Search

This paper investigates the relationship between candidates’ online popularity and election results, as a step towards creating a model to forecast the results of Taiwanese elections even in the absence of reliable opinion polls on a district-by-district level. 253 of 354 legislative candidates of single-member districts in Taiwan’s 2016 general election had active public Facebook pages during the election period. Hypothesizing that the relative popularity of candidates’ Facebook posts will be positively related to their election results, I calculated each candidate’s Like Ratio (i.e. proportions of all likes on Facebook posts obtained by candidates in their district). In order to have a measure of online interest without the influence of subjective positivity, I similarly calculated the proportion of daily average page views for each candidate’s Wikipedia page. I ran a regression analysis, incorporating data on results of previous elections and available opinion poll data. I found the models could describe the result of the election well and reject the null hypothesis. My models successfully predicted 80% of winners in single-member districts and were effective in districts without local opinion polls with a predictive power approaching that of traditional opinion polls. The models also showed good accuracy when run on data for the 2014 Taiwanese municipal mayors election. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ageing population is a powerful and transformative demographic force. The World Health Organization (WHO) has encouraged the development of an age-friendly hospital (AFH) network. However, no specific implementation strategies or best practices of AFH standards have been produced. This study sought to apply Kotter’s change model to the elements included in a successful AFH certification process and to evaluate the changes in employees’ knowledge of ageing and their attitudes toward the elderly. This was an observational study that utilized a pre- and posttest design, before and after an age-friendly hospital certification process was implemented. Participants were 163 hospital employees in Taiwan, who completed both pre- and postquestionnaires. The self-administered online questionnaire consisted of three sections: The Facts on Ageing Quiz, the Geriatric Attitudes Scale, and a demographic questionnaire. Following introduction of the intervention, the change process began, and later Kotter’s model was brought in as a descriptive framework. The results showed that Kotter’s eight-step framework is a good choice for thinking about how to change practice and make healthcare more age-friendly. Employee knowledge of ageing and their attitudes toward the elderly improved after this certification process. Appointing a chief executive officer, forming a steering committee, obtaining interdepartmental and interdisciplinary cooperation, and “soliciting support” for new policies from all employees, were identified as key factors influencing the success of age-friendly hospital (AFH) certification. This is the first study to apply Kotter’s eight-step framework of organizational change to an AFH certification process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]