BackgroundHistorically, in an effort to evaluate and manage the rising cost of healthcare employers assess the direct cost burden via medical health claims and measures that yield clear data. Health related indirect costs are harder to measure and are often left out of the comprehensive overview of health expenses to an employer. Presenteeism, which is commonly referred to as an employee at work who has impaired productivity due to health considerations, has been identified as an indirect but relevant factor influencing productivity and human capitol. The current study evaluated presenteeism among employees of a large United States health care system that operates in six locations over a four-year period and estimated loss productivity due to poor health and its potential economic burden.MethodsThe Health-Related Productivity Loss Instrument (HPLI) was included as part of an online Health Risk Appraisal (HRA) administered to employees of a large United States health care system across six locations. A total of 58 299 HRAs from 22 893 employees were completed and analyzed; 7959 employees completed the HRA each year for 4 years. The prevalence of 22 specific health conditions and their effects on productivity areas (quantity of work, quality of work, work not done, and concentration) were measured. The estimated daily productivity loss per person, annual cost per person, and annual company costs were calculated for each condition by fitting marginal models using generalized estimating equations. Intra-participant agreement in reported productivity loss across time was evaluated using κ statistics for each condition.ResultsThe health conditions rated highest in prevalence were allergies and hypertension (high blood pressure). The conditions with the highest estimated daily productivity loss and annual cost per person were chronic back pain, mental illness, general anxiety, migraines or severe headaches, neck pain, and depression. Allergies and migraines or severe headaches had the highest estimated annual company cost. Most health conditions had at least fair intra-participant agreement (κ ≥ 0.40) on reported daily productivity loss.ConclusionsResults from the current study suggested a variety of health conditions contributed to daily productivity loss and resulted in additional annual estimated costs for the health care system. To improve the productivity and well-being of their workforce, employers should consider presenteeism data when planning comprehensive wellness initiatives to curb productivity loss and increase employee health and well-being during working hours.

No abstract

Aim/Purpose: New models of curriculum and instruction are needed to help increase completion rates of doctoral programs, as only about half of all students who begin doctoral programs complete them. This paper presents preliminary results of an evaluation of a promising new model called the Ewing Model© where the culminating projects of a doctoral program is completed in a series of five sequential courses with a cohort. Background: The Ewing Model©, a new model for completing a doctoral research project (DRP) in an online Doctor of Education (EdD) program, was implemented and evaluated for two predictors of doctoral program completion – social connectedness and usefulness of the curriculum and instruction. Previous research has shown these are salient factors predicting doctoral student success. Methodology: This was a cross-sectional, quantitative study. An online survey of students who were in the midst of taking one of five sequential DRP courses was emailed in the middle of a term. Survey question answers were posed as 5-point Likert scale options, and means were calculated. Contribution: This paper provides evidence that the Ewing Model© for completing a culminating project in a doctoral program that facilitates social connectedness and provides structure might be effective in helping students to complete their doctoral programs. Findings: Social connectedness and usefulness of the curriculum and instruction were generally high among students going through the DRP process. The frequency of online discussion forums was found to play a role in how connected students felt. Recommendations for Practitioners: Institutions of higher education could consider using a similar model to achieve improved social connectedness and usefulness of the curriculum and instruction, which may help doctoral students complete their doctoral programs. They might also consider incorporating other teaching strategies into the same model that may intervene on other predictors of doctoral program completion. Recommendation for Researchers: Researchers should take into account that many other individual and environmental factors besides social connectedness and usefulness of the curriculum and instruction influence doctoral program completion. Impact on Society: The findings have implications for improving doctoral program completion rates, which also alleviates the economic, social, and emotional strain that results from unfinished doctoral degrees. Future Research: Future research could focus on evaluating variations of the Ewing Model© depending on the unique requirements of different types of culminating projects in doctoral programs, assessing other known predictors of doctoral program completion besides social connectedness and usefulness of the curriculum and instruction, and assessing student completion rates using this model.

Aim/Purpose: This qualitative case-study explores how a doctoral student’s family influences the doctoral student’s success from the perspective of doctoral students who were enrolled in an online doctoral program. Background: Previous research has shown that family can significantly influence doctoral student success; however, it is not clear what is meant by family nor what the details of the influence of family look like from the perspective of the doctoral student. Methodology: A qualitative case-study method was used. More than 500 former students enrolled in an online doctoral program were emailed a web-based survey that elicited information about who they considered to be in their family, how they thought their relationship with their family changed while they were a doctoral student, and how much they thought their family understood what it means to be a doctoral student. One hundred thirty-three (24%) former students participated in the study. Qualitative data were analyzed both manually and electronically by three researchers who subsequently triangulated the data to confirm themes. Contribution: This study defines ‘family’ from the doctoral student perspective and provides an in-depth look at how family influences doctoral student success including explanation of family support and lack thereof that previously has been shown to be significant to facilitating or hindering doctoral student success. Findings: Doctoral students mostly considered their immediate and extended family (i.e., spouses, significant others, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, and parents-in-law) to be family, but some considered friends and coworkers to be part of their family as well. Most doctoral students experienced positive family support, but for those who did not, two major themes emerged as problematic: a reduction in the amount of time spent with family and family not understanding the value of earning a doctoral degree. Recommendations for Practitioners: Institutions of higher education should consider these findings when creating interventions to increase retention of doctoral students. Interventions might include orientation programs to help family members understand the value of earning a doctoral degree, the time commitment necessary to complete a doctoral degree, and ways to support a family member earning a doctoral degree. Recommendation for Researchers: The findings inform future research by surfacing more specific information about what family support and lack thereof looks like for doctoral students and what interventions for improving family support might include. Impact on Society: Improving family support may improve doctoral student success by adding more doctoral-trained leaders, innovators, scholars, and influential educators to society and by supporting the financial investment of students and their families by decreasing attrition. Future Research: Future research should focus on creating quantitative instrumentation to measure the influence of family on doctoral student success. Student populations from different types of doctoral programs (e.g., PhD, MD, DO) might be studied as well. Interventions aimed at improving family support should be designed, implemented, and evaluated for effectiveness.

Writing an argument is an essential skill for doctoral students in achieving academic and occupational success. Writing an argument effectively requires the ability to use correct writing mechanics, but doctoral students may tend to think their writing mechanics are better than they are, and their ability to write an argument effectively may be compromised as a result. At one university, this gap between student perceptions of their ability to write and their writing performance appeared to exist. A study was conducted to determine whether there was a mismatch between perceived writing self-efficacy and writing performance. Study results showed that higher perceived writing self-efficacy seems to be associated with certain mechanical writing errors, including wordiness and inaccurate grammar. Knowing this mismatch between writing self-efficacy and writing performance may exist is important (a) for students in terms of their awareness, and (b) for tertiary educators to better target tertiary writing interventions.