Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in a pandemic: A systematic review of pandemic risk impacts, coping strategies and resilience.

Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are particularly vulnerable to pandemics. Therefore, resilience and adaptation to shocks from pandemics such as COVID-19 are urgently needed. However, despite some coping strategies already in place among SMEs, research on their nature and effectiveness is limited. Thus, it remains unclear how effectively and sustainably documented coping strategies reduce SMEs' vulnerability and increase their resilience to pandemic risk. This article reviews academic literature for evidence of pandemic risk impacts on SMEs, coping strategies in response to these impacts, and the degree to which these strategies reduce SMEs' vulnerability and increase their resilience. According to the literature review, seven essential pandemic risk impacts were identified for SMEs - human movement restrictions, financial constraints, operational challenges, logistics difficulties, delayed business reopening, short-term policy focus and tacit knowledge workers. The study also outlined eleven critical coping strategies, notably structural or physical and behavioural changes. Study analysis reveals that resilience research among SMEs is predominantly conceptual with limited empirical evidence. To conclude, this study urges more adaptation research focused on developing new forms of pandemic risk education for SMEs addressing their complexities.

An Exploratory Study of the Readiness of Public Healthcare Facilities in Developing Countries to Adopt Health Information Technology (HIT)/e-Health: the Case of Ghana.

There are myriad of factors used in assessing health information technology (HIT)/e-Health of healthcare institutions in developing countries and beyond. In this paper, we intended to identify and gain a deeper understanding of factors used in assessing HIT/e-Health readiness in developing countries through the identification of contextual attributes using Ghana as an exemplary developing country. Through in-depth interviews using aide memoire as interview guide, we explored Core readiness, Engagement readiness, Technological readiness, HIT funding readiness, Regulatory and policy readiness, Workforce readiness and Change Management readiness. We adapted the systematic thematic analysis of qualitative data guide suggested by Braun and Clarke (2013) and O'Connor and Gibson (Pimatisiwin 1: 63-90, 2003) in order to generate codes and build over-arching themes. While Organizational cultural readiness was found to be a more applicable theme/factor in place of Engagement readiness and Change management readiness, Resource readiness wasalso deemed a more appropriate theme for HIT funding readiness and Workforce readiness respectively. A total of 23 factors likely to promote HIT adoption in Ghana and 29 factors capable of impeding HIT adoption in Ghana and potentially in other developing countries were identified. For effective assessment of HIT readiness factors, there is a critical need for a deeper understanding of their applicability in differing settings. The outcome of this study offers a valuable insight into improving circumstances under which HIT/e-Health is adopted. When effectually carried out, assessment of this nature could be help side-step losses on large money, effort, time, delay and importantly, dissatisfaction among stakeholders while enabling change processes healthcare institutions and communities involved. This study also contributes to the limited literature on HIT/e-Health implementation scenarios while offering basis for theory-building.

e-Health readiness assessment factors and measuring tools: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: The evolving, adoption and high failure nature of health information technology (HIT)/IS/T systems requires effective readiness assessment to avert increasing failures while increasing system benefits. However, literature on HIT readiness assessment is myriad and fragmented. This review bares the contours of the available literature concluding in a set of manageable and usable recommendations for policymakers, researchers, individuals and organizations intending to assess readiness for any HIT implementation. OBJECTIVES: Identify studies, analyze readiness factors and offer recommendations. METHOD: Published articles 1995-2016 were searched using Medline/PubMed, Cinahl, Web of Science, PsychInfo, ProQuest. Studies were included if they were assessing IS/T/mHealth readiness in the context of HIT. Articles not written in English were excluded. Themes that emerged in the process of the data synthesis were thematically analysed and interpreted. RESULTS: Analyzed themes were found across 63 articles. In accordance with their prevalence of use, they included but not limited to "Technological readiness", 30 (46%); "Core/Need/Motivational readiness", 23 (37%); "Acceptance and use readiness", 19 (29%); "Organizational readiness", 20 (21%); "IT skills/Training/Learning readiness" (18%), "Engagement readiness", 16 (24%) and "Societal readiness" (14%). Despite their prevalence in use, "Technological readiness", "Motivational readiness" and "Engagement readiness" all had myriad and unreliable measuring tools. Core readiness had relatively reliable measuring tools, which repeatedly been used in various readiness assessment studies CONCLUSION: Thus, there is the need for reliable measuring tools for even the most commonly used readiness assessment factors/constructs: Core readiness, Engagement and buy-ins readiness, Technological readiness and IT Skills readiness as this could serve as an immediate step in conducting effective/reliable e-Health readiness assessment, which could lead to reduced HIT implementation failures.

Older people, assistive technologies, and the barriers to adoption: A systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Older people generally prefer to continue living in their own homes rather than move into residential age care institutions. Assistive technologies and sensors in the home environment and/or bodily worn systems that monitor people's movement might contribute to an increased sense of safety and security at home. However, their use can raise ethical anxieties as little is known about how older persons perceive assistive and monitoring technologies. OBJECTIVES: To review the main barriers to the adoption of assistive technologies (ATs) by older adults in order to uncover issues of concern from empirical studies and to arrange these issues from the most critical to the least critical. METHOD: A 4-step systematic review was conducted using empirical studies: locating and identifying relevant articles; screening of located articles; examination of full text articles for inclusion/exclusion; and detail examination of the 44 articles included. RESULTS: Privacy is a top critical concern to older adults, registering a 34% of the total articles examined. Two other equally potent barriers to the adoption of ATs were trust and functionality/added value representing 27 and 25 per cent each respectively of the total studies examined. Also of serious concerns are cost of ATs and ease of use and suitability for daily use (23%) each respectively, perception of "no need" (20%), stigma (18%), and fear of dependence and lack of training (16%) each respectively. These underlying factors are generation/cohort effects and physical decline relating to aging, and negative attitudes toward technologies such as the so-called "gerontechnologies" specifically targeting older adults. However, more and more older adults adopt different kinds of ATs in order to fit in with the society. CONCLUSIONS: The identified underlying factors are generation/cohort effects and physical decline relating to aging, and negative attitudes toward technologies. The negative attitudes that are most frequently associated with technologies such as the so-called "gerontechnologies" specifically targeting older adults contain stigmatizing symbolism that might prevent them from adopting them.