instructor’s score during the communication training program. Data were analyzed by linear regression to identify dominant factors using STATA 9.0. Results: The study showed a negative association between public communication apprehension and students’ self confidence in communication competence [coefficient regression (CR =-0.13; p=0.000; 95% confidence interval (CI=-0.20; -0.52]. However, it was not related to communication skills (p=0.936. Among twelve traits of self confidence on communication competence, students who had confidence to talk to a group of strangers had lower public communication apprehension (adjusted CR=-0.13; CI=-0.21; 0.05; p=0.002. Conclusions:  Increased confidence in their communication competence will reduce the degree of public communication apprehension by students. Therefore, the faculty should provide more opportunities for students to practice public communication, in particular, talking to a group of strangers more frequently. (Health Science Indones 2010; 1: 37 - 42

Communication, Reasoning, and Planned Behaviors: Unveiling the Effect of Interactive Communication in an Anti-Smoking Social Media Campaign.

Science.gov (United States)

Namkoong, Kang; Nah, Seungahn; Record, Rachael A; Van Stee, Stephanie K

2017-01-01

This study examines direct and indirect effects of interactive communication in an antismoking social media campaign. To that end, we pose a multitheoretical framework that integrates communication mediation models and the Theory of Planned Behavior. To test the theorized model, we conducted an experiment using a two-group pretest-posttest design. Participants (N = 201) were randomly assigned into two experimental conditions: "campaign message reception only" as a control group and "message reception and social interaction" as a treatment group, in which the participants contributed to the antismoking campaign by posting their own campaign ideas and information they found through mediated and interpersonal communication. The findings show that interactive communication catalyzes the participants' information searching behaviors through diverse communication channels. In turn, increased media use plays a crucial role in changing their attitudes and perceived social norms about smoking behaviors, and eventually reducing smoking intention. This study affirms that the theory of planned behavior is effective in predicting behavioral intention and demonstrates the usefulness of a multitheoretical approach in interactive campaign research on social media.

Information Overload in Group Communication: From Conversation to Cacophony in the Twitch Chat

OpenAIRE

Nematzadeh, Azadeh; Ciampaglia, Giovanni Luca; Ahn, Yong-Yeol; Flammini, Alessandro

2016-01-01

Online communication channels, especially social web platforms, are rapidly replacing traditional ones. Online platforms allow users to overcome physical barriers, enabling worldwide participation. However, the power of online communication bears an important negative consequence --- we are exposed to too much information to process. Too many participants, for example, can turn online public spaces into noisy, overcrowded fora where no meaningful conversation can be held. Here we analyze a la...

‘Communicating Manuscripts’: Third Conference of LIBER's Manuscript Librarians Group, Berlin, 28-30 November 2007

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jutta Weber

2008-03-01

Full Text Available LIBER's Manuscript Librarians Group held its third conference, entitled 'Communicating Manuscripts' in Berlin from 28-30 November 2007. More than 70 participants from all over Europe came to discuss their experiences and opinions concerning manuscripts (ranging from medieval codices to modern papers and letter collections — in response to a series of papers delivered by a number of specialists from European research libraries and archival institutions. For the Staatsbibliothek it was a pleasure to welcome them and to make the days in Berlin comfortable and successful.

Exploring communication difficulties in pediatric hematology: oncology nurses.

Science.gov (United States)

Citak, Ebru Akgun; Toruner, Ebru Kilicarslan; Gunes, Nebahat Bora

2013-01-01

Communication plays an important role for the well being of patients, families and also health care professionals in cancer care. Conversely, ineffective communication may cause depression, increased anxiety, hopelessness and decreased of quality life for patients, families and also nurses. This study aimed to explore communication difficulties of pediatric hematology/oncology nurses with patients and their families, as well as their suggestions about communication difficulties. It was conducted in a pediatric hematology/oncology hospital in Ankara, Turkey. Qualitative data were collected by focus groups, with 21 pediatric hematology/oncology nursing staff from three groups. Content analysis was used for data analysis. Findings were grouped in three main categories. The first category concerned communication difficulties, assessing problems in responding to questions, ineffective communication and conflicts with the patient's families. The second was about the effects of communication difficulties on nurses and the last main category involved suggestions for empowering nurses with communication difficulties, the theme being related to institutional issues. Nurses experience communication difficulties with children and their families during long hospital stays. Communication difficulties particularly increase during crisis periods, like at the time of first diagnosis, relapse, the terminal stage or on days with special meaning such as holidays. The results obtained indicate that pediatric nurses and the child/family need to be supported, especially during crisis periods. Feeling of empowerment in communication will improve the quality of care by reducing the feelings of exhaustion and incompetence in nurses.

Teaching pediatric communication skills to medical students.

Science.gov (United States)

Frost, Katherine A; Metcalf, Elizabeth P; Brooks, Rachel; Kinnersley, Paul; Greenwood, Stephen R; Powell, Colin Ve

2015-01-01

Delivering effective clinical pediatric communication skills training to undergraduate medical students is a distinct and important challenge. Pediatric-specific communication skills teaching is complex and under-researched. We report on the development of a scenario-based pediatric clinical communication skills program as well as students' assessment of this module. We designed a pediatric clinical communication skills program and delivered it five times during one academic year via small-group teaching. Students were asked to score the workshop in eight domains (learning objectives, complexity, interest, competencies, confidence, tutors, feedback, and discussion) using 5-point Likert scales, along with free text comments that were grouped and analyzed thematically, identifying both the strengths of the workshop and changes suggested to improve future delivery. Two hundred and twenty-one of 275 (80%) student feedback forms were returned. Ninety-six percent of students' comments were positive or very positive, highlighting themes such as the timing of teaching, relevance, group sizes, and the use of actors, tutors, and clinical scenarios. Scenario-based teaching of clinical communication skills is positively received by students. Studies need to demonstrate an impact on practice, performance, development, and sustainability of communications training.

Discrimination of communication vocalizations by single neurons and groups of neurons in the auditory midbrain.

Science.gov (United States)

Schneider, David M; Woolley, Sarah M N

2010-06-01

Many social animals including songbirds use communication vocalizations for individual recognition. The perception of vocalizations depends on the encoding of complex sounds by neurons in the ascending auditory system, each of which is tuned to a particular subset of acoustic features. Here, we examined how well the responses of single auditory neurons could be used to discriminate among bird songs and we compared discriminability to spectrotemporal tuning. We then used biologically realistic models of pooled neural responses to test whether the responses of groups of neurons discriminated among songs better than the responses of single neurons and whether discrimination by groups of neurons was related to spectrotemporal tuning and trial-to-trial response variability. The responses of single auditory midbrain neurons could be used to discriminate among vocalizations with a wide range of abilities, ranging from chance to 100%. The ability to discriminate among songs using single neuron responses was not correlated with spectrotemporal tuning. Pooling the responses of pairs of neurons generally led to better discrimination than the average of the two inputs and the most discriminating input. Pooling the responses of three to five single neurons continued to improve neural discrimination. The increase in discriminability was largest for groups of neurons with similar spectrotemporal tuning. Further, we found that groups of neurons with correlated spike trains achieved the largest gains in discriminability. We simulated neurons with varying levels of temporal precision and measured the discriminability of responses from single simulated neurons and groups of simulated neurons. Simulated neurons with biologically observed levels of temporal precision benefited more from pooling correlated inputs than did neurons with highly precise or imprecise spike trains. These findings suggest that pooling correlated neural responses with the levels of precision observed in the

Ionospheric effects on terrestrial communications: Working Group 3 overview

Czech Academy of Sciences Publication Activity Database

Laštovička, Jan; Bourdillon, A.

2004-01-01

Roč. 47, 2/3 (2004), s. 1269-1277 ISSN 1593-5213. [Final Meeting COST271 Action. Effects of the upper atmosphere on terrestrial and Earth-space communications (EACOS). Abingdon, 26.08.2004-27.08.2004] R&D Projects: GA MŠk OC 271.10; GA AV ČR IBS3012007 Institutional research plan: CEZ:AV0Z3042911 Keywords : ionospheric reflection * telecommunications * gravity waves * planetary waves Subject RIV: DG - Athmosphere Sciences, Meteorology Impact factor: 0.413, year: 2004 http://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/3299/3345

The Interplay of Content and Community in Synchronous and Asynchronous Communication: Virtual Communication in a Graduate Seminar

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Richard A. Schwier

2002-06-01

Full Text Available A group of graduate students and an instructor at the University of Saskatchewan experimented with the use of synchronous communication (chat and asynchronous communication (bulletin board in a theory course in Educational Communications and Technology for an eight-month period. Synchronous communication contributed dramatically to the continuity and convenience of the class, and promoted a strong sense of community. At the same time, it was viewed as less effective than asynchronous communication for dealing with content and issues deeply, and it introduced a number of pedagogical and intellectual limitations. We concluded that synchronous and asynchronous strategies were suitable for different types of learning, and what we experienced was a balancing act between content and community in our group. A combination of synchronous and asynchronous experiences seems to be necessary to promote the kind of engagement and depth required in a graduate seminar.

Communicative-pragmatic impairment in schizophrenia: Cognitive rehabilitative training

OpenAIRE

Francesca Marina Bosco; Francesca Marina Bosco; Ilaria eGabbatore; Luigi eGastaldo; Katiuscia eSacco; Katiuscia eSacco

2016-01-01

This paper aims to verify in patients with schizophrenia, the efficacy of Cognitive Pragmatic Treatment (CPT), a new remediation program for improving communicative-pragmatic abilities. The CPT program consists of 20 group sessions, focused on several communication modalities, i.e. linguistic, extralinguistic and paralinguistic, Theory of Mind (ToM) and other cognitive functions that can affect communicative performance, such as awareness and planning. A group of 17 patients with schizophreni...

The Critical Care Communication project: improving fellows' communication skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Arnold, Robert M; Back, Anthony L; Barnato, Amber E; Prendergast, Thomas J; Emlet, Lillian L; Karpov, Irina; White, Patrick H; Nelson, Judith E

2015-04-01

The aim of this study was to develop an evidence-based communication skills training workshop to improve the communication skills of critical care fellows. Pulmonary and critical care fellows (N = 38) participated in a 3-day communication skills workshop between 2008 and 2010 involving brief didactic talks, faculty demonstration of skills, and faculty-supervised small group skills practice sessions with simulated families. Skills included the following: giving bad news, achieving consensus on goals of therapy, and discussing the limitations of life-sustaining treatment. Participants rated their skill levels in a pre-post survey in 11 core communication tasks using a 5-point Likert scale. Of 38 fellows, 36 (95%) completed all 3 days of the workshop. We compared pre and post scores using the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Overall, self-rated skills increased for all 11 tasks. In analyses by participant, 95% reported improvement in at least 1 skill; with improvement in a median of 10 of 11 skills. Ninety-two percent rated the course as either very good/excellent, and 80% recommended that it be mandatory for future fellows. This 3-day communication skills training program increased critical care fellows' self-reported family meeting communication skills. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Cornerstones of the Austrian radon risk communication strategy

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kunte, A.; Ringer, W.

2015-01-01

On behalf of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management (BMLFUW), the National Radon Centre of Austria developed the National Radon Risk Communication Strategy. The superior goal is the reduction of the radon exposure of Austrian citizens as well as the reduction of radon-related lung cancer deaths. Austria, like many other countries, follows the approach to raise awareness and to inform the public to achieve this goal. The presented strategy deals with the question of how radon protection issues can be communicated to the public, existing fears can be reduced and affected people can be motivated to take action (perform a radon test, if necessary, mitigate or install preventive measures in new buildings). The cornerstones of the National Radon Risk Communication Strategy can be summarized as follows: - Definition of communication goals - Identification and categorization of target groups - Development of specific key messages for each of the target groups - Determination of communication channels and assessment of their efficiency - Integration of the radon issue in education and training - Cooperation with relevant organizations and platforms. The communication objectives, target groups and communication paths (and their evaluation) will be discussed during the presentation in detail.

Overview of the InterGroup protocols

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Berket, Karlo [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Agarwal, Deborah A. [Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Melliar-Smith, P. Michael [Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States); Moser, Louise E. [Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, CA (United States)

2001-03-01

Existing reliable ordered group communication protocols have been developed for local-area networks and do not, in general, scale well to large numbers of nodes and wide-area networks. The InterGroup suite of protocols is a scalable group communication system that introduces a novel approach to handling group membership, and supports a receiver-oriented selection of service. The protocols are intended for a wide-area network, with a large number of nodes, that has highly variable delays and a high message loss rate, such as the Internet. The levels of the message delivery service range from unreliable unordered to reliable group timestamp ordered.

Uncertainty in Bioenergy Scenarios for California: Lessons Learned in Communicating with Different Stakeholder Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Youngs, H.

2013-12-01

Projecting future bioenergy use involves incorporating several critical inter-related parameters with high uncertainty. Among these are: technology adoption, infrastructure and capacity building, investment, political will, and public acceptance. How, when, where, and to what extent the various bioenergy options are implemented has profound effects on the environmental impacts incurred. California serves as an interesting case study for bioenergy implementation because it has very strong competing forces that can influence these critical factors. The state has aggressive greenhouse gas reduction goals, which will require some biofuels, and has invested accordingly on new technology. At the same time, political will and public acceptance of bioenergy has wavered, seriously stalling bioenergy expansion efforts. We have constructed scenarios for bioenergy implementation in California to 2050, in conjunction with efforts to reach AB32 GHG reduction goals of 80% below 1990 emissions. The state has the potential to produce 3 to 10 TJ of biofuels and electricity; however, this potential will be severely limited in some scenarios. This work examines sources of uncertainty in bioenergy implementation, how uncertainty is or is not incorporated into future bioenergy scenarios, and what this means for assessing environmental impacts. How uncertainty is communicated and perceived also affects future scenarios. Often, there is a disconnect between scenarios for widespread implementation and the actual development of individual projects, resulting in "artificial uncertainty" with very real impacts. Bringing stakeholders to the table is only the first step. Strategies to tailor and stage discussions of uncertainty to stakeholder groups is equally important. Lessons learned in the process of communicating the Calfornia's Energy Future biofuels assessment will be discussed.

Risk communication strategies : achieving a multidisciplinary consensus; La communication des risques : un consensus multidisciplinaire

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Robert, B.; Cloutier, I. [Ecole Polytechnique, Montreal, PQ (Canada). Dept. de Mathematiques et de Genie Industriel; Sabourin, J.P. [Ville de Quebec, Quebec, PQ (Canada)

2006-07-01

Risk management related to floods and dam failures requires input from a variety of stakeholders from both the private and the public sector. This paper provided details of a risk management communication strategy based on a consequence approach that established work sequence modes to achieve a multidisciplinary consensus of opinion. The communication of risk was considered as a bilateral exchange of information between concerned parties, who were divided into 2 spheres: (1) a public sphere which included interest groups, government agencies, individuals and the media; and (2) a technical sphere comprised of industry members, scientific experts, and government agencies. Divided between the 2 spheres, government agencies play a distinct role in both the communication and understanding of risk. In Quebec, municipal agencies are required to identify risk and develop plans that ensure public safety. Risk management plans developed by industry members are a valuable source of information for municipal authorities, who can identify vulnerabilities in their own risk communication strategies. In addition, members of the public play an important role in eliciting further risk communications to improve areas of vulnerability. Interest groups can demand further analyses from impartial sources on sensitive issues. Conflicting results offer a plurality of opinions that must be considered to obtain a consensus in risk assessment, which is the ultimate aim of all risk analyses and communications strategies. It was concluded that risk communication strategies benefit from the engagement of a variety of often conflicting views. 8 refs., 3 figs.

Participatory Development Communication: A West African Agenda ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

C.V. Rajasunderam works for the International Communication Group at Ryerson Polytechnic University. His professional interest and experience involve research and training in development communication. Before arriving in Canada, he was a senior communicator at the Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, and later a ...

Three cheers for management and communication!

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

The results of the management and communication training questionnaire are now available on the Human Resources Division's web site. On behalf of the working group on management and communication training*, Sudeshna Datta-Cockerill and Linda Orr-Easo of HR Division wish to thank everyone who participated in the management and communication programme between 1997 and 2002 and took the time to complete their questionnaire. The questionnaire, designed to obtain feedback on the programme, was sent to 1162 people last autumn, 527 of whom replied, which means a return rate of 45%. The programme consitsts of three types of courses, one for supervisors in general, another for the present and future managers, and a third, relating to communication, for all CERN staff. Although it has been around for many years, the programme has only existed in its present form since 1997. The purpose of the questionnaire, which was drawn up in collaboration with the working group on management and communication training*, was to re...

Effects of video-feedback on the communication, clinical competence and motivational interviewing skills of practice nurses: a pre-test posttest control group study.

Science.gov (United States)

Noordman, Janneke; van der Weijden, Trudy; van Dulmen, Sandra

2014-10-01

To examine the effects of individual video-feedback on the generic communication skills, clinical competence (i.e. adherence to practice guidelines) and motivational interviewing skills of experienced practice nurses working in primary care. Continuing professional education may be necessary to refresh and reflect on the communication and motivational interviewing skills of experienced primary care practice nurses. A video-feedback method was designed to improve these skills. Pre-test/posttest control group design. Seventeen Dutch practice nurses and 325 patients participated between June 2010-June 2011. Nurse-patient consultations were videotaped at two moments (T0 and T1), with an interval of 3-6 months. The videotaped consultations were rated using two protocols: the Maastrichtse Anamnese en Advies Scorelijst met globale items (MAAS-global) and the Behaviour Change Counselling Index. Before the recordings, nurses were allocated to a control or video-feedback group. Nurses allocated to the video-feedback group received video-feedback between T0 and T1. Data were analysed using multilevel linear or logistic regression. Nurses who received video-feedback appeared to pay significantly more attention to patients' request for help, their physical examination and gave significantly more understandable information. With respect to motivational interviewing, nurses who received video-feedback appeared to pay more attention to 'agenda setting and permission seeking' during their consultations. Video-feedback is a potentially effective method to improve practice nurses' generic communication skills. Although a single video-feedback session does not seem sufficient to increase all motivational interviewing skills, significant improvement in some specific skills was found. Nurses' clinical competences were not altered after feedback due to already high standards. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Investigating interactional competence using video recordings in ESL classrooms to enhance communication

Science.gov (United States)

Krishnasamy, Hariharan N.

2016-08-01

Interactional competence, or knowing and using the appropriate skills for interaction in various communication situations within a given speech community and culture is important in the field of business and professional communication [1], [2]. Similar to many developing countries in the world, Malaysia is a growing economy and undergraduates will have to acquire appropriate communication skills. In this study, two aspects of the interactional communicative competence were investigated, that is the linguistic and paralinguistic behaviors in small group communication as well as conflict management in small group communication. Two groups of student participants were given a problem-solving task based on a letter of complaint. The two groups of students were video recorded during class hours for 40 minutes. The videos and transcription of the group discussions were analyzed to examine the use of language and interaction in small groups. The analysis, findings and interpretations were verified with three lecturers in the field of communication. The results showed that students were able to accomplish the given task using verbal and nonverbal communication. However, participation was unevenly distributed with two students talking for less than a minute. Negotiation was based more on alternative views and consensus was easily achieved. In concluding, suggestions are given on ways to improve English language communication.

Comparison of communication skills between trained and untrained students using a culturally sensitive nurse-client communication guideline in Indonesia.

Science.gov (United States)

Claramita, Mora; Tuah, Rodianson; Riskione, Patricia; Prabandari, Yayi Suryo; Effendy, Christantie

2016-01-01

A communication guideline that is sensitive to the local culture is influential in the process of nursing care. The Gadjah Mada nurse-client communication guideline, the "Ready-Greet-Invite-Discuss," was meant (1) to strengthen the relationship between the nurse and the client despite of socio-culturally hierarchical gap between health providers and clients in Indonesian context, (2) to provide attention to the unspoken concerns especially in the context of indirect communication which mostly using non-verbal signs and politeness etiquettes, and (3) to initiate dialog in the society which hold a more community-oriented decision making. Our aim is to compare the communication skills of nursing students who had and had not received a training using a culture-sensitive Gadjah Mada nurse-client communication guideline. This was a quasi experimental randomized control study to the fifth semester students of a nursing school at Yogyakarta, Indonesia. The intervention group was trained by the Gadjah Mada nurse-client communication guideline. Both intervention and the control group had learned general nurse-client communication guidelines. The training was 4h with role-plays, supportive information and feedback sessions. An objective-structured clinical examination (OSCE) was conducted 1week after the training, in seven stations, with seven simulated clients. Observers judged the communication skills of the students using a checklist of 5-point Likert scale, whereas simulated clients judged their satisfaction using 4-point Likert scale represented in colorful ribbons. There were significant mean differences in each domain of communication guideline observed between the trained and the control groups as judged by the teachers (p≤0.05) and simulated clients. Training using a culture-sensitive communication skills guideline could improve the communication skills of the nursing students and may increase satisfaction of the clients. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

Jana: Confidential Communications on Social Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2017-08-09

consuming phone resources and privacy leakage ?” We address this challenge via an extensive user study. Next, we ask “How can we detect background apps...not support secret group communications. Furthermore, access to such social networks via mobile platforms raises a series of concerns like leakage of...not support secret group communications. Furthermore, access to such social networks via mobile platforms raises a series of concerns like leakage of

Communicating Trust Between Parents and Their Children

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Demant, Jakob Johan; Ravn, Signe

2013-01-01

This article discusses how Danish parents and their children communicate trust. Based on Niklas Luhmann’s sociological theory, the article explores new aspects of communication about alcohol-related rules. The analysis shows how the parents emphasize the importance of communicating trust, while...... the adolescents, on the other hand, observe the parents’ communication on the basis of their own, more instrumental, logic. Trust becomes a functional solution to the parents’ paradoxical situation, because it enables them to balance between a democratic family ideal, emphasizing the adolescents’ independence......, while taking care of risk behavior. The article draws on Danish qualitative data comprising 37 focus group interviews with adolescents (14-16 years of age) and six focus group interviews with parents....

COMMUNICATIONS

CERN Multimedia

A. Petrilli

2013-01-01

The organisation of the Open Days at the end of September was the single biggest effort of the CMS Communications Group this year. We would like to thank all volunteers for their hard work to show our Point 5 facilities and explain science and technology to the general public. During two days more than 5,000 people visited the CMS detector underground and profited from the surface activities, which included an exhibition on CMS, a workshop on superconductivity, and an activity for our younger visitors involving wooden Kapla blocks. The Communications Group took advantage of the preparations to produce new CMS posters that can be reused at other venues. Event display images have been produced not just for this occasion but also for other exhibits, education purposes, publications etc. During the Open Days, Gilles Jobin, 2012 winner of CERN Collide@CERN prize, performed his Quantum show in Point 5, with the light installation of German artist Julius von Bismarck. Image 3: CERN Open Days at CMS wel...

Biometric Communication Research for Television.

Science.gov (United States)

Malik, M. F.

Biometric communication research is defined as research dealing with the information impact of a film or television show, photographic picture, painting, exhibition, display, or any literary or functional texts or verbal stimuli on human beings, both as individuals and in groups (mass audiences). Biometric communication research consists of a…

Development of a Social DTN for Message Communication between SNS Group Members

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hidenori Takasuka

2018-04-01

Full Text Available Smartphones have the ability to communicate with other terminals through ad hoc connections. A variety of applications have been developed to exploit this ability. The authors have developed an Android OS (operating system application (called “social DTN manager” that builds a DTN (delay, disruption, disconnection tolerant networking among members of a social networking service (SNS community using a community token. The members can exchange messages over this network. Control messages for building a DTN are forwarded to only those nodes that use the same community token in order to reduce flooding of message copies. When a source node sends a communication request to its destination node, they exchange control messages to establish a communication route. Relay nodes use these messages to create and hold routing information for these nodes in their routing tables. Thereafter, relay nodes can forward data messages based on their routing tables. This again reduces flooding of message copies. The social DTN manager incorporates these functions, Facebook Graph API and Google Nearby Connections API. The authors have installed it in Android terminals and confirmed that a social DTN can successfully be built using this application and that data messages can be exchanged between terminals via reactive routes.

Communication Lillgrund. Lillgrund Pilot Project

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Karlsson, Annah (Vattenfall Vindkraft AB, Stockholm (Sweden))

2008-09-15

The project of building a large wind farm like Lillgrund, the third largest offshore wind farm in the world, takes a considerable effort when it comes to communication and information. When the main questions 'What should be communicated?', 'To whom should this information be communicated?' and 'How should the information be communicated?' are answered, it is time to take action and actually communicate and inform. A fundamental part of the communication process is psychology. For the entrepreneur to understand that people are worried about the possible change in their living situation and deal with that is essential for how people are going to react to the plans of a potential wind farm. When Vattenfall bought the Lillgrund project a humble tone and availability were two key components in the way in which the project group approached the local residents, authorities and the general public. The goal was to achieve acceptance from the local residents and authorities and make them feel comfortable with the project and Vattenfall. Communication has been a cornerstone of the project during the whole process. A few of the activities that were carried out are media activities, open meetings for the public, exhibitions, advertisements, meetings with authorities, internal and external study visits to the site, cooperation with Malmoe city, participation in conferences and a grand opening ceremony. The basis for the activities has been the active inviting of organisations, neighbours and others. Thanks to the efforts of the whole project group and all others that were involved, the communication process was very successful. The 'Lillgrund model' will be the foundation for coming communication processes and has provided Vattenfall with a lot of experience regarding communication and information issues

Empowering communication as an aspect of managerial communication in the training and development of principals

OpenAIRE

2012-01-01

D.Ed. On surveying education in South Africa, it becomes clear that there is a vast and pervasive effort to reform schools. Criticism from several quarters regarding the lack of effective managerial skills of principals including empowering communication indicates the importance of research into the communicative competencies of educational managers. The development of training programmes in effective communication skills for principals is thus imperative. A group of M.Ed. students from th...

Communication resources of managers and business professionals.

Science.gov (United States)

Pedrotti, Clarissa Araujo; Behlau, Mara

2017-05-22

To analyze the communication resources reported by managers in the business environment and compare the resources used to those reported by business professionals. 82 professionals volunteered to participate in the research, divided into 50 managers (MP) and 32 business professionals (BP) from industry section in Caxias do Sul and the surrounding region (Brazil). A questionnaire with 4 topics was used: personal data, self-assessment of communicative behavior, self-assessment of communicative resources, and selection of positive and negative resources influencing communication. Regarding communicative behavior, both groups reported normal voice but with significant differences regarding the use of softness in communication, 25% of MP and only 4% of BP. Both groups selected the following main positive resources: knowledge of subject, use of proper vocabulary, and objectivity. The negative resources were, similarly, the lack of subject domain, criticism or prejudgment, and improper vocabulary. Finally, analyzing the degree of influence of each communicative resource, the MP highlighted tone of voice as an important positive resource, while the BP pointed the subject domain. Still, the monotonous voice for MP and nervousness for BP were indicated as the main negative influences. Managers value more communicative resources connected to communicative attitude, such as tone of voice and expression, while business professionals worry about demonstrating security and technical understanding of the subject.

Communication in different keys

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Souwer, Corinne

1995-01-01

This paper is based on a study for which the research has been conducted by Esther van der Draai, trainee at ECN - Nuclear Energy, Dutch member of the NucNet board, delegation member of the European Task Force Group - 10th Anniversary of Chernobyl. The complete study is presented to WIN. It explains how to attune communication to the target group, and discusses the communication theory analogue language, which does not only include the typical non-verbal signals, such as eye contact, facial expression, gestures, etc., but also smiling, blushing, sighing, clothing, smell. In short, analogue language is always there and always influences other parties

Designing augmentative and alternative communication applications: the results of focus groups with speech-language pathologists and parents of children with autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Boster, Jamie B; McCarthy, John W

2018-05-01

The purpose of this study was to gain insight from speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) regarding appealing features of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) applications. Two separate 1-hour focus groups were conducted with 8 SLPs and 5 parents of children with ASD to identify appealing design features of AAC Apps, their benefits and potential concerns. Participants were shown novel interface designs for communication mode, play mode and incentive systems. Participants responded to poll questions and provided benefits and drawbacks of the features as part of structured discussion. SLPs and parents identified a range of appealing features in communication mode (customization, animation and colour-coding) as well as in play mode (games and videos). SLPs preferred interfaces that supported motor planning and instruction while parents preferred those features such as character assistants that would appeal to their child. Overall SLPs and parents agreed on features for future AAC Apps. SLPs and parents have valuable input in regards to future AAC app design informed by their experiences with children with ASD. Both groups are key stakeholders in the design process and should be included in future design and research endeavors. Implications for Rehabilitation AAC applications for the iPad are often designed based on previous devices without consideration of new features. Ensuring the design of new interfaces are appealing and beneficial for children with ASD can potentially further support their communication. This study demonstrates how key stakeholders in AAC including speech language pathologists and parents can provide information to support the development of future AAC interface designs. Key stakeholders may be an untapped resource in the development of future AAC interfaces for children with ASD.

Communicating the right emotion makes violence seem less wrong : Power-congruent emotions lead outsiders to legitimize violence of powerless and powerful groups in intractable conflict

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Kamans, Elanor; van Zomeren, Martijn; Gordijn, Ernestine H.; Postmes, Tom

In intractable intergroup conflicts, groups often try to frame intergroup violence as legitimate through the use of emotional appeals. Two experiments demonstrate that outsiders' perception of which emotion conflict parties communicate influences the extent to which they legitimize their violence.

Investigation Of Information Sources And Communication Channels ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Investigation Of Information Sources And Communication Channels In Ipm Rice ... the information accessibility of farmer groups seems as empowerment strategy. ... information sources and communication channels, in order of importance, ...

Pair Interactions and Mode of Communication: Comparing Face-to-Face and Computer Mediated Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Tan, Lan Liana; Wigglesworth, Gillian; Storch, Neomy

2010-01-01

In today's second language classrooms, students are often asked to work in pairs or small groups. Such collaboration can take place face-to-face, but now more often via computer mediated communication. This paper reports on a study which investigated the effect of the medium of communication on the nature of pair interaction. The study involved…

Does allergic rhinitis affect communication skills in young adults?

Science.gov (United States)

Cingi, Can Cemal; Sakallıoğlu, Öner; Muluk, Nuray Bayar; Cingi, Cemal

2016-01-01

Allergic rhinitis (AR) is a chronic disorder with a high prevalence in the general population. The symptoms of AR can impair the cognitive capabilities of the affected people. The study of communication skills and AR interaction has not been adequately discussed. We aimed to analyze Social Communication Skills of university students with AR. Fifty patients suffering from AR and 50 healthy subjects were studied. All participants completed two questionnaires [Social Communication Skills Rating Scale (SCSRS) and Communication Questionnaire] for the assessment of social communication skills. Total scores of both SCSRS and Communication Questionnaire were higher in participants with AR than controls. When the questions of SCSRS were compared between the groups one by one, significant difference was observed between the groups for questions numbered 1-9 and 11, 12 (p Communication Questionnaire (p communication skills of the patients with AR. More research is however needed to validate this hypothesis.

SCIENTIFIC COMMUNICATION WITH A FOCUS ON SESAME

CERN Document Server

ahmad, sameem

2017-01-01

Scientific communication, the representation of CERN and raising awareness about science to a wide range of audiences is very important for the CERN communication teams. Having a physics background and an interest in science administration, communication and research, I was based in the International Relations sector, working in various groups and focusing on written communication. I gained experience in many aspects of scientific communications by finding out how CERN in represented in the press and media, other online forums and in outreach.

Online Communication and Adolescent Relationships

Science.gov (United States)

Subrahmanyam, Kaveri; Greenfield, Patricia

2008-01-01

Over the past decade, technology has become increasingly important in the lives of adolescents. As a group, adolescents are heavy users of newer electronic communication forms such as instant messaging, e-mail, and text messaging, as well as communication-oriented Internet sites such as blogs, social networking, and sites for sharing photos and…

Summary of Research 1997, Interdisciplinary Academic Groups

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Boger, Dan

1999-01-01

This report contains information of research projects in the interdisciplinary groups, Command, Control, and Communications Academic Group, Information Warfare Academic Group, Space Systems Academic...

Report to Congress on NRC emergency communications

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

1980-09-01

The accident at Three Mile Island highlighted the need for improved communications among the NRC and other organizations which respond to such emergencies. This report summarizes the communication problems identified by several major review groups after the accident, the status of corrective actions, and NRC plans to improve communications still further. (author)

Discussion groups on the Internet: journaling.

Science.gov (United States)

Till, J E

1995-09-01

Interactive communication on the Internet, as illustrated by the e-mail-based breast cancer discussion group, provides an alternative to the telephone, the fax machine and regular mail, and is a resource for communications research, the potential of which is only beginning to be appreciated. At least some of the messages posted to such discussion groups could be regarded as a form of "journaling". Such messages are eminently suitable for qualitative data analysis.

Outcome of parent-physician communication skills training for pediatric residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Nikendei, Christoph; Bosse, Hans Martin; Hoffmann, Katja; Möltner, Andreas; Hancke, Rabea; Conrad, Corinna; Huwendiek, Soeren; Hoffmann, Georg F; Herzog, Wolfgang; Jünger, Jana; Schultz, Jobst-Hendrik

2011-01-01

communication skills represent an essential component of clinical competence. In the field of pediatrics, communication between physicians and patients' parents is characterized by particular difficulties. To investigate the effects of a parent-physician communication skills training program on OSCE performance and self-efficacy in a group control design. parallel to their daily work in the outpatient department, intervention-group experienced clinicians in practice (n=14) participated in a communication training with standardized parents. Control-group physicians (n=14) did not receive any training beyond their daily work. Performance was assessed by independent video ratings of an OSCE. Both groups rated their self-efficacy prior to and following training. regarding OSCE performance, the intervention group demonstrated superior skills in building relationships with parents (pperform better in exploring parents' problems (pcommunication training program led to significant improvement in self-efficacy with respect to the specific training objectives in the intervention group (pcommunication training with standardized parents leads to significant improvement in OSCE performance and self-efficacy. PRACTISE IMPLICATIONS: briefness and tight structure make the presented communication training program applicable even for experienced physicians in daily clinical practice. 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Scientific-methodological aspects of communication management on industrial enterprises

OpenAIRE

L.Yu. Sager

2012-01-01

The article explains the purpose of communication management and proposes the scheme of communication process. The groups of potential obstacles of effective communication management and basic measures to overcome them are allocated.

Impact of Sport-related Games on High School Students’ Communication Skills

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ozturk Ozden Tepekoylu

2015-09-01

Full Text Available In Recent studies underline the fact that adolescents are, at many times, likely to experience serious communication problems with their families and close environments. So, the aim of this study is to determine positive impact of sport-related games, which are performed as extracurricular activities, on high school students’ communication skills. In the study, pre, & post-tests was utilized with the control group’s experimental patterns. Two participant groups were made up of totally 30 high school students, 15 of whom would be in the experimental group and the rest of whom were in the control group. The former group was given sport- related 20 applications for 10 weeks during which the latter group would not deal with any extracurricular activities. Meanwhile, before and after the applications, data was collected by means of “The Communication Skills Scale” which was developed by Korkut (1996 and then analysed through “two-way ANCOVA” test techniques. Results clarify that the considerable gap in scores of the students’ pre, & post-tests perception concerning their communication skills are clearly attributed to sport-related games and it was also established that scores of the students in the experimental group were meaningfully higher than ones in the control group. However, perception of communication skills in the both groups was not significantly different by sex of the students. Moreover, the common effect of sex and participation on sport- related games was not found statistically meaningful in terms of communication skills. Consequently, it could be said that sport-related games impact positively communication skills.

What children know about communication : a language biographical approach of the heterogeneity of plurilingual groups

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Le Pichon-Vorstman, E.M.M.

2010-01-01

What do children know about communication? In the increasingly globalized world we live in, nowadays children more often come into contact with multiple languages at different ages and in variable contexts. Consequently, children may at times be required to communicate in situations in which they

Perceptions on the risk communication strategy during the 2013 avian influenza A/H7N9 outbreak in humans in China: a focus group study.

Science.gov (United States)

Li, Richun; Xie, Ruiqian; Yang, Chong; Frost, Melinda

2016-01-01

To identify the general public's perceptions of the overall risk communication strategy carried out by Chinese public health agencies during the first wave of avian influenza A(H7N9) outbreak in humans in 2013. Participants were recruited from communities in Beijing, Lanzhou and Hangzhou, China in May and June 2013 by convenience sampling. Demographics and other relevant information were collected using a self-administered questionnaire. Focus group interviews were conducted using a set of nine pre-developed questions and a tested moderator guide. The interviews were audio recorded and were transcribed verbatim. The constant comparative method was used to identify trends and themes. A total of nine focus group interviews, with 94 participants recruited from nine communities, were conducted. Most participants received H7N9 information via television and the Internet. Most the participants appreciated the transparency and timeliness of the information released by the government. They expressed a sense of trust in the recommended public health advice and followed most of them. The participants suggested that the government release more information about clinical treatment outcomes, have more specific health recommendations that are practical to their settings and expand the use of new media channels for risk communication. The public perceived the overall risk communication strategy by the Chinese public health agencies as effective, though the moderator had a governmental agency title that might have biased the results. There is a need to expand the use of social media for risk communication in the future.

Computer Mediated Communication and the Emergence of "Electronic Opportunism"

OpenAIRE

Rocco, Elena; Warglien, Massimo

1996-01-01

An experiment on how communication affects cooperation in a social dilemma shows that computer mediated communication (CMC) and face to face communication have markedly different effects on patterns of collective behavior. While face to face communication sustains stable cooperation, CMC makes cooperative agreements in groups extremely fragile, giving rise to waves of opportunistic behavior. Further analysis of communication protocols highlights that the breakdown of ordinary communication ru...

Innovative Method in Improving Communication Issues by Applying Interdisciplinary Approach. Psycholinguistic Perspective to Mitigate Communication Troubles During Cislunar Travel.

Science.gov (United States)

Anikushina, V.; Taratukhin, V.; Stutterheim, C. v.; Gushin, V.

2018-02-01

A new psycholinguistic view on the crew communication, combined with biochemical and psychological data, contributes to noninvasive methods for stress appraisal and proposes alternative approaches to improve in-group communication and cohesion.

The Relationship of Cultural Similarity, Communication Effectiveness and Uncertainty Reduction.

Science.gov (United States)

Koester, Jolene; Olebe, Margaret

To investigate the relationship of cultural similarity/dissimilarity, communication effectiveness, and communication variables associated with uncertainty reduction theory, a study examined two groups of students--a multinational group living on an "international floor" in a dormitory at a state university and an unrelated group of U.S.…

Construction method of QC-LDPC codes based on multiplicative group of finite field in optical communication

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Sheng; Ao, Xiang; Li, Yuan-yuan; Zhang, Rui

2016-09-01

In order to meet the needs of high-speed development of optical communication system, a construction method of quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) codes based on multiplicative group of finite field is proposed. The Tanner graph of parity check matrix of the code constructed by this method has no cycle of length 4, and it can make sure that the obtained code can get a good distance property. Simulation results show that when the bit error rate ( BER) is 10-6, in the same simulation environment, the net coding gain ( NCG) of the proposed QC-LDPC(3 780, 3 540) code with the code rate of 93.7% in this paper is improved by 2.18 dB and 1.6 dB respectively compared with those of the RS(255, 239) code in ITU-T G.975 and the LDPC(3 2640, 3 0592) code in ITU-T G.975.1. In addition, the NCG of the proposed QC-LDPC(3 780, 3 540) code is respectively 0.2 dB and 0.4 dB higher compared with those of the SG-QC-LDPC(3 780, 3 540) code based on the two different subgroups in finite field and the AS-QC-LDPC(3 780, 3 540) code based on the two arbitrary sets of a finite field. Thus, the proposed QC-LDPC(3 780, 3 540) code in this paper can be well applied in optical communication systems.

Comparative Analysis of Terrorists’ Communication Strategies

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Denis Alexandrovich Zhuravliev

2011-01-01

Full Text Available There is a wide-spread approach in a research literature to regard terrorism as a communicative process. From this point of view, the author offers a comparative analysis of the three most common communication strategies of terrorist groups, including transforming the role of the mass media, the Internet and a combined approach. The author also argues that a particular communication strategy determines a structure of a terrorist organization.

Communication Satisfaction in the Bank: An Audit Evaluation.

Science.gov (United States)

Walther, Joseph B.

1988-01-01

Evaluates structural influences on perceived communication adequacy in a multi-branch banking organization. Uses a communication audit to determine which groups within the banking system were experiencing dissatisfaction with received communication. Finds that part-time employees were significantly less satisfied than hourly workers. (MM)

Do better communication skills promote sheltered employment in schizophrenia?

Science.gov (United States)

Adamczyk, Przemysław; Daren, Artur; Sułecka, Aleksandra; Błądziński, Piotr; Cichocki, Łukasz; Kalisz, Aneta; Gawęda, Łukasz; Cechnicki, Andrzej

2016-10-01

Alongside various psychopathological symptoms and neurocognitive dysfunctions, communication skill impairments may be considered core feature of schizophrenia. Although many studies examined the relation between employment status and neurocognition in schizophrenia, we still know very little about the role of communication skills in vocational status among people with schizophrenia. The purpose of this study is to identify the most characteristic communication, neurocognitive and social cognition differences which separate the employed schizophrenia outpatients from those who do not work. The study included three groups: 33 schizophrenia outpatients employed in social firms, 29 unemployed schizophrenia outpatients participating in occupational therapy and sex & age matched 31 healthy controls. We assessed communication skills, global cognitive functioning, executive functions, memory, social cognition as well as severity of psychopathology. Our results indicate that the most characteristic differences between employed and unemployed schizophrenia outpatients are associated with selective language and communication skills, i.e. paralinguistic aspects of communication, understanding of discrete meaning of linguistic context and figurative meaning of language. We find no significant differences between both clinical groups with regard to neurocognition and social cognition. Moreover, unemployed group had more severe psychopathology than the employed group, so we re-analyzed results controlling for symptom severity. The only differences that endured were related to general communication skills and explanation of pictured metaphors, but only when controlling solely for positive or negative syndrome. In conclusion, the present study indicates that employment in schizophrenia is associated with better symptomatic remission and communication skills, but not with better neurocognition and social cognition. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Interactive use of communication by verbal and non-verbal autistic children.

Science.gov (United States)

Amato, Cibelle Albuquerque de la Higuera; Fernandes, Fernanda Dreux Miranda

2010-01-01

Communication of autistic children. To assess the communication functionality of verbal and non-verbal children of the autistic spectrum and to identify possible associations amongst the groups. Subjects were 20 children of the autistic spectrum divided into two groups: V with 10 verbal children and NV with 10 non-verbal children with ages varying between 2y10m and 10y6m. All subjects were video recorded during 30 minutes of spontaneous interaction with their mothers. The samples were analyzed according to the functional communicative profile and comparisons within and between groups were conducted. Data referring to the occupation of communicative space suggest that there is an even balance between each child and his mother. The number of communicative acts per minute shows a clear difference between verbal and non-verbal children. Both verbal and non-verbal children use mostly the gestual communicative mean in their interactions. Data about the use of interpersonal communicative functions point out to the autistic children's great interactive impairment. The characterization of the functional communicative profile proposed in this study confirmed the autistic children's difficulties with interpersonal communication and that these difficulties do not depend on the preferred communicative mean.

Communicating climate risks to Vietnam's vulnerable coastal ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2015-05-04

May 4, 2015 ... A key aspect of this research involves communicating climate change ... to more effectively communicate climate change risk and uncertainty to ... youth groups and women's unions, to share climate expertise and improve ...

Translating medical documents improves students' communication skills in simulated physician-patient encounters.

Science.gov (United States)

Bittner, Anja; Bittner, Johannes; Jonietz, Ansgar; Dybowski, Christoph; Harendza, Sigrid

2016-02-27

Patient-physician communication should be based on plain and simple language. Despite communication skill trainings in undergraduate medical curricula medical students and physicians are often still not aware of using medical jargon when communicating with patients. The aim of this study was to compare linguistic communication skills of undergraduate medical students who voluntarily translate medical documents into plain language with students who do not participate in this voluntary task. Fifty-nine undergraduate medical students participated in this study. Twenty-nine participants were actively involved in voluntarily translating medical documents for real patients into plain language on the online-platform https://washabich.de (WHI group) and 30 participants were not (non-WHI group). The assessment resembled a virtual consultation hour, where participants were connected via skype to six simulated patients (SPs). The SPs assessed participants' communication skills. All conversations were transcribed and assessed for communication skills and medical correctness by a blinded expert. All participants completed a self-assessment questionnaire on their communication skills. Across all raters, the WHI group was assessed significantly (p = .007) better than the non-WHI group regarding the use of plain language. The blinded expert assessed the WHI group significantly (p = .018) better regarding the use of stylistic devices of communication. The SPs would choose participants from the WHI group significantly (p = .041) more frequently as their personal physician. No significant differences between the two groups were observed with respect to the medical correctness of the consultations. Written translation of medical documents is associated with significantly more frequent use of plain language in simulated physician-patient encounters. Similar extracurricular exercises might be a useful tool for medical students to enhance their communication skills with

The Effect of Picture Exchange Communication System and Speech Therapy on Communication Development of 4-8 Years Old Autistic Children

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zahra Pour-Ismaili

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Objective: This study compares the effect of speech therapy and picture exchange communication system (PECS on communication development of 4-8 year old autistic children. Materials & Methods: This is an experimental and comparison study. In this study 10 subjects including PECS and speech therapy groups were selected using the available sampling method on the base of including and excluding criteria. Both groups were matched according to age and developmental indices of Niusha scale. Dependent variables were listening, receptive language, expressive language, cognition, speech and social communication. Intervention was applied for both groups similarly divided in 40 minute sessions 3 times a weak for 3 months. Our parameters were evaluated by Niusha development scale before and after interventions. The results were analyzed clinically and statistically by sum-ranks willkokson and rank- signed willkokson. Results: Post test comparison between the two groups revealed that the members of PECS group had a more progress in listening, receptive language, cognition and social communication skills rather than speech therapy group. But these differences were not significant statistically and T(sum ranks was between critical values. Conclusion: considering the results, it could be concluded that PECS is a effective strategy to train non-verbal autistic children. Moreover it could be used as a supplement teaching method beside other therapeutic method such as speech therapy.

A View of Oral Communication Activities in Food Science from the Perspective of a Communication Researcher

Science.gov (United States)

Vrchota, Denise Ann

2015-01-01

Food science researchers have pronounced the Institute of Food Technologists Success Skills to be the most important competency mastered by graduates entering the work force. Much of the content and outcomes of the Success Skills pertains to oral communication skills of public speaking and interpersonal and group communication. This qualitative…

How should realism and hope be combined in physician-patient communication at the end of life? An online focus-group study among participants with and without a Muslim background.

Science.gov (United States)

Oosterveld-Vlug, Mariska G; Francke, Anneke L; Pasman, H Roeline W; Onwuteaka-Philipsen, Bregje D

2017-06-01

Maintaining false hope may result in prolonged curative aggressive treatments until the very last stage of life. In this study, we sought to explore how people think that realistic and hopeful information should best be combined in physician-patient communications at the end of life. During a period of 15 days, participants of five online focus groups (OFGs) could log in onto a closed discussion site and offer responses to several topics. A variety of people participated: patients, older people, relatives, and healthcare professionals with and without a Muslim background. Participants with a Muslim background constituted a separate group, because previous research indicated that they might have distinct views on good end-of-life care and communication. Transcripts were analyzed following the principles of thematic analysis. Participants from all focus groups preferred that physicians provide realistic information in an empathic way, stating that the patient would never be left on his own and that withholding curative treatment was not equal to withholding care, explicitly asking how the patient could be helped during the time remaining, and involving other professionals in the care process and communications. As such, physicians could support patients' transition from "hope for a cure" to "hope for a good death." Muslims specified the way they wished to receive realistic information: first from a relative, and not by using the term "incurable illness," but rather by informing the patient that they had no remaining curative treatments available. Realism and hope are not necessarily mutually exclusive and can be combined when providing realistic information in a delicate and culturally sensitive way. This study provides suggestions on how physicians can do so. Communication skills training as well as anchoring knowledge of the diversity of cultural and religious views into physicians' education could improve end-of-life communication.

Geritalk: Communication Skills Training for Geriatrics and Palliative Medicine Fellows

Science.gov (United States)

Kelley, Amy S.; Back, Anthony L.; Arnold, Robert M.; Goldberg, Gabrielle R.; Lim, Betty B.; Litrivis, Evgenia; Smith, Cardinale B.; O’Neill, Lynn B.

2011-01-01

Expert communication is essential to high quality care for older patients with serious illness. While the importance of communication skills is widely recognized, formal curricula for teaching communication skills to geriatrics and palliative medicine fellows is often inadequate or unavailable. We drew upon the educational principles and format of an evidence-based, interactive teaching method, to develop an intensive communication skills training course designed specifically to address the common communication challenges faced by geriatrics and palliative medicine fellows. The 2-day retreat, held away from the hospital environment, included large-group overview presentations, small-group communication skills practice, and development of future skills practice commitment. Faculty received in-depth training in small-group facilitation techniques prior to the course. Geriatrics and palliative medicine fellows were recruited to participate in the course and 100% (n=18) enrolled. Overall satisfaction with the course was very high (mean 4.8 on 5-point scale). Compared to before the course, fellows reported an increase in self-assessed preparedness for specific communication challenges (mean increase 1.4 on 5-point scale, pcommunication skills program, tailored to the specific needs of geriatrics and palliative medicine fellows, improved fellows’ self-assessed preparedness for challenging communication tasks and provided a model for ongoing deliberate practice of communication skills. PMID:22211768

Research on group enterprise multimedia information publishing system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zhimin Dong

2017-01-01

Full Text Available A electric power group enterprises to actively explore the innovation of enterprise culture management, making full use of modern information and communication technologies, construction of trans-regional multimedia information publishing platform. Construction of a municipal pilot units in Group region, for example, through consolidation, Office LANs, corporate networks in electric power communication network, cable TV network, realized with pictures, video, PPT, FLASH animations, WORD documents, WEB pages, video conference streams, radio, television, and other media as the carrier’s digital communications.

Intercultural Communication Ethics and Communication Competence%Intercultural Communication Ethics and Communication Competence

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

时婷洁

2012-01-01

This paper investigates intercultural communication ethics is a vital element to promote intercultural communication competence. Firstly, it defines the concept of intercultural communication ethics; Secondly, it illustrates the relation between ethics and the key point of intercultural communication competence; and finally addresses how intercultural communication ethics can improve intercultural communication competence.

Group Delay of High Q Antennas

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Bahramzy, Pevand; Pedersen, Gert Frølund

2013-01-01

Group Delay variations versus frequency is an essential factor which can cause distortion and degradation in the signals. Usually this is an issue in wideband communication systems, such as satellite communication systems, which are used for transmitting wideband data. However, group delay can also...... become an issue, when working with high Q antennas, because of the steep phase shift over the frequency. In this paper, it is measured how large group delay variations can become, when going from a low Q antenna to a high Q antenna. The group delay of a low Q antenna is shown to be around 1.3 ns, whereas...... a high Q antenna has group delay of around 22 ns. It is due to this huge group delay variation characteristics of high Q antennas, that signal distortion might occur in the radio system with high Q antennas....

The SKI communication programme

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Carlberg, Susanne

2000-01-01

Sweden has, since many years, an ongoing debate on nuclear power in general and nuclear safety and nuclear waste in particular. SKI is not the only part who wants to communicate about these subjects. The nuclear power plants, other authorities, the anti-nuclear groups and the politicians are other parts on the communication scene. The role of SKI is to provide the Swedish public with objective and prompt information based on facts. (author)

A Randomized Comparison of the Effect of Two Prelinguistic Communication Interventions on the Acquisition of Spoken Communication in Preschoolers with ASD

Science.gov (United States)

Yoder, Paul; Stone, Wendy L.

2006-01-01

Purpose: This randomized group experiment compared the efficacy of 2 communication interventions (Responsive Education and Prelinguistic Milieu Teaching [RPMT] and the Picture Exchange Communication System [PECS]) on spoken communication in 36 preschoolers with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Method: Each treatment was delivered to children for a…

The effect of communication skills training on quality of care, self-efficacy, job satisfaction and communication skills rate of nurses in hospitals of tabriz, iran.

Science.gov (United States)

Khodadadi, Esmail; Ebrahimi, Hossein; Moghaddasian, Sima; Babapour, Jalil

2013-03-01

Having an effective relationship with the patient in the process of treatment is essential. Nurses must have communication skills in order to establish effective relationships with the patients. This study evaluated the impact of communication skills training on quality of care, self-efficacy, job satisfaction and communication skills of nurses. This is an experimental study with a control group that has been done in 2012. The study sample consisted of 73 nurses who work in hospitals of Tabriz; they were selected by proportional randomizing method. The intervention was only conducted on the experimental group. In order to measure the quality of care 160 patients, who had received care by nurses, participated in this study. The Data were analyzed by SPSS (ver.13). Comparing the mean scores of communication skills showed a statistically significant difference between control and experimental groups after intervention. The paired t-test showed a statistically significant difference in the experimental group before and after the intervention. Independent t-test showed a statistically significant difference between the rate of quality of care in patients of control and experimental groups after the intervention. The results showed that the training of communication skills can increase the nurse's rate of communication skills and cause elevation in quality of nursing care. Therefore, in order to improve the quality of nursing care it is recommended that communication skills be established and taught as a separate course in nursing education.

Geritalk: communication skills training for geriatric and palliative medicine fellows.

Science.gov (United States)

Kelley, Amy S; Back, Anthony L; Arnold, Robert M; Goldberg, Gabrielle R; Lim, Betty B; Litrivis, Evgenia; Smith, Cardinale B; O'Neill, Lynn B

2012-02-01

Expert communication is essential to high-quality care for older patients with serious illness. Although the importance of communication skills is widely recognized, formal curricula for teaching communication skills to geriatric and palliative medicine fellows is often inadequate or unavailable. The current study drew upon the educational principles and format of an evidence-based, interactive teaching method to develop an intensive communication skills training course designed specifically to address the common communication challenges that geriatric and palliative medicine fellows face. The 2-day retreat, held away from the hospital environment, included large-group overview presentations, small-group communication skills practice, and development of future skills practice commitment. Faculty received in-depth training in small-group facilitation techniques before the course. Geriatric and palliative medicine fellows were recruited to participate in the course and 100% (n = 18) enrolled. Overall satisfaction with the course was very high (mean 4.8 on a 5-point scale). After the course, fellows reported an increase in self-assessed preparedness for specific communication challenges (mean increase 1.4 on 5-point scale, P communication skills program, customized for the specific needs of geriatric and palliative medicine fellows, improved fellows' self-assessed preparedness for challenging communication tasks and provided a model for ongoing deliberate practice of communication skills. © 2012, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2011, The American Geriatrics Society.

Group Work. Research Brief

Science.gov (United States)

Walker, Karen

2010-01-01

According to Johnson and Johnson, group work helps increase student retention and satisfaction, develops strong oral communication and social skills, as well as higher self-esteem (University of Minnesota, n.d.). Group work, when planned and implemented deliberately and thoughtfully helps students develop cognitive and leadership skills as well as…

Communication: an ophthalmic practice issue.

Science.gov (United States)

Whitton, S J

1995-12-01

In the 1990's communication becomes an ophthalmic practice issue. The present ophthalmic climate of cost containment, downsizing, budget cuts, and lack of appreciation of contributions, results in a low staff morale. Recognition of the effects of job satisfaction and productivity led one group to seek solutions. A communication task force was formed to identify problems and the appropriate interventions.

Pema’s Tale: Intercultural Communication as Storytelling

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ellen Rose

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Intercultural communication is typically conceptualized in terms of business-oriented models that focus on the binary differences between cultural groups. Beginning with Edward Hall, the foundational premise is that the basis of effective communication with people of cultures other than our own is a thorough understanding of the disparities between cultural groups. This paper argues that intercultural communication should entail not merely the business-like, efficient exchange of information with different others but the crucial development of a feeling of connection and an appreciation for diverse ways of being in the world. Building upon the work of Jerome Bruner, it further suggests that the focus on dissimilarities which traditional models enforce obscures a true understanding of how intercultural communications can be enabled by a fundamental similarity: the human impulse to make sense of the world through narrative.

Communication skills training curriculum for pulmonary and critical care fellows.

Science.gov (United States)

McCallister, Jennifer W; Gustin, Jillian L; Wells-Di Gregorio, Sharla; Way, David P; Mastronarde, John G

2015-04-01

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requires physicians training in pulmonary and critical care medicine to demonstrate competency in interpersonal communication. Studies have shown that residency training is often insufficient to prepare physicians to provide end-of-life care and facilitate patient and family decision-making. Poor communication in the intensive care unit (ICU) can adversely affect outcomes for critically ill patients and their family members. Despite this, communication training curricula in pulmonary and critical care medicine are largely absent in the published literature. We evaluated the effectiveness of a communication skills curriculum during the first year of a pulmonary and critical care medicine fellowship using a family meeting checklist to provide formative feedback to fellows during ICU rotations. We hypothesized that fellows would demonstrate increased competence and confidence in the behavioral skills necessary for facilitating family meetings. We evaluated a 12-month communication skills curriculum using a pre-post, quasiexperimental design. Subjects for this study included 11 first-year fellows who participated in the new curriculum (intervention group) and a historical control group of five fellows who had completed no formal communication curriculum. Performance of communication skills and self-confidence in family meetings were assessed for the intervention group before and after the curriculum. The control group was assessed once at the beginning of their second year of fellowship. Fellows in the intervention group demonstrated significantly improved communication skills as evaluated by two psychologists using the Family Meeting Behavioral Skills Checklist, with an increase in total observed skills from 51 to 65% (P ≤ 0.01; Cohen's D effect size [es], 1.13). Their performance was also rated significantly higher when compared with the historical control group, who demonstrated only 49% of observed skills

Actions speak louder than words in socially foraging human groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Sumner, Seirian; King, Andrew J

2011-11-01

SOCIAL FORAGING IN HUMANS HAS A DEEP EVOLUTIONARY HISTORY: early hominids searched for dispersed food sources in a patchy, uncertain environment. A fundamental assumption is that social foragers benefit by exchanging information about food sources, in order to make collective decisions based on pooled information. We conducted the first experimental test of this assumption, and showed that, as predicted, communication significantly enhanced group performance. A further, unexpected result was that physical communication through gesturing, rather than verbal communication, appeared to play a crucial role in the early stages of group interaction, facilitating consensus decision making by groups.  The importance of gestures in human interactions may therefore be underestimated, and this has important implications for modern human societies, where communications are becoming increasingly dominated by virtual modes of communication that preclude the use of gestures. 

Group Centric Networking: Large Scale Over the Air Testing of Group Centric Networking

Science.gov (United States)

2016-11-01

Large Scale Over-the-Air Testing of Group Centric Networking Logan Mercer, Greg Kuperman, Andrew Hunter, Brian Proulx MIT Lincoln Laboratory...performance of Group Centric Networking (GCN), a networking protocol developed for robust and scalable communications in lossy networks where users are...devices, and the ad-hoc nature of the network . Group Centric Networking (GCN) is a proposed networking protocol that addresses challenges specific to

Communication Skills Training for Physicians Improves Patient Satisfaction.

Science.gov (United States)

Boissy, Adrienne; Windover, Amy K; Bokar, Dan; Karafa, Matthew; Neuendorf, Katie; Frankel, Richard M; Merlino, James; Rothberg, Michael B

2016-07-01

Skilled physician communication is a key component of patient experience. Large-scale studies of exposure to communication skills training and its impact on patient satisfaction have not been conducted. We aimed to examine the impact of experiential relationship-centered physician communication skills training on patient satisfaction and physician experience. This was an observational study. The study was conducted at a large, multispecialty academic medical center. Participants included 1537 attending physicians who participated in, and 1951 physicians who did not participate in, communication skills training between 1 August 2013 and 30 April 2014. An 8-h block of interactive didactics, live or video skill demonstrations, and small group and large group skills practice sessions using a relationship-centered model. Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS), Clinician and Group Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CGCAHPS), Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE), Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), self-efficacy, and post course satisfaction. Following the course, adjusted overall CGCAHPS scores for physician communication were higher for intervention physicians than for controls (92.09 vs. 91.09, p communication scores (83.95 vs. 82.73, p = 0.22). Physicians reported high course satisfaction and showed significant improvement in empathy (116.4 ± 12.7 vs. 124 ± 11.9, p communication skills training improved patient satisfaction scores, improved physician empathy, self-efficacy, and reduced physician burnout. Further research is necessary to examine longer-term sustainability of such interventions.

Improving doctor-patient communication: content validity examination of a novel urinary system-simulating physical model.

Science.gov (United States)

Hu, WenGang; Song, YaJun; Zhong, Xiao; Feng, JiaYu; Wang, PingXian; Huang, ChiBing

2016-01-01

Effective doctor-patient communication is essential for establishing a successful doctor-patient relationship and implementing high-quality health care. In this study, a novel urinary system-simulating physical model was designed and fabricated, and its content validity for improving doctor-patient communication was examined by conducting a randomized controlled trial in which this system was compared with photographs. A total of 240 inpatients were randomly selected and assigned to six doctors for treatment. After primary diagnosis and treatment had been determined, these patients were randomly divided into the experimental group and the control group. Patients in the experimental group participated in model-based doctor-patient communication, whereas control group patients received picture-based communication. Within 30 min after this communication, a Demographic Information Survey Scale and a Medical Interview Satisfaction Scale (MISS) were distributed to investigate patients' demographic characteristics and their assessments of total satisfaction, distress relief, communication comfort, rapport, and compliance intent. The study results demonstrated that the individual groups were comparable with respect to demographic variables but that relative to patients in the picture-based communication group, patients in the model-based communication group had significantly higher total satisfaction scores and higher ratings for distress relief, communication comfort, rapport, and compliance intent. These results indicate that the physical model is more effective than the pictures at improving doctor-patient communication and patient outcomes. The application of the physical model in doctor-patient communication is helpful and valuable and therefore merits widespread clinical popularization.

Tutoring Group Learning at a Distance.

Science.gov (United States)

Fahraeus, Eva R.

Experiences from a distance course conducted during 1996-97 for high-school teachers in Sweden and reports from other experiments have yielded the conclusion that collaborating via electronic conferencing systems demands new communication patterns. This paper uses theories about communication, group processes, and shared symbolic order and social…

FACEBOOK COMMUNICATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Emanuela Maria AVRAM

2014-11-01

Full Text Available The social networks have been growing steadily in recent years. Facebook, one of the most popular social networks, is a modern means of communication and socialization that has taken lately more ground in higher education becoming an important academic tool in the communication process. Many universities have their own Facebook page, being used by both students and teachers, and creating Facebook groups increasingly facilitates communication with students. Thus, this paper aims to identify the importance that Facebook holds in the academic communication process and highlights the implications it has in higher education. The results reveal that this type of communication has gained more ground in academia creating real social communities, and students use it more and more for collaboration in various activities involved in the higher education system, but also for socializing and information.

NASA science communications strategy

Science.gov (United States)

1995-01-01

In 1994, the Clinton Administration issued a report, 'Science in the National Interest', which identified new national science goals. Two of the five goals are related to science communications: produce the finest scientists and engineers for the 21st century, and raise scientific and technological literacy of all Americans. In addition to the guidance and goals set forth by the Administration, NASA has been mandated by Congress under the 1958 Space Act to 'provide for the widest practicable and appropriate dissemination concerning its activities and the results thereof'. In addition to addressing eight Goals and Plans which resulted from a January 1994 meeting between NASA and members of the broader scientific, education, and communications community on the Public Communication of NASA's Science, the Science Communications Working Group (SCWG) took a comprehensive look at the way the Agency communicates its science to ensure that any changes the Agency made were long-term improvements. The SCWG developed a Science Communications Strategy for NASA and a plan to implement the Strategy. This report outlines a strategy from which effective science communications programs can be developed and implemented across the agency. Guiding principles and strategic themes for the strategy are provided, with numerous recommendations for improvement discussed within the respective themes of leadership, coordination, integration, participation, leveraging, and evaluation.

What Do Students Really Do in Learning Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Considine, Jennifer R.

2013-01-01

This article describes an activity in which upon completion of this semester-long project, students should be able to: analyze and reflect upon their own communication behaviors in a group setting, and explain the importance of examining actual communication practices as opposed to retrospective self-report of communication practices. This project…

Use of the OSCE to Evaluate Brief Communication Skills Training for Dental Students

Science.gov (United States)

Cannick, Gabrielle F.; Horowitz, Alice M.; Garr, David R.; Reed, Susan G.; Neville, Brad W.; Day, Terry A.; Woolson, Robert F.; Lackland, Daniel T.

2009-01-01

Although communications competency is recommended by the American Dental Education Association, only a few (n=5) dental schools report evaluating students’ skills using a competency examination for communication. This study used an objective structured clinical examination (OSCE) to evaluate dental students’ competency in interpersonal and tobacco cessation communication skills. All students were evaluated on their interpersonal communication skills at baseline and at six months post-OSCE by standardized patients and on their tobacco cessation communication skills by two independent raters. First- and second-year dental students (n=104) were randomized to a control or intervention group. One month after the baseline OSCE, students in the intervention group participated in a two-hour training session in which faculty members communicated with a standardized patient during a head and neck examination and counseled the patient about tobacco cessation. There were no statistically significant differences from baseline to post-test between the intervention and control group students as measured by the OSCE. However, among first-year students, both the intervention (n=23) and control (n=21) groups significantly increased in tobacco cessation communication scores. Second-year students in both intervention (n=24) and control (n=28) groups declined in interpersonal communication skills from baseline to post-test. Overall, this one-shot intervention was not successful, and results suggest that a comprehensive communication skills training course may be more beneficial than a single, brief training session for improving dental students’ communication skills. PMID:17761627

STUDENTS: COMMUNICATION AND PEACE CULTURE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Elizabeth Arapé Copello

2008-11-01

Full Text Available This paper shows a research about Communication and Peace Culture developed with Venezuelan students. We did a theoretical review and field-work with students. We are looking for visions and perceptions about communication to peace from students. The research is focused on three student groups who live near of Venezuela frontier. We work with three test: (COMPAZ-1, Peace Builder and Learning to Dialoguing. The students show changes in their initials perceptions after the workshop. The experience developed that short training could be useful to be better the communication behavior as support of peace project.

COUNTER-PUNISHMENT, COMMUNICATION AND COOPERATION AMONG PARTNERS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Giulia eAndrighetto

2016-04-01

Full Text Available We study how communication affects cooperation in an experimental public goods environment with punishment and counter-punishment opportunities. Participants interacted over thirty rounds in fixed groups with fixed identifiers that allowed them to trace other group members’ behavior over time. The two dimensions of communication we study are asking for a specific contribution level and having to express oneself when choosing to counter-punish. We conduct four experimental treatments, all involving a contribution stage, a punishment stage and a counter-punishment stage in each round. In the first treatment communication is not possible at any of the stages. The second treatment allows participants to ask for a contribution level at the punishment stage and in the third treatment participants are required to send a message if they decide to counter-punishment. The fourth combines the two communication channels of the second and third treatments. We find that the three treatments involving communication at any of the two relevant stages lead to significantly higher contributions than the baseline treatment. We find no difference between the three treatments with communication. We also relate our results to previous results from treatments without counter-punishment opportunities and do not find that the presence of counter-punishment leads to lower cooperation level. The overall pattern of results shows that given fixed identifiers the key factor is the presence of communication. Whenever communication is possible contributions and earnings are higher than when it is not, regardless of counter-punishment opportunities.

Impact of postgraduate training on communication skills teaching: a controlled study.

Science.gov (United States)

Junod Perron, Noelle; Nendaz, Mathieu; Louis-Simonet, Martine; Sommer, Johanna; Gut, Anne; Cerutti, Bernard; van der Vleuten, Cees P; Dolmans, Diana

2014-04-14

Observation of performance followed by feedback is the key to good teaching of communication skills in clinical practice. The fact that it occurs rarely is probably due to clinical supervisors' perceived lack of competence to identify communication skills and give effective feedback. We evaluated the impact of a faculty development programme on communication skills teaching on clinical supervisors' ability to identify residents' good and poor communication skills and to discuss them interactively during feedback. We conducted a pre-post controlled study in which clinical supervisors took part to a faculty development program on teaching communication skills in clinical practice. Outcome measures were the number and type of residents' communication skills identified by supervisors in three videotaped simulated resident-patient encounters and the number and type of communication skills discussed interactively with residents during three feedback sessions. 48 clinical supervisors (28 intervention group; 20 control group) participated. After the intervention, the number and type of communication skills identified did not differ between both groups. There was substantial heterogeneity in the number and type of communication skills identified. However, trained participants engaged in interactive discussions with residents on a significantly higher number of communication items (effect sizes 0.53 to 1.77); communication skills items discussed interactively included both structural and patient-centered elements that were considered important to be observed by expert teachers. The faculty development programme did not increase the number of communication skills recognised by supervisors but was effective in increasing the number of communication issues discussed interactively in feedback sessions. Further research should explore the respective impact of accurate identification of communication skills and effective teaching skills on achieving more effective communication

Communicative Effectiveness of Pantomime Gesture in People with Aphasia

Science.gov (United States)

Rose, Miranda L.; Mok, Zaneta; Sekine, Kazuki

2017-01-01

Background: Human communication occurs through both verbal and visual/motoric modalities. Simultaneous conversational speech and gesture occurs across all cultures and age groups. When verbal communication is compromised, more of the communicative load can be transferred to the gesture modality. Although people with aphasia produce meaning-laden…

Brand Communication in a Digitalized World

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kecskes Robert

2017-11-01

Full Text Available The way in which we communicate is changing radically. In the analog world, promotional communication was consumed rather passively. In today’s digital age, consumers have become more active. Especially, the younger consumer generation - referred to as iBrains- are increasingly spreading their own product experiences across digital channels into the virtual world. Stimulus-response communication still has its place, but must be supplemented with interactive offers that enable a dialogue with consumers. Diverse communication channels must be utilized - analog as well as digital - in order to reach the young target groups. As consumers tend to be “always on”, they use different communication channels simultaneously, leading to continuous partial attention. Therefore, not only new channels are necessary but the entire communication style and design need to be adapted. It is not enough to simply make contact. Instead of thinking about shortening the message, creativity should be put into creatively combining different building blocks of communication.

Peer-to-peer communication, cancer prevention, and the internet

Science.gov (United States)

Ancker, Jessica S.; Carpenter, Kristen M.; Greene, Paul; Hoffmann, Randi; Kukafka, Rita; Marlow, Laura A.V.; Prigerson, Holly G.; Quillin, John M.

2013-01-01

Online communication among patients and consumers through support groups, discussion boards, and knowledge resources is becoming more common. In this paper, we discuss key methods through which such web-based peer-to-peer communication may affect health promotion and disease prevention behavior (exchanges of information, emotional and instrumental support, and establishment of group norms and models). We also discuss several theoretical models for studying online peer communication, including social theory, health communication models, and health behavior models. Although online peer communication about health and disease is very common, research evaluating effects on health behaviors, mediators, and outcomes is still relatively sparse. We suggest that future research in this field should include formative evaluation and studies of effects on mediators of behavior change, behaviors, and outcomes. It will also be important to examine spontaneously emerging peer communication efforts to see how they can be integrated with theory-based efforts initiated by researchers. PMID:19449267

Fundamental matters on radiation risk communication

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shinohara, Kunihiko; Nagai, Hiroyuki; Yonezawa, Rika; Ohuchi, Hiroko; Chikamoto, Kazuhiko; Taniguchi, Kazufumi; Morimoto, Eriko

2009-01-01

In the field of atomic energy and radiation utilization, radiation risk is considered as one of the social uneasy factors. About the perception of risks, there is a gap between experts and general public (non-experts). It is said that the general public tends to be going to judge risk from intuitive fear and a visible concrete instance whereas the experts judge it scientifically. A company, an administration or experts should disclose relating information about the risks and communicate interactively with the stakeholders to find the way to solve the problem with thinking together. This process is called 'risk communication'. The role of the expert is important on enforcement of risk communication. They should be required to explain the information on the risks with plain words to help stakeholders understand the risks properly. The Japan Health Physics Society (JHPS) is the largest academic society for radiation protection professionals in Japan, and one of its missions is supposed to convey accurate and trustworthy information about the radiation risk to the general public. The expert group on risk communication of ionizing radiation of the JHPS has worked for the purpose of summarizing the fundamental matters on radiation risk communication. 'Lecture on risk communication for the members of the JHPS.' which has been up on the JHPS web-site, and the symposium of 'For better understanding of radiation risk.' are a part of the activities. The expert group proposes that the JHPS should enlighten the members continuously for being interested in and practicing risk communication of radiation. (author)

Improving communication with palliative care cancer patients at home - A pilot study of SAGE & THYME communication skills model.

Science.gov (United States)

Griffiths, Jane; Wilson, Charlotte; Ewing, Gail; Connolly, Michael; Grande, Gunn

2015-10-01

To pilot an evidence-based communication skills model (SAGE & THYME) with UK District Nurses (DNs) who visit patients with advanced cancer early in the dying trajectory. Evidence suggests that DNs lack confidence in communication skills and in assessing cancer patients' psycho-social needs; also that they lack time. SAGE & THYME is a highly structured model for teaching patient centred interactions. It addresses concerns about confidence and time. Mixed methods. 33 DNs were trained in SAGE & THYME in a three hour workshop and interviewed in focus groups on three occasions: pre-training, immediately post-training and two months post-training. Questionnaires measuring perceived outcomes of communication, confidence in communication and motivation to use SAGE & THYME were administered at the focus groups. SAGE & THYME provided a structure for conversations and facilitated opening and closing of interactions. The main principle of patient centeredness was reportedly used by all. Knowledge about communication behaviours helpful to patients improved and was sustained two months after training. Increased confidence in communication skills was also sustained. Motivation to use SAGE & THYME was high and remained so at two months, and some said the model saved them time. Challenges with using the model included controlling the home environment and a change in style of communication which was so marked some DNs preferred to use it with new patients. Training DNs in SAGE & THYME in a three hour workshop appears to be a promising model for improving communication skills when working with cancer patients. Crown Copyright © 2015. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Outrageous Outreach — Unconventional Ways of Communicating Science

Science.gov (United States)

Sandu, O.; Christensen, L. L.

2011-07-01

The golden rule of communication, advertising, public relations and marketing is "follow your target group". In this article, we look at how this mantra is applied in science communication and public outreach. Do we really follow our target groups? Do we regularly research the behaviour, interests and preferences of the individuals behind the demographic categories? Or do we just believe that we are following them when in fact we are "preaching to the converted" — the demographic group that is already intrinsically interested in science and actively scours the science sections of the national newspapers?

Positive communication paradigm decreases early recurrence in clubfoot treatment.

Science.gov (United States)

Morin, Matthew L; Hoopes, Daniel M; Szalay, Elizabeth A

2014-03-01

The Ponseti method has become the treatment standard for idiopathic clubfoot. Deformity recurrence is most commonly attributed to premature abandonment of the requisite abduction orthosis. A study in 2009 from our center revealed a high rate of deformity recurrence in our patient population. It was surmised that the importance of bracing to maintain correction had not been adequately communicated to some families, especially Native Americans. As a result, the principal investigator developed a different communication protocol for parents of infants. All children treated for clubfoot at the University of New Mexico Carrie Tingley Hospital, Albuquerque, NM, from 2008 to 2010 were reviewed. They were compared with a historical control group from this institution, the subjects of the 2009 study, and were analyzed for the rate of recurrence and Pirani score improvement. Our study cohort comprised 69 infants (104 clubfeet), all of whom were treated with the new communication style. The recurrence rate for the new communication paradigm was 2.88% compared with 18.2% in the control group (Pgroup compared with 3.5 in the control group (P=0.001). Native American recurrence was zero in the treatment group and 41% in the control group (P=0.011). A positive, rather than a negative communication style, emphasis on the brace as the most important aspect of treatment, and a more culturally sensitive family education paradigm, resulted in a lower rate of deformity recurrence when treating children with clubfeet using the Ponseti method. Level III.

Analysis of MoDOT communication and outreach effectiveness

Science.gov (United States)

2008-07-01

Personal interviews were held with MoDOT personnel to assess MoDOTs current communication practices and existing customer segmentation practices. Focus groups were then held to help gauge the effectiveness of existing communication practices and t...

Children's Play Behaviour and Social Communication in Integrated Special Day-Care Groups

Science.gov (United States)

Suhonen, Eira; Nislin, Mari A.; Alijoki, Alisa; Sajaniemi, Nina K.

2015-01-01

The aim of this study was to investigate children's social communication abilities and play to reveal possible changes during a one year period in the context of Finnish early childhood special education. The data we collected during 2012-2013 consisted of assessments of play behaviour (Preschool Play Behavior Scale) and social communication…

A Sympathetic Reaction to the SM and DLCM as Group Communication Theories

Science.gov (United States)

Pavitt, Charles

2009-01-01

This article considers three issues. First, through a rephrased summary of the argument in Pavitt and Johnson (1999), the author describes why he feels that the socioegocentric model (SM) is unlikely to be an accurate portrayal of communicative influence. Second, based on considerations addresses in more detail in Pavitt (in press), the author…

Empowering Women's Prenatal Communication: Does Literacy Matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Roter, Debra L; Erby, Lori H; Rimal, Rajiv N; Smith, Katherine C; Larson, Susan; Bennett, Ian M; Cole, Katie Washington; Guan, Yue; Molloy, Matthew; Bienstock, Jessica

2015-01-01

This study was designed to evaluate the impact of an interactive computer program developed to empower prenatal communication among women with restricted literacy skills. A total of 83 women seeing 17 clinicians were randomized to a computer-based communication activation intervention (Healthy Babies Healthy Moms [HBHM]) or prenatal education (Baby Basics [BB]) prior to their prenatal visit. Visit communication was coded with the Roter Interaction Analysis System, and postvisit satisfaction was reported. Participants were on average 24 years of age and 25 weeks pregnant; 80% were African American. Two thirds scored ≤8th grade on a literacy screener. Women with literacy deficits were more verbally active, disclosed more medical and psychosocial/lifestyle information, and were rated as more dominant by coders in the HBHM group relative to their counterparts in the BB group (all ps literacy in the HBHM relative to the BB group (p literacy deficits. Satisfaction, however, tended to be lower for these women.

A study on the effects of marketing communication using integrated marketing communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Solmaz Sellahvarzi

2014-07-01

Full Text Available Integrated Marketing Communication (IMC is one of the needed concepts in competitive edge. IMC is defined as a cross functional process for creating and nourishing profitable relationships with customers and other stakeholders by strategically controlling or impacting all messages sent to these groups. It ensures that all forms of communications and messages are carefully linked together. This study investigates the effectiveness of marketing communication in an Iranian automaker named Khodro using IMC system. The study tries to audit the rate of marketing relationship integrity and its outcome on organization performance. The study designs a questionnaire and distributes it among 384 randomly selected people who use this firm’s services and Cronbach alpha has been calculated as 0.974. Hypotheses of this survey are exanimated by Pearson correlation test as well as pairwise t-student tests. The results show the effects of integrated marketing Communication on organization performance. In addition, there is a significant positive correlation relationship between integrated marketing communication with mission marketing, Cross functional Strategic Planning and Interactivity. Finally, there is a significant positive correlation relationship between dimensions of IMC.

Efficacy of an internet-based learning module and small-group debriefing on trainees' attitudes and communication skills toward patients with substance use disorders: results of a cluster randomized controlled trial.

Science.gov (United States)

Lanken, Paul N; Novack, Dennis H; Daetwyler, Christof; Gallop, Robert; Landis, J Richard; Lapin, Jennifer; Subramaniam, Geetha A; Schindler, Barbara A

2015-03-01

To examine whether an Internet-based learning module and small-group debriefing can improve medical trainees' attitudes and communication skills toward patients with substance use disorders (SUDs). In 2011-2012, 129 internal and family medicine residents and 370 medical students at two medical schools participated in a cluster randomized controlled trial, which assessed the effect of adding a two-part intervention to the SUDs curricula. The intervention included a self-directed, media-rich Internet-based learning module and a small-group, faculty-led debriefing. Primary study outcomes were changes in self-assessed attitudes in the intervention group (I-group) compared with those in the control group (C-group) (i.e., a difference of differences). For residents, the authors used real-time, Web-based interviews of standardized patients to assess changes in communication skills. Statistical analyses, conducted separately for residents and students, included hierarchical linear modeling, adjusted for site, participant type, cluster, and individual scores at baseline. The authors found no significant differences between the I- and C-groups in attitudes for residents or students at baseline. Compared with those in the C-group, residents, but not students, in the I-group had more positive attitudes toward treatment efficacy and self-efficacy at follow-up (Pcommunication skills toward patients with SUDs among residents. Enhanced attitudes and skills may result in improved care for these patients.

Socially bold personality in the real communication and Internet communication: the analysis of representations of people of the different age

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pogodina A. V.

2017-03-01

Full Text Available The article is concerned with the results of the study, subject of which is the submis- sion of the respondents of the different age groups about the social and bold personality. Required property of the respondents was the presence in the Internet environment and participation in various social networks. They assessed social and bold personal- ity in such contexts of communication, as real communication and Internet communication. Analyses were undertaken to determine the structural and content features of emotional and semantic representations of the phenomenon of the social and bold personality, depending on the context of communication, but also the detection of age-sensitive representations of the young respondents (19—35 years, middle-aged respondents (36-55 years and older respondents (from 56 to 70 years. The concept of the “social and bold personality in real communion” is shown to have a high semantic relevance, strongly marked positive emotional coloration and a similar factor structure for respondents of all age groups. The concept of the “social and bold personality in online communication” with a high semantic significance in the perception of the young respondents moves into a zone of moderate and semantic importance in representations of the middle-aged and older respondents. In representations of the respondents of all age groups, the attractiveness of the "social and bold personality in Internet communication" is less than in comparison with the "social and bold personality in the real communication". The age-specific of the social representations about social and bold personality in the real and virtual communication has been analysed in detail.

Interrelation between Patient Satisfaction and Patient-Provider Communication in Diabetes Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ayse Basak Cinar

2014-01-01

Full Text Available The present study aims to assess how patient satisfaction with medical provider-patient communication can affect oral health, diabetes, and psychobehavioural measures among type 2 diabetes (T2DM patients. It is part of a prospective intervention study among randomly selected T2DM patients, in Turkey. The data analyzed were Community Periodontal Need Index (CPI, HbA1c, patient satisfaction with communication, and psychobehavioural variables. Data was collected initially and at the end of the intervention. The participants were allocated to either health coaching (HC or health education (HE. At baseline, there were no statistical differences between the HC and the HE groups on any of the measures (P>0.05. Patients in both the HC and the HE groups had low satisfaction with communication. At postintervention, the increase in patient satisfaction with communication in the HC group was significantly higher than that in the HE group (P=0.001. Principal component analysis revealed that patient satisfaction with communication shared the same cluster with clinical measures (CPI and HbA1c and quality of life in the HC group. In conclusion, the present study showed, to our knowledge for the first time, that overall patient satisfaction with medical care provider-patient communication, empowered by HC approach, was interrelated with well-being of T2DM patients, in terms of psychobehavioural and clinical measures.

Improving Diabetes-Related Parent-Adolescent Communication With Individualized Feedback.

Science.gov (United States)

May, Dana K K; Ellis, Deborah A; Cano, Annmarie; Dekelbab, Bassem

2017-11-01

To pilot a brief individualized feedback intervention to improve the communication skills of parents with an adolescent with type 1 diabetes. Parent-adolescent dyads (N = 79) discussed a diabetes-related problem, while an interventionist rated the parent's communication skills to give feedback to the parents. Parents were then randomized to a brief feedback session to target person-centered communication skills or an educational session. Dyads discussed another diabetes care problem to assess for change in communication skills. Independent raters coded parent communication skills from video recordings to rate behaviors in the service of examining possible changes in communication skills. Dyads completed ratings of perceived closeness and empathy after each conversation. Controlling for overall positive communication at baseline, parents who received feedback showed more improvement in specific person-centered communication skills than parents in the control group. Adolescents in the feedback group reported greater increases in parental empathy and intimacy from pre- to postmanipulation than the control. The feedback intervention showed preliminary efficacy for increasing person-centered communication skills and perceived empathy and intimacy. © The Author 2017. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Pediatric Psychology. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com

A novel QC-LDPC code based on the finite field multiplicative group for optical communications

Science.gov (United States)

Yuan, Jian-guo; Xu, Liang; Tong, Qing-zhen

2013-09-01

A novel construction method of quasi-cyclic low-density parity-check (QC-LDPC) code is proposed based on the finite field multiplicative group, which has easier construction, more flexible code-length code-rate adjustment and lower encoding/decoding complexity. Moreover, a regular QC-LDPC(5334,4962) code is constructed. The simulation results show that the constructed QC-LDPC(5334,4962) code can gain better error correction performance under the condition of the additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel with iterative decoding sum-product algorithm (SPA). At the bit error rate (BER) of 10-6, the net coding gain (NCG) of the constructed QC-LDPC(5334,4962) code is 1.8 dB, 0.9 dB and 0.2 dB more than that of the classic RS(255,239) code in ITU-T G.975, the LDPC(32640,30592) code in ITU-T G.975.1 and the SCG-LDPC(3969,3720) code constructed by the random method, respectively. So it is more suitable for optical communication systems.

Communication without communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Bratina Boris R.

2017-01-01

Full Text Available This paper analyses the necessary conditions for successful communication. It is well known that post-modernity, described as an era of control, produces only decentralized, imploded subjectivities, who are neither able to question their own being nor to relate one with another in authentic bonds of communication. Today, virtual communication has become an ultimate model of every possible communication whatsoever. The authors, therefore, pose the question of conditions for possibility of subjectivities who would be able and apt for authentic communication, wherein faith, fidelity, truth, and capability of keeping one's word occupy the central place.

Advanced Theory of Mind in Children Using Augmentative and Alternative Communication

Science.gov (United States)

Sundqvist, Anett; Ronnberg, Jerker

2010-01-01

This study focused on the attainment of Theory of Mind (ToM) in children (aged 6 to 13) with complex communication needs who used augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The AAC group (n = 14) was matched to a younger group, without disabilities, vis-a-vis nonverbal mental age. A second comparison group consisting of children with mild…

Effects of peer review on communication skills and learning motivation among nursing students.

Science.gov (United States)

Yoo, Moon Sook; Chae, Sun-Mi

2011-04-01

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effects of video-based peer review on communication skills and learning motivation among nursing students. A non-equivalent control with pretest-posttest design was used. The participants were 47 sophomore nursing students taking a fundamentals of nursing course at a nursing college in Korea. Communication with a standardized patient was videotaped for evaluation. The intervention group used peer reviews to evaluate the videotaped performance; a small group of four students watched the videotape of each student and then provided feedback. The control group assessed themselves alone after watching their own videos. Communication skills and learning motivation were measured. The intervention group showed significantly higher communication skills and learning motivation after the intervention than did the control group. The findings suggest that peer review is an effective learning method for nursing students to improve their communication skills and increase their motivation to learn. Copyright 2011, SLACK Incorporated.

Impact of postgraduate training on communication skills teaching: a controlled study

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

Background Observation of performance followed by feedback is the key to good teaching of communication skills in clinical practice. The fact that it occurs rarely is probably due to clinical supervisors’ perceived lack of competence to identify communication skills and give effective feedback. We evaluated the impact of a faculty development programme on communication skills teaching on clinical supervisors’ ability to identify residents’ good and poor communication skills and to discuss them interactively during feedback. Methods We conducted a pre-post controlled study in which clinical supervisors took part to a faculty development program on teaching communication skills in clinical practice. Outcome measures were the number and type of residents’ communication skills identified by supervisors in three videotaped simulated resident-patient encounters and the number and type of communication skills discussed interactively with residents during three feedback sessions. Results 48 clinical supervisors (28 intervention group; 20 control group) participated. After the intervention, the number and type of communication skills identified did not differ between both groups. There was substantial heterogeneity in the number and type of communication skills identified. However, trained participants engaged in interactive discussions with residents on a significantly higher number of communication items (effect sizes 0.53 to 1.77); communication skills items discussed interactively included both structural and patient-centered elements that were considered important to be observed by expert teachers. Conclusions The faculty development programme did not increase the number of communication skills recognised by supervisors but was effective in increasing the number of communication issues discussed interactively in feedback sessions. Further research should explore the respective impact of accurate identification of communication skills and effective teaching

The Effect of Karate Techniques Training on Communication Deficit of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders.

Science.gov (United States)

Bahrami, Fatimah; Movahedi, Ahmadreza; Marandi, Sayed Mohammad; Sorensen, Carl

2016-03-01

This investigation examined the long term effect of Karate techniques training on communication of children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Thirty school aged children with ASD were randomly assigned to an exercise (n = 15) or a control group (n = 15). Participants in the exercise group were engaged in 14 weeks of Karate techniques training. Communication deficit at baseline, post-intervention (week 14), and at 1 month follow up were evaluated. Exercise group showed significant reduction in communication deficit compared to control group. Moreover, reduction in communication deficit in the exercise group at one month follow up remained unchanged compared to post-intervention time. We concluded that teaching Karate techniques to children with ASD leads to significant reduction in their communication deficit.

Development of IT-based Data Communication Protocol for Nuclear Power Plant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jeong, K. I.; Kim, D. H.; Lee, J. C.

2009-07-01

The communication protocol, which provide overall communication rules and methods and give ways how to exchange information, is the most important part and it can affect the overall performance of communication network. Therefore, the first step of development of the communication network of an NPP is its own communication protocol design, which conforms to the requirements and characteristics of an NPP I and C. To manage the protocol development process, we establish development procedure and define detail substantive based on the procedure and we examine the adaptability of existing commercial communication protocols to the communication protocol of an NPP I and C. Existing commercial communication protocols based on Information Technology(IT) can be categorized into 3 groups: general commercial communication protocols, industrial communication protocols, military communication protocols. We analyze the design criteria and performance requirements of popular protocols in each group. And also, we examine the adaptability to the communication protocol of an NPP. Based on these results, we developed our own protocol for NPP I and C, which meet the required specifications through design overall protocol architecture and data frame format, definition of functional requirements and specifications

Communication Needs of Thai Civil Engineering Students

Science.gov (United States)

Kaewpet, Chamnong

2009-01-01

This article reports on an examination of the communication needs of a group of Thai civil engineering students. Twenty-five stakeholders helped identify the communication needs of the students by participating in individual interviews. These included employers, civil engineers, civil engineering lecturers, ex-civil engineering students of the…

Direct-to-consumer communication on prescription only medicines via the internet in the Netherlands, a pilot study. Opinion of the pharmaceutical industry, patient associations and support groups.

Science.gov (United States)

Fabius, A Mariette; Cheung, Ka-Chun; Rijcken, Cristianne J F; Vinkers, Christiaan H; Talsma, Herre

2004-06-01

Investigation of the current application of direct-to-consumer (DTC) communication on prescription only medicines via the Intemet in the Netherlands. Questionnaires were sent by e-mail to 43 Dutch innovative pharmaceutical industries and 130 Patient Association and Support Groups (PASGs). In this pilot study, the response of the pharmaceutical industry was rather low but the impression is that they were willing to invest in DTC communication. The majority of the websites of PASGs did not link to websites of pharmaceutical companies. The PASGs had no opinion whether patients can make a good distinction between DTC advertising and information on websites of the pharmaceutical industry nor about the quality. PASGs did not think unambiguously about the impact on the patient-doctor relationship. The impact of DTC communication on prescription only medicines via the internet is not yet clear in the Netherlands.

Management & Communication Training

CERN Multimedia

2006-01-01

Please check our Web site to find out the number of places available which may vary. Calendar of courses for May to June 2006 Management Curriculum 1st semester 2006 Titles Dates language CDP for Supervisors & section Leaders - part 2 2, 3 May English Personal Awareness & Impact 9, 10, 11 May Bilingual CDP pour superviseurs & chefs de section - part 2 11, 12 mai français Introduction to Leadership 17, 18, 19 May English Communicating Effectively - Residential 14, 15, 16 June Bilingual CDP for Group Leaders - part 2 19, 20, 21 June Bilingual Project Management 19, 20, 21 June Bilingual Personal Awareness & Impact - Follow-up 19, 20 June bilingual Leadership Competencies 27, 28 June Bilingual Communication curriculum 1st semester 2006 Titles Dates language Personal Awareness & Impact 9, 10, 11 May Bilingual Personal Awareness & Impact - Follow-up 19, 20 June Bilingual Communicating Effectively 15, 16 May &...

Nurse-patient communication barriers in Iranian nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Anoosheh, M; Zarkhah, S; Faghihzadeh, S; Vaismoradi, M

2009-06-01

Providing effective communication with patients is an essential aspect of nursing care. Understanding the barriers that inhibit nurse-patient communication can provide an opportunity to eliminate them. To investigate nurse-patient and environment-related communication barriers perceived by patients and nurses in Iranian nursing. A descriptive survey was carried out in three randomly selected educational hospitals in a large urban city in Iran. Data were collected by questionnaire; the study sample consisted of 61 patients and 75 nurses. Participants were asked to rate the importance of each communication barriers item. Finally, data were analysed using descriptive statistics, and to compare the perceived importance of communication barriers between patients and nurses, item means were calculated and the t-test for independent samples was applied. Similarities and differences between the two groups were identified. According to nurses' views, 'heavy nursing workload', 'hard nursing tasks' and 'lack of welfare facilities for nurses' were the main communication barriers. From patients' views, 'unfamiliarity of nurses with dialect', 'having contagious diseases' and 'sex differences between nurses and patients' were determined as the main communication barriers. The shared communication barriers were 'age difference', 'social class difference' and 'having contagious diseases'. It can be concluded that nursing managers and healthcare system planners should focus on eliminating or modifying the barriers stated by the two groups, particularly the shared ones. It is suggested that understanding the cultural aspects of nurse-patient communication barriers in various contexts can help nurses. The study relied on self-report by a limited sample of nurses and patients. The responses should now be tested by a larger sample and then by empirical research into actual practice in order to test whether the nurses' and patients' perceived ideas of communication barriers are

Community responses to communication campaigns for influenza A (H1N1: a focus group study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Gray Lesley

2012-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background This research was a part of a contestable rapid response initiative launched by the Health Research Council of New Zealand and the Ministry of Health in response to the 2009 influenza A pandemic. The aim was to provide health authorities in New Zealand with evidence-based practical information to guide the development and delivery of effective health messages for H1N1 and other health campaigns. This study contributed to the initiative by providing qualitative data about community responses to key health messages in the 2009 and 2010 H1N1 campaigns, the impact of messages on behavioural change and the differential impact on vulnerable groups in New Zealand. Methods Qualitative data were collected on community responses to key health messages in the 2009 and 2010 Ministry of Health H1N1 campaigns, the impact of messages on behaviour and the differential impact on vulnerable groups. Eight focus groups were held in the winter of 2010 with 80 participants from groups identified by the Ministry of Health as vulnerable to the H1N1 virus, such as people with chronic health conditions, pregnant women, children, Pacific Peoples and Māori. Because this study was part of a rapid response initiative, focus groups were selected as the most efficient means of data collection in the time available. For Māori, focus group discussion (hui is a culturally appropriate methodology. Results Thematic analysis of data identified four major themes: personal and community risk, building community strategies, responsibility and information sources. People wanted messages about specific actions that they could take to protect themselves and their families and to mitigate any consequences. They wanted transparent and factual communication where both good and bad news is conveyed by people who they could trust. Conclusions The responses from all groups endorsed the need for community based risk management including information dissemination. Engaging

"Communicate to vaccinate": the development of a taxonomy of communication interventions to improve routine childhood vaccination.

Science.gov (United States)

Willis, Natalie; Hill, Sophie; Kaufman, Jessica; Lewin, Simon; Kis-Rigo, John; De Castro Freire, Sara Bensaude; Bosch-Capblanch, Xavier; Glenton, Claire; Lin, Vivian; Robinson, Priscilla; Wiysonge, Charles S

2013-05-11

Vaccination is a cost-effective public health measure and is central to the Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality. However, childhood vaccination coverage remains sub-optimal in many settings. While communication is a key feature of vaccination programmes, we are not aware of any comprehensive approach to organising the broad range of communication interventions that can be delivered to parents and communities to improve vaccination coverage. Developing a classification system (taxonomy) organised into conceptually similar categories will aid in: understanding the relationships between different types of communication interventions; facilitating conceptual mapping of these interventions; clarifying the key purposes and features of interventions to aid implementation and evaluation; and identifying areas where evidence is strong and where there are gaps. This paper reports on the development of the 'Communicate to vaccinate' taxonomy. The taxonomy was developed in two stages. Stage 1 included: 1) forming an advisory group; 2) searching for descriptions of interventions in trials (CENTRAL database) and general health literature (Medline); 3) developing a sampling strategy; 4) screening the search results; 5) developing a data extraction form; and 6) extracting intervention data. Stage 2 included: 1) grouping the interventions according to purpose; 2) holding deliberative forums in English and French with key vaccination stakeholders to gather feedback; 3) conducting a targeted search of grey literature to supplement the taxonomy; 4) finalising the taxonomy based on the input provided. The taxonomy includes seven main categories of communication interventions: inform or educate, remind or recall, teach skills, provide support, facilitate decision making, enable communication and enhance community ownership. These categories are broken down into 43 intervention types across three target groups: parents or soon-to-be-parents; communities, community

Perceptions of effective and ineffective nurse-physician communication in hospitals.

Science.gov (United States)

Robinson, F Patrick; Gorman, Geraldine; Slimmer, Lynda W; Yudkowsky, Rachel

2010-01-01

Nurse-physician communication affects patient safety. Such communication has been well studied using a variety of survey and observational methods; however, missing from the literature is an investigation of what constitutes effective and ineffective interprofessional communication from the perspective of the professionals involved. The purpose of this study was to explore nurse and physician perceptions of effective and ineffective communication between the two professions. Using focus group methodology, we asked nurses and physicians with at least 5 years' acute care hospital experience to reflect on effective and ineffective interprofessional communication and to provide examples. Three focus groups were held with 6 participants each (total sample 18). Sessions were audio recorded and transcribed verbatim. Transcripts were coded into categories of effective and ineffective communication. The following themes were found. For effective communication: clarity and precision of message that relies on verification, collaborative problem solving, calm and supportive demeanor under stress, maintenance of mutual respect, and authentic understanding of the unique role. For ineffective communication: making someone less than, dependence on electronic systems, and linguistic and cultural barriers. These themes may be useful in designing learning activities to promote effective interprofessional communication.

Effect of information and communication technology on nursing performance.

Science.gov (United States)

Fujino, Yuriko; Kawamoto, Rieko

2013-05-01

The aim of this study was to investigate the influence of information and communication technology use and skills on nursing performance. Questionnaires were prepared relating to using the technology, practical skills in utilizing information, the Six-Dimension Scale of Nursing Performance, and demographics. In all, 556 nurses took part (response rate, 72.6%). A two-way analysis of variance was used to determine the influence of years of nursing experience on the relationship between nursing performance and information and communication technology use. The results showed that the group possessing high technological skills had greater nursing ability than the group with low skills; the level of nursing performance improved with years of experience in the former group, but not in the latter group. Regarding information and communication technology use, the results showed that nursing performance improved among participants who used computers for sending and receiving e-mails, but it decreased for those who used cell phones for e-mail. The results suggest that nursing performance may be negatively affected if information and communication technology are inappropriately used. Informatics education should therefore be provided for all nurses, and it should include information use relating to cell phones and computers.

Change Communication: Facts and Fictions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jürgen Mühlbacher

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Change communication is today seen as one of the most important tools enabling successful change processes. Unfortunately, change communication literature is mainly dominated by consultants. This leads to a high number of different checklists and lists of change communication tools, selling different concepts of consulting, most of them with a holistic, one-size-fits-all perspective. However, corporate communication in general and change communication in particular has to be seen as core competence of management. Top managers have to develop trust and communicate their vision of the future; middle managers should communicate and operationalize goals, so that employees have a sense of hope and orientation. These functions cannot easily be outsourced! What are missing in the majority of publications are empirically based tests of the effectiveness and the efficiency of change communication tools. Therefore, in order to increase the efficiency of change communication, this explorative study will offer an empirical survey of different tools and their attribution concerning informational aspects and behavioural influence in the context of a present day merger in the banking sector. Based on 39 semi-structured interviews, the results will show the different information needs of employees and managers and a lack of behavioural modifications. The current distribution of information leads to high costs and a high degree of confusion. Therefore, a kind of target group segmentation is needed to improve information flows and to develop motivation. This can be a first step to developing a new approach for change communication with a company-specific perspective on efficient change communication.

Evaluation of an interprofessional clinician-patient communication workshop utilizing standardized patient methodology.

Science.gov (United States)

Lagan, Casey; Wehbe-Janek, Hania; Waldo, Kim; Fox, Amy; Jo, Chanhee; Rahm, Mark

2013-01-01

Communication and interpersonal skills (CIS) are one of the 6 general competencies required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The clinician-patient communication (CPC) workshop, developed by the Institute for Healthcare Communication, provides an interactive opportunity to practice and develop CIS. The objectives of this study were to (1) determine the impact of a CPC workshop on orthopedic surgery residents' CIS (2) determine the impact of physician alone or incorporation of nursing participation in the workshop, and (3) incorporate standardized patients (SPs) in resident training and assessment of CIS. Stratified by training year, 18 residents of an Orthopaedic Surgery Residency Program were randomized to a CPC workshop with only residents (group A, n = 9) or a CPC workshop with nurse participants (group B, n = 9). Data included residents' (1) CIS scores as evaluated by SPs and (2) self-reports from a 25-question survey on perception of CIS. Data were collected at baseline and 3 weeks following the workshop. Following the workshop, the combined group (group A and B) felt more strongly that the ACGME should require a communication training and evaluation curriculum (post mean = 52.7, post-pre difference = 15.94, p = 0.026). Group A residents felt more strongly that communication is a learned behavior (post mean = 82.7, post-pre difference = 17.67, p = 0.028), and the addition of SPs was a valuable experience (post mean = 59.3, post-pre difference = 16.44, p = 0.038). Group B residents reported less willingness to improve on their communication skills (post-mean = 79.7, post-pre difference = -7.44, p = 0.049) and less improvement in professional satisfaction in effective communication than group A (post mean group A = 81.9, group B = 83.6, post-pre difference group A = 7.11, group B = 1.89, p = 0.047). Few differences between groups regarding CIS scores were detected. While there was no demonstrable difference regarding CIS, our

Getting CSR communication fit

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmeltz, Line

2017-01-01

Companies experience increasing legal and societal pressure to communicate about their corporate social responsibility (CSR) engagements from a number of different publics. One very important group is that of young consumers who are predicted to be the most important and influential consumer group...... in the near future. From a value- theoretical base, this article empirically explores the role and applicability of ‘fit’ in strategic CSR communication targeted at young consumers. Point of departure is taken in the well-known strategic fit (a logical link between a company’s CSR commitment and its core...... values) and is further developed by introducing two additional fits, the CSR- Consumer fit and the CSR-Consumer-Company fit (Triple Fit). Through a sequential design, the three fits are empirically tested and their potential for meeting young consumers’ expectations for corporate CSR messaging...

Examining the Effects of Teaching Contemporary Arabic Literature through Communicative Approach

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maryam i Jalae

2014-01-01

Full Text Available Examining the Effects of Teaching Contemporary Arabic Literature through Communicative Approach       Maryam Jalaei *   Narges Ganji **   Sardar Aslani ***           In order to make use of modern methods of teaching in the field of teaching Arabic to non- native Arab speakers, this study employed communicative approach for the teaching of contemporary Arabic literature. Thus, this study aimed at investigating the impact of using communicative approach in teaching contemporary Arabic literature on the speaking ability of Iranian university students of Arabic as a foreign language. In this experimental study, the researchers used test of speaking as an instrument. The participants in this study were 20 intermediate students studying at University of Isfahan. These 20 students were divided equally into two groups, one experimental & one control. The selection of the students was done randomly. In the experimental group, the students were taught according to communicative approach & in the control group, the traditional method was used. A pre–test was given to make sure about the homogeneity of the two groups in their speaking ability. The researchers also re-tested in two phases to monitor the development of communicative ability of the research sample in speaking. Data was analyzed by using T- test. It was found that the two groups had statistically significant differences. These differences can be related to the impact of communicative approach in improving students’ speaking skills.         Key words : Teaching Arabic to Iranian Learners, Communicative Approach, Contemporary Arabic Literature, Communicative Competence, Speaking Skill.       * Assistant Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, University of Kashan .  ** Assistant Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, University of Isfahan. *** Assistant Professor, Department of Arabic Language and Literature, University of Isfahan.

Effects of a communication course for clinicians on parents' perception of care

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Ammentorp, Jette; Sabroe, Svend; Kofoed, Poul-Erik

2009-01-01

. The intervention group completed a 5-day communication course, whereas the control group had no intervention. The intervention was evaluated using questionnaires measuring parents' perception of the communication and their satisfaction. The questionnaires were filled out by parents to children consulting....... There were no significant differences between the satisfaction of parents visiting clinicians from the intervention group and those visiting clinicians from the control group; however, the proportion of parents who had a positive perception of the communication was up to 9.8% higher in the intervention group...... compared with the control group. For example: 'the clinician told my child what he/she could do in order to feel better'. Discussion: Although no statistically significant differences were found, the study indicates that parents who had visited a clinician from the intervention group have experienced...

Improving Family Communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Medrano, Vilma; Bonilla, Gladys; Hernández, Ericka; Romanjek, Mariana Harnecker; Gómez, Adriana; Hernández, Jasón; Reyes, Marcela Ríos; Lindenberg, Cathy Strachan

2017-03-01

TeenSmart International harnesses the power and flexibility of technology to empower youth to take personal responsibility for their health and lifestyle choices. Access to the Internet via mobile phones is often cheaper than paying to connect to a wired broadband service, and in rural areas, mobile networks may be the only means of accessing the Internet. This study assessed the feasibility, acceptability, and impact of "cues to action" or brief motivating cell phone text messages to improve adolescent family communication and relationships. A quasi-experimental design using a voluntary sample of 100 Nicaraguan youth at high risk for poor family communication participated. Pre- and posttest quantitative measures using Student t statistical analysis, a focus group, and a participant testimony provided the evaluation evidence. Findings suggest that there are economic and motivational barriers to the use of text messages, but when barriers are eliminated, the behavioral results are positive. Youth who received two weekly text messages over a 6-month period demonstrated statistically significant improvements in family communication perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors, strengthening their family communications and relationships. Brief and personalized text messaging "cues to action" may be a cost-effective intervention to improve adolescent healthy lifestyle behaviors.

77 FR 31786 - Regulations Revising Rules Regarding Agency for a Consolidated Group

Science.gov (United States)

2012-05-30

... other communication mailed to the predecessor agent for the group, even if no longer in existence, is... any communication (including, for example, a claim for refund) submitted on behalf of the group by any... identifies the group's agent. Balancing special logistical issues and the importance of continual agency, the...

Inequalities in non-communicable diseases between the major population groups in Israel: achievements and challenges.

Science.gov (United States)

Muhsen, Khitam; Green, Manfred S; Soskolne, Varda; Neumark, Yehuda

2017-06-24

Israel is a high-income country with an advanced health system and universal health-care insurance. Overall, the health status has improved steadily over recent decades. We examined differences in morbidity, mortality, and risk factors for selected non-communicable diseases (NCDs) between subpopulation groups. Between 1975 and 2014, life expectancy in Israel steadily increased and is currently above the average life expectancy for the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries. Nevertheless, life expectancy has remained lower among Israeli Arabs than Israeli Jews, and this gap has recently widened. Age-adjusted mortality as a result of heart disease, stroke, or diabetes remains higher in Arabs, whereas age-adjusted incidence and mortality of cancer were higher among Jews. The prevalence of obesity and low physical activity in Israel is considerably higher among Arabs than Jews. Smoking prevalence is highest for Arab men and lowest for Arab women. Health inequalities are also evident by the indicators of socioeconomic position and in subpopulations, such as immigrants from the former Soviet Union, ultra-Orthodox Jews, and Bedouin Arabs. Despite universal health coverage and substantial improvements in the overall health of the Israeli population, substantial inequalities in NCDs persist. These differences might be explained, at least in part, by gaps in social determinants of health. The Ministry of Health has developed comprehensive programmes to reduce these inequalities between the major population groups. Sustained coordinated multisectoral efforts are needed to achieve a greater impact and to address other social inequalities. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Assessing students' communication skills: validation of a global rating.

Science.gov (United States)

Scheffer, Simone; Muehlinghaus, Isabel; Froehmel, Annette; Ortwein, Heiderose

2008-12-01

Communication skills training is an accepted part of undergraduate medical programs nowadays. In addition to learning experiences its importance should be emphasised by performance-based assessment. As detailed checklists have been shown to be not well suited for the assessment of communication skills for different reasons, this study aimed to validate a global rating scale. A Canadian instrument was translated to German and adapted to assess students' communication skills during an end-of-semester-OSCE. Subjects were second and third year medical students at the reformed track of the Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin. Different groups of raters were trained to assess students' communication skills using the global rating scale. Validity testing included concurrent validity and construct validity: Judgements of different groups of raters were compared to expert ratings as a defined gold standard. Furthermore, the amount of agreement between scores obtained with this global rating scale and a different instrument for assessing communication skills was determined. Results show that communication skills can be validly assessed by trained non-expert raters as well as standardised patients using this instrument.

Numerical modelling of multimode fibre-optic communication lines

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sidelnikov, O S; Fedoruk, M P [Novosibirsk State University, Novosibirsk (Russian Federation); Sygletos, S; Ferreira, F [Aston University, England, Birmingham, B4 7ET (United Kingdom)

2016-01-31

The results of numerical modelling of nonlinear propagation of an optical signal in multimode fibres with a small differential group delay are presented. It is found that the dependence of the error vector magnitude (EVM) on the differential group delay can be reduced by increasing the number of ADC samples per symbol in the numerical implementation of the differential group delay compensation algorithm in the receiver. The possibility of using multimode fibres with a small differential group delay for data transmission in modern digital communication systems is demonstrated. It is shown that with increasing number of modes the strong coupling regime provides a lower EVM level than the weak coupling one. (fibre-optic communication lines)

Communicating Science

Science.gov (United States)

Holland, G. J.; McCaffrey, M. S.; Kiehl, J. T.; Schmidt, C.

2010-12-01

attitudes and beliefs, which studies such as the Six Americas research help identify, is key to effective science communications (e.g. Leiserowitz, Maibach, et al, 2009). We argue that the impact of the scientific message can be substantially improved by targeting it to these additional factors. This does require an understanding of the audience and a repackaging of the message to different societal groups. Logical and dispassionate presentation of evidence works for a target scientific audience, but major decisions from the policy to the personal level are influenced by many factors including immediacy, economics, culture, community leaders, emotional framing, and ideological filters.

Negotiation of identities in intercultural communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janík Zdeněk

2017-01-01

Full Text Available Negotiation of identities in communication entails affirming the identities we want others to recognize in us and ascription of identities we mutually assign to each other in communication. The study of intercultural communication focuses on cultural identity as the principal identity component that defines intercultural communication. In this article, the assumption that cultural group membership factors determine the context of intercultural communication is questioned. The article examines how intercultural interlocutors negotiate their identities in various intercultural interactions. The aims of the research presented in this paper are: 1 to examine which identities - cultural, personal, or social - intercultural interlocutors activate in intercultural communication; 2 to determine whether interlocutors’ intercultural communication is largely influenced by their cultural identities; 3 and to identify situations in which they activate their cultural identities (3. The research data were collected from 263 international students studying at Masaryk University in Brno in the years 2010 - 2016. Although the research results are not conclusive, they indicate that cultural identities predominate in the students’ ethnocentric views and that stereotypes constrain the students’ cultural identities and affect the negotiation of identities in intercultural communication.

Steering committee for the management of the post-accidental phase of a nuclear accident or of a radiological situation (CODIRPA). Work group nr 8 'Communication' - 2011 January 10. Synthesis of the report of the 'nuclear post-accidental communication' nr 8 work group

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Delmestre, Alain; Bouchot, Emmanuel; Mehl-Auget, Isabelle; Theron, Francois; Attiach, Alexandra; Leurette, Marc; Villeneuve, Marcel; Volant, Philippe; Bigot, Marie-Pierre; Demet, Michel; Lheureux, Yves; Herve, Christophe

2011-01-01

A first part of this report addresses the State communication in a nuclear post-accidental situation, and notably discusses and comments the necessity to communicate during the post-accidental phase, how communication should be organised, and which are the main objectives of the State communication during a post-accidental phase. The second part addresses the State operational communication in a nuclear post-accidental situation. It defines its addressees (population, institutional actors, associations and opinion relays), proposes recommendations for a prescriptive communication (conditions for efficiency, required conditions, lessons learned from the Chernobyl accident), and makes recommendations about the relationships with media. Some good practices of communication tools are also identified. The third part contains communication operational tools such as language elements and practical advices for the different stages and aspects of communication

GGOS working group on ground networks and communications

Science.gov (United States)

Pearlman, M.; Altamimi, Z.; Beck, N.; Forsberg, R.; Gurtner, W.; Kenyon, S.; Behrend, D.; Lemoine, F. G.; Ma, C.; Noll, C. E.;

KNOWLEDGE HUB: SPIRAL MATRIX THINKING AS A COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY FOR INDIVIDUAL AND GROUP LEARNING IN ONE DRIVE AND WORD ONLINE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Наталья Валерьевна Комиссарова

2017-12-01

Full Text Available The article represents the modification of the Knowledge Hub communicative technique of teaching English and other disciplines based on the OneDrive\\Word-online cloud service. Specific options for the organization of group work and individual activities are considered. The article highlights the advantage and the efficiency of teaching and learning by the BYOD (Bring Your Own Device mode. The paper includes examples of organizing of mass support of the study of the course of English for Business and Entrepreneurship (MOOC-Coursera and of information technology of the Humanities program in the computer class and relying on BYOD mobile Internet access of students.

A participatory concept of development and communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Aubel, J

1992-01-01

The predominant position concerning health communication is that it basically consists of spreading carefully designed messages to certain groups to generate individual behavior change. This information transfer involves a 1-way direction and top down strategy. Even though these approaches may change individual knowledge and attitudes, changes in behavior do not always result. Indeed cultural or economic factors often prevent individuals from changing their behavior. Another belief is that health communication strategies should motivate community members and health workers to take part in dialogue and analysis of health problems. Feedback is thus instantaneous. This convergence model incorporates both community members and health workers and encourages them to draw from their own experiences and priorities to delineate strategies at the community and institutional levels. The advantages of the convergence model include: it aims to change community norms rather than individual behavior and to develop mutually acceptable health practices, it improves skills in 2-way communication, and it uses local communicators. This last advantage results in strengthened ability of these communicators to analyze problems and to encourage others among their social networks to participate in problem solving. Thus their participation fosters sustainable changes in health strategies. Several examples of local communicators generating changes in group norms in developing countries exist. Muslim leaders in the Gambia advance child health and family planning. In India and Bangladesh, respected women inform other women about appropriate child nutrition practices. In Malawi, women's groups wrote nutrition songs and choreographed dances to accompany the songs. If people perceive that educational content relates to their personal beliefs and experience, they become motivated. Facilitated structured learning activities such as open-ended stories are the most successful. Health workers should

Factors related to nurse communication with elderly people.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Caris-Verhallen, W.M.C.M.; Gruijter, I.M. de; Kerkstra, A.; Bensing, J.M.

1999-01-01

This study explores variables that might influence nurses' communication with elderly patients. Three groups of variables arise from the literature that seem to affect the quality of nurse-patient communication: variables related to nurses, to patients, and to the setting in which nursing care takes

Factors related to nurse communication with elderly people

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Caris-Verhallen, W.M.C.M.; Gruijter, I.M. de; Kerkstra, A.; Bensing, J.

1999-01-01

This study explores variables that might influence nurses' communication with elderly patients. Three groups of variables arise from the literature that seem to affect the quality or quantity of nurse-patient communication: variables related to nurses, to patients, and to the setting in which

Communication in the spirit of the CERN staff

CERN Multimedia

Association du personnel

2009-01-01

The announcement of a return to normal internal communication is good news. From 9th November 2009, the Staff Association and the CERN communications group will work in close collaboration to publish in a single bulletin the news of the different players in the Organization.

Effects of communication skills on stress responses while speaking Japanese and English.

Science.gov (United States)

Hirokawa, Kumi; Yagi, Akihiro; Miyata, Yo

2008-08-01

The present study was conducted to examine the effects of communication skills on stress responses, such as physiological (blink and heart rate), emotional (state of anxiety and mood), and behavioral responses (smiling and expressing an opinion) in stressful communication situations, specifically answering questions and giving a speech in Japanese and English. Participants were 32 students (16 men and 16 women; Mage = 19.5 yr., SD = 1.3) attending a Japanese university. A high communication skills group was selected from the upper tertile scores of the Social Skills Inventory, and a low communication skills group was selected from the lower tertile scores. Analysis indicated that individuals who had high communication skills performed without heart-rate increase and with more positive attitude during stressful communication tasks. Individuals who had low communication skills displayed higher anxiety prior to the experiment than those who had high communication skills.

What do people appreciate in physicians' communication? An international study with focus groups using videotaped medical consultations.

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Mazzi, M.A.; Rimondini, M.; Deveugele, M.; Zimmermann, C.; Moretti, F.; Vliet, L. van; Deledda, G.; Fletcher, I.; Bensing, J.

2015-01-01

Background: The literature shows that the quality of communication is usually determined from a professional perspective. Patients or lay people are seldom involved in the development of quality indicators or communication. Objective: To give voice to the lay people perspective on what constitutes

A Study on Signal Group Processing of AUTOSAR COM Module

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lee, Jeong-Hwan; Hwang, Hyun Yong; Han, Tae Man; Ahn, Yong Hak

2013-01-01

In vehicle, there are many ECU(Electronic Control Unit)s, and ECUs are connected to networks such as CAN, LIN, FlexRay, and so on. AUTOSAR COM(Communication) which is a software platform of AUTOSAR(AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture) in the international industry standards of automotive electronic software processes signals and signal groups for data communications between ECUs. Real-time and reliability are very important for data communications in the vehicle. Therefore, in this paper, we analyze functions of signals and signal groups used in COM, and represent that functions of signal group are more efficient than signals in real-time data synchronization and network resource usage between the sender and receiver.

A Study on Signal Group Processing of AUTOSAR COM Module

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, Jeong-Hwan; Hwang, Hyun Yong; Han, Tae Man; Ahn, Yong Hak

2013-06-01

In vehicle, there are many ECU(Electronic Control Unit)s, and ECUs are connected to networks such as CAN, LIN, FlexRay, and so on. AUTOSAR COM(Communication) which is a software platform of AUTOSAR(AUTomotive Open System ARchitecture) in the international industry standards of automotive electronic software processes signals and signal groups for data communications between ECUs. Real-time and reliability are very important for data communications in the vehicle. Therefore, in this paper, we analyze functions of signals and signal groups used in COM, and represent that functions of signal group are more efficient than signals in real-time data synchronization and network resource usage between the sender and receiver.

The structured communication tool SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation) improves communication in neonatology.

Science.gov (United States)

Raymond, M; Harrison, M C

2014-12-01

Effective communication, co-operation and teamwork have been identified as key determinants of patient safety. SBAR (Situation, Background, Assessment and Recommendation) is a communication tool recommended by the World Health Organization and the UK National Health Service. SBAR is a structured method for communicating critical information that requires immediate attention and action, contributing to effective escalation of management and increased patient safety. To our knowledge, this is the first study showing use of SBAR in South Africa (SA). To determine the effectiveness of adopting the SBAR communication tool in an acute clinical setting in SA. In the first phase of this study, neonatal nurses and doctors at Groote Schuur Hospital, Cape Town, were gathered in a focus group and given a questionnaire asking about communication in the neonatal department. Neonatal nurses and doctors were then trained to use SBAR. A telephone audit demonstrated an increase in SBAR use by registrars from 29% to 70% when calling consultants for help. After training, the majority of staff agreed that SBAR had helped with communication, confidence, and quality of patient care. There was qualitative evidence that SBAR led to greater promptness in care of acutely ill patients. Adopting SBAR was associated with perceived improvement in communication between professionals and in the quality and safety of patient care. It is suggested that this simple tool be introduced to many other hospitals in SA.

Relationship between candidate communication ability and oral certification examination scores.

Science.gov (United States)

Lunz, Mary E; Bashook, Philip G

2008-12-01

Structured case-based oral examinations are widely used in medical certifying examinations in the USA. These orals assess the candidate's decision-making skills using real or realistic patient cases. Frequently mentioned but not empirically evaluated is the potential bias introduced by the candidate's communication ability. This study aimed to assess the relationship between candidate communication ability and medical certification oral examination scores. Non-doctor communication observers rated a random sample of 90 candidates on communication ability during a medical oral certification examination. The multi-facet Rasch model was used to analyse the communication survey and the oral examination data. The multi-facet model accounts for observer and examiner severity bias. anova was used to measure differences in communication ability between passing and failing candidates and candidates grouped by level of communication ability. Pearson's correlations were used to compare candidate communication ability and oral certification examination performance. Candidate separation reliability values for the communication survey and the oral examination were 0.85 and 0.97, respectively, suggesting accurate candidate measurement. The correlation between communication scores and oral examination scores was 0.10. No significant difference was found between passing and failing candidates for measured communication ability. When candidates were grouped by high, moderate and low communication ability, there was no significant difference in their oral certification examination performance. Candidates' communication ability has little relationship to candidate performance on high-stakes, case-based oral examinations. Examiners for this certifying examination focused on assessing candidate decision-making ability and were not influenced by candidate communication ability.

“Communicate to vaccinate”: the development of a taxonomy of communication interventions to improve routine childhood vaccination

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

Background Vaccination is a cost-effective public health measure and is central to the Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality. However, childhood vaccination coverage remains sub-optimal in many settings. While communication is a key feature of vaccination programmes, we are not aware of any comprehensive approach to organising the broad range of communication interventions that can be delivered to parents and communities to improve vaccination coverage. Developing a classification system (taxonomy) organised into conceptually similar categories will aid in: understanding the relationships between different types of communication interventions; facilitating conceptual mapping of these interventions; clarifying the key purposes and features of interventions to aid implementation and evaluation; and identifying areas where evidence is strong and where there are gaps. This paper reports on the development of the ‘Communicate to vaccinate’ taxonomy. Methods The taxonomy was developed in two stages. Stage 1 included: 1) forming an advisory group; 2) searching for descriptions of interventions in trials (CENTRAL database) and general health literature (Medline); 3) developing a sampling strategy; 4) screening the search results; 5) developing a data extraction form; and 6) extracting intervention data. Stage 2 included: 1) grouping the interventions according to purpose; 2) holding deliberative forums in English and French with key vaccination stakeholders to gather feedback; 3) conducting a targeted search of grey literature to supplement the taxonomy; 4) finalising the taxonomy based on the input provided. Results The taxonomy includes seven main categories of communication interventions: inform or educate, remind or recall, teach skills, provide support, facilitate decision making, enable communication and enhance community ownership. These categories are broken down into 43 intervention types across three target groups: parents or soon

Electronic communication improves access, but barriers to its widespread adoption remain.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Tara F; Press, Matthew J; Mendelsohn, Jayme L; Casalino, Lawrence P

2013-08-01

Because electronic communication is quick, convenient, and inexpensive for most patients, care that is truly patient centered should promote the use of such communication between patients and providers, even using it as a substitute for office visits when clinically appropriate. Despite the potential benefits of electronic communication, fewer than 7 percent of providers used it in 2008. To learn from the experiences of providers that have widely incorporated electronic communication into patient care, we interviewed leaders of twenty-one medical groups that use it extensively with patients. We also interviewed staff in six of those groups. Electronic communication was widely perceived to be a safe, effective, and efficient means of communication that improves patient satisfaction and saves patients time but that increases the volume of physician work unless office visits are reduced. Practice redesign and new payment methods are likely necessary for electronic communication to be more widely used in patient care.

La comunicación y la asertividad del discurso durante las interacciones grupales presenciales y por computadora Communication and assertiveness on the discourse during face-to-face and computer-mediated group interactions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nancy Noemí Terroni

2009-04-01

Full Text Available En este trabajo se reportan los resultados del análisis reticular en la comunicación, y los puntajes de la asertividad del discurso de los partipantes de pequeños grupos que resuelven una tarea de recuperación de memoria (La guerra de los fantasmas, Bartlett, 1932. El diseño es cuasiexperimental y los 90 participantes alumnos de la Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, debieron reconstruir la misma en forma grupal colaborativa. Los sujetos fueron asignados aleatoriamente a los grupos y a las dos condiciones (grupos cara a cara y mediados por computadora. Se registraron las interacciones presenciales mediante video filmaciones y las electrónicas quedaron almacenadas en el canal de chat. En general, la asertividad del discurso y la comunicación presentaron asociaciones significativas, con algunas diferencias según el canal comunicacional empleado. Se discuten estos resultados con relación al tipo de tarea y a las restricciones de los medios electrónicos.This work reports the results of reticular analysis in communication, and the scores from the discourse assertiveness of the participants of small groups who solve a recall memory task (The war of the ghosts, Bartlett, 1932. The design is a quasi-experimental one and the 90 subjects, students from Mar del Plata University had to reconstruct the same story in collaborative groups. The subjects were assigned in an aleatory way, to both conditions (face to face and computer-mediated groups. The subjects' interactions in face-to-face communication groups were recorded in video films and the electronic ones were stored in the chat channel. In general, the discourse assertiveness and the communication presented significant associations, with some differences according to the communication channel used. These results are discussed about the type of task and the restrictions of the electronic media.

Radio Gaga? Intra-team communication of Australian Rules Football umpires - effect of radio communication on content, structure and frequency.

Science.gov (United States)

Neville, Timothy J; Salmon, Paul M; Read, Gemma J M

2018-02-01

Intra-team communication plays an important role in team effectiveness in various domains including sport. As such, it is a key consideration when introducing new tools within systems that utilise teams. The difference in intra-team communication of Australian Rules Football (AFL) umpiring teams was studied when umpiring with or without radio communications technology. A cross-sectional observational study was conducted to analyse the verbal communication of seven umpiring teams (20 participants) grouped according to their experience with radio communication. The results identified that radio communication technology increased the frequency and altered the structure of intra-team communication. Examination of the content of the intra-team communication identified impacts on the 'Big Five' teamwork behaviours and associated coordinating mechanisms. Analysis revealed that the communications utilised did not align with the closed-loop form of communication described in the Big Five model. Implications for teamwork models, coaching and training of AFL umpires are discussed. Practitioner Summary: Assessing the impact of technology on performance is of interest to ergonomics practitioners. The impact of radio communications on teamwork is explored in the highly dynamic domain of AFL umpiring. When given radio technology, intra-team communication increased which supported teamwork behaviours, such as backup behaviour and mutual performance monitoring.

Communicative-pragmatic impairment in schizophrenia: Cognitive rehabilitative training

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Francesca Marina Bosco

2016-02-01

Full Text Available This paper aims to verify in patients with schizophrenia, the efficacy of Cognitive Pragmatic Treatment (CPT, a new remediation program for improving communicative-pragmatic abilities. The CPT program consists of 20 group sessions, focused on several communication modalities, i.e. linguistic, extralinguistic and paralinguistic, Theory of Mind (ToM and other cognitive functions that can affect communicative performance, such as awareness and planning. A group of 17 patients with schizophrenia participated in the training. They were tested before and after training, using the equivalent forms of the Assessment Battery for Communication (ABaCo, a tool for evaluating the comprehension and production of a wide range of pragmatic phenomena such as, i.e. direct and indirect speech acts, irony and deceit, and a series of neuropsychological and ToM tests. The results showed a significant improvement in patients’ performance following the program, on both comprehension and production tasks, and in all the communication modalities assessed by the ABaCo, i.e. linguistic, extralinguistic, paralinguistic and social appropriateness. The improvement of patients’ performance persisted after three months from the end of the training, as shown by the follow-up tests. These preliminary findings support the efficacy of the CPT program in improving communicative-pragmatic abilities in the patients.

Policies aren't enough: the importance of interpersonal communication about workplace breastfeeding support.

Science.gov (United States)

Anderson, Jenn; Kuehl, Rebecca A; Drury, Sara A Mehltretter; Tschetter, Lois; Schwaegerl, Mary; Hildreth, Marilyn; Bachman, Charlotte; Gullickson, Heidi; Yoder, Julia; Lamp, Jamison

2015-05-01

Formal policies can establish guidelines and expectations for workplace breastfeeding support. However, interpersonal communication between employees and managers is the context where such policies are explained, negotiated, and implemented. As such, this article focuses on interpersonal communication about breastfeeding support in the workplace. The objective of this article is to describe interpersonal communication related to workplace breastfeeding support. We conducted 3 focus groups with 23 business representatives from a rural city in the Midwest United States. Participants were recruited through the area chamber of commerce. We analyzed the transcripts of the focus groups and derived themes related to the study objective. Our analysis of responses from business representatives in the focus groups revealed 3 major themes about interpersonal communication concerning breastfeeding support in the workplace: (1) interpersonal communication may be more important than written communication for enacting breastfeeding support, (2) multiple factors (age, sex, and power dynamics) complicate the interpersonal communication required to enact breastfeeding support in local businesses, and (3) positive interpersonal communication strategies may improve the success of workplace breastfeeding support. Interpersonal communication between employees and managers is where the specifics of workplace breastfeeding support (eg, policies) are determined and applied. Interpersonal communication about breastfeeding can be challenging due to issues such as age, sex, and power dynamics. However, positive and open interpersonal communication can enhance workplace breastfeeding support. © The Author(s) 2015.

Evaluation of communication characteristics of operating teams in NPPs using SNA technique

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Kim, H. J.; Lee, S. W.; Kang, H. G.; Seong, P. H. [Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Park, J. K. [Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute, Daejeon (Korea, Republic of); Kang, H. G. [Khalifa Univ. of Science, Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates)

2012-03-15

Inappropriate communications within operational teams can lead to serious consequences of a system since it can cause lack of exchange of important information to perform the task to secure the safety of the system in nuclear power plants (NPPs). For that reason, we studied the communication characteristics However, existing studies on the communication characteristics seem to have problem since they have characterized team communications from a single perspective. According that, we have developed an evaluation method to characterize team communications using social network techniques which can evaluate them from various perspectives which are group cohesiveness, frequency of communications, degree of hierarchy, and communication contents. In addition, we suggested some kids of specific communication characteristics of operating teams that can reduce the occurrence of inappropriate communications. Eight verbal protocol data which are audio-visual recorded under emergency training sessions by main control room (MCR) operating teams are used. As a result of the study, there was negative relationship between group cohesiveness and the ratio of inappropriate communications. Moreover, some kinds of specific communication contents are related to the ratio of inappropriate communications. Consequently, we can evaluate communications characteristics of operating teams in NPPs and suggest specific characteristics to provide useful insights to prevent inappropriate communications.

Evaluation of communication characteristics of operating teams in NPPs using SNA technique

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kim, H. J.; Lee, S. W.; Kang, H. G.; Seong, P. H.; Park, J. K.; Kang, H. G.

2012-01-01

Inappropriate communications within operational teams can lead to serious consequences of a system since it can cause lack of exchange of important information to perform the task to secure the safety of the system in nuclear power plants (NPPs). For that reason, we studied the communication characteristics However, existing studies on the communication characteristics seem to have problem since they have characterized team communications from a single perspective. According that, we have developed an evaluation method to characterize team communications using social network techniques which can evaluate them from various perspectives which are group cohesiveness, frequency of communications, degree of hierarchy, and communication contents. In addition, we suggested some kids of specific communication characteristics of operating teams that can reduce the occurrence of inappropriate communications. Eight verbal protocol data which are audio-visual recorded under emergency training sessions by main control room (MCR) operating teams are used. As a result of the study, there was negative relationship between group cohesiveness and the ratio of inappropriate communications. Moreover, some kinds of specific communication contents are related to the ratio of inappropriate communications. Consequently, we can evaluate communications characteristics of operating teams in NPPs and suggest specific characteristics to provide useful insights to prevent inappropriate communications

Systematic review of communication partner training in aphasia: methodological quality.

Science.gov (United States)

Cherney, Leora R; Simmons-Mackie, Nina; Raymer, Anastasia; Armstrong, Elizabeth; Holland, Audrey

2013-10-01

Twenty-three studies identified from a previous systematic review examining the effects of communication partner training on persons with aphasia and their communication partners were evaluated for methodological quality. Two reviewers rated the studies on defined methodological quality criteria relevant to each study design. There were 11 group studies, seven single-subject participant design studies, and five qualitative studies. Quality scores were derived for each study. The mean inter-rater reliability of scores for each study design ranged from 85-93%, with Cohen's Kappa indicating substantial agreement between raters. Methodological quality of research on communication partner training in aphasia was highly varied. Overall, group studies employed the least rigorous methodology as compared to single subject and qualitative research. Only two of 11 group studies complied with more than half of the quality criteria. No group studies reported therapist blinding and only one group study reported participant blinding. Across all types of studies, the criterion of treatment fidelity was most commonly omitted. Failure to explicitly report certain methodological quality criteria may account for low ratings. Using methodological rating scales specific to the type of study design may help improve the methodological quality of aphasia treatment studies, including those on communication partner training.

Medical student self-efficacy, knowledge and communication in adolescent medicine.

Science.gov (United States)

Woods, Jennifer L; Pasold, Tracie L; Boateng, Beatrice A; Hense, Devon J

2014-08-20

To evaluate student self-efficacy, knowledge and communication with teen issues and learning activities. Data were collected during the 8-week pediatric rotation for third-year medical students at a local children's hospital. Students completed a self-efficacy instrument at the beginning and end of the rotation; knowledge and communication skills were evaluated during standardized patient cases as part of the objective structured clinical examination. Self-efficacy, knowledge and communication frequencies were described with descriptive statistics; differences between groups were also evaluated utilizing two-sample t-tests. Self-efficacy levels of both groups increased by the end of the pediatric rotation, but students in the two-lecture group displayed significantly higher self-efficacy in confidentiality with adolescents (t(35)=-2.543, p=0.02); interviewing adolescents, assessing risk, sexually transmitted infection risk and prevention counseling, contraception counseling were higher with marginal significance. No significant differences were found between groups for communication; assessing sexually transmitted infection risk was marginally significant for knowledge application during the clinical exam. Medical student self-efficacy appears to change over time with effects from different learning methods; this higher self-efficacy may increase future comfort and willingness to work with this high-risk, high-needs group throughout a medical career.

Communicative Learning Aided by AR for Activity with Students within a Group HCI

Science.gov (United States)

Suarez-Warden, Fernando; Barrera, Salvador

2017-01-01

Communicative learning progress in industry and education must gain focus and commitment otherwise innovation efforts by new technologies and recent researches will produce scarce results. Frequently, it appears gaps in quality and efficiency due to lack of ideas assimilation, matter that can be noticed. Investigators may discourse about platforms…

A comparison of students' self-assessments with faculty evaluations of their communication skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Lundquist, Lisa M; Shogbon, Angela O; Momary, Kathryn M; Rogers, Hannah K

2013-05-13

To compare students' self-assessment of their communication skills with faculty members' formal evaluation of their skills in a therapeutics course. Over a 3-year period, faculty members evaluated second-year pharmacy students' communication skills as part of a requirement in a therapeutics course. Immediately following an individual oral assessment and again following a group oral assessment, students self-assessed their communication skills using the same rubric the faculty members had used. Students' self-assessments were then compared with faculty members' evaluation of students' communication skills. Four hundred one (97.3%) students consented to participate in this study. Faculty evaluation scores of students for both the individual and group oral assessments were significantly higher than students' self-assessment scores. Students' self-assessment scores of their communication skills increased from the individual to the group oral assessment. Students' self-assessments of communication skills were consistently lower than faculty members' evaluations. Greater use of oral assessments throughout the pharmacy curriculum may help to improve students' confidence in and self-assessment of their communication skills.

Improving together: collaborative learning in science communication, ClimateSnack case study

Science.gov (United States)

Heuzé, C.; Reeve, M. A.

2016-02-01

Most scientists today recognize that science communication is an important part of the scientific process, yet science writing and communication are often taught outside the normal academic schedule. If universities offer such courses, they are generally intensive but short-term: the participants rarely complete a science communication course with an immediate and pressing need to apply these skills. So the skills fade, stalling real progress in science communication. Continuity is key to success! Whilst waiting for the academic system to truly integrate science communication, other methods can be tested. ClimateSnack / SciSnack is a new approach that aims to motivate scientists to develop their communication skills. It adopts a collaborative learning framework where scientists voluntarily form writing groups that meet regularly at different institutes around the world. The members of the groups learn, discuss and improve together. The participants produce short posts, which are published online, where they are further discussed and improved by the global ClimateSnack community. This way, the participants learn and cement basic science communication skills. These skills are transferrable, and can be applied both to scientific articles and broader science media. Some writing groups are highly productive, while others exist no more. The reasons for success are here investigated with respect to issues both internal and external to the different groups, in particular leadership strategies. Possible further development, in particular using the online community, is suggested. ClimateSnack is one solution to fill the critical gap left by a lack of adequate teaching in early-career scientists' curriculum.

Offline Social Relationships and Online Cancer Communication: Effects of Social and Family Support on Online Social Network Building.

Science.gov (United States)

Namkoong, Kang; Shah, Dhavan V; Gustafson, David H

2017-11-01

This study investigates how social support and family relationship perceptions influence breast cancer patients' online communication networks in a computer-mediated social support (CMSS) group. To examine social interactions in the CMSS group, we identified two types of online social networks: open and targeted communication networks. The open communication network reflects group communication behaviors (i.e., one-to-many or "broadcast" communication) in which the intended audience is not specified; in contrast, the targeted communication network reflects interpersonal discourses (i.e., one-to-one or directed communication) in which the audience for the message is specified. The communication networks were constructed by tracking CMSS group usage data of 237 breast cancer patients who participated in one of two National Cancer Institute-funded randomized clinical trials. Eligible subjects were within 2 months of a diagnosis of primary breast cancer or recurrence at the time of recruitment. Findings reveal that breast cancer patients who perceived less availability of offline social support had a larger social network size in the open communication network. In contrast, those who perceived less family cohesion had a larger targeted communication network in the CMSS group, meaning they were inclined to use the CMSS group for developing interpersonal relationships.

Group key management

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dunigan, T.; Cao, C.

1997-08-01

This report describes an architecture and implementation for doing group key management over a data communications network. The architecture describes a protocol for establishing a shared encryption key among an authenticated and authorized collection of network entities. Group access requires one or more authorization certificates. The implementation includes a simple public key and certificate infrastructure. Multicast is used for some of the key management messages. An application programming interface multiplexes key management and user application messages. An implementation using the new IP security protocols is postulated. The architecture is compared with other group key management proposals, and the performance and the limitations of the implementation are described.

Communicating with recreationists

Science.gov (United States)

J. Alan Wagar

1971-01-01

Recreationists are free to ignore many of a land manager's communication efforts. Greatest effectiveness can be expected for presentations that are dynamic and are tailored to the interests and other characteristics of selected visitor groups that permit participation and reward learning, and that provide both an idea of what is coming and a framework to give it...

Performance of Group Communication Over Ad-Hoc Networks

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Mosko, Marc; Garcia-Luna-Aceves, J. J

2002-01-01

... through a network of cluster trees, where a spanning tree joins groups of fully connected nodes. Through numerical analysis and simulations in GloMoSim, we show throughput, goodput, and loss rates for reliable and unreliable networks...

Shared identity is key to effective communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Greenaway, Katharine H; Wright, Ruth G; Willingham, Joanne; Reynolds, Katherine J; Haslam, S Alexander

2015-02-01

The ability to communicate with others is one of the most important human social functions, yet communication is not always investigated from a social perspective. This research examined the role that shared social identity plays in communication effectiveness using a minimal group paradigm. In two experiments, participants constructed a model using instructions that were said to be created by an ingroup or an outgroup member. Participants made models of objectively better quality when working from communications ostensibly created by an ingroup member (Experiments 1 and 2). However, this effect was attenuated when participants were made aware of a shared superordinate identity that included both the ingroup and the outgroup (Experiment 2). These findings point to the importance of shared social identity for effective communication and provide novel insights into the social psychology of communication. © 2014 by the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Inc.

Teaching Communication Skills to Radiology Residents.

Science.gov (United States)

Itri, Jason N; Yacob, Sammy; Mithqal, Ayman

The transition of health care in the United States from volume to value requires a systems-based approach aligning clinical services across the continuum of care. The ability to communicate effectively and resolve conflict is a critical skill within the systems-based model. Recognizing the essential role of communication in medicine, the Accreditation Council of Graduate Medical Education has designated interpersonal and communication skills a core competency for all residents regardless of specialty. Yet, communication skills are often developed through on-the-job training or not at all. Traditional educational curricula use a predominantly didactic approach without opportunities for trainees to observe, actively experiment, or reflect on what is learned as a part of the learning process. In this article, we describe a 1-day experiential communication skills workshop customized for radiology residents that consists of Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and conflict management sessions designed to develop interpersonal, communication, and conflict management skills through group discussion, role-play, and simulation. The purpose of this educational initiative was to determine the perceived value of an experiential communication skills workshop designed for radiology trainees. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Managerial Communication. Essential Aspect of Organizational Development

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Marius Florentin POPA

2012-11-01

Full Text Available Organizational communication is a process usually intended for exchanging messages between individuals, groups and organizational levels within the organization, in order to achieve both individual and collective targets. For any organization, communication is an essential requirement in achieving the targets, a sine qua non condition for its efficient functioning, establishing the most basic human relationships. Solely an effective communication can enable the planning and scheduling, coordination and control, motivation, consultation and active participation of an organization’s members in order to achieve the proposed goals. Therefore, there is a closely connection between the ability to communicate of each employee and the ability to lead of each manager. Based on various communication networks and various management styles, an organization shall function at the highest standards solving any problems and fulfilling any targets.

From a target group towards interaction group: Alcohol prevention policy regarding young people in Germany

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Susanne Linden

2015-10-01

Conclusion: Not only the content matters to promote participation, interactive communication, but also context and style of the communication. To enhance self reflection and deeper understanding it is essential to deliver the information in an attractive context, which has been found relevant for the target group. Just providing information may be important but is not sufficient in order to change the behaviour. Information which is elaborated through discussion – even online – may transform information into deeper understanding respectively knowledge. Thus it is more likely to have an impact on future behaviour. The target group should be recognized as interaction group. This will help to improve the adaptation and intervention continuously. Nevertheless, prevention and behaviour change will take their time and will need continuous effort at high level. Future research is needed to measure the impact of vivid discussion on people who take part in these discussions in an active way, compared to those who only follow the conversation thread.

Intercultural Communication Training in Vocational and Industrial Education Training

Science.gov (United States)

Hastjarjo, S.; Nuryana, A.

2018-02-01

The globalization and free trade between countries and nations has created demands for the knowledge and skills in the area of intercultural interaction and transaction. Intercultural Communication Competences (ICC) is one of the capabilities that need to be possessed by workers and professionals who want to have a bigger role in the business and industries in international level. Vocational education institutions are demanded to provide their students with a certain degree of competences in multicultural interaction and communication. This paper aims to address the effectiveness of trainings in a vocational education institution in equipping its students with the intercultural communication skills. Using a sample of students from the ISP Cruiseship and Hotel School Surakarta, Central Java, this study will analyses the differences of ICC between groups of students who have undergone various forms of training in intercultural communication, in order to determine the effectiveness of the training in equipping the students with the necessary intercultural communication skills. The study incorporates a quantitative approach, using survey method. The data will be analyzed using descriptive statistics and analysis of variations between groups. The result shows that the intercultural communication training increase the level of ICC especially in the intercultural confidence dimension.

Innovation in learning - An inter-professional approach to improving communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Mitchell, Marion; Groves, Michele; Mitchell, Charles; Batkin, Judy

2010-11-01

Inter-professional education (IPE) is recognised as a major way of introducing students in the health professions to the importance of teamwork and communication in the delivery of excellent healthcare. This pilot project evaluated mixed versus single discipline group tutorials of nursing and medical students as a way to promote IPE and understanding of communication. Four tutorial sessions were video-recorded and analysed using a video analysis coding grid. Additional data were drawn from student evaluations and assessment of group participation and were subjected to quantitative and qualitative analysis. The case study as portrayed in the DVD was thought to provide an effective learning tool by both sets of students. Medical students rated the need for mixed group tutorials significantly lower than the nursing students who thought the tutorial activity helped with an appreciation of the importance of communication to effective teamwork. However, medical students in the single discipline group did not understand the nursing role. The resources fostered reflection on student's own professional role as well as others; however, the importance of communication within the nursing role needs to be recognised by nursing students and curriculum designers. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Knowledge Communication at the Intersection of the Community and the Individual

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Kampf, Constance

2008-01-01

How can we approach the relationship between the individual and the community in terms of knowledge communication processes?  This presentation explores definitions of knowledge combining individual and group perspectives, seeking to build a flexible understanding of knowledge communication at th...... and make decisions.  Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1998.......How can we approach the relationship between the individual and the community in terms of knowledge communication processes?  This presentation explores definitions of knowledge combining individual and group perspectives, seeking to build a flexible understanding of knowledge communication...... of organizational knowing.  From definitions foregrounding the individual's role in knowledge communication, Nonaka & Takeuchi's notions of implicit and explicit knowledge in the SECI model, Kenneth Burke's conception of Terministic Screens as a language process at the individual level, Tsoukas & Vladimirou...

Pseudo-communication vs Quasi-communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Елена Константиновна Черничкина

2016-12-01

Full Text Available The article is devoted to the analysis of such specific forms of human interaction as quasi- and pseudo-communication. The authors specify the terms which sometimes are used interchangeably. The aim of the conducted research is to find out and demonstrate existing differences and similarities of these communicative phenomena on the basis of theoretical and empirical analysis of the research material in the Russian and English languages. The authors describe communicative features of these phenomena and consider the reasons for such forms of communication and their increased use at present. The research material is represented fiction extracts, film scripts, jokes, print media, a collection of oral speech records both in Russian and English. The authors make use of the following research methods: definitional analysis (to define the terminology of the research, the method of linguistic observation and introspection (to select the communicative situations, the descriptive-analytical method and the method of comparative analysis (to identify similarities and differences of the target phenomena, and the conversational analysis method (to view productivity and effectiveness of a dialogue, etc. The classification of possible forms of their existence in different discourses is suggested. The authors assume that both pseudo- and quasi-communication are characterized as fictitious forms of human interaction with some noticeable violation of the basic communicative model. Pseudo-communication suffers from the discrepancy of the meaning of a coded and decoded message. The authors put forward the main parameters of scientific classification of it as follows: adequate understanding, intentionality, and the stage of communicative action where the failure takes place. At the same time they stress the necessity to distinguish the cases of pseudo talks from phatic and indirect communication. Quasi-communcation is marked by the lack of a real partner and hence

Subdimensions of social-communication impairment in autism spectrum disorder.

Science.gov (United States)

Bishop, Somer L; Havdahl, Karoline Alexandra; Huerta, Marisela; Lord, Catherine

2016-08-01

More refined dimensions of social-communication impairment are needed to elucidate the clinical and biological boundaries of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and other childhood onset psychiatric disorders associated with social difficulties, as well as to facilitate investigations in treatment and long-term outcomes of these disorders. This study was intended to identify separable dimensions of clinician-observed social-communication impairments by examining scores on a widely used autism diagnostic instrument. Participants included verbally fluent children ages 3-13 years, who were given a clinical diagnosis of ASD (n = 120) or non-ASD (i.e. ADHD, language disorder, intellectual disability, mood or anxiety disorder; n = 118) following a comprehensive diagnostic assessment. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis examined the factor structure of algorithm items from the Autism Diagnostic Observation Schedule (ADOS), Module 3. Results indicated that a three-factor model consisting of repetitive behaviors and two separate social-communication behavior factors had superior fit compared to a two-factor model that included repetitive behaviors and one social-communication behavior factor. In the three-factor model, impairments in 'Basic Social-Communication' behaviors (e.g. eye contact, facial expressions, gestures) were separated from impairments in 'Interaction quality.' Confirmatory factor analysis in an independent sample of children in the Simons Simplex Collection (SSC) further supported the division of social-communication impairments into these two factors. Scores in Interaction Quality were significantly associated with nonverbal IQ and male sex in the ASD group, and with age in the non-ASD group, while scores in basic social communication were not significantly associated with any of these child characteristics in either diagnostic group. Efforts to conceptualize level, or severity, of social-communication impairment in children with

Risk - hazardous incident - communication 2

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gerling, R.; Obermeier, O.P.

1995-01-01

It is difficult to develop an objective approach to risks and effects of a hazardous incident that would be acceptable to the community at large. It is a matter of fact that there is great dissimilarity in the way various social groups perceive and define the risks of a particular technology, or the effects of hazardous incidents, sometimes they have even contrary opinions. Hence, open communication is seriously hampered, which in turn aggravates the problems encountered in this context. This second volume of the publication dealing with the problem area of 'risk - hazardous incident - communication' is intended to reveal patterns of the recurrent process which impedes communication, and to bridge the gaps between the various 'styles' of risk perception and definition. (orig./CB) [de

Communication strategies to improve HIV treatment adherence.

Science.gov (United States)

Rochon, Donna; Ross, Michael W; Looney, Carol; Nepal, Vishnu P; Price, Andrea J; Giordano, Thomas P

2011-01-01

Although antiretroviral therapy has increased the survival of HIV-positive patients, traditional approaches to improving medication adherence have failed consistently. Acknowledging the role of communication in health behavior, we conducted a qualitative study to learn about patients' HIV treatment adherence experiences and to identify which communication strategies might influence adherence. Findings indicate that five constructs--cultural beliefs/language, stigma, cues to action, self-efficacy, and mood state--are potentially modifiable by improved communication. Results will be used to create a direct marketing campaign targeted to HIV-infected patients. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Communication Competence Of College Administrators Characteristic Of Good Leadership And Management

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Janice Paras Milo

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Communication is an indispensable tool in the success of organizational operations. Administrators should not ignore communication as one of the key elements in the success of their organization. Competence should be manifested by their broad knowledge about communication theories and principles by their skillful application of communication strategies and procedures and by their tactful utilization of appropriate communication channels and media. Through a descriptive survey method and purposive sampling this study assessed the level of competence of the administrators communication abilities along the areas of managerial writing understanding messages interpersonal communication and group communication.

Naming as Strategic Communication

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schmeltz, Line; Kjeldsen, Anna Karina

2016-01-01

This article presents a framework for understanding corporate name change as strategic communication. From a corporate branding perspective, the choice of a new name can be seen as a wish to stand out from a group of similar organizations. Conversely, from an institutional perspective, name change...

Transferring clinical communication skills from the classroom to the clinical environment: perceptions of a group of medical students in the United kingdom.

Science.gov (United States)

Brown, Jo

2010-06-01

To better understand the transfer of classroom-learned clinical communication skills (CCS) to the clinical environment of the hospital ward, where they are practiced and refined by students. The author first briefly presents the literature on clinical communication, provides an overview of the debates around the notion of transfer, and presents a sociocultural model of developmental transfer applied to CCS learning. Second, she describes a focus group and nine individual interviews carried out with 17 fourth-year medical students at one medical school in the United Kingdom in 2008. The goal was to elicit their views of CCS teaching, learning, and transfer of CCS to the clinical workplace. The findings are presented under the four main themes of transition, where students experienced the transition from the medical school to the hospital ward as a mixture of positive and negative impacts on transferring their CCS skills; the clinical culture, where senior doctors had the greatest impact on student learning and emergent clinical practice; clinical communication as a vehicle for professionalism and being a "good" doctor; and, finally, transfer mechanisms, where simulated practice with actors and the clinical history template were powerful learning tools. Findings indicate that more needs to be done to support, develop, and embed CCS into the professional practice of medical students in the clinical workplace. This may be achieved by greater collaboration of educators in the academic and clinical environments. Using the developmental transfer model applied to CCS learning may help foster this relationship.

Social networks improve leaderless group navigation by facilitating long-distance communication

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Nikolai W. F. BODE, A. Jamie WOOD, Daniel W. FRANKS

2012-04-01

Full Text Available Group navigation is of great importance for many animals, such as migrating flocks of birds or shoals of fish. One theory states that group membership can improve navigational accuracy compared to limited or less accurate individual navigational ability in groups without leaders (“Many-wrongs principle”. Here, we simulate leaderless group navigation that includes social connections as preferential interactions between individuals. Our results suggest that underlying social networks can reduce navigational errors of groups and increase group cohesion. We use network summary statistics, in particular network motifs, to study which characteristics of networks lead to these improvements. It is networks in which preferences between individuals are not clustered, but spread evenly across the group that are advantageous in group navigation by effectively enhancing long-distance information exchange within groups. We suggest that our work predicts a base-line for the type of social structure we might expect to find in group-living animals that navigate without leaders [Current Zoology 58 (2: 329-341, 2012].

[Communication between nursing students and patients with Aids].

Science.gov (United States)

de Lima, Ivana Cristina Vieira; Galvão, Marli Teresinha Gimeniz; Costa, Enia; Freitas, Julyana Gomes; Freitag, Lorita Marlena

2011-04-01

This study was performed with the purpose to analyze the communication between nursing students and patients with AIDS during peripheral venous puncture. Video recordings were made of six pairs (student-patient) while performing the venous puncture procedure in May 2009 at a day-hospital in Fortaleza-Ceará. As a group, four judges evaluated the interactions established between the pairs. The analyses were categorized in: Valuing technique over communication; Mask: a barriers to communication; Private space invasion; Interference of the environment in the communication. It was concluded that different factors increase the difficulty establishing an effective communication, especially the need for students to be trained about the importance of establishing communication during care, so as to promote humanized and individual care, in which sensitivity and empathy overlap fear and insecurity.

Electronic Word-of-Mouth Communication and Consumer Behaviour

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Pedersen, Signe Tegtmeier; Razmerita, Liana; Colleoni, Elanor

2014-01-01

The rapid adoption of social media, along with the easy access to peer information and interactions, has resulted in massive online word-of-mouth communication. These interactions among consumers have an increasing power over the success or failure of companies and brands. Drawing upon word-of-mouth...... communication and consumer behaviour theories, this paper investigates the use of word-of-mouth communication through social media among a group of Danish consumers. The findings suggest that electronic word-of-mouth communication among friends and peers affect consumer behaviour. Additionally, peer...... communication is perceived as more objective and therefore found more reliable than companies’ brand communication. Furthermore, negative word-of-mouth is perceived as more trustworthy compared to positive messages, which are often believed to be too subjective. The research findings emphasise the importance...

Health communication takes on new dimensions at CDC.

OpenAIRE

Roper, W L

1993-01-01

Actions by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to integrate health communication into overall prevention programs as a means of influencing individual behavior to reduce risks to health are described. These actions include a set of 5-year goals for the Agency; a proposal to establish an Office of Health Communication to provide leadership and support for accomplishing the goals; and establishment of a working group to create the proposed Office of Health Communication and to ...

Social communication in bats.

Science.gov (United States)

Chaverri, Gloriana; Ancillotto, Leonardo; Russo, Danilo

2018-05-15

Bats represent one of the most diverse mammalian orders, not only in terms of species numbers, but also in their ecology and life histories. Many species are known to use ephemeral and/or unpredictable resources that require substantial investment to find and defend, and also engage in social interactions, thus requiring significant levels of social coordination. To accomplish these tasks, bats must be able to communicate; there is now substantial evidence that demonstrates the complexity of bat communication and the varied ways in which bats solve some of the problems associated with their unique life histories. However, while the study of communication in bats is rapidly growing, it still lags behind other taxa. Here we provide a comprehensive overview of communication in bats, from the reasons why they communicate to the diversity and application of different signal modalities. The most widespread form of communication is the transmission of a signaller's characteristics, such as species identity, sex, individual identity, group membership, social status and body condition, and because many species of bats can rely little on vision due to their nocturnal lifestyles, it is assumed that sound and olfaction are particularly important signalling modes. For example, research suggests that secretions from specialized glands, often in combination with urine and saliva, are responsible for species recognition in several species. These olfactory signals may also convey information about sex and colony membership. Olfaction may be used in combination with sound, particularly in species that emit constant frequency (CF) echolocation calls, to recognize conspecifics from heterospecifics, yet their simple structure and high frequency do not allow much information of individual identity to be conveyed over long distances. By contrast, social calls may encode a larger number of cues of individual identity, and their lower frequencies increase their range of detection. Social

CERN communication in the spotlight

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

2011-01-01

A rich harvest of important prizes has recently been awarded to CERN communication efforts. The list includes: the European Excellence Award 2010, the physics.org “people’s choice” award for the best children's website, and two prizes in the UK Recruitment Advertising Awards for 2011. Given the high expectations surrounding CERN's future physics results, there is little doubt that the old refrain “the best is yet to come” also applies to communication at CERN.   Marie Anne Bugnon and Antonella del Rosso, from the Communication Group, accept the 2010 European Excellence Award for LHC First Physics. In recent years, efforts to communicate as much and as well as possible have been stepped up at CERN – across all communities – and the fruits have come little by little. First of all, awards represent the recognition of the public, which, on different levels, has shown that it appreciates CERN’s efforts to...

Communication attitudes in children who stutter: A meta-analytic review.

Science.gov (United States)

Guttormsen, Linn Stokke; Kefalianos, Elaina; Næss, Kari-Anne B

2015-12-01

This article presents a meta-analytic review of differences in communication attitudes between children who stutter (CWS) and children who do not stutter (CWNS). To be included in this review, the studies had to include a group of CWS and CWNS between the ages of 3-18 years and a measurement of communication attitudes. The journal articles were identified by using the key words stutter*, speech disfluenc*, fluency disorder*, and stammer* cross-referenced to awareness*, reaction*, attitude*, KiddyCAT, CAT, A-19 Scale, PASS and OASES. A total of 18 studies met the inclusion criteria for this meta-analysis. The results showed that CWS exhibit more negative communication attitudes than CWNS from the preschool years. The differences between the groups increased with age, but were not influenced by gender. The results indicate that negative communication attitudes can be an effect of stuttering. Key issues requiring further investigation are whether communication attitudes differ as a function of age at stuttering onset and whether communication attitudes influence the development of stuttering. After reading this article, the reader will be able to: (a) summarise empirical findings with regard to the relationship between communication attitudes and childhood stuttering; (b) describe the different instruments used to measure communication attitudes; (c) discuss the relationship between communication attitudes, age and gender. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Improving together: collaborative learning in science communication

Science.gov (United States)

Stiller-Reeve, Mathew

2015-04-01

Most scientists today recognise that science communication is an important part of the scientific process. Despite this recognition, science writing and communication are generally taught outside the normal academic schedule. If universities offer such courses, they are generally short-term and intensive. On the positive side, such courses rarely fail to motivate. At no fault of their own, the problem with such courses lies in their ephemeral nature. The participants rarely complete a science communication course with an immediate and pressing need to apply these skills. And so the skills fade. We believe that this stalls real progress in the improvement of science communication across the board. Continuity is one of the keys to success! Whilst we wait for the academic system to truly integrate science communication, we can test and develop other approaches. We suggest a new approach that aims to motivate scientists to continue nurturing their communication skills. This approach adopts a collaborative learning framework where scientists form writing groups that meet regularly at different institutes around the world. The members of the groups learn, discuss and improve together. The participants produce short posts, which are published online. In this way, the participants learn and cement basic writing skills. These skills are transferrable, and can be applied to scientific articles as well as other science communication media. In this presentation we reflect on an ongoing project, which applies a collaborative learning framework to help young and early career scientists improve their writing skills. We see that this type of project could be extended to other media such as podcasts, or video shorts.

Review and Synthesis: Criteria for the Evaluation of Organizational Communication Effectiveness.

Science.gov (United States)

Farace, Richard V.; And Others

Twenty-one criteria for assessing communication effectiveness in organizations provide the basis for discussion in this document. Grouped under the general heading of communication rules, the criteria are described according to five categories: structure, messages, media, communicator, and potpourri (factors that affect the decision making of…

The Interactive Media Package for Assessment of Communication and Critical Thinking (IMPACCT[c]): Testing a Programmatic Online Communication Competence Assessment System

Science.gov (United States)

Spitzberg, Brian H.

2011-01-01

IMPACCT is an online survey covering over 40 self-report types of student communication competency, as well as a test of critical thinking based on cognitive problem-solving. The student nominates two peers who rate the student's interpersonal, computer-mediated, group and leadership, and public speaking communication competence. The student takes…

Social communication difficulties and autism in previously institutionalized children.

Science.gov (United States)

Levin, April R; Fox, Nathan A; Zeanah, Charles H; Nelson, Charles A

2015-02-01

To determine the risk of difficulties with social communication and restricted/repetitive behaviors as well as the rate of autism in children institutionalized in early infancy and to assess the impact of a foster care intervention on ameliorating this risk. Children abandoned at birth and raised in institutions in Bucharest, Romania were randomly assigned to a care-as-usual group (institutional care, CAUG), or placed in family-centered foster care (FCG) as part of the Bucharest Early Intervention Project (BEIP). At approximately 10 years of age, the Social Communication Questionnaire (SCQ) was administered to caregivers of children in both groups as well as to parents of a typically developing community sample (Never-Institutionalized group [NIG]) residing in Bucharest, Romania. Children scoring ≥12 on the SCQ underwent clinical evaluation for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Caregivers of children with a history of institutionalization reported that these children had significantly more deviant behavior than never-institutionalized children on all subdomains of the SCQ (all p communication. Three of 60 CAUG children, 2 of 57 FCG children, and none of the NIG children received a formal ASD diagnosis. Early institutional rearing was associated with an increased risk of social communication difficulties and ASD. A family-centered foster care intervention improved social communication skills. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Disparities in collaborative patient-provider communication about human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination.

Science.gov (United States)

Moss, Jennifer L; Gilkey, Melissa B; Rimer, Barbara K; Brewer, Noel T

2016-06-02

Healthcare providers may vary their communications with different patients, which could give rise to differences in vaccination coverage. We examined demographic disparities in parental report of collaborative provider communication and implications for human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccination. Participants were 4,124 parents who completed the National Immunization Survey-Teen about daughters ages 13-17. We analyzed disparities in collaborative communication (mutual information exchange, deliberation, and decision) and whether they mediated the relationship between demographic characteristics and HPV vaccine initiation. Half of parents (53%) in the survey reported collaborative communication. Poor, less educated, Spanish-speaking, Southern, and rural parents, and parents of non-privately insured and Hispanic adolescents, were least likely to report collaborative communication (all pcommunication accounted for geographic variation in HPV vaccination, specifically, the higher rates of uptake in the Northeast versus the South (mediation z=2.31, pcommunication showed widespread disparities, being least common among underserved groups. Collaborative communication helped account for differences-and lack of differences-in HPV vaccination among some subgroups of adolescent girls. Leveraging patient-provider communication, especially for underserved demographic groups, could improve HPV vaccination coverage.

Group 3 Innate Lymphoid Cells: Communications Hubs of the Intestinal Immune System.

Science.gov (United States)

Withers, David R; Hepworth, Matthew R

2017-01-01

The maintenance of mammalian health requires the generation of appropriate immune responses against a broad range of environmental and microbial challenges, which are continually encountered at barrier tissue sites including the skin, lung, and gastrointestinal tract. Dysregulated barrier immune responses result in inflammation, both locally and systemically in peripheral organs. Group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3) are constitutively present at barrier sites and appear to be highly specialized in their ability to sense a range of environmental and host-derived signals. Under homeostatic conditions, ILC3 respond to local cues to maintain tissue homeostasis and restrict inflammatory responses. In contrast, perturbations in the tissue microenvironment resulting from disease, infection, or tissue damage can drive dysregulated pro-inflammatory ILC3 responses and contribute to immunopathology. The tone of the ILC3 response is dictated by a balance of "exogenous" signals, such as dietary metabolites and commensal microbes, and "endogenous" host-derived signals from stromal cells, immune cells, and the nervous system. ILC3 must therefore have the capacity to simultaneously integrate a wide array of complex and dynamic inputs in order to regulate barrier function and tissue health. In this review, we discuss the concept of ILC3 as a "communications hub" in the intestinal tract and associated lymphoid tissues and address the variety of signals, derived from multiple biological systems, which are interpreted by ILC3 to modulate the release of downstream effector molecules and regulate cell-cell crosstalk. Successful integration of environmental cues by ILC3 and downstream propagation to the broader immune system is required to maintain a tolerogenic and anti-inflammatory tone and reinforce barrier function, whereas dysregulation of ILC3 responses can contribute to the onset or progression of clinically relevant chronic inflammatory diseases.

Group 3 Innate Lymphoid Cells: Communications Hubs of the Intestinal Immune System

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

David R. Withers

2017-10-01

Full Text Available The maintenance of mammalian health requires the generation of appropriate immune responses against a broad range of environmental and microbial challenges, which are continually encountered at barrier tissue sites including the skin, lung, and gastrointestinal tract. Dysregulated barrier immune responses result in inflammation, both locally and systemically in peripheral organs. Group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3 are constitutively present at barrier sites and appear to be highly specialized in their ability to sense a range of environmental and host-derived signals. Under homeostatic conditions, ILC3 respond to local cues to maintain tissue homeostasis and restrict inflammatory responses. In contrast, perturbations in the tissue microenvironment resulting from disease, infection, or tissue damage can drive dysregulated pro-inflammatory ILC3 responses and contribute to immunopathology. The tone of the ILC3 response is dictated by a balance of “exogenous” signals, such as dietary metabolites and commensal microbes, and “endogenous” host-derived signals from stromal cells, immune cells, and the nervous system. ILC3 must therefore have the capacity to simultaneously integrate a wide array of complex and dynamic inputs in order to regulate barrier function and tissue health. In this review, we discuss the concept of ILC3 as a “communications hub” in the intestinal tract and associated lymphoid tissues and address the variety of signals, derived from multiple biological systems, which are interpreted by ILC3 to modulate the release of downstream effector molecules and regulate cell–cell crosstalk. Successful integration of environmental cues by ILC3 and downstream propagation to the broader immune system is required to maintain a tolerogenic and anti-inflammatory tone and reinforce barrier function, whereas dysregulation of ILC3 responses can contribute to the onset or progression of clinically relevant chronic inflammatory diseases.

Group 3 Innate Lymphoid Cells: Communications Hubs of the Intestinal Immune System

Science.gov (United States)

Withers, David R.; Hepworth, Matthew R.

2017-01-01

The maintenance of mammalian health requires the generation of appropriate immune responses against a broad range of environmental and microbial challenges, which are continually encountered at barrier tissue sites including the skin, lung, and gastrointestinal tract. Dysregulated barrier immune responses result in inflammation, both locally and systemically in peripheral organs. Group 3 innate lymphoid cells (ILC3) are constitutively present at barrier sites and appear to be highly specialized in their ability to sense a range of environmental and host-derived signals. Under homeostatic conditions, ILC3 respond to local cues to maintain tissue homeostasis and restrict inflammatory responses. In contrast, perturbations in the tissue microenvironment resulting from disease, infection, or tissue damage can drive dysregulated pro-inflammatory ILC3 responses and contribute to immunopathology. The tone of the ILC3 response is dictated by a balance of “exogenous” signals, such as dietary metabolites and commensal microbes, and “endogenous” host-derived signals from stromal cells, immune cells, and the nervous system. ILC3 must therefore have the capacity to simultaneously integrate a wide array of complex and dynamic inputs in order to regulate barrier function and tissue health. In this review, we discuss the concept of ILC3 as a “communications hub” in the intestinal tract and associated lymphoid tissues and address the variety of signals, derived from multiple biological systems, which are interpreted by ILC3 to modulate the release of downstream effector molecules and regulate cell–cell crosstalk. Successful integration of environmental cues by ILC3 and downstream propagation to the broader immune system is required to maintain a tolerogenic and anti-inflammatory tone and reinforce barrier function, whereas dysregulation of ILC3 responses can contribute to the onset or progression of clinically relevant chronic inflammatory diseases. PMID:29085366

MULTICRITERIA METHODS IN PERFORMING COMPANIES’ RESULTS USING ELECTRONIC RECRUITING, CORPORATE COMMUNICATION AND FINANCIAL RATIOS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ivana Bilić

2011-02-01

Full Text Available Human resources represent one of the most important companies’ resources responsible in creation of companies’ competitive advantage. In search for the most valuable resources, companies use different methods. Lately, one of the growing methods is electronic recruiting, not only as a recruitment tool, but also as a mean of external communication. Additionally, in the process of corporate communication, companies nowadays use the electronic corporate communication as the easiest, the cheapest and the simplest form of business communication. The aim of this paper is to investigate relationship between three groups of different criteria; including main characteristics of performed electronic recruiting, corporate communication and selected financial performances. Selected companies were ranked separately by each group of criteria by usage of multicriteria decision making method PROMETHEE II. The main idea is to research whether companies which are the highest performers by certain group of criteria obtain the similar results regarding other group of criteria or performing results.

Exploratory Study of Children's Task Groups: Instructional Implications.

Science.gov (United States)

Keyton, Joann; Dodson, Nancy L.

Despite the increasing popularity of cooperative learning techniques in elementary instruction, many educators believe that children do not possess effective group interaction skills and advocate that children be taught the group communication skills necessary for group interaction as a separate instructional component. Unfortunately,…

Design alternatives for process group membership and multicast

Science.gov (United States)

Birman, Kenneth P.; Cooper, Robert; Gleeson, Barry

1991-01-01

Process groups are a natural tool for distributed programming, and are increasingly important in distributed computing environments. However, there is little agreement on the most appropriate semantics for process group membership and group communication. These issues are of special importance in the Isis system, a toolkit for distributed programming. Isis supports several styles of process group, and a collection of group communication protocols spanning a range of atomicity and ordering properties. This flexibility makes Isis adaptable to a variety of applications, but is also a source of complexity that limits performance. This paper reports on a new architecture that arose from an effort to simplify Isis process group semantics. Our findings include a refined notion of how the clients of a group should be treated, what the properties of a multicast primitive should be when systems contain large numbers of overlapping groups, and a new construct called the casuality domain. As an illustration, we apply the architecture to the problem of converting processes into fault-tolerant process groups in a manner that is 'transparent' to other processes in the system.

Communication in a Human biomonitoring study: Focus group work, public engagement and lessons learnt in 17 European countries.

Science.gov (United States)

Exley, Karen; Cano, Noemi; Aerts, Dominique; Biot, Pierre; Casteleyn, Ludwine; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Schwedler, Gerda; Castaño, Argelia; Angerer, Jürgen; Koch, Holger M; Esteban, Marta; Schoeters, Greet; Den Hond, Elly; Horvat, Milena; Bloemen, Louis; Knudsen, Lisbeth E; Joas, Reinhard; Joas, Anke; Dewolf, Marie-Christine; Van de Mieroop, Els; Katsonouri, Andromachi; Hadjipanayis, Adamos; Cerna, Milena; Krskova, Andrea; Becker, Kerstin; Fiddicke, Ulrike; Seiwert, Margarete; Mørck, Thit A; Rudnai, Peter; Kozepesy, Szilvia; Cullen, Elizabeth; Kellegher, Anne; Gutleb, Arno C; Fischer, Marc E; Ligocka, Danuta; Kamińska, Joanna; Namorado, Sónia; Reis, M Fátima; Lupsa, Ioana-Rodica; Gurzau, Anca E; Halzlova, Katarina; Jajcaj, Michal; Mazej, Darja; Tratnik, Janja Snoj; Huetos, Olga; López, Ana; Berglund, Marika; Larsson, Kristin; Sepai, Ovnair

2015-08-01

A communication strategy was developed by The Consortium to Perform Human Biomonitoring on a European Scale (COPHES), as part of its objectives to develop a framework and protocols to enable the collection of comparable human biomonitoring data throughout Europe. The framework and protocols were tested in the pilot study DEMOCOPHES (Demonstration of a study to Coordinate and Perform Human biomonitoring on a European Scale). The aims of the communication strategy were to raise awareness of human biomonitoring, encourage participation in the study and to communicate the study results and their public health significance. It identified the audiences and key messages, documented the procedure for dissemination of results and was updated as the project progressed. A communication plan listed the tools and materials such as press releases, flyers, recruitment letters and information leaflets required for each audience with a time frame for releasing them. Public insight research was used to evaluate the recruitment material, and the feedback was used to improve the documents. Dissemination of results was coordinated in a step by step approach by the participating countries within DEMOCOPHES, taking into account specific national messages according to the needs of each country. Participants received individual results, unless they refused to be informed, along with guidance on what the results meant. The aggregate results and policy recommendations were then communicated to the general public and stakeholders, followed by dissemination at European level. Several lessons were learnt that may assist other future human biomonitoring studies. Recruitment took longer than anticipated and so social scientists, to help with community engagement, should be part of the research team from the start. As a European study, involving multiple countries, additional considerations were needed for the numerous organisations, different languages, cultures, policies and priorities

International Conference on Communication in Healthcare 2016

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Mohamed, Nasteha Abdullahi; Schopper, Heather; Seegel, Max

This  symposium follows previous student symposiums in 2008 in Oslo and 2010  in Verona. As the importance of communication skills has become more widely accepted  by medical schools across the globe, curricula  have been changed to reflect this  including dedicated lectures, small group sessions......, simulations, and analyzation of video recordings. There remains little direct feedback from students about these changes and about communication skills curricula in general.     In this symposium, students from Germany, Denmark, Italy, the Netherlands, Russia, and the United States  will speak about...... their experiences learning communication skills.   In particular they    will discuss their experiences with changes in communication skills curricula at their respective institutions, the utility of evaluations of these skills, and what elements are still missing from communication skills teaching that would make...

The Exclusive Group - Expatriates Working against Corporate Goals

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Lauring, Jakob

2004-01-01

Theories on expatriation have proposed international transfer as a mean to develop management capabilities and internationalise organisational communication networks. It has been argued that such developments are highly dependent on a sustained continual cross-cultural communication between...... as destructive towards overall corporate aims to internationalise and develop managerial and organisational competencies. Specifically excluding behaviour and cultural boundary creation of the expatriate group hindered the necessary cross-cultural communication and thereby working against corporate strategy...... of development....

Managing Communications with Experts in Geographically Distributed Collaborative Networks

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

communication. Chat and instant messaging supports enhanced group communication and normally includes features to save this synchronous communication for...means to find and receive information. 5. Online Instruction eLearning : The flow of knowledge is important to a CoP. eLearning contributes to this by...providing a cost efficient way of promoting knowledge flow in a more traditional manner. It has evolved from earlier versions (i.e., computer or

Perspectives of healthcare practitioners: An exploration of interprofessional communication using electronic medical records.

Science.gov (United States)

Bardach, Shoshana H; Real, Kevin; Bardach, David R

2017-05-01

Contemporary state-of-the-art healthcare facilities are incorporating technology into their building design to improve communication and patient care. However, technological innovations may also have unintended consequences. This study seeks to better understand how technology influences interprofessional communication within a hospital setting based in the United States. Nine focus groups were conducted including a range of healthcare professions. The focus groups explored practitioners' experiences working on two floors of a newly designed hospital and included questions about the ways in which technology shaped communication with other healthcare professionals. All focus groups were recorded, transcribed, and coded to identify themes. Participant responses focused on the electronic medical record, and while some benefits of the electronic medical record were discussed, participants indicated use of the electronic medical record has resulted in a reduction of in-person communication. Different charting approaches resulted in barriers to communication between specialties and reduced confidence that other practitioners had received one's notes. Limitations in technology-including limited computer availability, documentation complexity, and sluggish sign-in processes-also were identified as barriers to effective and timely communication between practitioners. Given the ways in which technology shapes interprofessional communication, future research should explore how to create standardised electronic medical record use across professions at the optimal level to support communication and patient care.

Organizational coordination and costly communication with boundedly rational agents

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Dietrichson, Jens; Jochem, Torsten

How does costly communication affect organizational coordination? This paper develops a model of costly communication based on the weakest-link game and boundedly rational agents. Solving for the stochastically stable states, we find that communication increases the possibilities for efficient...... coordination compared to a setting where agents cannot communicate. But as agents face a trade-off between lowering the strategic uncertainty for the group and the costs of communication, the least efficient state is still the unique stochastically stable one for many parameter values. Simulations show...... that this is not just a long run phenomena, the stochastically stable state is the most frequent outcome also in the short run. Making communication mandatory induces efficient coordination, whereas letting a team leader handle communication increases efficiency when the leader expects others to follow and has enough...

[Basic disorders in human communication].

Science.gov (United States)

Peñaloza-López, Y; Gutiérrez-Silva, J; Andrade-Illañez, E N; Fierro-Evans, M A; Hernández-López, X

1989-01-01

This paper specifies the areas and disorders that concern human communication medicine. The frequency of the diverse disorders is analyzed in relation to age and sex, and the distribution in group ages of several disabling diseases is also discussed.

Swedish district nurses' attitudes to implement information and communication technology in home nursing.

Science.gov (United States)

Nilsson, Carina; Skär, Lisa; Söderberg, Siv

2008-01-01

The use of information and communication technology has increased in the society, and can be useful in nursing care. The aim of this study was to describe district nurses' attitudes regarding the implementation of information and communication technology in home nursing. The first and third authors performed five focus group discussions with 19 district nurses' from five primary healthcare centres in northern Sweden. During the focus group discussions, the following topics were discussed: the current and future use of information and communication technology in home nursing; expectations, advantages, disadvantages and hindrances in the use of information and communication technology in home nursing; and the use of information and communication technology from an ethical perspective. The transcribed focus group discussions were analysed using qualitative content analysis. The results showed that district nurses' attitudes were positive regarding the use of information and communication technology in their work. They also asked for possibilities to influence the design and its introduction. However, the use of information and communication technology in home nursing can be described as a complement to communication that could not replace human physical encounters. Improvements and risks, as well as the importance of physical presence in home nursing were considered vital. The results revealed that the use of information and communication technology requires changes in the district nurses' work situation.

An Empirical Evaluation of Spelling Boards as a Means of Communication for the Multihandicapped.

Science.gov (United States)

Klewe, Lars

1993-01-01

An interdisciplinary research group in Denmark examined use of facilitated communication, via spelling boards, by 17 patients with communication disorders. Meaningful communication took place only when the facilitators had access to the information to be communicated. (JDD)

Anti-Smoking Communication to Preadolescents with and without a Cancer Diagnosis: Parents and Healthcare Providers as Important Communicators

OpenAIRE

Throckmorton-Belzer, Leslee; Tyc, Vida L.; Robinson, Leslie A.; Klosky, James L.; Lensing, Shelly; Booth, Andrea K.

2009-01-01

A cancer diagnosis does not prevent smoking among pediatric oncology patients, and anti-smoking communications among parents and health care providers have been proposed as influencing smoking outcomes in this group. Anti-smoking communications were compared among 93 preadolescents with cancer and 402 controls. After adjusting for demographics and covariates, preadolescents with cancer were less likely than control participants to report receipt of anti-smoking messages from physicians and pa...

Attitudes of Sri Lankan medical students toward learning communication skills.

Science.gov (United States)

Marambe, Kosala N; Edussuriya, D H; Dayaratne, K M P L

2012-01-01

The General Medical Council of the UK, advocates that by the end of their undergraduate course, medical students should be proficient in communicating with patients. However, the attitude of some medical students toward formal training in communication skills seems lukewarm. Although several studies on assessing attitudes of medical students on learning communication skills have been carried out in Europe and America, Asian studies are very few and literature in the Sri Lankan context is lacking. To explore the attitudes of first to fourth year medical students of the Faculty of Medicine, University of Peradeniya (FOMUP), Sri Lanka on learning communication skills and to identify possible factors that may influence student attitudes. A total of 675 students from year 1 to 4 of the FOMUP were asked to complete a modified version of the Communication Skills Attitude Scale. Items of its positive attitude scale (PAS) were analyzed together while negative items were considered individually. Response rates ranged from 70% to 98% for the various year groups. There were no significant differences between the PAS for males and females and for those exposed to formal training and those who were not. The junior students scored significantly higher on the PAS than seniors. Most students of all the groups disagreed with the item "I don't see why I should learn communication skills". Approximately one-quarter of the students of each group endorsed the statement "Nobody is going to fail their medical degree for having poor communication skills". Out of the students who have undergone formal communication training, almost one-third agreed that they find it difficult to take communication skills learning seriously. Although medical students seem to have realized the importance of communication skills training for the practice of medicine, a significant minority have reservations on attending such sessions. Sri Lanka faculty will need to make a concerted effort to change this

Teaching nursing assistant students about aphasia and communication.

Science.gov (United States)

Welsh, Jessica Dionne; Szabo, Gretchen Beideman

2011-08-01

Research indicates that communication between patients with communication disorders and their health care providers may be compromised, which leads to adverse outcomes and reduced participation in patients' own health care. Emerging studies demonstrate that effective communication education programs may decrease communication difficulties. This feasibility study of an education program that includes people with aphasia as educators aims to improve nursing assistant students' knowledge of aphasia and awareness of supported communication strategies while also examining the experiences of participants with aphasia. This preliminary study suggests that explicit aphasia and communication training delivered in this format has positive learning outcomes for nursing assistant students and potential psychosocial benefits to participants with aphasia. The format can be modified for a variety of health care audiences and lends itself to implementation by community aphasia groups and centers. © Thieme Medical Publishers.

Satellite Communications for ATM

Science.gov (United States)

Shamma, Mohammed A.

2003-01-01

This presentation is an overview on Satellite Communication for the Aeronautical Telecommunication Management (ATM) research. Satellite Communications are being considered by the FAA and NASA as a possible alternative to the present and future ground systems supporting Air Traffic Communications. The international Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) have in place Standards and Recommended Practices (SARPS) for the Aeronautical Mobile Satellite Services (AMSS) which is mainly derived from the pre-existing Inmarsat service that has been in service since the 1980s. The Working Group A of the Aeronautical Mobile Communication Panel of ICAO has also been investigating SARPS for what is called the Next Generation Satellite Service (NGSS) which conforms less to the Inmarsat based architecture and explores wider options in terms of satellite architectures. Several designs are being proposed by Firms such as Boeing, ESA, NASA that are geared toward full or secondary usage of satellite communications for ATM. Satellite communications for ATM can serve several purposes ranging from primary usage where ground services would play a minimal backup role, to an integrated solution where it will be used to cover services, or areas that are less likely to be supported by the proposed and existing ground infrastructure. Such Integrated roles can include usage of satellite communications for oceanic and remote land areas for example. It also can include relieving the capacity of the ground network by providing broadcast based services of Traffic Information Services messages (TIS-B), or Flight Information Services (FIS-B) which can take a significant portion of the ground system capacity. Additionally, satellite communication can play a backup role to support any needs for ground replacement, or additional needed capacity even after the new digital systems are in place. The additional bandwidth that can be provided via satellite communications can also open the door for many new

Teaching Group Interdependence: A Campus Murder Mystery Activity

Science.gov (United States)

Minei, Elizabeth M.; Shearer Dunn, Karen

2017-01-01

Courses: Introduction to Communication; small group; interpersonal. Objectives: This single activity demonstrates: (1) how interdependence can lead to better group outcomes than individual outcomes can; (2) how diversity of knowledge from multiple contributors helps group functioning; and (3) how students can be introduced to members of the…

Expert assessments and content analysis of crew communication during ISS missions

Science.gov (United States)

Yusupova, Anna

During the last seven years, we have analyzed the communication patterns between ISS crewmembers and mission control personnel and identified a number of different communication styles between these two groups (Gushin et al, 2005). In this paper, we will report on an external validity check we conducted that compares our findings with those of another study using the same research material. For many years the group of psychologists at the Medical Center of Space Flight Control (TCUMOKO) at the Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow has been analyzing audio communication sessions of Russian space crews with the ground-based Mission Control during long-duration spaceflight conditions. We compared week by week texts of the standard weekly monitoring reports made by the TsUP psychological group and audiocommunication of space crews with mission control centers. Expert assessments of the crewmembers' psychological state are made by IBMP psychoneurologists on the basis of daily schedule fulfillment, video and audio materials, and psychophysiological data from board. The second approach was based on the crew-ground communication analysis. For both population of messages we applied two corresponding schemas of content analysis. All statements made in communication sessions and weekly reports were divided into three groups in terms of their communication function (Lomov, 1981): 1) informative function (e.g., demands for information, requests, professional slang); 2) socio-regulatory function (e.g., rational consent or discord, operational complaint, refusal to cooperate); and 3) affective (emotional) function (e.g., encouragement, sympathy, emotional consent or discord). Number of statements of the audiocommunication sessions correlated with corresponding functions (informative, regulatory, affective) of communication in weekly monitioring reports made by experts. Crewmembers verbal behavior expresses its psycho-emotional state which is formulated by expert

Logics of communication and change

NARCIS (Netherlands)

van Benthem, Johan; van Eijck, Jan; Kooi, Barteld

2006-01-01

Current dynamic epistemic logics for analyzing effects of informational events often become cumbersome and opaque when common knowledge is added for groups of agents. Still, postconditions involving common knowledge are essential to successful multi-agent communication. We propose new systems that

A dynamic new group within Human Resources Division

CERN Multimedia

2003-01-01

Since 1st May CERN's training and development and personnel management teams have been fused into a new group called Personnel Management and Development. The new Personnel Management and Development Group is responsible for career advancement and management, recruitment, remuneration and for language, communication, management, academic and technical training, keys to a sense of greater well-being and to career progression. The new group was born on 1st May out of the fusion of the "Personnel Management" and "Training and Development" Groups within CERN's Human Resources Division. Its aim is to offer a practical and easily accessible service to assist the members of the personnel and supervisors to manage careers more harmoniously, to make progress and to continue to learn on the job. With Sue Foffano as its Group Leader, the Group comprises four sections: Academic and Technical Training under the guiding hand of Mick Storr; Management, Communication and Language Training headed by Sudeshna Datta-Cockeril...

The role of interaction of verbal and non-verbal means of communication in different types of discourse

OpenAIRE

Orlova M. А.

2010-01-01

Communication relies on verbal and non-verbal interaction. To be most effective, group members need to improve verbal and non-verbal communication. Non-verbal communication fulfills functions within groups that are sometimes difficult to communicate verbally. But interpreting non-verbal messages requires a great deal of skill because multiple meanings abound in these messages.