Journal of the Royal Society of New Zealand最新文献

An emerging class of intelligent tools that we term Digital Productivity Assistants (DPAs) is designed to help workers improve their productivity and keep their work-life balance in check. Using personalised work-based analytics it raises awareness of individual collaboration behaviour and suggests improvements to work practices. The purpose of this study is to contribute to a better understanding of the role of personalised work-based analytics in the context of (improving) individual productivity and work-life balance. We present an interpretive case study based on interviews with 28 workers who face high job demands and job variety and our own observations. Our study contributes to the still ongoing sensemaking of AI, by illustrating how DPAs can co-regulate human work through technology affordances. In addition to investigating these opportunities of partnering with AI, we study the perceived barriers that impede DPAs' potential benefits as partners. These include perceived accuracy, transparency, feedback, and configurability, as well as misalignment between the DPA's categorisations of work behaviour and the categorisations used by workers in their jobs.

This case study explored how human-centred design methodologies can improve clinician experience and reduce patient treatment anxiety in the application of a new dental local anaesthetic jet-injection system. An initial embodiment of the prototype injector, dubbed the 'Kiwi' injector, was developed to better understand the user experience during dental-injection procedures. Further design development was undertaken in two distinct phases. Stage one entailed the initial non-functional Kiwi injector model being used as a design probe to explore clinician views on its aesthetics and ergonomics. The second stage explored the clinician and patient experiences of the functional Kiwi Injector while administering a local anaesthetic to the patient. Stage one findings highlighted clinician satisfaction with the aesthetics of the non-functional prototype device but expressed the desire to make the device smaller. Stage two clinical study results highlighted an issue with the functional jet injector configuration, where the participating dental clinicians speculated that a greater bend in the wand and change of trigger position would significantly improve the Kiwi injector ergonomic performance. This research has demonstrated the benefits of applying a structured and staged human-centred user experience design process to inform the design of a new dental anaesthetic delivery device.

Aotearoa New Zealand's population is ageing. Increasing life expectancy is accompanied by increases in prevalence of Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and ageing-related disorders. The multicentre Dementia Prevention Research Clinic longitudinal study aims to improve understanding of AD and dementia in Aotearoa, in order to develop interventions that delay or prevent progression to dementia. Comprising research clinics in Auckland, Christchurch and Dunedin, this multi-disciplinary study involves community participants who undergo biennial investigations informed by international protocols and best practice: clinical, neuropsychological, neuroimaging, lifestyle evaluations, APOE genotyping, blood collection and processing. A key research objective is to identify a 'biomarker signature' that predicts progression from mild cognitive impairment to AD. Candidate biomarkers include: blood proteins and microRNAs, genetic, neuroimaging and neuropsychological markers, health, cultural, lifestyle, sensory and psychosocial factors. We are examining a range of mechanisms underlying the progression of AD pathology (e.g. faulty blood-brain barrier, excess parenchymal iron, vascular dysregulation). This paper will outline key aspects of the Dementia Prevention Research Clinic's research, provide an overview of data collection, and a summary of 266 participants recruited to date. The national outreach of the clinics is a strength; the heart of the Dementia Prevention Research Clinics are its people.

Rheumatic fever is a well-recognised public health problem in Aotearoa New Zealand that is potentially preventable by addressing the social and environmental determinants of health and ensuring equitable access to primary healthcare services. We present data on the hospitalisations of children aged 0-14 years for acute rheumatic fever (ARF) during the period 2000-2020, and the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic to May 2021. Persistent inequity by ethnicity and by socioeconomic deprivation was observed, particularly for Pacific children, for Māori children, and for children living in the most deprived areas (NZDep quintile 5). The government implemented a programme to prevent rheumatic fever between July 2012 and June 2017. Hospitalisation data suggest that the programme was reducing the incidence of ARF in children, but this trend was not sustained. There was minimal change to the number of hospitalisations for ARF during early period of the COVID-19 pandemic. If untreated, ARF can cause chronic rheumatic heart disease. The persistently high rates of hospitalisations and the unequal burden of disease for vulnerable groups should no longer be tolerated, since they can be effectively addressed by implementation of evidence-based strategies to prevent, treat, and control this disease.

We describe the New Zealand Parkinson's Progression Programme (NZP3), its goals, findings, and future plans. To date, 354 people with Parkinson's disease and 89 healthy older controls have participated over a 14-year period. A major focus of the programme has been the characterisation of current cognitive impairment, and the identification of biomarkers for its future emergence in people with Parkinson's. The programme has made significant contributions to the concept of mild cognitive impairment (MCI) in Parkinson's and the development and validation of standardised criteria for it. Brain imaging, both MRI and PET, has also been a focus, showing associations between increasing brain pathology and declining cognitive function. Additional biomarkers such as genetics, fluid biomarkers, eye movement, speech, and quantitative electroencephalography (EEG) are also under investigation. The programme has become a platform supporting many other avenues of research, from investigating the personal impacts of caregiver burden through to national-level epidemiology. To date, the programme has led to multiple journal publications and 17 completed and 9 ongoing PhDs, and many other postgraduate theses. It has led to the development of a skilled core of early-career through to senior researchers and clinicians. We discuss the future directions for the programme.

Unnecessary hospitalisations for preventable or treatable conditions provides an indication of the health of a country and its systems. We present data on potentially avoidable hospitalisations of Māori and non-Māori non-Pacific (NMNP) under-25-year-olds for medical conditions during the period 2000-2019, with particular focus on the magnitude of inequity by area deprivation. Potentially avoidable hospitalisation rates of under-25 years for medical conditions were consistently higher for Māori than for NMNP over the 20-year study period. The absolute difference in potentially avoidable hospitalisation rates between the most and least deprived areas were greater for Māori than for NMNP in all years of the study. Respiratory conditions and skin infections accounted for more than 60% of potentially avoidable hospitalisations of Māori under-25-year-olds. The persistent trends in deprivation-based inequities in health outcomes for Māori, on both absolute and relative scales, suggest greater attention needs to be paid to implementing effective policy focussed on reducing these deprivation-based inequities and on improving access to and quality of care.

This research investigated associations between multiple aspects of sleep health and child health, and the role of sleep in ethnic health inequities in early childhood. Questionnaire data on sleep and health of 3-year-old children (340 Māori, 570 non-Māori) in the Moe Kura: Mother and Child, Sleep and Wellbeing in Aotearoa/New Zealand study were analysed cross-sectionally. Logistic regression models investigated associations between poor sleep and health; and the contribution of socioeconomic deprivation, racism, and poor sleep to ethnic inequities in health (socioemotional difficulties; overweight/obesity; and asthma/eczema/allergy). Sleep measures included weekday and weekend sleep duration (per 24h), differences between weekday and weekend sleep duration and sleep timing, and sleep disturbance. Multiple aspects of sleep were associated with socioemotional or physical health outcomes. Ethnic health inequities existed, with Māori children having higher odds of poor health for all health measures. In sequential logistic regression models, socioeconomic deprivation attenuated ethnic health inequities, as did further adjustment for racism, and for sleep. Findings indicate that poor sleep health may be a pathway linking social disadvantage to ethnic inequities in health outcomes in early childhood. Results provide support for tackling systemic drivers of racism, and social and sleep inequities, to achieve health equity in early childhood.

In recent years, numerous over-the-counter (OTC) tooth whitening products have become available online to meet the demand of consumers wanting a convenient way to whiten their smile. This study investigated whether websites selling OTC whitening products containing hydrogen peroxide to New Zealanders are complying with hazardous substance laws set by the New Zealand Environmental Protection Authority (EPA). The search engine 'Google' was used to identify websites selling and shipping OTC whitening products to New Zealand. Data were collected from these websites and analysed. A total of 24 New Zealand based (n = 16) and overseas (n = 8) websites were included. Of these, 12 (50%) provided an ingredients list, 1 (4%) mentioned all precautionary statements required by the EPA, and 21 (88%) met the EPA restrictions for supply and application of a hazardous substance. 11 (46%) warned of tooth sensitivity as a potential side-effect and 8 (33%) gave a warning for gingival irritation. Fewer than half (42%) recommended consulting a dental professional before using their product. Over-the-counter tooth whitening products being sold online to New Zealanders may be breaching conditions of the EPA and putting New Zealanders at risk. Legislative changes should be considered to ensure that companies' websites are providing correct precautionary statements.