Self-Management

Purpose: This study aims at developing an environmental curriculum model based on self-management in the high school in a qualitative study. Methodology: This is an applied study in terms of purpose and a qualitative study in terms of implementation method. The research community included environmental curriculum experts in Iran based on self-management in 2021. The research sample was estimated to include 15 subjects according to the theoretical saturation principle. They were selected by purposive sampling method based on the inclusion criteria. Indexing and semi-structured interviews were used to collect data, the validity and reliability of which were confirmed. Finally, the data were analyzed by content analysis method. Findings: The results showed that, in terms of objectives, the self-management-based environmental curriculum in the high school included the themes of organizing critical thinking skills development, constructive thinking promotion, behavioral strategies, improving environmental knowledge and cognition, environmental culture promotion, internalization of environmental value, and natural reward strategies. Also, in terms of contents, it included themes of organizing integrated content, applied content, development of thinking skills, alignment with humanities and ethics, comprehensiveness of content, development of managerial skills and integrated content. In addition, in terms of teaching and learning strategies, the themes included being organizational and practicality, interactivity, and being exploratory. The themes of the evaluation element included rational organization, situation-based evaluation, evidence-based evaluation, and evaluation feedback. Finally, based on the organizational and basic themes in the area of objectives, content, teaching and learning strategies and evaluation, a self-management-based environmental curriculum model was designed for the high school. Conclusion: According to the results, experts and planners can improve the self-management-based environmental curriculum.

Aim: Non-pharmacological treatment models are offered to the diabetics to better manage their diabetes and blood sugar. This study compared two popular treatments which are evidenced to have an acceptable effect on diabetes. The purpose of this study was to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and health-promoting lifestyle intervention or diabetes self-management program (DSMP) in the management of HbA1c.Methods: A total of 60 patients referred to Tehran Diabetes Treatment centers were selected by convenience sampling and were assigned to three 20-member groups. The first group received ACT intervention, the second group received DSMP intervention, and the third group did not receive any intervention. All the three groups received relevant medications during the study. They were examined for glycated hemoglobin in the three phases of before the intervention, after the intervention and follow-up using blood tests. The data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and mixed-design analysis of varianceResults:. The results showed that both ACT and DSMP methods were effective in improving the Management of Glycated Hemoglobin Levels in Type 2 Diabetes (F=5.835, P value<0.005). In addition, the effectiveness was sustained until the follow-up phase (F=26.274, P value<0.001). However, the comparison of the two treatments showed that ACT was more effective than DSMP in post-test and follow-up phases (F=10.902, P value<0.001).Conclusion:. It seems that along with pharmacological treatments, ACT could be significantly effective in the management of glycated hemoglobin levels. Glycated hemoglobin levels were better managed with the lifestyle modification by ACT than DSMP

Purpose: Flexible working hours can impact employee productivity. Therefore, the current research aimed to present a model for flexible working hours in public organizations, emphasizing increasing the productivity level of knowledge workers. Methodology: The present study was applied in objective and mixed-method (qualitative and quantitative) in execution. The qualitative study population included all academic and organizational experts familiar with the research domain, with a sample size of 25 determined based on theoretical saturation principle and selected through purposive sampling. The quantitative study population comprised all staff members of the Ministry of Cooperatives, Labor, and Social Welfare, with a sample size of 205 determined by Cochran's formula and selected through simple random sampling. Data for qualitative and quantitative sections were collected respectively using interviews and researcher-made questionnaires and analyzed with thematic analysis and exploratory factor analysis methods in Maxqda and Smart-PLS software, respectively. Findings: Qualitative findings revealed that flexible working hours encompassed 15 sub-themes in 3 main themes: floating work hours, floating work location, and collaborative work; and employee productivity comprised 20 sub-themes in 3 main themes: self-management, self-control, and self-organization. Quantitative findings indicated that all themes of flexible working hours and employee productivity had a factor loading and extracted variance mean higher than 0.50 and Cronbach's alpha and composite reliability higher than 0.80. Other findings showed that the themes of floating work hours, floating work location, and collaborative work had a direct and significant effect on flexible working hours, and the themes of self-management, self-control, and self-organization had a direct and significant effect on employee productivity, and flexible working hours had a direct and significant effect on employee productivity (P<0.05). Conclusion: The results of this study indicate that flexible working hours play an effective role in enhancing the level of employee productivity. Therefore, to improve employee productivity, the themes of floating work hours, floating work location, and collaborative work can be utilized.