Critical Access Hospital - Local Health Department Partnerships to Address Rural Community Needs

The University of Southern Maine Flex Monitoring Team research staff have published a brief on the operation of Critical Access Hospital (CAH) and local health department (LDH) partnerships, an important area of activity to improve population health and address the needs of rural communities. The brief is based on data from the American Hospital Association’s Annual Survey of Hospitals and qualitative interviews with four pairs of CAH/LDH partners. It compares the collaborative and community focused activities of CAHs compared to rural and urban perspective payment system (PPS) hospitals, identifies the challenges and opportunities to improve community collaboration to address community needs. This study found that CAHs are less likely to collaborate with LDH and other community providers than their rural and urban PPS peers. The brief further identifies three opportunities to improve CAH/LDH collaboration by concentrating on local community health needs assessment and implementation strategies, development of local emergency preparedness plans and capacity, and focusing on local collaborating experience during the COVID-19 public health emergency. This brief provides important information that State Flex Programs can use to support local collaboration and population health activities under the population health program area. For more information, please contact John Gale, [email protected]

Trends in maternal opioid use disorder and neonatal abstinence syndrome in Maine, 2016-2022.

[Jounral Abstract] OBJECTIVE: To estimate trends in maternal opioid use disorder (OUD) and neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) in Maine using the most recent data available. STUDY DESIGN: We used hospital discharge data to estimate the annual prevalence of maternal OUD and NAS between 2016 and 2022. In addition, we used birth certificate-linked Medicaid data to estimate related trends among Medicaid enrollees. RESULT: From 2016 to 2022, the prevalence of maternal OUD decreased from 35.3 to 18.8 per 1000 deliveries and the prevalence of NAS decreased from 33.2 to 14.0 per 1000 newborns (linear trend p values CONCLUSION: In Maine between 2016 and 2022, there was a decrease in maternal OUD and NAS diagnoses recorded in administrative datasets. These findings should be interpreted with caution due to changes in how OUD and NAS diagnoses are recorded and COVID-related changes in healthcare utilization

Multifunctional metallic nanocomposite for overcoming the strength–ductility trade-off

The actualization of high strength and ductility in alloys, in addition to providing strong, formable materials, can lead to reduced weights in practical applications. However, increasing strength typically comes at the cost of lowering the ductility and vice-versa, referred to as the strength–ductility trade-off. In this work, we investigate the thermo-mechanical response of a 3-element multifunctional NiTi–Nb nanocomposite material that overcomes this trade-off, as it exhibits a high strength of 980 MPa and an ultrahigh ductility of 58% at fracture. The remarkable properties are attributed to the underlying microstructure of Nb nanofibers dispersed in an NiTi matrix. Deformation is accommodated via the shape memory transformation of the active NiTi matrix in concert with elastoplastic deformation of Nb nanofibers embedded within the matrix. Consequently, the material exhibits multifunctionality and recovers deformation during heating via the reversion of the stress-induced martensitic transformation in the NiTi matrix. The high strength and high ductility of this 3-element nanocomposite material puts it amongst the best performing high-entropy alloys (HEAs) that are typically made up of five or more elements

Handbook of Forensic Social Work, Chapter, Correctional Settings

Theory, Policy, and Fields of Practice Edited by David Axlyn McLeod, Anthony P. Natale, and Kristin W. Mapson Ensures users have the essential knowledge to understand the structures and functions of forensic settings Highlights structural barriers and injustices that are experienced by the distinct vulnerable populations (Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual, Transgender, Racial minority) across different forensic settings Includes how the theory covered historically and currently informs criminology and/or the criminal justice system and the practical application of these theories in forensic social work practice. Focuses on fields of practice in forensic social work practice along with Case Studies and Ethical Dilemmashttps://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/facbooks/1690/thumbnail.jp

Doris Provencher-Faucher Research Library Bibliography

Doris Provencher-Faucher Research Library Bibliograph

Braiding Circle, Image 013

Original Event Description: We invite you to join 2023 University of Southern Maine Artist-in-Residence Veronica A. Perez in a braiding circle. During this workshop, you can braid artificial hair and share stories that braiding brings up. These stories will be recorded and embedded into sculptures built out of the braids, which are, in turn, part of the artwork in Veronica’s May exhibition in the Art Gallery. The artist will guide you through this free drop-in activity. The conversation will focus on community, identity, and belonging — all of which are essential components of Perez’s artistic practice.https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/vaperez02162023/1012/thumbnail.jp

Burdin, Johannah

Johannah Burdin shares her story as a lesbian/queer woman experiencing southern Maine in the 1990s. Her story touches on topics involving coming out, relationships, a traumatic incident that left her disabled, activism, and much more. She was active in her youth in spreading awareness on the AIDS/HIV crisis, education on safe sex, and spent her evenings at popular Portland gay bars, like Sister’s Bar and Limelight/The Underground. Although she is not much into drinking, she recognized these were some of the few spots queer people could go to make community and relationships. Johannah also shares her story of becoming a parent, opting to do it on her own after deciding the partnership she was in wasn’t the right fit. She had to get creative in raising a child with one arm, but says this process allowed her to see how expansive her creativity and innovation really was. After many years of being involved in multiple activism efforts, Johannah decided to pursue a career that allowed her to have more time with her child, who is surrounded by a loving chosen family.https://digitalcommons.usm.maine.edu/querying_ohproject/1112/thumbnail.jp

Who cares? Effects of gendered self-perceptions on dropout intentions in communal degree programs

Global population aging trends create an increased need for educated workers in the health domain. At the same time, communal degree programs (i.e., health care and early education [HEE]) show high dropout rates—particularly for men. Extending person-environment fit theory and the lack of fit model, we investigate whether students\u27 (gendered) self-perceptions relate to perceived fit and whether fit is associated with their sense of belonging to the degree program and dropout intentions. We conducted an online experiment with 298 Norwegian students enrolled in HEE degree programs (66 men, 232 women; Mage = 25.32, SD = 6.08). We experimentally manipulated the importance of communal versus neutral traits in communal occupations. The manipulation showed no effects on students\u27 perceived fit or sense of belonging. However, students\u27 gender was significantly related to their communal self-perceptions. Male students perceived themselves as less communal, and this perception was associated with lower perceived fit. Lower perceived fit was associated with a lower sense of belonging and higher dropout intentions. Our findings indicate that gender differences in communal self-perceptions exist even among students in communal degree programs, and that this difference in perceived communality may contribute to the higher dropout rates of male students

Year 3 Evaluation Report: Evaluation of the EMS Supplemental Funding Grants

This is the final summary report on the Evaluation of the Flex Program\u27s EMS Supplement Funding Grantees. This three-year funding was awarded to eight grantees to implement projects in either the development of sustainable models of care or to support rural-relevant EMS quality metrics and improvement of EMS data reporting. The evaluation reports for the first two project years focused on issues related to project implementation, management, and monitoring. (Year 1 report; Year 2 report). This summary evaluation report provides a detailed discussion of project accomplishments, outcome measures, lessons learned, and sustainability strategies for each grantee based on the Flex Monitoring Team’s interviews, tracking tools, and the final project reports submitted in the fall of 2022. The authors also provide a summary of the project goals, partners, outcome measures, and sustainability plans for the eight awarded projects. For more information, please contact John Gale at [email protected]