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Because science aims to contribute to the improvement of living conditions and the well-being of the population, researchers have to produce and share knowledge. However, the use of certain potentially more effective strategies raises ethical questions. This article briefly explores these questions by focusing on the duality of the message format and the social role of the researcher.

The article starts by offering a definition of fake kindness focused on the dissociation between the behavioural components of kindness and the intent to sincerely pay some heed to the needs of others. Using the sociological theory of Pierre Bourdieu, this definition is then used to articulate how fake kindness can be conceptualized as a specific form of symbolic violence. Such a view allows explanations as to how and why the prevalence and effectiveness of fake kindness vary according to microsociological norms and values. The generic definition and conceptualization of fake kindness as a form of symbolic violence are then used to discuss how nursing's enthrallment with the concept of caring and its operationalization as a moral compass likely fosters the growth of fake kindness within the profession. In this view, the institutional enforcement of propriety and well-behaved professionalism is more likely to lead to toxic environments than to healthy workplaces. We hope that being able to understand how professional norms and institutional rules are sometimes turned into social tools to enforce obedience and existing hierarchies can empower victims of those phenomena to resist them more effectively. It might also contribute to increasing the awareness of well-meaning nurses or people in position of authority who have been socialized in environments where fake kindness is normalized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research note discusses opportunities and challenges of using online survey engines for social network analysis (SNA) data collection and assessing sample size and representativeness. The discussion is based on a case study of SNA data collection for a pilot research on health-relevant policy networks in Canada. Our approach demonstrates how to use generic online survey tools in long-term snowball sampling campaigns and how to compute population size estimates through capture-mark-recapture formulas, thus solving a significant methodological challenge of collecting snowball data for unbounded networks.

Drawing on a longitudinal study from the early years of implementation of health-care networks in Quebec, this article describes how public-sector managers deal with complex challenges when both organizational structures and organizational strategies are radically transformed simultaneously. The new organizations studied had to completely re-shuffle roles and responsibilities of their management teams while making sense of their new mandate of developing a population-focused approach to health problems--all the time maintaining day-to-day operations. The four health-care networks studied proceeded somewhat differently to meet these reciprocal challenges. The study reveals the importance of balancing organizing initiatives (focused on structures) with "sense-making" initiatives (focused on strategies), of developing capacities for sense-making through the creation of key "sense-maker/sense-giver" positions whose occupants are able to ensure that conceptual activities engage people working at different levels, even as organizational structures are in flux, and of mobilizing external constraints and influences as opportunities and resources in sense-making and organizing. Se fondant sur une etude longitudinale des premieres annees de la mise en oeuvre des reseaux de soins de sante au Quebec, cet article decrit la maniere dont les gestionnaires du secteur public font face a des defis complexes, alors que les structures et les strategies organisationnelles sont radicalement transformees simultanement. Les nouveaux organismes etudies ont du completement remanier les roles et les responsabilites de leurs equipes de gestion et comprendre leur nouveau mandat d'elaborer une approche axee sur la population pour ce qui est des problemes de sante, tout en maintenant leurs activites au jour le jour. Les quatre reseaux de soins de sante etudies ont travaille a relever ces defis reciproques d'une maniere assez differente. L'etude revele l'importance de trouver un equilibre entre les initiatives consistant a organiser (axees sur les structures) et les initiatives consistant a interpreter les faits (axees sur les strategies); de perfectionner les capacites a interpreter les faits grace a la creation de postes cles d' << interpreteurs de faits >>, dont les titulaires veilleraient a ce que des activites conceptuelles fassent intervenir les gens travaillant a differents niveaux meme lorsque les structures organisationnelles fluctuent continuellement; et enfin de tirer parti des contraintes et influences externes comme autant d'occasions et de ressources pour interpreter et organiser les faits., This article examines a key issue in contemporary public administration: the challenge of implementing large-scale reform in public delivery systems (Peters and Savoie 1998; Rocher 2008; Exworthy and Powell 2004; [...]

Rationale, aims and objectives: There is a large body of literature from all over the world that describes, analyzes, or evaluates home care models and interventions. The present article aims to identify the practical lessons that can be gained from a systematic examination of that literature. Method: We conducted a three‐step sequential search process from which 113 documents were selected. That corpus was then narratively analysed according to a realist review approach. Results: A first level of observation is that there are multiple blind spots in the existing literature on home care. The definition and delimitation of what constitutes home care services is generally under‐discussed. In the same way, the composition of the basket of care provided and its fit with the need of recipients is under‐addressed. Finally, the literature relies heavily on RCTs whose practical contribution to decisions or policy is disputable. At a second level, our analysis suggests that three mechanisms (system integration, case management and relational continuity) are core characteristics of home care models' effectiveness. Conclusion: We conclude by providing advice for supporting the design and implementation of stronger home care delivery systems. Our analysis suggests that doing so implies a series of sequential steps: identify what system‐level goals the model should achieve and which populations it should serve; identify what type of services are likely to achieve those goals in order to establish a basket of services; and finally, identify the best ways and specific means to effectively and efficiently provide those services. Those same steps can also support ex‐post evaluations of existing home care systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The sociological theory of Bourdieu to analyze speakers' in-use definition of 'the public' in some 100 interviews and observation notes is highlighted. Data is used from a larger study on public participation in the Quebec healthcare system and it is found that the definition of 'the public' is the subject of a vigorous struggle at the symbolic level.

This paper presents conclusions drawn from a comparative analysis of three qualitative case studies of participation processes at the regional level in Quebec's healthcare system in Canada. Our objective is twofold: primarily, to draw on our observations to elaborate and discuss a sociological framework for the analysis of public participation; and secondarily, to use our data to criticise many pervasive hut questionable preconceptions in the scientific literature on public participation. The framework used applies the social theory of P. Bourdieu in conjunction with the representation framework of H.F. Pitkin to demonstrate how any form of participation will imply some implicit or explicit delegation. The significance of the analysis is its focus on the social operations implied in these acts of delegation and in the use of the concept of symbolic struggles to understand the conflicts arising when the intrinsic legitimacy of the public is appropriated. Keywords: Public participation; Sociology; Politics; P. Bourdieu; Quebec; Healthcare; Case studies; Canada