Traditional e-learning uses information and communication technologies to facilitate participant connections, expand access, and provide learning opportunities not necessarily constrained by time or distance (e.g., Evans and Powell 2007). ee-Learning leverages e-learning technology with the philosophy and methodology of experiential education, promoting inquiring forms of community that engage ...

BACKGROUND The German National Disease Management Guideline (NDMG) on chronic heart failure (CHF) derived nine clinical quality indicators (QIs) to enable assessment of quality of health care in patients with CHF. These QIs epitomize an evidence-based and somatic point of view of guided treatment, but little is known about the experiences and views of patients with their guideline-based treatme...

BACKGROUND The Cancer Genetics Service for Wales (CGSW) was established in 1998 as an all-Wales service for individuals with concerns about their family history of cancer. CGSW offers a range of services such as risk assessment, genetic counseling, and genetic testing. Individuals referred to cancer genetics services often have unmet information and support needs, and they value access to pract...

The idea of public participation GIS involves the use of GIS tools to help laypcople understand the spatial consequences of proposed projects, evaluate alternatives, and create new solutions. The widening use of information networks creates opportunities for making GIS a widely accessible decision-making tool, bypassing the constraints of location and time. This paper presents a prototype softw...

Public and patient involvement in social and health care has proceeded in many civil societies. Depending on the legislations on national and community levels, citizens and patients have a greater say in shaping social and health care. In Germany, the patient involvement by self-help organizations at the macro level (national level and level of federal states) has significantly developed over t...

PURPOSE Although concordance by race and sex in physician-patient relationships has been associated with patient ratings of better care, mechanisms through which concordance leads to better outcomes remains unknown. This investigation examined (1) whether patients' perceptions of similarity to their physicians predicted their ratings of quality of care and (2) whether perceived similarity was i...

Powering all the electronic devices surrounding us in our daily life is still and will remain a challenge. Therefore "Future and Emerging Technologies Proactive (FET)", part of the European Commission, General Directorate Information Society and Media, will launch a new Proactive Initiative in the call FP7-ICT-2009-5. This Proactive Initiative searches for new and disruptive ideas for energy ha...

Participation of the diaspora in the Partnership The Joint Africa-EU Strategic Partnership1 offers a window of opportunity for the African diaspora in Europe to enrich the ongoing Africa-EU political dialogue. In this regard, the diaspora’s proactive participation is indispensable. The partnership also provides feasible entry points for diaspora organisations to participate actively in the oper...

BACKGROUND Improving the quality of care for patients living with a chronic illness is a key policy goal. Alongside systems to ensure care is delivered according to evidence-based guidelines, an essential component of these new models of care is the facilitation of self-management. However, changes to the way professionals deliver care is complex, and it is important to understand the key drive...

BACKGROUND The objective of this exploratory study was to identify patient-related predictors of communication preferences in patients with chronic low back pain for various dimensions of patient-physician communication (patient participation and orientation, effective and open communication, emotionally supportive communication, communication about personal circumstances). METHODS Eleven reh...