Veritati
Repositório Institucional da Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Entradas recentes
Starts residencies e territórios criativos: arte, ciência, tecnologia e inovação aberta na Europa
Publication . Teixeira, Luís; Oliveira, Carla Esmeraldo
Barriers and facilitators to transitional care in older adults following hip fracture: a mixed-methods systematic review
Publication . Ganito, Cátia; Bacalhau, Lúcia; Pontífice, Patrícia
Background Hip fracture is a leading cause of disability and mortality in older adults, affecting an estimated 2.6 million people annually worldwide. Transitional care, the coordinated management of the shift from hospital to community, is central to functional recovery yet remains poorly systematised across health systems. Aim To identify the barriers and facilitators to hospital-to-community transitional care in older adults (≥65 years) following hip fracture surgery. Methods A mixed-methods systematic review following the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI) convergent integrated approach. Four databases (MEDLINE, CINAHL, Cochrane Library, Scopus) were searched on 18th September 2025 for studies published between September 2020 and September 2025. Study quality was appraised with JBI design-specific checklists. Data were synthesised narratively and thematically. This review was prospectively registered on PROSPERO. Results Thirty-six primary studies (n=36; 2020–2025), spanning 17 countries, were included. Five thematic categories of barriers and facilitators were identified: (1) rehabilitation, (2) patient and caregiver education and information, (3) mental health and psychosocial dimensions, (4) discharge planning and care continuity, and (5) caregiver involvement and social support. Methodological quality was predominantly high across all study designs. Key facilitators included multidisciplinary rehabilitation pathways, structured discharge planning, digital health tools, psychosocial self-efficacy interventions, and active caregiver engagement. Main barriers were discontinuity of post-discharge care, limited digital literacy, fear of falling, and inadequate caregiver preparation. Conclusions Effective transitional care after hip fracture requires integrated, person-centred and family-centred interventions across five interdependent domains. Orthopaedic and trauma nurses are strategically placed to lead and coordinate safe, effective, and humanised care transitions.
Apresentação
Publication . Fontes, Paulo
Navigating artificial intelligence integration : a study on the impact of this exponential technological shift on strategic change models
Publication . Burdenski, Christian Wolfhart; Parada, Pedro
This thesis investigates the intersection of strategic change processes and Artificial Intelligence (AI). Traditional change frameworks (e.g., Kotter, Lewin, McKinsey 7S) rely on finite, linear processes. However, these established models are fundamentally challenged by AI’s exponential development speed and inherent unpredictability. This study identified four key change pillars – leadership and governance, vision and planning, the human factor and culture, as well as communication and continuous assessment – common to different strategic change frameworks. It used those to examine whether current theoretical frameworks remain sufficient or must evolve. Using a qualitative, single instrumental case study, data was collected via ten semi-structured interviews regarding a fast-growing technology-based online travel platform.The findings suggest that while the key pillars remain crucial, their practical execution undergoes a radical shift. Leadership must transition from projecting absolute certainty to embracing vulnerability, acknowledging knowledge gaps, and acting as hands-on pioneers who instill a problem-solving mindset into the company. Vision and planning shifts from rigid, long-term roadmaps founded on a tangible bases to continuous experimentation. The human factor demands managing existential concerns, like the fear of losing the "human touch" and career and job anxieties. Finally, as AI automates formal messaging, communication relies increasingly on decentralized, informal networks and "AI Champions" to demystify technology and share use cases. Ultimately, AI-driven change cannot be treated as a finite project. Organizations may never truly finish the adoption process, meaning they must cultivate constant adaptability, bottom-up empowerment, and continuous experimentation to successfully navigate the ongoing technological disruption.
Lock-in or lift-off? : designing a readiness framework for deep-tech SMEs in innovation-oriented public procurement
Publication . Nordmeier, Kira Serafine; Rajsingh, Peter
Innovation-oriented public procurement represents a strategically consequential funding pathway for deep-tech small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), offering non-dilutive capital, market validation and institutional legitimacy. Yet existing research primarily evaluates procurement effectiveness at the policy or sectoral level, leaving the firm-side readiness decision largely unaddressed. This thesis asks: Under what conditions are deep-tech SMEs ready to engage in innovation-oriented public procurement, and how can these conditions be translated into a readiness assessment framework?Adopting an exploration-oriented Design Science Research (DSR) methodology, the study combines a systematic literature review with four semi-structured expert interviews from the European Space Agency (ESA) and space sector ecosystem. The resulting artifact, the Procurement Readiness Assessment Framework (PRAF), operationalises procurement readiness across five dimensions: Strategic Alignment, Financial Resilience, Administrative and Implementation Capacity, Technological Maturity, and Dependency and Lock-In Exposure. The framework follows a conjunctive assessment logic in which financial resilience functions as the primary critical constraint. It supports decisions to engage, engage with safeguards, delay or refrain from participation.Expert evaluation confirmed the framework’s relevance and practical utility while generating refinements concerning pace-fit, key personnel requirements and commercialisation intent. The thesis contributes by translating firm-side procurement readiness into prescriptive design knowledge and provides practitioners with a structured decision instrument.