Welcome to 2019’s second Regular Issue. Packed with new research findings from around the word, the Volume 12 Issue 2 includes eight research papers with original findings that aim to support researchers, practitioners and policy makers in the health care and human rights fields. As always, we kept our Journal focussed on current matters, making sure that it addresses the needs of the most marginalised and excluded communities.
In the first paper, “Addressing obesity in Roma communities: a community readiness approach”, the authors look at the issue of health care inequality within Roma communities. Our Journal has explored this grey area of research and policy a few times, but further evidence is needed in going forward. This paper is one of the first in the extant literature that presents data on the effectiveness of community readiness approach within the Roma community in the UK. The Community Readiness Model is a widely used toolkit which provides an indication of how prepared and willing a community is to act on specific issues. The paper argues that in order to improve rates of participation in programmes, compatibility must be achieved between implementation efforts and levels of readiness in the community. To support their argument, the authors carried out qualitative research with interviews with Roma community members.
The second paper aims to raise the profile of traffic accidents with health care professionals and policy makers. Titled “Moderating effects of age on personality, driving behaviour towards driving outcomes”, the paper is based on original qualitative fieldwork that looked at the relationship between personality, driving behaviour and driving outcomes where motorists were injured and treated at a hospital or health centre in Makassar, Indonesia. The study shows that the higher the age, the stronger the influence of personality on driving behaviour, driving outcome, and the stronger the effect of driving behaviour on driving outcomes.
Subsequently, “Catastrophic healthcare expenditures among Iranian households: a systematic review and meta-analysis” presents the results of a systematic review and meta-analysis that aimed to provide a pooled estimate of the prevalence of catastrophic health care expenditures among households in Iran. A total of 24 studies with a cumulative sample of 301,097 households were included in the research.
“Workplace violence against physicians and medical students in west part of Iran” looks at the prevalence of exposure to workplace violence including physical violence, verbal abuse, bullying as well as its related factors among physicians and medical students attending teaching hospitals of Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. The paper is based on original fieldwork that was carried out with 400 physicians and medical students in 2014. The prevalence of physical violence, verbal abuse and bullying among medical students was reported at 4.5, 59 and 0.8 per cent, respectively. In addition, the prevalence of this violence among general practitioners was 6.9, 72.4 and 0 per cent, respectively. Moreover, 11.5, 42.3 and 3.8 per cent of specialists had experienced physical violence, verbal abuse and bullying, respectively. Patients and their relatives were the main sources of the violence.
“Analysis of the health sector evolution plan from the perspective of equity in healthcare financing: a multiple streams model” looks at Iran’s recent “Health Sector Evolution Plan”, which constitutes one of the most comprehensive reforms of the country’s health system. It is based on a qualitative study that was conducted with 26 documents review and analysis, and 30 semi-structured interviews with Iranian key informants. The results of this study can be used to analyse other health sector reforms around the word. Furthermore, the paper can help with the formulation and implementation of most practical reforms, especially in the field of health system financing.
The following paper “Explaining the challenges of academic professional ethics training from the perspective of faculty members at Ardabil University of Medical Sciences” looks at education systems throughout the world to explain the challenges of professional ethics training from the perspective of faculty members at the Ardabil University of Medical Sciences. Three main themes were extracted from the fieldwork, namely, educational efficacy, professional interaction and equity in education. This study could help to improve the quality of training and ethical standards in medical education around the world.
“Technological improvement in modern health care applications using Internet of Things (IoT) and proposal of novel health care approach” is based on an analytical study on various aspects of the smart health care system by analysing them with respect to emerging engineering technologies such as mobile network, cloud computing, IoT, Big Data analytics and ubiquitous computing. The paper presents a novel health care system using smart and safe ambulances and their appropriate control at traffic points with safety and security features in a smart city, so that the valuable life of patients can be saved in time by immediate treatment in nearest hospital or health care units. A simulation was carried out to see the performance of a safety mechanism in the proposed approach. Furthermore, a comparative analysis was carried out with other approaches to know the execution time, response time and probable delay due to the implementation of this approach.
Finally, in “Emotional empathy mediates the relationship between personality traits and coping strategies in orphan and non-orphan students”, we learn that coping strategies can be promoted by interpersonal factors such as personality traits and empathy to tackle different orphan’s psychological problem in various negative situation. The improvement of coping strategies and personal resources can facilitate students adjust to stressful circumstances that can be originated pedagogical context. The study is based on fieldwork that employed a purposive sampling technique and cross-sectional design with 130 adolescents (institutionalized orphans, n=62; school students, n=68) in high schools and orphanages of Rawalpindi and Islamabad, Pakistan, in 2017.
I hope that you find the second Issue of 2019 helpful in your research and practice. Your feedback is always welcomed, and they can be sent to the Editor-in-Chief.
