Merits, Volume 3, Issue 4 (December 2023) – 6 articles

The COVID-19 pandemic has ushered in an unprecedented adoption and integration of telehealth and artificial intelligence (AI) driven by telemedicine technologies into healthcare systems worldwide. These innovations promise to revolutionize healthcare delivery by offering greater accessibility, efficiency, and responsiveness to patient needs. However, the rapid deployment of these technologies in response to the crisis has illuminated the imperative need for systematic evaluation processes that comprehensively assess their operations and outcomes. This article underscores the critical importance of developing rigorous evaluation frameworks tailored to the evolving landscape of telehealth and AI-driven telemedicine technologies. The absence of standardized evaluation processes presents multifaceted challenges including uncertainties regarding long-term efficacy, patient safety, data security, and ethical considerations. Ensuring the responsible and effective integration of telehealth and AI into healthcare systems requires adaptable, multidimensional evaluation mechanisms that align with clinical objectives and regulatory standards. Through an examination of documents, procedures, policies, and best practices by regional hospitals, this article advocates for developing evaluation processes that enable stakeholders to optimize the deployment of telehealth and AI technologies fostering patient-centered care while addressing emerging challenges. In an era marked by healthcare transformation, establishing robust evaluation frameworks emerges as a paramount endeavor essential for realizing the full potential of telehealth and AI-driven telemedicine in the post-COVID-19 healthcare ecosystem. Full article

Utilizing a dataset from Metro Manila in the Philippines, we estimate the impact of gender on the return of education for individuals with disabilities, specifically focusing on visual, hearing, and walking difficulties. Controlling sample selection to address endogenous labor participation and accounting for the endogeneity of schooling decisions, our estimations reveal a significant rate of return to education, ranging from 25.7% to 38.1%. Importantly, examining the potential for nonlinear-schooling return, we observe a more pronounced effect of disability for females compared to their male counterparts, suggesting the presence of dual discrimination and signaling effects for females. Our research emphasizes the urgency for the Philippine government to not only improve educational opportunities but also to enhance employment prospects, particularly for females with disabilities. Some of the policy recommendations would include the implementation of equal-opportunity measures, including antidiscrimination policies; an expanded quota system to boost employment opportunities; efforts to address accessibility issues; and subsidies for private-sector employment are also necessary for the economic empowerment of females with disabilities. Full article

Relationally enriched jobs can foster psychological states, which, with respect to the beneficiaries of one’s work, drive one’s motivation. These states can be measured with the psychological effects of relational job characteristics scale, an instrument for which the validity is, at present, only supported by preliminary evidence. Accordingly, the present study’s objective was to test a set of psychometric properties reflecting the validity and reliability of the interpretations proposed for this scale. Findings drawn from a sample of 2011 K-12 Brazilian teachers suggested that a tridimensional structure with some residual covariances afforded the best fit. Given the existence of high inter-factor correlations, a second-order factor was proposed as a complementary, if not necessary, feature. Internal consistency omega and alpha coefficients attested to the scores’ reliability, and the factor structure achieved indicates invariance across public state, public municipal, and private Brazilian schools. Different relationships with prosocial motivation and work engagement were identified, suggesting validity of the scale based on relationships with other variables. Full article

This research paper explores how non-native English-speaking teachers can consider using their multilingualism and transnationalism as assets in creating competitive portfolios fit for the 21st century linguistic marketplace. This enhancement in the portfolio to attract credit as ‘investors of the self’ is an aspect of human capital that can be utilized by non-native English-speaking teachers to enhance their self-esteem. This, in turn, can encourage potential investors to view non-native English-speaking teachers as relevant players in a global landscape that appreciates linguistic diversity and pluralism, as well as transnational experience. This research was conducted by performing interviews with non-native English-speaking teachers and an analysis of website 2.0 sources, aiming to gain insights into the opinions of non-native English-speaking teachers regarding their human capital and how new approaches can aid their equity within the field of English language teaching. The results demonstrated a desire in teachers to utilize their inherent skillsets comprising multilingual and transnational capabilities. Full article

In an ageing society, organizations must consider the inclusion and effective management of older professionals if they wish to remain competitive. Besides having harmful and far-reaching effects on people’s health, age discrimination in the workplace leads to absenteeism, lower levels of productivity, and early retirement. Within such a context, this problematic organizational feature of most Western, now ageing, organizations and labour markets starts gaining more relevance. However, to date there has been little discussion, research, or policy development to ensure that older employees’ skills and capabilities are optimally put to use by organizations without the occurrence of ageism. We present the results of a systematic literature review based on 30 studies in the context of ageing organizations to make recommendations for human resource management. We suggest an approach to effectively manage intergenerational organizations, reducing the occurrence of age discrimination and its related consequences, as well as to achieve high employee engagement. Our review indicates that a strong ethics framework that is continuously followed, disseminated, and updated by management, together with a combination of efforts from all stakeholders, may accomplish the best results towards a culture that respects and values people of all ages at work, positively impacting on productivity. Full article

Stress increases among the working population in Germany. Workplace stress management interventions are therefore becoming increasingly important, especially in the public sector, which has a higher structural risk for work-related stress than other organizations. Currently, face-to-face formats dominate, but promising digital offerings are being developed. The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of a stress management intervention as a face-to-face and self-guided digital format, referring to the Job Demands-Resources Model. The preregistered study applied a randomized control group design in which N = 65 public service employees were assigned to face-to-face training, an online course, or waitlist control group. Participants completed online questionnaires before the intervention, shortly after the intervention, and six weeks later. Although trends for reductions in emotional exhaustion and perceived stress were evident among the intervention groups, mixed analyses of variance showed no interaction effects between the time and group on the outcomes. The main effects showed a significant decrease in stress levels regardless of the group and significant differences between intervention groups, with the online course reporting the lowest stress level. The results indicate that digital and analog stress management interventions can have desired effects within occupational health management. However, many unpredictable events (e.g., illness, vacation during the intervention) seem to influence the effectiveness in the workplace setting, and so further research is needed. Full article