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The purpose of this paper is to improve the general operationalization of an “active patient,” by examining the specific activities and skills expected of active patients.

Expected activities and necessary skills were studied through a qualitative case study into the development and use of an assistive technology (i.e. web site) aimed at stimulating active patient-ship. Interviews, observations and document analysis were used to capture and explore designers’ inscribing practices and their consequences regarding expected competences and activities of patients using the web site.

Designers inscribed two “co-design roles” that active patients were expected to perform on the web site (co-designing their own healthcare and co-designing the healthcare of peers), for which at least eight different competencies were needed. The absence of skills or facilities to apply these skills resulted in incomplete use, a different use than intended by designers and non-use of the web site.

Technological choices and inscribing processes determine who is able or facilitated to become active and who is not. Due to inscribed co-design roles, it also influences the extent to which already active peers are able to perform health-related activities. Different users with different conditions should be taken into account in the design as specific group characteristics can influence level of individual activity.

This study is, as far as the authors know, the first that examines the “active patient” concept by studying an assistive technology and using scripting literature, resulting in an improved understanding of what it means to become “active” in terms of skills and activities.

This article juxtaposes the history of the book to the current discussions about lay health information on the Internet in order to thoroughly open up the notion of “reliability” that underlies these discussions. It uses the parallels between the two media to improve understanding of what actors are involved and what issues are at stake, as well as how this is consequential for the reliability that is constructed.

In this editorial introduction Allen Lee's definition of the information systems (IS) field is taken as the starting point: “Research in the information systems field examines more than just the technological system, or just the social system, or even the two systems side by side; in addition, it investigates the phenomena that emerge when the two interact” (Lee, A. “Editorial”, MISQ, Vol. 25, No. 1, 2001, p. iii). By emphasizing the last part of this, it is argued that actor‐network theory (ANT) can provide IS research with unique and very powerful tools to help us overcome the current poor understanding of the information technology (IT) artifact (Orlikowski, W. and Iacono, S., “Research commentary: desperately seeking the ‘IT’ in IT research – a call for theorizing the IT artifact”, Information Systems Research, Vol. 10 No. 2, 2001, pp. 121‐34). These tools include a broad range of concepts describing the interwoven relationships between the social.

Small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) are under increasing pressure to address environmental issues from a range of sources, including legislation, supply chain, trade associations and customers. Addressing environmental awareness, not to mention sustainability, is a complex issue for SMEs, exacerbated by a lack of time, resources and environmental expertise. Consequently, many initiatives have been developed to direct and support SMEs. This paper is concerned with an initial evaluation of one such initiative based on a grounded theory approach. This process highlights the practical issues SMEs face when trying to implement environmental issues as workable company policies. A “gap” between developers and users in terms of the achievable outcomes perceived and obtained from such initiatives is also highlighted. To date, little has been written about the problems SMEs face in addressing environmental issues. This paper attempts to highlight some of these problems and, more importantly, promote further debate and discussion.

Spotlights on the conflict between employees and employers over electronic surveillance and the workplace. Stresses that between the help that advanced technology has aided firms and workers, has also come the feeling that employees’ rights of privacy have been invaded by employers’ constant monitoring. Comments on companies’ liabilities and confidential information, along with employees’ privacy and the effects of monitoring. Concludes that employers need to clearly define to what extent they intend to monitor the workforce.

Peer support workers (PSWs) are individuals with lived experience of mental health difficulties, who apply this to support and inspire others in their recovery. The role of PSWs is relatively new within the forensic health-care service. Although there has been little time for these roles to develop, PSWs have successfully integrated into community teams. Despite perceived benefits of having these workers within a multi-disciplinary team (MDT), the views held by mental health professionals in forensic services have not yet been studied. The purpose of this research is to develop an understanding of the experiences of staff working with PSWs in a community forensic team and the impact this has on them.

Structured, individual interviews were conducted with eight mental health professionals, from a variety of disciplines, used across two community teams within forensic services. The data was examined according to thematic analysis.

The data indicated general positive attitudes held by professionals surrounding the working with PSWs, including the themes “providing alternative perspectives”, “unique relationships” and “hope”. Yet, themes concerned around “role ambiguity”, “boundaries” and “the impact on PSWs” also arose.

This study provides insight into the attitudes held by members of an MDT of working with PSWs. Although seemingly positive, the lack of clarity around the role of the PSW is problematic.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to explore the employment of PSWs in the context of UK forensic settings, highlighting the benefits and challenges of such from the perspective of staff.

The authors investigated a psychological process that links characteristics of events related to the coronavirus disease (2019) COVID-19 pandemic (i.e. perceived novelty, disruptiveness and criticality) to compassion fatigue [(CF), a form of caregiver burnout] and subsequent post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in nurses.

Administering two online surveys (October and November 2020) resulted in matched data from 175 nurses responsible for patient care during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Perceived disruptiveness and criticality of COVID-19 events were positively associated with nurses' CF, which also mediated those characteristics' effects on PTSD instigated by COVID-19. Contrary to the authors' hypothesis, the perceived novelty of COVID-19 events was not significantly associated with CF nor was the indirect effect of perceived novelty on PTSD mediated by CF.

The authors extend event system theory by investigating the psychological processes linking event features and resultant outcomes while providing practical implications on preparations for future unexpected and potentially life-altering events.