Beyond ambidexterity: universities and their changing roles in driving regional development in challenging times

Around the world today, universities are expected to play a unique role as creators of regional growth and innovation. While there appears to be a consensus that the role of universities has been expanded, critiques show that the contribution of universities to their regions is still not well defined. There have been some developments in the literature on the concept of modern universities such as the triple helix, entrepreneurial university and engaged university. However, those concepts focus on enforcing universities' roles in a single domain such as entrepreneurship, innovation, or civic engagement. Little is known about how universities can facilitate regional growth that goes beyond knowledge transfer activities such as spin-off creation, licensing, and patenting. This paper contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of universities' role in regional growth through the theoretical lens of ambidexterity. Using ambidexterity, universities with a regional focus were distinguished from those engaged in research commercialization and traditional third-mission roles. Through two case studies, this study found that teaching, research, and engagement should not be separated, since they can serve both economic and social missions. As a result, a new model of multidextrous universities is proposed where universities meet both economic and social missions through teaching, research, and engagement. Contrary to previous contributions which presented universities as ambidextrous organizations where tension appears only between research commercialization and research publication or between teaching and research, this study suggests that universities need to overcome tensions and incorporate a sense of place in all activities to successfully contribute to regional growth.

Ankle fractures: a systematic review of patient-reported outcome measures and their measurement properties

PURPOSE

Ankle fractures are commonly occurring fractures, especially in the aging population, where they often present as fragility fractures. The disease burden and economic costs to the patient and society are considerable. Choosing accurate outcome measures for the evaluation of the management of ankle fractures in clinical trials facilitates better decision-making. This systematic review assesses the evidence for the measurement properties of patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs) used in the evaluation of adult patients with ankle fractures.

METHODS

Searches were performed in CINAHL, EMBASE, Medline and Google Scholar from the date of inception to July 2021. Studies that assessed the measurement properties of a PROM in an adult ankle fracture population were included. The included studies were assessed according to the COnsensus-based Standards for the selection of health Measurement INstruments (COSMIN) methodology for systematic reviews of PROMs.

RESULTS

In total, 13 different PROMs were identified in the 23 included articles. Only the Ankle Fracture Outcome of Rehabilitation Measure (A-FORM) presented some evidence on content validity. The Olerud-Molander Ankle Score (OMAS) and Self-reported Foot and Ankle Score (SEFAS) displayed good evidence of construct validity and internal consistency. The measurement properties of the OMAS, LEFS and SEFAS were most studied.

CONCLUSION

The absence of validation studies covering all measurement properties of PROMs used in the adult ankle fracture population precludes the recommendation of a specific PROM to be used in the evaluation of this population. Further research should focus on validation of the content validity of the instruments used in patients with ankle fractures.

The Importance of Embodiment and Agency in Parents' Positive Attitudes Towards Shared Reading with Their Children

Parents' attitudes are an important indicator of whether and how parents engage in shared book reading (SBR) at home. This study analysed Norwegian parents' attitudes towards reading books with their children aged between 1-4.5 years. Thematic analysis of data from 24 interviews revealed two main themes in parents' accounts: agency (the child's independence, the adult's control as well as their shared control during SBR) and embodiment (physical presence and intimate experience of a SBR session). Both themes correspond to parents' preference for reading print rather than digital books with their children. Findings are discussed from the socio-material theoretical perspective, with attention to their practical and policy implications.

User involvement in adolescents' mental healthcare: a systematic review

More than one out of ten adolescents suffer from mental illness at any given time. Still, there is limited knowledge about their involvement in mental healthcare. Adolescents have the right to be involved in decisions affecting their healthcare, but limited research focuses on their engagement and decision-making. Therefore, this systematic review aims to explore the existing experiences with, the effectiveness of, and safety issues associated with user involvement for adolescents' mental healthcare at the individual and organizational level. A systematic literature review on user involvement in adolescents' mental healthcare was carried out. A protocol pre-determined the eligibility criteria and search strategies, and established guidelines were used for data extraction, critical appraisal, and reporting of results. Quantitative studies were analysed individually due to heterogeneity of the studies, while qualitative studies were analysed using thematic synthesis. A total of 31 studies were included in the review. The experiences with user involvement were reported in 24 studies with three themes at the individual level: unilateral clinician control versus collaborative relationship, capacity and support for active involvement, the right to be involved; and two themes at the organizational level: involvement outcomes relevant to adolescents' needs, conditions for optimal involvement. The effectiveness of user involvement was reported in seven studies documenting fragmented evidence related to different support structures to facilitate adolescents' involvement. The safety associated with user involvement was not reported in any studies, yet a few examples related to potential risks associated with involvement of adolescents in decision-making and as consultants were mentioned.

A Recast Framework for Welfare Deservingness Perceptions

Many important societal debates revolve around questions of deservingness, especially when it comes to debates related to inequality and social protection. It is therefore unsurprising that a growing body of research spanning the social and political sciences is concerned with the determinants of deservingness perceptions. In this contribution, we engage with the currently central theoretical framework used in deservingness research and point out an important weakness: Partly ambiguous definitions of the framework's central concepts, the criteria for perceived deservingness. We also highlight the negative consequences this has for empirical research, including notably varying and overlapping operationalizations and thereby a lacking comparability of results across studies. Our main contribution is a redefinition of the criteria for perceived deservingness and a demonstration of the empirical implications of using this new set of criteria via original vignette survey experiments conducted in Germany and the United States in 2019. Our results provide a clearer image of which criteria drive deservingness perceptions.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11205-021-02774-9.