National health innovation systems: Clustering the OECD countries by innovative output in healthcare using a multi indicator approach

The importance of innovation in healthcare has increased within the last decades as challenges, like rising costs and an aging demographic, have to be solved. The degree of innovativeness in healthcare is strongly influenced by the National Health Innovation System, which as a sectoral innovation system encompasses a wide variety of actors and related knowledge. Despite the highly practical relevance of the topic, there are only a few studies that analyze innovation in healthcare on a national level. Thus, this study is a starting point and, building on the theoretical framework of national innovation systems, answers the following questions: “Can countries be grouped by their innovation output in healthcare and do those groups differ in factors describing the healthcare system? Do countries with strong national innovation systems also have strong national health innovation systems and vice versa?” We compare the healthcare innovation output of 30 OECD countries using a multi-indicator approach and categorize them into four distinct groups using cluster analysis. The cluster consisting of the Scandinavian countries, the Netherlands and Switzerland shows the highest innovation output measured in knowledge production and knowledge commercialization. Surprisingly, these countries, with the exception of Switzerland, only rank in the medium group when considering the entire national innovation system. Policymakers and researchers might be particularly interested in studying the healthcare systems of these countries.     

Stakeholder Identification of Barriers and Facilitators to Sexual Health Education for Female Survivors of Violence: A Mixed Methods Study

There is a strong relationship between experiencing violence and participating in behaviors that increase the risk of contracting sexually transmitted infections. Sexual health education (SHE) tailored to the unique needs of female survivors of violence is needed. This paper presents findings from 40 surveys and 33 accompanying interviews with stakeholders representing 31 agencies in the violence advocacy community in Arkansas to investigate the feasibility, acceptability, and perceived need of a SHE program for female survivors of violence. Data also explore the role and preferences of community agencies in the design and implementation of such a program. Interviews with stakeholders revealed three themes: intervention concerns, content, and structure.     

Evaluating collaborative information-seeking interfaces with a search-oriented inspection method and re-framed information seeking theory

Despite the many implicit references to the social contexts of search within information seeking and retrieval research, there has been relatively little work that has specifically investigated the additional requirements for collaborative information-seeking interfaces. Here, we re-assess an existing analytical inspection framework, designed for individual information seeking, and then apply it to evaluate a recent collaborative information-seeking interface: SearchTogether. The framework was built upon two models of solitary information seeking, and so as part of the re-assessment we first re-frame the models for collaborative contexts. We re-frame a model of search tactics, providing revised definitions that consider known collaborators. We then re-frame a model of searcher profiles to analyse support for different group dynamics. After presenting an analysis of SearchTogether, we reflect on its accuracy, showing that the framework identified eight known truths, eight new insights, and no known-to-be-untrue insights into the design. We conclude that the framework: (a) can still be applied to collaborative information-seeking interfaces; (b) can successfully produce additional requirements for collaborative information-seeking interfaces; and (c) can successfully model different dynamics of collaborating searchers.     

An Integrated Analysis of School Students’ Aspirations for STEM Careers: Which Student and School Factors Are Most Predictive?

Declining enrolments in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines and a lack of interest in STEM careers are concerning at a time when society is becoming more reliant on complex technologies. We examine student aspirations for STEM careers by drawing on surveys conducted annually from 2012 to 2015. School students in years 3 to 12 (n?=?6492) were asked to indicate their occupational choices. A logistic regression analysis showed that being in the older cohorts, possessing high cultural capital, being male, having a parent in a STEM occupation and high prior achievement in reading and numeracy, were significant. This analysis provides a strong empirical basis for school-based initiatives to improve STEM participation. In particular, strategies should target the following: the persistent lack of interest by females in some careers, improving student academic achievement in both literacy and numeracy and expanding knowledge of STEM careers, especially for students without familial STEM connections.