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A co-evolutionary theoretical framework offers new concepts and methods for communication governance researchers. These concepts and methods are particularly well suited to study problems with strong interdependencies between actors. Such problems often develop in a dynamic, open-ended way and are associated with high levels of uncertainty. Many important, pressing governance tasks in convergent communication sectors, such as efforts to regulate digital platforms, could benefit from integrating insights from co-evolutionary models. For some problems, such as global internet governance, co-evolutionary models may be the only way to develop a robust understanding of the available governance options. This chapter introduces the co-evolution concept, points to applications in communication governance research, and presents models and tools that could enrich future research. It also highlights the implications of its applications for communications governance, summarizes the strengths and limitations of the approach, and gives a brief outlook of further developments.

Solid cancer is an independent prognostic factor for poor outcome with COVID-19. As guidelines for patient management in that setting depend on retrospective efforts, we here present the first analyses of a nationwide database of patients with cancer hospitalized with COVID-19 in Belgium, with a focus on changes in anticancer treatment plans at the time of SARS-CoV-2 infection. Nineteen Belgian hospitals identified all patients with a history of solid cancer hospitalized with COVID-19 between March 2020 and February 2021. Demographic, cancer-specific and COVID-specific data were pseudonymously entered into a central Belgian Society of Medical Oncology (BSMO)-COVID database. The association between survival and primary cancer type was analyzed through multivariate multinomial logistic regression. Group comparisons for categorical variables were carried out through a Chi-square test. A total of 928 patients were registered in the database; most of them were aged ≥70 years (61.0%) and with poor performance scores [57.2% Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) ≥2]. Thirty-day COVID-related mortality was 19.8%. In multivariate analysis, a trend was seen for higher mortality in patients with lung cancer (27.6% versus 20.8%, P = 0.062) and lower mortality for patients with breast cancer (13.0% versus 23.3%, P = 0.052) compared with other tumour types. Non-curative treatment was associated with higher 30-day COVID-related mortality rates compared with curative or no active treatment (25.8% versus 14.3% versus 21.9%, respectively, P < 0.001). In 33% of patients under active treatment, the therapeutic plan was changed due to COVID-19 diagnosis, most frequently involving delays/interruptions in systemic treatments (18.6%). Thirty-day COVID-related mortality was not significantly different between patients with and without treatment modifications (21.4% versus 20.5%). Interruption in anticancer treatments at the time of SARS-CoV-2 infection was not associated with a reduction

Stakeholder analysis approaches policy-making as involving the engagement of organized and competing interests, and reconciling these competing interests toward shared goals through dialogue and deliberation. The role of policy-makers in this framework is to act as facilitators, who bring their own expertise to the deliberations, and can steer these processes toward outcomes that can achieve stakeholder consensus. This chapter identifies contexts in which stakeholder approaches are likely to be adopted, and the importance of voice in such processes, particularly for non-elite interests. It also considers the future of stakeholder analysis in media policy, given the dramatic changes associated with the digital transformation of the media industries.

This chapter highlights the particular advantages of comparative international approaches for media policy research. It starts by explaining the basic logic and main objectives of comparative analysis. Further sections of the chapter are devoted to different design types and related methodological procedures. Finally, special attention is given to the question of how to avoid various types of cultural bias. All these points are illustrated by the concrete example of a comparative international study on media (self-) regulation.

The term meta-research covers all systematic attempts to critically assess a research field or a research question—especially its theory, methodology and findings based on a transparently recorded sample of primary research articles in pertinent scientific journals. Although there is hardly any tradition of meta-analytic literature reviews in the field of media and telecommunication policy, such analysis is a useful, valuable and feasible research method in order to establish the state of research on a certain subject. It should be seen as an appropriate means to integrate elaborated research projects and to allow a holistic and critical perspective. Therefore, the following contribution aims to suggest a meta-analytic literature review for policy topics on the meso-level by demonstrating strengths and limits of this approach. It starts with an explanation of how to conduct such an analysis, followed by an explanatory example on network neutrality. The contribution concludes with the most vital points emphasizing the pros and cons of a meta-analytic literature review.

The modes and intensity of market interventions are central topics in research and in policy debates on regulation and governance worldwide. Lately, initiatives on good governance, better regulation and evidence-based policy-making have given rise to major questions about the choice between available governance mechanisms. Research and policy typically suggest due consideration of alternative modes of governance like self- and co-regulation, but rarely specify the criteria against which the suitability of different options should be scrutinized and compared. This chapter introduces a governance-choice method that has been developed to support researchers and policy-makers who are confronted with the task of defining the appropriate role of the state in governance arrangements, the right mix of public and private contributions to governance challenges. This institutional approach provides a set of interlinked organizational factors and enabling contextual criteria that make it possible to predict the performance of a planned alternative governance arrangement and to assess the performance of an established one. The chapter presents an outline of the governance-choice method and illustrates its application with two examples: content rating in the audiovisual sector and the prevention of spam on the Internet.

This chapter discusses media content analysis, a method that applies quantitative and qualitative procedures to make inferences from text. Its main advantages are that it is unobtrusive, and that there is a plethora of media content available and accessible for research. The main challenge of the method is to develop a research design that promises valid inferences from text (meaning that ‘it captures what it sets out to capture’). Ignoring or not addressing such issues is the main reason for ethical concern. This chapter is based on the assumption that aside from more common methods like document analysis and interviews, media content analysis is also a valuable option for the study of media and communication policy. On the one hand, the method can grasp the public discourse about issues of media and communication policy. On the other hand, the data gathered by using this method offers much-needed evidence for policy-making. This chapter provides an overview on the steps of preparing and conducting a media content analysis, from the research design and sampling, to the process of coding, and the analysis of data. Two studies that employed media content analysis to investigate a topic relevant for media and communication policy are used as illustration. They have been selected because they clearly show the difference between the two main paradigmatic approaches to media content analysis: Von Pape, Trepte and Mothes’ (European Journal of Communication 32: 189–207, 2017) quantitative study follows the social science norm of being rigorously systematic, when exploring the discourse on privacy and new communication technology in Germany’s most popular and relevant newspapers and magazines. Young (Media International Australia 157: 79–90, 2015), in contrast, follows the humanities’ tradition of subjective interpretation, when examining the media policy reporting about the press council in Australia’s only national newspaper The Australian. Both approaches are valuable, a

This chapter presents a methodological approach that combines computer-assisted webcrawling for Internet data collection with comparative quantitative content analyses and link analyses based on a classification of links that aims to capture the varying potential for their commercialization. This combination was specifically devised for a regulatory compliance assessment and used for controlling the compliance of the Swiss public service broadcaster (SRG) with legal rules that constrict the provision of certain online content and linking practices.

In the general older population, geriatric assessment (GA)-guided treatment plans can improve overall survival, quality of life and functional status (FS). In GA-related research in geriatric oncology, studies mainly focused on geriatric screening and GA but not on geriatric recommendations, interventions and follow-up. The aim of this study was to investigate the adherence to geriatric recommendations and subsequent actions undertaken in older patients with cancer. A prospective Belgian multicenter (N=22) cohort study included patients ≥70 years with a malignant tumor upon oncologic treatment decision. Patients with an abnormal result on the geriatric screening (G8 ≤14/17) underwent GA. Geriatric recommendations were formulated based on GA results. At follow-up the adherence to geriatric recommendations was documented including a description of actions undertaken. From 11-2012 till 2-2015, G8 screening was performed in 8451 patients, of which 5838 patients had an abnormal result. Geriatric recommendations data were available for 5631 patients. Geriatric recommendations were made for 4459 patients. Geriatric interventions data were available for 4167 patients. A total of 12384 geriatric recommendations were made. At least one different geriatric recommendation was implemented in 2874 patients. A dietician, social worker and geriatrician intervened most frequently for problems detected on the nutritional, social and functional domain. A total of 7569 actions were undertaken for a total of 5725 geriatric interventions, most frequently nutritional support and supplements, extended home care and psychological support. This large scale Belgian study focuses on the adherence to geriatric recommendations and subsequent actions undertaken and contributes to the optimal management of older patients with cancer. We identified the domains for which geriatric recommendations are most frequently made and adhered to, and which referrals to other health care workers and facilities

Using the EORTC Global Health Status (GHS) scale, we aimed to determine minimal clinically important differences (MCID) in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) changes for older cancer patients with a geriatric risk profile, as defined by the geriatric 8 (G8) health screening tool, undergoing treatment. Simultaneously, we assessed baseline patient characteristics prognostic for HRQOL changes. Our analysis included 1424 (G8 ≤ 14) older patients with cancer scheduled to receive chemotherapy (n = 683) or surgery (n = 741). Anchor-based methods, linking the GHS score to clinical indicators, were used to determine MCID between baseline and follow-up at 3 months. A threshold of 0.2 standard deviation (SD) was used to exclude MCID estimates too small for interpretation. Logistic regressions analysed baseline patient characteristics prognostic for HRQOL changes. The 15-item Geriatric Depression Scale (GDS15), Visual Analogue Scale (VAS) for Fatigue and ECOG Performance Status (PS) were selected as clinical anchors. In the surgery group, MCID estimates for improvement and deterioration were ECOG PS (5*, 11*), GDS15 (5*, 2) and VAS Fatigue (3, 9*). In the chemotherapy group, MCID estimates for improvement and deterioration were ECOG PS (8*, 7*), GDS15 (5, 4) and VAS Fatigue (5, 5*). Estimates with * were > 0.2 SD threshold. Patients experiencing pain or malnutrition (surgery group) or fatigue (chemotherapy group) at baseline showed a significantly stable or improved HRQOL (p < 0.05) after their treatment. The reported MCID for improvement and deterioration depended on the anchor used and treatment received. The estimates can be used to evaluate significant changes in HRQOL and to determine sample sizes in clinical trials.

In the general older population, geriatric assessment (GA)-guided treatment plans can improve overall survival, quality of life and functional status (FS). In GA-related research in geriatric oncology, studies mainly focused on geriatric screening and GA but not on geriatric recommendations, interventions and follow-up. The aim of this study was to investigate the adherence to geriatric recommendations and subsequent actions undertaken in older patients with cancer., SCOPUS: ar.j, info:eu-repo/semantics/published

We aim to assess short and long term effects of chemotherapy on patient-reported quality of life (QOL) and patient versus clinician symptom reporting in older patients with breast cancer adjusted for tumour and aging parameters. In this prospective, multicentre, non-interventional, observational study, women aged ≥70years were enrolled after surgery and assigned to a TC chemotherapy (docetaxel and cyclophosphamide) group or a control group depending on their planned adjuvant treatment. Longitudinal multivariate models were used to assess the statistical and minimal clinically important difference (MCID) in the impact of TC chemotherapy over time on QOL and symptom burden adjusted for baseline aging and tumour parameters. Statistical significance was set at 5% and MCID at 10 points. In total, 57 patients were enrolled in the chemotherapy and 52 patients in the control group. Within the chemotherapy group, clinical deterioration was reported at 3months for Fatigue (17.73), Dyspnoea (17.05), Diarrhoea (12.06) and Appetite Loss (17.05) scores (all p<0.001). However, the scores had returned to baseline (or even better for Role Functioning) at year 1. No clinical deterioration was reported in the control group. Symptom scores as reported by patients were significantly (p<0.05) higher than those reported by the clinicians, even more so for Fatigue, Dyspnoea, and Pain. Our results show that symptom burden and diminished QOL in an older breast cancer population receiving adjuvant TC chemotherapy are short-lived and disappear after a while with no long-term differences compared to a similar population not receiving chemotherapy.