2022, Morandi, Pietro, Blaese, Richard, Liebig, Brigitte

An Fachhochschulen tätige Dozierende und wissenschaftliche Mitarbeitende sollen heute nicht nur über akademische, sondern auch berufliche Erfahrung verfügen. In diesem Beitrag wird untersucht, in welchem Maße Erfahrungen im Gründen und Führen von Unternehmen – als eine Variante dieses „doppelten Kompetenzprofils“ – im akademischen Personal der Schweizer Fachhochschulen verbreitet sind und welche Eigenschaften die gegründeten Unternehmen der Hochschulmitarbeitenden charakterisieren. Die Analyse basiert auf Querschnittsdaten aus dem Jahre 2019, die in einer Online-Befragung des wissenschaftlichen Personals an sieben öffentlich-rechtlichen schweizerischen Fachhochschulen erhoben wurden.

2021-06-03, Schweighoffer, Reka, Blaese, Richard, Liebig, Brigitte

Several organizational factors facilitate or hinder information transfer in palliative care teams. According to past research, organizational factors that reduce information transfer include the inconsistent use of shared electronic patient files, frequent changes of healthcare staff, a lack of opportunities for personal exchange, and a lack of evaluation of collaborative processes. Insufficient information sharing between professionals can negatively impact patient safety, whereas studies have shown that some organizational factors improve collaboration between professionals and thus contribute to improved patient outcomes. The main purpose of this study is thus to investigate whether, and if so how, organizational factors contribute to successful information exchange in palliative care teams in Switzerland, while also accounting for the different care contexts of primary and specialized palliative care. A nationwide survey was aimed at medical professionals working in palliative care. In total, 379 participants (mean age = 49.8 years, SD = 10.3) were included in this study. Two main outcome variables were examined: healthcare providers’ satisfaction with information transfer in their team and their overall satisfaction with communication in their team. Hypotheses were tested by employing structural equation modeling. Findings revealed that the strongest predictors for effective information transfer in palliative care teams were sufficient opportunities for face-to-face meetings and supervision alongside feedback tools to improve collaborative practices and the application of guidelines and standards for collaboration. Face-to-face meetings were an even greater contributor to information transfer in specialized settings, whereas sharing the same work-based values with colleagues was considered more important in primary settings. Results from this study contribute to the existing literature elucidating how information transfer is facilitated in the field of palliative care. If proposed measures are implemented, this could possibly improve patient outcomes in palliative care. Furthermore, the findings can be useful for healthcare organizations and associations to make more efficient resource allocation decisions with the aim to optimize information transfer within the workforce.

2021, Degen, Eveline, Liebig, Brigitte

Interprofessionelle Qualitätszirkel können Fachleute unterschiedlichster Disziplinen zusammenführen, um die Herausforderungen des beruflichen Alltags in der allgemeinen und spezialisierten Palliative Care gemeinsam zu bewältigen. Ein aktuelles Projekt im Rahmen des Nationalen Forschungsprogramms «Gesundheitsversorgung » (NFP 74) hat dazu in enger Kooperation mit Hausärztinnen und Hausärzten ein Konzept und eine Agenda entwickelt.

2020, Reeves, Emily, Schweighoffer, Reka, Liebig, Brigitte

Good coordination of healthcare services is vital for ensuring health cost efficiency and high-quality care for patients. It is especially important in the context of palliative care as services are often highly fragmented due to a combination of diverse professional groups, organizations, and approaches to care. However, the coordination of services in this field is often evaluated as insufficient. Little is known about the challenges to coordination in this sector in Switzerland. The present study addresses this gap in research by investigating the challenges to coordination at the interface of palliative care services in Switzerland. Interviews (n = 24) with 38 healthcare practitioners working in palliative care in four cantons (Basel-City, Lucerne, Ticino, and Vaud) form the basis for this investigation. The selected cantons not only represent French, Italian, and German language regions of Switzerland but also represent diverse rural, urban, and historical contexts. Expert interviews are analyzed using structural content analysis. Three clusters of challenges to coordination were identified in the data: (1) organizational challenges to coordination, which relate to explicit forms of coordination; (2) relational challenges to coordination; and (3) structural challenges to coordination, which relate to implicit forms of coordination. The study reveals a need for better financial support for coordination in palliative care and a stronger focus on interprofessional coordination in educating professionals in palliative care. Future research on how to further foster good team coordination practices between primary and specialized palliative services merits further investigation. Since these findings are indicative of areas for improvement for coordination at the interface of Swiss palliative care services, they are of particular interest for healthcare practitioners, policymakers, and researchers involved in the evolution of coordinative practice.

2021-07-20, Blaese, Richard, Liebig, Brigitte

Background: Previous intention-based research has not considered whether participants are in the motivational or in the actional phase. In turn, this creates a gap of knowledge concerning the cognitive and motivational processes involved in the formation of Entrepreneurial Intention (EI). By applying the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB), the present study addresses the formation of EI to commercialize research knowledge, focusing on the transition from motivation to implementation in the context of academia. Methods: Drawing on cross-sectional data of 490 researchers, segmented regression analysis was conducted to analyze the influence of entrepreneurial engagement on EI-growth. Multi-group Structural Equalization Modeling (SEM) was then used to test the moderation effects of engagement on the relationship between motivational factors and entrepreneurial intention. Results and Discussion: The analysis revealed a direct influence of engagement on EI, as well as a threshold of EI-growth per the context of a Rubicon crossing after the initiation of the first gestation action. Our data also show a growing influence of endogenous factors (e.g., attitudes and perceived behavior control) on EI during the venture creation process. The second part of the study contributes by testing the effects of entrepreneurial rewards on TPB-antecedents moderated by engagement. Conclusion: Until today, research mostly relied on cross-sectional data to predict and measure the strength of EI in the phase preceding the launch of a new business without considering whether participants are in the motivational or in the actional phase. Our finding highlights the need to shift from focusing entrepreneurship research solely on intentions to now on the process and implementation perspective.

2021, Bläse, Richard, Schneider, Noemi, Liebig, Brigitte

Both psychological and entrepreneurship research emphasize the pivotal role of job satisfaction in the process of entrepreneurial career decisions. In fact, a co-relationship between entrepreneurial intention, job satisfaction, and organizational commitment was demonstrated recently. Prior research operationalized entrepreneurial careers as an escape from poor work environments; thus, there is a lack of understanding regarding how job-satisfaction and outcome expectations can motivate and trigger academic entrepreneurship within and related to the environment of universities (e.g., spin-off activities). In this study, drawing on Social Cognitive Career Theory delineated by Lent and colleagues and the concept of entrepreneurial intention, we addressed the role of job satisfaction as a moderating factor between outcome expectations and entrepreneurial intention. Furthermore, we examined to what extent (a) entrepreneurial intention and (b) spin-off intention are determined by certain outcome expectations and perceived behavioral control. This paper purports to study academic researchers in specialized and non-technical fields and builds on a survey of 593 academic researchers at Swiss Universities of Applied Science (UAS). Supporting our hypothesis, we showed that outcome expectations are a significant predictor for entrepreneurial intentions, in general, and spin-off intentions, in particular. Finally, a multi-group analysis corroborated that job dissatisfaction partly operates as a motivational factor in entrepreneurial transition and interactions with entrepreneurial outcome expectations. In conclusion, the concept of job satisfaction and the theoretical approach of Social Cognitive Career Theory seems to be relevant to study and to encourage academic entrepreneurship as career decisions of the academic researchers.

2020-06, Morandi, Pietro, Bläse, Richard, Liebig, Brigitte

Der Beitrag geht der Frage nach, inwieweit an Schweizer Fachhochschulen unter Wissenschaftler*innen (Aus)Gründungserfahrungen vorliegen, warum diese Erfahrungen so wenig genutzt werden und welche organisationsbezogenen Änderungen für eine Steigerung von (Aus) Gründungsnotwendig wären.

2021-06-22, Blaese, Richard, Liebig, Brigitte, Schneider, Noemi

Purpose The promotion of research-based entrepreneurship is considered a crucial task for universities and policymakers in many Western countries. Research has shown that the university environment plays a decisive role in the spin-off activities of researchers. Although the number of science-based spin-offs has increased in recent years, women are still an exception when it comes to developing spin-off ventures. In turn, there is a lack of knowledge regarding the university environment that supports entrepreneurship from a gender perspective. Design/methodology/approach Based on the theoretical framework of the “Entrepreneurial University,” this contribution examines the formal and informal conditions for academic entrepreneurship using the example of Swiss universities of applied sciences (UAS). Based on a cross-sectional dataset of 1,551 researchers from various disciplines who were surveyed in 2019, linear regressions and logistic regression models were used to test gender-specific differences in the perception of organizational conditions concerning the entrepreneurial exploitation of research. Findings The results demonstrated significant differences in the perception of formal and informal conditions in higher education. First, they show gender differences in the perception of informal entrepreneurial support in universities; in particular, female researchers received less informal support for spin-off projects. For example, women hardly viewed commercial use of research and development knowledge as a career option and considered the existence of entrepreneurial role models at universities to be low. Second, further analyses highlighted that also formal support offerings were less known among female researchers. Originality/value The study highlights organizational barriers for female researchers regarding the development of spin-off creation at UAS, including the different formal and informal conditions for female academics in comparison to their male counterparts.

2021, Morandi, Pietro, Blaese, Richard, Liebig, Brigitte

2020, Reeves, Emily, Liebig, Brigitte, Degen, Eveline

High-quality care is an important aim of palliative care services. However, the quality of care is a complex phenomenon and is subjectively perceived by those who are closest to the services and are often evaluated poorly. Prior research has highlighted the difficulties in evaluating the quality of care because of different perspectives, and still, only a little is understood about the perception of the quality of care in palliative care services. Investigating the perspectives of key individuals involved in palliative care, such as palliative professionals and relatives of palliative patients, can provide invaluable insight to understand the quality of care. To identify the perceptions of palliative professionals and relatives of the patients toward the quality of palliative care along with identifying the similarities and divergences in the perceptions, as well as highlighting the complexity of quality in palliative care settings while indicating their areas of improvement. This was a qualitative study that involved semi-structured interviews for the evaluation of palliative care guided by the proposed system approach model [1]. The interviews were conducted with a total number of 38 professionals working in palliative care along with 26 relatives of palliative patients across four Swiss cantons (Ticino, Basel, Vaud, and Lucerne). These professionals worked in primary palliative care (PPC) and specialized palliative care (SPC), where 11 general practitioners (GP’s) and 12 nurses were from primary palliative care services. Additionally, 15 interviews were conducted with 9 specialized medical doctors (e.g., oncologists) and 6 specialized palliative care nurses from different hospitals, hospices, mobile palliative care teams (MPCT’s), and specialist private practice. The results revealed considerable differences between the perspectives of professionals and relatives regarding the following aspects of care: 1) the availability, 2) client-centeredness (including respect for patient’s wishes and relative’s involvement in care, 3) satisfaction (including physical and psychosocial), and 4) communication and information transfer. Mainly, the family members felt that care was not being always readily available and coordinated poorly, the patient’s needs were overlooked because of the lack of time. Also, some professionals were perceived to be incompetent with a lack of communication and negligence toward the psychosocial needs of the patient. On the other hand, professionals indicated that relatives may be too involved in the patient care and might have expressed concern due to the high risk of burn out caused by extreme stress and emotionally taxing circumstances of palliative care. The different perspectives uncovered both the similarities and discrepancies, representing a demand for addressing the shortcomings of palliative care services. Specifically, findings indicated that professionals may overestimate the quality of palliative care. Also, future initiatives were needed to ensure that the family members of palliative patients were adequately supported, both psycho-socially and financially, justifying the investment. These findings would help in informing the health policy about the aspects of care that require specific attention to improve the overall quality of care and urge future research to explore the best ways to support these aspects of care.