Zoekresultaten

Information & Communication Technology in entrepreneurship. Lessons from start-ups

Ga terug naar start: goed teamwerk door project start up’s

Een goed team kan elk project aan en een slecht team kan elk project verprutsen. Dat weten we in de bouw al jaren. Maar hoe realiseer je een goed team? We weten dat een goede start een belangrijke voorwaarde is. En toch slagen we er altijd weer in om deze wetenschap te negeren. Een team is: 30 mensen die elkaar niet kennen, 15 in de keet van de opdrachtgever en 15 in de keet van de bouwer en gaan met die banaan. Een slechte start leidt tot een minder presterend team en dus tot een matig project. Waarom is een projectstartup zo belangrijk en hoe pak je dat aan? In een studie door het A2 convenant is deze materie op een praktische wijze behandeld.

Validity and reliability of the Dutch STarT MSK tool in patients with musculoskeletal pain in primary care physiotherapy

Objective To evaluate the validity and reliability of the Dutch STarT MSK tool in patients with musculoskeletal pain in primary care physiotherapy. Methods Physiotherapists included patients with musculoskeletal pain, aged 18 years or older. Patients completed a questionnaire at baseline and follow-up at 5 days and 3 months, respectively. Construct validity was assessed by comparing scores of STarT MSK items with reference questionnaires. Pearson’s correlation coefficients were calculated to test predefined hypotheses. Test-retest reliability was evaluated by calculating quadratic-weighted kappa coefficients for overall STarT MSK tool scores (range 0–12) and prognostic subgroups (low, medium and high risk). Predictive validity was assessed by calculating relative risk ratios for moderate risk and high risk, both compared with low risk, in their ability to predict persisting disability at 3 months. Results In total, 142 patients were included in the analysis. At baseline, 74 patients (52.1%) were categorised as low risk, 64 (45.1%) as medium risk and 4 (2.8%) as high risk. For construct validity, nine of the eleven predefined hypotheses were confirmed. For test-retest reliability, kappa coefficients for the overall tool scores and prognostic subgroups were 0.71 and 0.65, respectively. For predictive validity, relative risk ratios for persisting disability were 2.19 (95% CI: 1.10–4.38) for the medium-risk group and 7.30 (95% CI: 4.11–12.98) for the highrisk group. Conclusion The Dutch STarT MSK tool showed a sufficient to good validity and reliability in patients with musculoskeletal pain in primary care physiotherapy. The sample size for high-risk patients was small (n = 4), which may limit the generalisability of findings for this group. An external validation study with a larger sample of high-risk patients (�50) is recommended.

Forget Amsterdam and Berlin

Big report of the Startup EDR Project. See how the project promoted interregional collaboration and development for startups within the Ems-Dollart region.

Tips for a successful start to your degree programme

There’s a lot to deal with when students start a new degree programme; for instance, familiarising with a new place and meeting lots of new people. The way students learn in higher education might also be different than what they are used to. Research group Study Success created tips for a great start in the first 100 days. These tips are based on the results of various studies conducted by the research group, but also on advice from current students who were asked for their input.

An Interprofessional Student-Run Medication Review Program

As the population ages, more people will have comorbid disorders and polypharmacy. Medication should be reviewed regularly in order to avoid adverse drug reactions and medication-related hospital visits, but this is often not done. As part of our student-run clinic project, we investigated whether an interprofessional student-run medication review program (ISP) added to standard care at a geriatric outpatient clinic leads to better prescribing. In this controlled clinical trial, patients visiting a memory outpatient clinic were allocated to standard care (control group) or standard care plus the ISP team (intervention group). The medications of all patients were reviewed by a review panel (“gold standard”), resident, and in the intervention arm also by an ISP team consisting of a group of students from the medicine and pharmacy faculties and students from the higher education school of nursing for advanced nursing practice. For both groups, the number of STOPP/START-based medication changes mentioned in general practitioner (GP) correspondence and the implementation of these changes about 6 weeks after the outpatient visit were investigated. The data of 216 patients were analyzed (control group = 100, intervention group = 116). More recommendations for STOPP/STARTbased medication changes were made in the GP correspondence in the intervention group than in the control group (43% vs. 24%, P = < 0.001). After 6 weeks, a significantly higher proportion of these changes were implemented in the intervention group (19% vs. 9%, P = 0.001). The ISP team, in addition to standard care, is an effective intervention for optimizing pharmacotherapy and medication safety in a geriatric outpatient clinic.