Browsing by Author "Blazeviciene, Aurelija"

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"Being in the Digital Box". Academic Staff Experiences in Online Practical Teaching: A Qualitative Study From Six Universities and Countries
(HELIYON, 2024-03-04) Baskici, Cigdem; Aytar, Aydan; Ersoy, Halil; Wiktsrom-Grotell, Camilla; Arell-Sundberg, Marina; Neves, Hugo; Coutinho, Veronica; Blazeviciene, Aurelija; Vaskelyte, Alina; Soderlund, Anne; Fritz, Johanna; Strods, Raimonds; Jansone-Ratinika, Nora; Kav, Sultan
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused radical changes in education, as in everything else, bringing many challenges. Despite all the difficulties, the COVID-19 pandemic has enormous opportunities for online teaching and the use of digital technologies. A comprehensive understanding of this period is needed to investigate these opportunities. Thus, this study aims to explore the academic staff's experiences of online teaching and the use of digital technologies in practical skills -based courses in health care education. This study was conducted at six universities from six countries (Turkiye, Sweden, Finland, Portugal, Latvia, Lithuania). Data were collected between June 17, 2021 and November 30, 2021 via a focus group with an in-depth interview technique. 22 focus group interviews were conducted with a total of 117 participants. Colaizzi's method was used to evaluate the data to discover, comprehend, and define the experiences of academic staff. The analysis of the interview data resulted in 6 themes, 25 subthemes and 56 categories that captured participants' experiences regarding online teaching of practical skills and using digital technologies in health care education. The findings of the study provide crucial information that will help online teaching and digital technology for practical skills be successfully integrated.
Digital Competence Of Faculty Members In Health Sciences Measured Via Self-Reflection: Current Status And Contextual Aspects
(PEERJ, 2024-11-11) Ersoy, Halil; Baskici, Cigdem; Aytar, Aydan; Strods, Raimonds; Ratinika, Nora Jansone; Fernandes, Antonio Manuel Lopes; Neves, Hugo; Blazeviciene, Aurelija; Vaskelyte, Alina; Wikstrom-Grotell, Camilla; Paakkonen, Heikki; Soderlund, Anne; Fritz, Johanna; Kav, Sultan
This descriptive study aims to determine the digital competence level of faculty members who teach in the health sciences, empirically considering possible contextual aspects. Two data collection instruments were used: a self-reflection questionnaire to assess digital competence, and a survey querying demographics and aspects of teaching and learning context. In total, 306 health sciences faculty members from six universities voluntarily participated the study. The results revealed that a majority of the faculty members have intermediate (integrator or expert) level of digital competence, which is described as being aware of the potential use of digital technology in teaching and having a personal repertoire for its use under various circumstances. Age, digital teaching experience, perception of work environment, and previous teaching experience in fully- or partially-online courses were identified as influencing factors for digital competence. Faculty members in health sciences were able to integrate digital technologies in their teaching practices. Health education institutions may facilitate the use of digital technologies in teaching and learning environments. Moreover, institutions or stakeholders should consider that digital competence requires practice and experience in meaningfully-designed digital environments and tools.
Is training for informal caregivers and their older persons helpful? A systematic review
(2019) Aksoydana, Emine; Aytar, Aydan; Blazeviciene, Aurelija; van Bruchem-Visser, Rozermarijn L.; Veskelyte, Alina; Mattace-Raso, Francesco; Acar, Sema; Altintas, Atahan; Akgun-Citak, Ebru; Attepe-Ozden, Seda; Baskici, Cigdem; Kava, Sultan; Kiziltan, Gul; 0000-0003-0361-7498; 30953963; ABD-7108-2020; AAI-6607-2020; V-9745-2019
Background: The steady increase in the number of people suffering from chronic diseases and increasing life expectancy raises new demands on health care. At the same time, the need for informal caregivers is increasing. This study aims to perform a systematic review of the methodologies used to identify effect of different types of training on informal caregivers and their older persons. Methods: MEDLINE (PubMed), CINAHL and Ovid were searched from December 2016 and April 2017. The following keywords were used; "informal caregiver", "training" "elderly", older persons". Identified publications were screened by using the following inclusion criteria; systematic reviews, randomized controlled trials, prospective cohort and multicentre studies, English language full text journals, samples or interventions that included caregivers of older persons and published in last 10 years. Results: Twenty four studies (12 randomised control trials, 8 intervention studies and 4 systematic reviews) were included. Most of the randomized controlled trials involved both caregivers and elderly. Pretests and post-tests were used in intervention studies (5 out of the 8 studies). ICT-based, psychosocial interventions on family caregivers' education program for caregivers were applied. Caregivers following a supportive educative learning had a significantly better quality of life. Conclusions: The findings of this systematic review suggest that support interventions for caregivers can be effective in reducing caregivers' stress, with a consequent improvement of the quality of care. However, results are based on relatively small studies, reporting somewhat controversial findings supporting the need to perform further research in this field.