*Spring semester*

SYSTOIT  Systems Theory, Organizations & IT, 7.5 hp, DSV (course director), from Spring 2017

YRPRA Yrkesförberedande praktik inom data- och systemvetenskap, 15 hp (course director), from Spring 2022

Supervision and review of master and bachelor theses related to eHealth

*Fall semester*

Supervision and review of master and bachelor theses related to eHealth

*Previous course involvement*

IDIM Inkluderande design av interaktiva miljöer, 7.5 hp, DSV (teacher), Spring 2019 – 2022

EGOV Open e-governance and e-democracy, 7.5 hp, DSV (teacher), Autumn 2018 - 2021

ML455C Dimensions of ICT for Development, 15 hp, DSV (examiner of eHealth), Autumn 2017

ITO IT i organisationer, 7.5 hp, DSV (teacher), Autumn 2018 – 2021

KRAV Kravhantering av IT-system, 7.5 hp, DSV (teacher), Autumn 2017 – 2021

IB940B Praktisk projektledning, 7.5 hp, DSV (teacher), Autumn 2017 -2021

REQ Advanced Requirements Engineering of IT-systems, 7.5 hp, DSV (teacher), Autumn 2017 – 2019

MAISY Managing Systems for Organizations, People and IT, 7.5 hp (course director) – the course is replacing ITM1  Spring 2015-2016

ITM1/IV2035 Organisation, IT-system och Management, 7.5 hp, DSV (course director) – the course replaced by MAISY in 2015

SYST/IV2034 Systems Theory and IT, 7.5 hp, DSV

LUSP Leadership from a System Science Perspective, 7.5 hp, DSV (lecturer, 2013)

WEBMIN/IV2038 Web Mining inom data- och systemvetenskap, 7.5 hp, DSV (guest lecturer, 2012)

KM/IV2015 Knowledge Management, 7.5 hp, DSV (guest lecturer, 2011)

 

Research areas over the years: community informatics, health informatics, working and learning in combination, ICT-tools for different learning approaches, learning processes, online communities and online health communities.

In late 2009, a web based stress management project took off at the department. It is an interdisciplinary research project with participants from both the area of computer and systems sciences/DSV and medicine/health. It is led by me in close cooperation with physiotherapist, Med. Dr, Associate Professor Hélène Sandmark, Ramazzini Research (prev. affiliated at DSV and Mälardalen University). The project has also been greatly supported by Prof. Jacob Palme and Gunnar Wettergren, DSV. The project aims at taking existing knowledge of stress and stress management and integrate it with knowledge of e-health communities, computer-mediated communication and collaborative learning online. The project presents its ideas regarding concept and web based design in some academic papers published in 2010-now (see publications below). A prototype of the web based stress management system has been introduced. We have also proposed extension of the web based system; prototypes of two mobile apps have been developed – one app to let users access the functions in the web based system more easily and the other to complement the system with a self-reflection tool.

2017-2020 DSV participated in the EU/Marie Sklodowska-Curie Action research project called RISEWISE with a specific concern to explore how to support women with disabilities. Together with Associate Professor Sirkku Männikkö-Barbutiu and PhD Thomas Westin, we focused on accessibility and use of ICT for women with disabilities, with the aim to help them become more included in society and increase their health and quality of life. During 2018, the three of us participated in the Vinnova Challenge-driven innovation project called Criteria for cognitive accessibility of digital interfaces (the first stage in the process) led by Funka, a Swedish organization in the field of accessibility. Our role was primarily to ensure that the work to produce accessibility criteria adhered to sound methods.

I am a program committee member of the IARIA conferences ICDS and eTelemedicine, a member of the IARIA fellowship program and of the Editorial Boards of Int. J. on Advances in Internet Technology and Int. J. on Advances in Life Sciences, IARIA journals, a program committee member of the Int. conference FedCSIS, the Int. conference on Health Informatics/Biostec (HEALTHINF), the IADIS Int. conference on e-Health, the Int. conference on ICT4 Ageing Well and e-Health (ICT4AWE) and, previously, ChileCHI. I was associate editor and reviewer for the AIS conference ECIS 2018. In 2021, I was a reviewer for the Springer journal Electronic Markets. I am also engaged as author, editor and reviewer of IGI Global publications, e.g., a member of the Editorial Review Board of the Int. J. of Reliable and Quality E-Healthcare (IJRQEH).

Supervisor of PhD students - the following PhD students of mine (as the main supervisor) have successfully defended their PhD thesis:

• Egui Zhu at the Dep of Learning, Informatics, Management and Ethics, Karolinska Institutet: “Bridging Theory and Practice: Learning Design for AR-based Continuing Professional Development in a Primary Care Setting” (2018)
• Manoja Weerasekara at the Dep of Computer and Systems Sciences, Stockholm University: "Design of an ICT-Supported Intervention for Occupational Stress Management: Case of Sri Lankan Software Employees" (2023)

Member of dissertation grading committees for the following theses:

• PhD thesis “Tools for Designing Mobile Interaction with the Physical Environment in Outdoor Lessons” by Johan Eliasson at DSV (2013)
• D.Tech thesis “Supporting Loose Forms of Collaboration – Using Linked Data to Realize an Architecture for Collective Knowledge Construction” by Hannes Ebner at KTH (2014)
• PhD thesis “Do-It-Yourself Learning in Kenya: Exploring mobile technologies for merging non-formal and informal learning” by William Jobe at DSV (2014)
• PhD thesis “Human Rights Learning: The Significance of Narratives, Relationality and Uniqueness” by Rebecca Adami at Dep of Education, SU (2014) – as a suppleant
• PhD thesis “Designing Online Courses for Individual and Collaborative Learning – A Study of a Virtual Learning Environment based in SriLanka” by Thushani Weerasinghe at DSV (2015)
• PhD thesis “The Non-Player Character: Exploring the Believability of NPC Presentation and Behavior” by Henrik Warpefelt at DSV (2016)
• PhD thesis “Modeling Organizational Dynamics: Distributions, Networks, Sequences and Mechanisms” by Hernan Mondani at Dep of Sociology, SU (2017) – as a suppleant
• PhD thesis “Distributed Intelligence-Assisted Autonomic Context-Information Management” by Hasibur Rahman at DSV (2018)
• PhD thesis “Exploring the impact of virtual patient design: medical students’ small group learning around medical error” by Luke Woodham at Karolinska Institutet (2020), also coordinator at the pre-review
• PhD thesis  ”Interweaving technology – Understanding the design and experience of interactive performances”  by Asreen Rostami at DSV (2020)
• PhD thesis “On designing educational portals for self-management of type 2 diabetes – Lessons learnt from an Iranian context” by Javad Jafari at Karolinska Institutet (2021)
• PhD thesis "Connecting Lives: Designing Customized ICT Solutions for Social isolation and Loneliness among People living with Parkinson’s – A User-Centered Design Science Research" by Gomathi Thangavel at Örebro University (2024)

Other academic assignments:

• The chair person of the dissertation defence act for PhD thesis “The Usefulness of ICT Support Systems for Thesis Courses – Learners’ Perspectives at Bachelor and Master Level” by Nam Aghaee at DSV (2015).
• A reviewer of PhD thesis “Design and evaluation of mobile learning tools to facilitate guided-informal learning in the domain of agriculture” by D.M.U.I. Dissanayake, University of Colombo School of Computing, Sri Lanka (2016),
• A reviewer at the half-time seminar of PhD student Asreen Rostami, DSV: “Interweaving Technology into Mixed-Reality Performance” (2017)
• The opponent at the licentiate seminar of PhD student Marie Olsson, DSV: “Digital learning resources for programming in higher education – a multimodal perspective” (2018)
• The DSV opponent at the pre-doc seminar of PhD student Asreen Rostami, DSV: working title “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to Design Interactive & Mixed Reality Performances” (2019)
• The examiner of PhLic thesis: “Managing Capability Change in Organizations: Foundations for a Modeling Approach” by Georgios Koutsopoulos (2020)
• A reviewer at the half-time seminar of PhD student Sulakshana De Alwis, DSV: “Work-Life Boundaries in Technology Intense World of Work: Insights from Sri Lanka” (2020)
• A reviewer of the ‘senforsk’ version of PhD student Chaminda Wijesinghe, DSV: “How knowledge diffusion in University-Industry Collaboration can foster ICT innovations in Sri Lanka” (2022)
• The chair person of the dissertation defence act for PhD thesis “How knowledge diffusion in University-Industry Collaboration can foster ICT innovations in Sri Lanka” by Chaminda Wijesinghe at DSV (2022)
• The chair person of the dissertation defence act for PhD thesis “Distributed Intelligence for IoT Systems Using Edge Computing” by Ramin Firouzi at DSV (2023).
• A reviewer at the halftime seminar of PhD student Leo Kowalski: “Investigating the Feasibility and Effectiveness of a Digital Intervention to Improve Recovery from Work-Related Stress" at Karolinska Institutet (2024).

Teaching in the mandatory PhD course: Research Methods II, 7.5 hp, DSV (method adviser, Autumn/Spring 2017/2018).

A selection from Stockholm University publication database

• Exploration of user needs and design requirements of a digital stress management intervention for software employees in Sri Lanka: a qualitative study

  2023. Manoja Kumari Weerasekara, Åsa Birgitta Smedberg. BMC Public Health 23

  Article

  Background Digital stress management interventions are considered promising additions to the spectrum of the programs companies use to support the well-being of their employees. However, a series of constraints are identified that hinder the potential benefits of such interventions. These constraints include a lack of user engagement and personalisation, poor adherence and high attrition. Understanding the specific user needs and requirements is essential to increase the likelihood of success in implementing ICT (Information and Communication Technology)-supported stress management interventions. Thus, following the findings from a previous quantitative study, the proposed study aimed to further explore the user needs and requirements for designing digital stress management interventions for software employees in Sri Lanka. Methods The study used a qualitative approach based on three focus groups with 22 software employees in Sri Lanka. The focus group discussions were conducted online and recorded digitally. Inductive thematic analysis was used to analyse the collected data. The consolidated criteria for reporting qualitative studies (COREQ)-32 items were followed for reporting this study. Results The analysis revealed three major themes: self-help in a personal space, social support in a collaborative space, and general design considerations for achieving success. The first theme revealed the users’ preference for having a personal space where they could engage in individual activities without support from an external party. The second theme elaborated on the importance of adding a collaborative platform to seek help from peers and professionals. The final theme explored the user-desired design features that could increase user engagement and adherence. Conclusions This study used a qualitative approach to further explore the findings of a previous quantitative study. The focus group discussions confirmed the results of the previous study and provided the opportunity to better understand user needs and yield new insights. Such insights revealed user preference for embedding personal and collaborative platforms in a single intervention, embedding gamified elements, the provision of passive content generation via sensory systems, and the need for personalisation. These empirical findings will feed into the design of ICT-supported interventions for occupational stress management among Sri Lankan software employees.

  Read more about Exploration of user needs and design requirements of a digital stress management intervention for software employees in Sri Lanka: a qualitative study

• Felix The Digibud: Unveiling The Design of an ICT-Supported Intervention for Occupational Stress Management

  2022. Manoja Weerasekara, Åsa Smedberg. Proceedings of the International Conference e-Health 2022, 163-172

  Conference

  Digital stress management is an evolving yet promising approach to the continuum of stress management programs. There are shreds of evidence on the benefits that could be achieved. However, numerous studies discuss the challenges that hinder the potential benefits of digital stress management interventions. Such challenges mainly include less engagement, insufficient theoretical underpinning, high attrition, and lack of personalisation. Thus, the current study aims to propose a design of a digital intervention to bridge the identified gaps. The proposed intervention, Felix the DigiBud, was co-designed and developed using a multidisciplinary team based on empirical and literature evidence. The mentioned empirical studies mainly focused on gathering user requirements from different stakeholder groups. These stakeholder groups involved software employees, counsellors and human resource managers working at software companies. All the empirical studies were carried out in Sri Lanka, applying quantitative and qualitative approaches. Seven design principles were built to govern the design process and fulfil the defined requirements. The first iteration of the design cycle resulted in a clickable mock-up with a web-based front end to visualise the user interfaces and the process flow of the intended features and functionalities. It has a setting module and eight functional modules that reflect different stress management activities. The designers made a comprehensive effort to embed gamification and digital micro intervention concepts in the intervention design to increase user engagement. In the next phase, the ICT-supported intervention will be demonstrated to the stakeholders to determine to what extent the artefact fulfils the identified problems.

  Read more about Felix The Digibud

• The use of online communities of practice in the software industry: learnings from Facebook communities in Sri Lanka

  2022. Manoja Weerasekara, Åsa Smedberg. International Journal of Web Based Communities 18 (2), 186-209

  Article

  Online communities of practice (CoPs) for professionals is a growing phenomenon in social networking. Such an online CoP consists of people who share their work-related knowledge, experiences, ideas, and practices using different electronic modes. The study focuses on the potential use of online CoPs for social support among software professionals who need to manage a demanding work-life. Five Facebook (FB) groups comprising software employees were cross-examined qualitatively using thematic analysis. The results revealed how software engineers engaged in different practices and activities to support each other in the communities. It was noted how the group members exerted social support, which is considered a key element in occupational health. The findings provide promising insights into how software professionals collaborate and support each other in cyberspace, which could be further explored to design technology that could foster online communities for software employees who need to manage their occupational stress.

  Read more about The use of online communities of practice in the software industry

• User needs gathering for the design of information and communications technology-supported occupational stress management intervention: A quantitative study

  2022. Manoja Weerasekara (et al.). Digital Health 8

  Article

  Introduction: The software industry is considered a growing industry with a high propensity to cause stress reactions among employees due to its demanding and technology-driven nature. There are convincing shreds of evidence that information and communications technology (ICT) interventions can effectively solve stress-related disorders. However, several identified constraints have hindered its potential benefits, such as poor adherence, lack of engagement, high attrition and lack of personalisation.

  Objective: The study presented in this article aims to gather the user needs of software employees in Sri Lanka to identify design ideas for an ICT-supported intervention for occupational stress management (ICTSMI) in the software industry.

  Materials and methods: The study followed a quantitative approach using an online questionnaire in which three key areas were investigated: (1) stressors, (2) coping strategies and (3) design preferences. A total of 408 valid responses were collected and analysed using SPSS software.

  Results: Findings revealed that the majority of software employees were with a moderate level of stress. They perceived work stressors and role stressors as common causes of stress. The most frequently used coping strategy was to seek social support, followed by digital activities and sports and physical exercises. The male and female design preferences varied to a greater extent but only slightly varied based on their job category. However, findings suggested the necessity of further elicitation of user needs to support the design process.

  Read more about User needs gathering for the design of information and communications technology-supported occupational stress management intervention

• ICT Supported Occupational Stress Management: The Views of HR Managers in Sri Lankan Software Companies

  2020. Manoja Weerasekara, Åsa Birgitta Smedberg, Hélène Sandmark. Proceedings of the International Conference, 27-38

  Conference

  The software industry is considered to be a growing industry worldwide but with a high propensity to cause stress reactions among employees due to its demanding and technology-driven nature. As a human capital-intensive industry, too much of stress on employees can also create a negative impact on the quality of work. Thus, organizations take numerous initiatives at both individual and organizational levels to address this problem. One area of concern is the use of ICT supported occupational stress management interventions. In Sri Lanka, the dominant ICT occupation today is software engineer, and there is a national awareness of mental health issues due to occupational stress. Thus this study aims to investigate current practices used to frame employees well-being inside software organizations in Sri Lanka, and to understand Sri Lankan software companies viewpoints of using ICT supported occupational stress management interventions through the lens of human resource (HR) managers. Ten HR managers were interviewed covering eight software companies. Through thematic analysis, we identified three main themes and multiple subthemes. Results revealed various types of individual level and organizational level strategies, policies and practices implemented to create a healthy work setting for the employees. Findings also show that the HR managers had limited knowledge and experiences of ICT supported occupational stress management interventions. Nevertheless, they appreciated the immediate possible benefits of ICT interventions and demonstrated the willingness to adopt them in their organizations. Moreover, they revealed several functional requirements and feature sets they would like to see in such applications to better support their employees. Therefore, this study can possibly provide insights for researchers and practitioners who are to design and develop ICT supported interventions to manage occupational stress, to promote well-being and healthy organizations.

  Read more about ICT Supported Occupational Stress Management

• Design Practices and Implications in Information and Communication Technology Supported Occupational Stress Management Interventions

  2019. Manoja Weerasekara, Åsa Smedberg. 2019 International Conference on Advanced Computer Science and information Systems (ICACSIS), 285-294

  Conference

  Information and communication technology (ICT) supported occupational stress management interventions are considered as an effective way of treating stress-related complications. Digital healthcare, including both e-health and m-health, is provided by a diverse ecosystem of actors that aims at contributing to better health of people. The development of such technological interventions is considered as an emerging area with a unique set of constraints and design concerns. However, to increase the likelihood of success of implementing ICT supported interventions for occupational stress management, it is essential to conduct a detailed analysis of the design practices and implications related to prior studies. Thus, the proposed systematic literature review based on qualitative content analysis encapsulates the knowledge gained from existing design and development efforts in the area of ICT supported occupational stress management interventions. Knowledge incorporates design characteristics and methodological implications concerning the evaluation of the design. Further, practical limitations to yield optimum efficacy levels of ICT supported stress interventions are also discussed. A systematic review of publications in four databases (PsycINFO, Scopus, Web of Science and MEDLINE) was carried out using broad search queries. The search strategy yielded 985 unique citations. Of those, this paper presents details relevant to 31 assessed full-text publications selected during the search process. The review showed a variety of interventional platforms, health outcomes and intervention usage measurements. Various modalities of human-and machine-based support and interactions were also identified in the analysis along with several study limitations. The findings of this review may offer insights for IT professionals working in design and implementation of ICT supported stress management interventions and to researchers involved in designing and evaluating ICT supported interventions.

  Read more about Design Practices and Implications in Information and Communication Technology Supported Occupational Stress Management Interventions

• Using ICT in Occupational Stress Management: The Views and Experiences of Sri Lankan Stress Experts

  2019. Manoja Weerasekara, Åsa Smedberg, Hélène Sandmark. Proceedings of the International Conference E-Health 2019, 163-174

  Conference

  ICT supported health intervention is a phenomenon that has grown stronger in recent years. Although eHealth and mHealth care are an expanding area of ICT, the development has not been as significant as in other fields. Successful implementation of eHealth or e-mental health applications requires close collaboration between healthcare practitioners and system developers. Complex and multilayered factors determine healthcare practitioners’ intention to use ICT in their practice. This study aims to understand the Sri Lankan stress experts’ experience and perception of using ICT tools in their stress management practices. Eight stress experts in Sri Lanka were interviewed. Through thematic analysis, we identified three main themes and multiple subthemes. Results show that practitioners used only a limited set of internet resources in their stress management practices and preferred face-to-face consultations over distance/online communication. Overall, they appreciated the immediate benefits of ICT interventions while highlighting disutilities like the risk of misleading information and insufficient access to resources. Moreover, clients were regarded as empowered through increased access to new and more information. They were also encouraged to make their own decisions to a greater extent. However, there were also objections from practitioners who were reluctant to accept the client’s ability to make decisions through self-education. This study can possibly provide a better understanding of the impact of ICT on stress management practices and knowledge to design and develop ICT tools for stress management.

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• Exploring the needs and possibilities of physicians' continuing professional development - An explorative qualitative study in a Chinese primary care context

  2018. Egui Zhu, Uno Fors, Åsa Smedberg. PLOS ONE 13 (8)

  Article

  Background One component of the 2009 Chinese health care reform plan is to train general practitioners to improve the delivery of primary care services. This continuing professional development is expected to further improve the physicians' competencies to be general practitioners in primary care. Augmented reality +/- a combination of virtual information and the real environment +/- may enhance general practitioners' continuing professional development by allowing their learning experiences to overlap with their workplace practice. Objective To explore the needs, opportunities, and challenges involved in continuing professional development for Chinese physicians becoming competent general practitioners within primary care, with a special focus on the possibilities of applying augmented reality. Methods This study used a qualitative approach with semi-structured face-to-face interviews. Two managers and thirteen physicians (from four community health centers and stations) participated. The data were analyzed using a thematic inductive analysis approach. Results Based on our interviews, most of the physicians were not fully trained as general practitioners but still assumed the duties of that position; they were supposed to eventually become fully trained in line with the reforms of the Chinese primary care system. However, they reported a lack of in-service training opportunities to fulfill this goal. Even those who said that they had such opportunities perceived the efficacy of that training as being poor. The managers and most of the physicians reacted positively to the idea of using augmented reality in continuing professional development, and they suggested antibiotics treatment, surgery, and emergency care as learning areas in which augmented reality could be applied. Conclusions Due to the Chinese reforms of the primary care system, both managers and the physicians themselves expect general practitioners to become qualified by engaging in continuing professional development. Both groups also regarded augmented reality as a potentially useful tool.

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• The Viable System Model for Diagnosing and Handling IT-Project Interdependencies in Large Portfolios

  2018. Sameer Bathallath, Åsa Smedberg, Harald Kjellin. International Journal of Information Technology Project Management 10 (1), 72-87

  Article

  Adequately considering project interdependencies has shown to be a determinant of how successful IT/IS project portfolios are managed. However, this can be especially troublesome since there is no universal way to handle many project interdependencies that continue to change over time due to environmental uncertainty or unexpected decisions. This can seriously disrupt portfolio performance. In this article, the authors used the systems perspective to address the problem of managing multiple IT-project interdependencies in complex IT/IS portfolio environment. In particular, the authors propose using the cybernetic model Viable System Model to facilitate thinking and reasoning concerning the difficulty of managing IT-project interdependencies. To validate their approach and to ensure the appropriateness of it, the authors used real-world problem situations drawn from multiple case studies conducted in four leading organizations in Saudi Arabia. The findings support that the Viable System Model can be applied to assist in diagnosing and handling of IT-project interdependencies.

  Read more about The Viable System Model for Diagnosing and Handling IT-Project Interdependencies in Large Portfolios

• Understanding how to improve physicians’ paradigms for prescribing antibiotics by using a conceptual design framework: a qualitative study

  2018. Egui Zhu, Uno Fors, Åsa Smedberg. BMC Health Services Research 18, 1-16

  Article

  Background: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing public health threat. Primary care physicians are important inducers of the overuse of antimicrobials and inappropriate prescribing. Augmented reality (AR) might providea potential educational tool in health care. The aim of this study was to identify the need for education andexpectations for AR-based education in the context of improving the rational use of antibiotics by primarycare physicians in China.

  Methods: The study used a qualitative approach based on face-to-face interviews with eleven physicians from three community health service centers and stations in China. We used a hybrid thematic analysis approach to analyze the interview data. A conceptual design framework, mobile augmented reality education (MARE), guided the work.

  Results: The physicians’personal prescription paradigms included problems regarding the way they diagnosed and chose treatments and prescriptions. Although the physicians mentioned that they should not treat patients with antibiotics without proof of a bacterial infection, in practice, they often did not wait for necessary testresults before they prescribed antibiotics. It was also revealed that they often experienced difficulties when trying to convince patients to follow non-antibiotic treatments. Physicians’prescription of antibiotics was based on three different paths: if they thought there was a bacterial infection, if they thought preventing additional possible infections for the patient to be necessary; and if the patients requested antibiotics. The physicians expressed various learning needs for the rational use of antibiotics, and their expectations of an AR-based educational intervention included suggestions for contents, learning assets, learning environments and learning activities.

  Conclusions: The results showed that the physicians were not only unfamiliar with national guidelines on the use of antibiotics and local AMR patterns but also had personal paradigm issues related to the physicians’decision making. Moreover, the physicians provided meaningful insights into and expectations for possible AR-based education on AMR. In this article, we demonstrate how to apply the MARE framework to analyze the needs of educational interventions for rational use of antibiotics.

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• Impediments to Effective Management of Project Interdependencies: A Study of IT/IS Project Portfolios

  2017. Sameer Bathallath, Åsa Smedberg, Harald Kjellin. Journal of Electronic Commerce in Organizations 15 (2), 16-30

  Article

  Interdependencies between projects have come to play a more active role in the decision on IT/IS portfolios and their constituent projects. However, managing these interdependencies can be a complex task, especially when the number and degree of interdependencies among projects are high. In times of uncertainty, unexpected challenges can seriously disrupt projects and, consequently, their interdependencies. This may threaten the project portfolio from achieving its final goal. The study aims to investigate the difficulties associated with managing project interdependence along the development cycle of the project portfolio. The study was conducted using a qualitative approach and semi-structured interviews with managers from four leading organizations in Saudi Arabia. The findings reveal three main categories of factors that increased the difficulty of managing project interdependencies in large IT/IS project portfolios: insufficient understanding of human responsibilities in the whole portfolio, unpredictability of the environment, and technology barriers and constraints.

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• Online Stress Management for Self- and Group-Reflections on Stress Patterns

  2017. Åsa Smedberg, Hélène Sandmark, Andrea Manth. Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies, 387-404

  Chapter

  In today’s society, many people suffer from unhealthy levels of stress. A result of being exposed to a lot of stressors for a longer period of time, and showing strong stress reactions to these, is decreased wellbeing and eventually sick leaves. To intervene at an early stage is therefore important. However, learning about one’s stress reactions and struggling for empowerment can be a challenge. Different types of applications for self-help are available on the Internet, but the ones for stress management are still in their early phase. In this article, we emphasize the social aspects of stress management. We present an artifact designed for analyzing and reflecting upon stress patterns, through both self- and group-reflections. This artifact is a result of further research work towards an integrated holistic stress management platform. The holistic platform includes a mobile application for storing data about events that cause stress reactions and a web-based system in which different actors and functions can complement each other, through self-help exercises, evidence-based information and learning through interaction with peers and experts. The research is based on traditional system development methods and interdisciplinary research in the area of e-health.

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• Interaction Gaps in PhD Education and ICT as a Way Forward: Results from a Study in Sweden

  2016. Naghmeh Aghaee (et al.). The International Review of Research in Open and Distributed Learning 17 (3), 360-383

  Article

  Many research studies have highlighted the low completion rate and slow progress in PhD education. Universities strive to improve throughput and quality in their PhD education programs. In this study, the perceived problems of PhD education are investigated from PhD students' points of view, and how an Information and Communication Technology Support System (ICTSS) may alleviate these problems. Data were collected through an online open questionnaire sent to the PhD students at the Department of (the institution's name has been removed during the double-blind review) with a 59% response rate. The results revealed a number of problems in the PhD education and highlighted how online technology can support PhD education and facilitate interaction and communication, affect the PhD students' satisfaction, and have positive impacts on PhD students' stress. A system was prototyped, in order to facilitate different types of online interaction through accessing a set of online and structured resources and specific communication channels. Although the number of informants was not large, the result of the study provided some rudimentary ideas that refer to interaction problems and how an online ICTSS may facilitate PhD education by providing distance and collaborative learning, and PhD students' self-managed communication.

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• Investigating the Sources of Difficulties in Managing Project Interdependencies: A Study of IT/IS Project Portfolios

  2016. Sameer Bathallath, Åsa Smedberg, Harald Kjellin. Proceedings of the 9th IADIS International Conference Information Systems 2016, 71-82

  Conference

  Interdependencies between projects can take a major role in IT/IS project portfolios. However, managing these interdependencies can be a difficult task, especially when the number and diversity of projects grow large in scale. In times of unexpected events, extra management efforts are inevitable for treating the subsequent effects on the projects and their interdependencies, and for maintaining high-performance portfolios. Complexity is also a concern for managers, and a growing complexity level may threatens the project portfolio from achieving its final goal. This paper investigates the managerial issues and difficulties in handling project interdependencies. For a closer look at these interdependencies and to gain more understanding of the problem area, a qualitative study was conducted based on semi-structured interviews with managers from four leading organizations in different industries in Saudi Arabia. The findings reveal three main sources of difficulty in managing project interdependencies in IT/IS project portfolios: 1) Insufficient understanding of human responsibilities in the whole portfolio, 2) Environmental change and 3) Technological constraints.

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• Managing project interdependencies in IT/IS project portfolios: a review of managerial issues

  2016. Sameer Bathallath, Åsa Smedberg, Harald Kjellin. International journal of information systems and project management 4 (1), 67-82

  Article

  Adequately managing project interdependencies among diverse and simultaneous projects is deemed critical for successful implementation of project portfolios. The challenge is significant because it may entail managing a complex network of project interdependencies that keeps changing over time. The present study investigates the managerial challenges that may undermine effective management of project interdependencies in IT/IS project portfolios. The investigation is based on evidence from reviewing relevant literature and documented studies associated with managing project interdependencies. The main contribution of this study is to discuss three managerial challenges of project interdependencies in project portfolios. We discuss the challenges from three perspectives: types of interdependencies; patterns of interaction in interdependencies; and cost/benefit impact of project interdependencies.

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• Online Stress Management: Design for Reflections and Social Support

  2016. Åsa Smedberg, Hélène Sandmark, Andrea Manth. Proceedings of the 9th International Joint Conference on Biomedical Engineering Systems and Technologies (BIOSTEC 2016), 117-124

  Conference

  An increasing number of people suffer from high levels of stress and experience strong and unhealthy reactions to different stressors. Various kinds of applications for self-help are available on the Internet. However, the technology for stress management purposes is still in its early phase. This paper presents the ideas behind the design of an artifact that combines different technologies and offers support for individual as well as social reflections. The work is anchored in conventional system development methods and interdisciplinary research in the field of e-health. It is based on the holistic idea of combining areas of self-help, evidence-based information and learning through feedback and communication in groups and with experts that have been manifested in a web-based stress management system. The work presented in this paper is a further development towards integration of different technologies and learning aids. It integrates a mobile phone app with a web-based system for people with stress management issues. The proposed system supports social reflections through the possibility to share reflections in various social forums.

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• Problem management of business-critical systems in literature: a review and viable systems analysis

  2016. Joakim Snygg, Åsa B. Smedberg, Gustaf Juell-Skielse. International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management (IJBCRM) 6 (3), 238-256

  Article

  Problem management of business-critical systems has over the last few decades grown into a topic of great importance for business continuity. This is due to the increased use of critical systems both in private and public sectors: assets of great value, organisational viability and even people’s lives can be put in jeopardy due to poor management of malfunctioning software. Hence, understanding what influences critical software problem management is important. Even so, studies of the human side of this topic are sparse. In this article, a literature review to identify main socio-technical issues in managing critical software problems is presented. We can see from the results that factors influencing software problem management of business critical systems can be grouped into four themes: reliability in operations, fault detection, system recovery and change requests. By taking a socio-technical viewpoint, we outline some complex challenges and deepen our understanding of the factors involved.

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• Project interdependency management in IT/IS project portfolios: from a systems perspective

  2016. Sameer Bathallath, Åsa Smedberg, Harald Kjellin. Procedia Computer Science 100, 928-934

  Article

  Capitalizing on inter-project interdependencies is widely accepted as being crucial for Information Technology/Information Systems (IT/IS) project portfolio success. However, handling these interdependencies becomes a source of increased management complexity as project portfolios get larger, increasingly diverse, and are much influenced by their environments. This then can lead to less predictable situations regarding the portfolio performance as a whole. Though there are many methods available for optimally selecting projects and cross-checking possible synergies and interdependencies among the projects in the portfolio, it remains unclear how one can gain control over the complexity of managing these interdependencies. In this study, we address the problem of handling many project interdependencies that continuously change and develop within a large IT/IS project portfolio. We found that the existing methods for selecting and managing the projects within a portfolio do not focus enough on how interdependencies can disrupt the balance of the whole project portfolio system. To tackle the problem, we propose a systemic approach using the Viable System Model to enhance the way that these interdependencies can be effectively managed in view of the overall portfolio system. We suggest that the Viable System Model, as a supplement to traditional IT/IS project portfolio management approaches, is recursively applied to diagnose and manage the complexity of project interdependencies within IT/IS project portfolios.

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• Communication and Collaboration Gaps among PhD Students and ICT as a Way Forward: Results from a Study in Sweden

  2015. Nam Aghaee (et al.). Proceedings of E-Learn, 237-244

  Conference

  The low completion rate and slow progress in PhD education have been highlighted in many studies. However, the interaction problems and communication gaps that PhD students encounter make this attempt even more challenging. The aim of this study is to investigate the peer interaction problems and ICT based solutions from PhD students’ perspectives. The data collection method was an online questionnaire and in-depth interviews were used to follow up. The target group for the survey was the PhD students in Computer Science at Stockholm University. The total number of respondents for the survey was 53 PhD students and eleven randomly selected PhD students for the interviews. The results reflected a lack of peer interaction as an important issue in the perspective of the students. Based on this, the study showed several ICT solutions that have the potential to reduce the interaction problems and thereby improve PhD students’ collaborative learning and research quality.

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• Managing Self-Management in Healthcare: from a Systemic Perspective

  2015. Åsa B. Smedberg, Piero Giacomelli. eTELEMED 2015, 89-94

  Conference

  Self-management among patients, especially chronically ill patients, has shown to be crucial for their ability to adjust lifestyle, increase empowerment and maintain a satisfactory quality of life. The use of the Internet and ICT tools support self-management on different levels. With the new and improved patient role, the patient becomes more actively involved in decisions and treatments. More personalized care and support become also possible. The question is how enhanced emphasis on self-management affects healthcare. By taking a systemic perspective, this paper elaborates on the complexity of self-management and on healthcare management issues related to self-management. It proposes a holistic view on managing self-management in healthcare.

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• eTELEMED 2015: The Seventh International Conference on eHealth, Telemedicine, and Social Medicine

  2015. .

  Conference

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• BENEFITS OF MOBILE REPORTING SYSTEMS IN SOCIAL HOME CARE: THE CASE OF SEVEN SWEDISH MUNICIPALITIES

  2014. Shengnan Han (et al.). International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care 30 (4), 409-415

  Article

  Objectives: Mobile systems are widely adopted in healthcare services. Mobile reporting systems have been recently introduced for social home care by municipalities in Sweden. The study aims to assess the benefits of using these systems. Methods: We followed an expert survey approach. Data were collected by means of telephone interviews with the experts in charge of managing and implementing the systems at the municipalities. In addition, several workshops were organized for assessing the economic value of the systems at one municipality. We performed thematic analysis and cost-benefit analysis of the data. Results: The thematic analysis showed the three main benefits of using the mobile reporting systems in social home care: municipal benefits, care providers’ benefits, and care recipients’ benefits. The cost-benefit analysis indicated that the systems could bring substantial long-term economic value for municipalities. The results also revealed the difficulties encountered at the early stage of the deployment and implementation of the systems. Conclusions: The mobile systems yield benefits for all the actors, that is, municipalities, care recipients and care providers. These enhance the public-private coordination and cooperation in social home care in Sweden. The municipalities are called upon to address change management and technical challenges in the implementation.

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• ICT for Communication and Collaborative Learning among PhD peers: Results of the Needs and Desires from a PhD Survey

  2014. Naghmeh Aghaee (et al.). DSV writers hut 2014, 33-40

  Conference

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• The Eve of 3D Printing in Telemedicine: State of the Art and Future Challenges

  2014. Piero Giacomelli, Åsa Smedberg. eTELEMED 2014, 49-52

  Conference

  3D printing has raised a lot of attention from fields outside the manufacturing one in the last years. In this paper, we will illustrate some recent advances of 3D printing technology, applied to the field of telemedicine and remote patient care. The potentiality of this technology will be detailed without lab examples. Some crucial aspect such as the regulation of these devices and the need of some standards will also be discussed. The purpose of this paper is to present some of the most promising applications of such technology.

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• eTELEMED 2014: The Sixth International Conference on eHealth, Telemedicine, and Social Medicine

  2014. .

  Conference

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• Stress at Work: Developing a Stress Management Program in a Web-Based Setting

  2013. Hélène Sandmark, Åsa Smedberg. eTELEMED 2013, 125-128

  Conference

  Stress among employees is a public health issue in modern working life in developed countries. A lack of balance between job and demands in private life, and stressful situations in work life let people experience high levels of stress. Long-term sick leave and ill-health can be a consequence of high stress exposure during a long period of time. The objective of this interdisciplinary ongoing research program is to develop a platform providing multiple help online with evidence-based measures in a stress management program. The program is aimed to prevent stress-related dysfunctions and promote wellbeing and lower levels of stress among salaried employees in white collar jobs. The platform includes a web based system for asking experts, communities for peers and different health promotion measures which will be further described.

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• Design of a Mobile Phone App Prototype for Reflections on Perceived Stress

  2012. Åsa Smedberg, Hélène Sandmark. Proceedings of the Fourth International Conference on eHealth, Telemedicine, and Social Medicine (eTELEMED 2012), 243-248

  Conference

  In working life today, people often experience high levels of stress and display strong reactions to different stressors. Those who are exposed to high levels of stress for a long time face an increased risk for deterioration in physical and mental health often leading to sick leave and high consumption of healthcare. To prevent this, continuous support is needed. Development of IT-tools for continuous stress management is, however, in its early stages. We present a prototype of a mobile phone app for self-reflection, a tool that is also integrated in a larger web based stress management system built on research of social networks for increased well-being. The mobile phone app aims at helping people become more aware of patterns of stressful events. It logs and displays basic information about self-perceived stress situations, such as location and time, and the user can add information about the situations and perceived stress levels. As the app constitutes a part of the web based stress management system, not only self-reflection but also reflection together with peers and stress experts is possible. The prototype of the mobile phone app has been qualitatively evaluated using stress management criteria, and the paper also exemplifies its utility in the context of the larger system.

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• Dynamic Stress Management: Self-Help through Holistic System Design

  2012. Åsa Smedberg, Hélène Sandmark. E-Health Communities and Online Self-Help Groups, 136-154

  Chapter

  Different kinds of applications for self-help are available on the Internet today. Some aim to intervene with users’ life patterns such as negative stress exposure. It is not always an easy task to manage stressful life situations and to develop and maintain healthy living. It involves learning how to balance perceived demands from working and personal life, and to question underlying thoughts and beliefs. E-health communities can assist in this process through continuous interactions between community members. However, previous studies have shown that combining knowledge of health experts and the experiences of peers can create a good synergy. The question is how these findings can be applied to the area of stress management. In this chapter, the authors present a web-based self-help system for stress management based on a holistic view of actors and their different types of support. The system offers the user information in the form of research and real life stories, practical exercises (both text- and video-based), and the opportunity to interact with health experts and peers, all in an integrated way

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• E-Health Communities and Online Self-Help Groups: Applications and Usage

  2012. .

  Book (ed)

  E-health communities, also called Web-based health communities, have become popular arenas for support and sharing of experience, knowledge and advice among patients and citizens. E-health communities are used on a day-to-day basis by people who help each other cope with different health conditions and learn together about health-related issues and behaviors. "E-Health Communities and Online Self-Help Groups: Applications and Usage" will aim to provide relevant theoretical frameworks and the latest empirical research findings in the area. It aims to increase knowledge and understanding of applications and usage of e-health communities for self-help groups who struggle with health disorders, disabilities, lifestyle issues and other health concerns. Different e-health community settings will be presented, observations of community usage and effects discussed, and complementing ways to measure effectiveness will be introduced and analyzed.

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• A Holistic Stress Intervention Online System: Designing for Self-help through Multiple Help

  2011. Åsa Smedberg, Hélène Sandmark. International Journal On Advances in Life Sciences 3 (3&4), 47-55

  Article

  E-health has undergone many changes during theyears. One is the development of web-based self-help services forpatients and citizens with health concerns. This article presentsdesign ideas of a web-based stress intervention system that takesthe development of self-help services further. The aim of thesystem is to help people with mild to intermediate levels of stresschange patterns of behavior and take control of their stressful lifesituations. The system includes not only self-help throughindividual work with stress-related issues, but it alsocomplements the individual efforts with help from peers andmedical professionals. The system then becomes a platform forcombining multiple help online. The system design ideas haveresulted from research studies and practical experiences of stressmanagement and web-based self-help systems. The article alsopresents a map of the system structure and a couple of scenariosto illustrate in what ways the system usage can be characterizedby multiple help online and a holistic approach to stressintervention. The article ends with reflections on how to evaluatethis type of intervention system.

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• E-health communities for learning healthy habits: how to consider quality and usability

  2011. Åsa Smedberg. E-health systems quality and reliability, 204-220

  Chapter

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• Stress Management 2.0: A Holistic Approach to Self-management Online

  2010. Åsa Smedberg, Hélène Sandmark. International Multi-Conference on Complexity, Informatics and Cybernetics (IMCIC 2010)

  Conference

  The last years have put stress management on the agenda of healthcare. Intense lifestyles with job and domestic demands let people experience high levels of stress and to react strongly to different stressors. Long-term sickness and absence from work can be a consequence of too high stress exposure during a long period of time. This negative trend can be counteracted if we allow a combination of actions to support people who experience stressful lives. Different online programs are available for people with stress symptoms. However, there is a lack of conceptual understanding and a holistic approach to learning online for this group of people. In this article, we present a holistic and integrated approach to ‘stress management 2.0’ that considers several areas: stress management, self-management, informatics and continuous learning through communication and feedback. The approach is based on findings from previous research studies of web based solutions for learning new lifestyles, stress management and results from clinical trials. At the end of the article, we present some design principles to be used for developing systems in accordance with ‘stress management 2.0’ from a holistic view.

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• To design holistic health service systems on the Internet

  2008. Åsa Smedberg. International Journal of Biological and Medical Sciences 1 (2), 93-99

  Article

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• How to Combine the Online Community with Ask the Expert System in a Health Care Site

  2007. Åsa Smedberg. Proceedings of The First International Conference on the Digital Society

  Conference

  Online communities and so-called Ask the Expert systems aim at supporting online interaction for knowledge sharing and learning. One area where these kinds of knowledge tools have become widely used is the health care sector. Through online interaction, medical trained experts can help people with concerns about diseases and other health-related problems, and those who suffer from a certain health issue can come together to share experiences and advice. During recent years, studies have been done of the usage of different knowledge tools. However, holistic studies of the use of the two tools for online interaction have not been done. This paper presents results from a study of an online health-community and an Ask the Expert system for people who suffer from overweight. Differences and similarities in regards to knowledge sharing are presented.

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• To design holistic health service systems on the Internet

  2007. Åsa Smedberg. Proceedings of world academy of science, engineering and technology, 311-317

  Conference

  There are different kinds of online systems on the Internet for people who need support and develop new knowledge. Online communities and Ask the Expert systems are two such systems. In the health care area, the number of users of these systems has increased at a rapid pace. Interactions with medical trained experts take place online, and people with concerns about similar health problems come together to share experiences and advice. The systems are also used as storages and browsed for health information. Over the years, studies have been conducted of the usage of the different systems. However, in what ways the systems can be used together to enhance learning has not been explored. This paper presents results from a study of online health-communities and an Ask the Expert system for people who suffer from overweight. Differences and similarities in regards to posted issues and replies are discussed, and suggestions for a new holistic design of the two systems are presented.

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Show all publications by Åsa Birgitta Smedberg at Stockholm University