Professional relations in sport healthcare: workplace responses to organisational change

Factors Influencing Team Performance: What Can Support Teams in High-Performance Sport Learn from Other Industries? A Systematic Scoping Review

Background

The primary aim of our systematic scoping review was to explore the factors influencing team function and performance across various industries and discuss findings in the context of the high-performance sport support team setting. These outcomes may also be used to inform future research into high-performance teamwork in sport.

Methods

A systematic scoping review of literature published in English since 2000 reporting team-based performance outcomes and included a performance metric that was ‘team outcome based’ was conducted using search of the Academic Search Ultimate, Medline, Business Source Ultimate, APA PsycInfo, CINAHL, SPORTDiscus, and Military database (ProQuest) using the terms: ‘team’, ‘function’ OR ‘dysfunction’, ‘Perform*’ OR ‘outcome’.

Results

Application of the search strategy identified a total of 11,735 articles for title and abstract review. Seventy-three articles were selected for full-text assessment with the aim to extract data for either quantitative or qualitative analysis. Forty-six of the 73 articles met our inclusion criteria; 27 articles were excluded as they did not report a performance metric. Eleven studies explored leadership roles and styles on team performance, three studies associated performance feedback to team performance, and 12 studies explored the relationship between supportive behaviour and performance. Team orientation and adaptability as key figures of team performance outcomes were explored in 20 studies.

Conclusions

Our findings identified 4 key variables that were associated with team function and performance across a variety of industries; (i) leadership styles, (ii) supportive team behaviour, (iii) communication, and (iv) performance feedback. High-performance teams wishing to improve performance should examine these factors within their team and its environment. It is widely acknowledged that the dynamics of team function is important for outcomes in high-performance sport, yet there is little evidence to provide guidance. This inequality between real-world need and the available evidence should be addressed in future research.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40798-021-00406-7.

Does Sports Industry Matter in Human Wellbeing: Evidence From China?

It is widely considered that sport and physical activities contribute to the development of human wellbeing. It is a fact that sport brings positive energy, discipline, and human wellbeing. Sports have an enormous effect on human health. Therefore, we assess the effects of the sports industry on the human health of China by using the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) approach from 1998 to 2020. Findings show that sports activities significantly improve human health and wellbeing. Tourism has found a positive influence on health and helped to contribute to human wellbeing. Empirical results prove that health expenditure and financial development significantly increase the population health in China. China's government should focus on the sports and tourism industry to play an important role in human health and wellbeing.

Professional regulation, profession-state relations and the pandemic response: Australia, Canada, and the UK compared

The COVID-19 pandemic provoked a surge in demand for health services. To help meet this demand, governments and health profession regulators implemented regulatory policy change to enhance professional availability and flexibility. Some nations may have been better positioned to make such changes due to their systems of healthcare profession regulation. More specifically, countries like Australia and the United Kingdom with their national regulatory structures could be more adaptable than Canada with its provincial system of regulation. To determine if this is the case, and guided by Abbott's (1988, 2005) ecological approach, we conducted a policy analysis. We find few differences in regulatory policy changes in terms of what was done, with the exception of scope of practice changes, which were implemented in Canadian provinces, but were not necessary in Australia and the United Kingdom. Instead, in the latter two countries practitioners were asked to bear responsibility for their own scopes. Additional content analysis of medical journals explored what professionals thought about policy responses, finding that Australian professionals were more positive than others. Moreover, government responses were regarded more favourably when they were perceived to be collaborative. Although there is little evidence that one regulatory system is better than another in facilitating crisis responses, regulatory structures do shape the nature of regulatory policy change.

Professional and Personal Physical Therapist Development through Service Learning in Collaboration with a Prisoner Reinsertion Program: A Qualitative Study

There is a great concern whether Physical Therapy students upon completion of their educational program are ready and equipped with the requisite skills to construct and implement a successful patient intervention with culturally diverse groups. The purpose of this study is to describe the professional and personal physical therapist development of Physical Therapy students after participating in Solidarity Activities in Collaboration with a Prisoner reinsertion program as a service-learning course. A qualitative approach was used. A convenience sample of twenty physical therapy students doing service learning and one teaching professor were included. Student diaries were analyzed. Semi-structured interviews were done to explore five students' and the professor's judgements. Internal and external observations and filling out structure field-notes were also used as data triangulation in order to build the conceptual model. The main findings include that the application of knowledge and practice of skills in different environments are the most important skills attained with this service learning. Five key themes emerged from the data analysis, namely: application of knowledge, adaptation to different environments, improving communication with patients, assisting people and providing treatment with self-confidence. A recommendation is that Physical Therapy programs include workplace practice in different environments to enhance the development of professionalism among students.

"Drop dead … I need your job": An exploratory study of intra-professional conflict amongst nurses in two Ontario cities

Past studies have focused on inter-professional conflict and its implication for professional status and work. However, there is a dearth of research on intra-professional conflict and its implications for professions. This study explores intra-professional conflicts among nurses in Ontario, using a qualitative research design, drawing on in-depth interviews with 66 nurses. The study identifies conflicts along race and age: Visible minority and younger nurses report more conflict, with visible minority nurses particularly vulnerable and racially marginalized. Members of Visible minorities and young nurses responded to workplace conflict by demonstrating competence, seeking support from colleagues, and either ignoring the abuse or standing up for themselves. These strategies do nothing to challenge professional unity. Nonetheless, intra-professional conflict has negative consequences for professionals and their work.

How do patients, politicians, physiotherapists and other health professionals view physiotherapy research in Switzerland? A qualitative study

Background

Since 2002, the professional education for Swiss physiotherapists has been upgraded to a tertiary educational level. With this change, the need for research related to professional practice has become more salient. The elaboration of research priorities is seen as a possible way to determine the profession's needs, to help coordinate research collaborations and to address expectations regarding physiotherapy. There is still limited evidence about stakeholders' views with regard to physiotherapy research. The objective of this study was to investigate key stakeholders' opinions about research in physiotherapy in Switzerland.

Methods

Focus groups with patients, health professionals, researchers and representatives of public health organizations were conducted, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with politicians, health insurers and medical doctors from three linguistic regions in Switzerland. An interview guide was elaborated. Data were transcribed and analysed using inductive content analysis (Atlas-ti 6®).

Results

Eighteen focus groups and 23 interviews/written commentaries included 134 participants with various research experiences and from different settings. Fourteen categories were defined reflecting three themes: identity, interdisciplinarity and visibility. Stakeholders had positive views about the profession and perceived physiotherapists' important role now and in the future. Yet, they also felt that physiotherapy was not sufficiently recognized in society and not visible enough. A stronger professional identity would be key to enhancing interdisciplinary work.

Conclusions

Results of this qualitative study provide insights into key aspects for moving the physiotherapy profession forward. Identity is at the heart of physiotherapy, not necessarily in terms of research priorities but in the definition of domains of competence and future positioning. Identity is also tightly connected to Interdisciplinarity as this might threaten the existence of the profession. Stakeholders outside the profession insist on the importance of visibility. The results of this study can help stakeholders reflect on the future of physiotherapy and elaborate research priorities. © 2013 The Authors. Physiotherapy Research International published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.