Adjustment with aphasia after stroke: study protocol for a pilot feasibility randomised controlled trial for SUpporting wellbeing through PEeR Befriending (SUPERB)

Background: Despite the high prevalence of mood problems after stroke, evidence on effective interventions particularly for those with aphasia is limited. There is a pressing need to systematically evaluate interventions aiming to improve wellbeing for people with stroke and aphasia. This study aims to evaluate the feasibility of a peer-befriending intervention. Methods/design: SUPERB is a single blind, parallel group feasibility trial of peer befriending for people with aphasia post-stroke and low levels of psychological distress. The trial includes a nested qualitative study and pilot economic evaluation and it compares usual care (n = 30) with usual care + peer befriending (n = 30). Feasibility outcomes include proportion screened who meet criteria, proportion who consent, rate of consent, number of missing/incomplete data on outcome measures, attrition rate at follow-up, potential value of conducting main trial using value of information analysis (economic evaluation), description of usual care, and treatment fidelity of peer befriending. Assessments and outcome measures (mood, wellbeing, communication, and social participation) for participants and significant others will be administered at baseline, with outcome measures re-administered at 4 and 10 months post-randomisation. Peer befrienders will complete outcome measures before training and after they have completed two cycles of befriending. The qualitative study will use semi-structured interviews of purposively sampled participants (n = 20) and significant others (n = 10) from both arms of the trial, and all peer befrienders to explore the acceptability of procedures and experiences of care. The pilot economic evaluation will utilise the European Quality of life measure (EQ-5D-5 L) and a stroke-adapted version of the Client Service Receipt Inventory (CSRI). Discussion: This study will provide information on feasibility outcomes and an initial indication of whether peer befriending is a suitable intervention to explore further in a definitive phase III randomised controlled trial. Trial registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02947776, registered 28th October 2016

Developing Indicators and Measures of Civic Outcomes for Elementary School Students

Over the past decade, public attention on the importance of the civic development and education of youth has grown. To address these concerns, the East Bay Conservation Corps (EBCC) Charter School opened in 1996 with the explicit mission to prepare and engage students grades K through 12 as caring citizens who are capable and motivated to fully participate in our democracy. While content standards and assessments readily exist to articulate the academic and artistic development of students, youth civic development, especially at the elementary level, has been under-conceptualized. What is needed is a more robust, comprehensive developmental framework for citizenship education that begins with younger ages and addresses civic skills and dispositions to the same degree as civic knowledge. The product from this project is a set of tested, reliable measures of civic knowledge, civic thinking skills, civic participation skills and civic dispositions that are referenced to recent efforts to provide frameworks of competencies in civic education. Two sets of instruments were developed using a comprehensive conceptual framework for civic indicators at the elementary level. The measures include a student survey of student civic knowledge, skills and attitudes that relate to dispositions, which is the focus of this report; a set of corresponding grade level observation checklists of student skills and behaviors was also developed. Starting at a young age to foster developmental foundations for civic engagement includes a democratic orientation to others and identification with them as fellow members of a community and body politic. This focus is not only developmentally appropriate but also consistent with the goals of many elementary schools to foster prosocial skills and behaviors. In addition, there is a need for greater attention to age-appropriate, instrument identification and development for elementary aged students to document student civic development by focusing on what they can do, an important and often overlooked facet of K-12 civic education research and practice. Addressing this need will also assist other public elementary schools interested in recapturing their civic mission and in creating a K-12 developmental framework for civic development

National Board Certification: The Impact on Teaching Practices of Three Elementary Teachers

During the past century the educational reform movements focused on the need for highly qualified teachers based on research surrounding the effects on student achievement related to the quality of the teacher (Busatto, 2004). The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) was created in 1987 in response to the increasing focus placed on having quality teachers (Berg, 2003; Humphrey, Koppich, & Hough, 2005; NBPTS, 2011). The NBPTS is an organization governed by teachers that emphasizes sound instructional practices and improving teaching. The standards for National Board Certification are based on solid research that recognizes education practices that result in improvement in student achievement (NBPTS, 2012b). If the National Board Certification process identifies effective teachers, then the classroom practices of those teachers should demonstrate research-based best practices in their everyday instruction. The purpose of this study was to explore the everyday instructional practices of 3 Nationally Board Certified (NBC) teachers who taught grades 4 and 5 in east Tennessee. This study was a multi-site, qualitative study that included classroom observations, semi-structured interviews, and checklists to conduct descriptive and evaluative case studies involving 3 Nationally Board Certified teachers who taught in counties located in east Tennessee. Research conducted by Marzano, Pickering, and Polluck (2001) identified 9 best practices of effective teachers; those practices were used as a framework for observation. Through observations and interviews the researcher investigated the teaching strategies used by 3 NBC teachers and how those strategies compare to the 9 best practices identified by Marzano et al. (2001). Further, the researcher sought to understand how the National Board Certification process impacted those strategy choices. Findings for this study support the following 3 conclusions. First, this research study revealed that the participating Nationally Board Certified teachers use research-based best practices regularly in their classrooms. Second, the NBC process makes a positive impact on instructional practices in the classroom according to the 3 teachers in this study. Last, the NBC process made a difference in the reflective practices of the 3 participants in this inquiry

TB STIGMA – MEASUREMENT GUIDANCE

TB is the most deadly infectious disease in the world, and stigma continues to play a significant role in worsening the epidemic. Stigma and discrimination not only stop people from seeking care but also make it more difficult for those on treatment to continue, both of which make the disease more difficult to treat in the long-term and mean those infected are more likely to transmit the disease to those around them. TB Stigma – Measurement Guidance is a manual to help generate enough information about stigma issues to design and monitor and evaluate efforts to reduce TB stigma. It can help in planning TB stigma baseline measurements and monitoring trends to capture the outcomes of TB stigma reduction efforts. This manual is designed for health workers, professional or management staff, people who advocate for those with TB, and all who need to understand and respond to TB stigma

Case Study : Product-specific Sustainable Marketing Audit : Delta Q

Mestrado em MarketingThe financial crisis, climate change, earthquakes and global warming, almost made to forget about pollution, dry seasons and famine countries. Only the fuel price peak made way for us to become aware of resource scarcity, and in general, about global natural resources depletion, along with greenhouse effect gases and the exhaustion of earth carrying capacity. Furthermore, become clear the mankind responsibility for this situation, and mainly the economic production models set in motion after World War II, based on cheap natural energy sources, but non-renewable. At the core of those economic production models are the corporations, and the marketing function they perform. so, marketing management plays a determinant role for the environmental chaos where we are immersed. The new paradigm of sustainable marketing, developed by Professor Donald A. Fuller can reverse this trend, and contribute for different production models in respect for the environment. The present case study aim to perform a sustainable marketing audit to a product-specific in order to: Perform a sustainable audit to the product-specific; Assess the product-specific sustainability; Identify differentiation and innovation measures that can become marketing advantages; Assess the product's commitment to ecological and social responsibility. The new sustainable marketing framework was applied to the capsulated coffee brand Delta Q, from the Portuguese coffee industry leading company, DELTA Cafés. The research produced a clear Delta Q environmental strategic positioning regarding P2 (Pollution Prevention) and R2 (Resource Recovery) basic sustainable marketing goals. It resulted also in a SWOT analysis covering both company and the product-specific, regarding every dimension of the production and marketing processes dealing with waste generation, which allow devising a future sound sustainable strategy. Other research findings were the opportunities to develop marketing advantages through Delta Q production and distribution processes differentiation and/or innovation. Moreover, the research came to prove the framework operability and allowed the identification of important issues for further investigation, like cost-structure impact of the sustainable marketing approach, or the internalization of eco-cost into the product's price.A crise financeira, as alterações climáticas, os terramotos e o aquecimento global, quase fizeram esquecer a poluição, a seca e fome em muitos países. Apenas o pico do preço do petróleo, abriu caminho para nos tornarmos conscientes da escassez de recursos e, em geral, do esgotamento dos recursos naturais globais, juntamente com os gases com efeito de estufa e do esgotamento da capacidade terra. Além disso, tornou-se clara a responsabilidade da humanidade para esta situação e, principalmente, os modelos de produção económica implementados após a Segunda Guerra Mundial, com base em fontes de energia naturais baratas, mas não renováveis. No núcleo dos modelos de produção económica estão as empresas, bem como as funções de marketing que desempenham. Assim, a gestão de marketing desempenha um papel determinante para o caos ambiental em que nos encontramos imersos. O novo paradigma do marketing sustentável, desenvolvido pelo Professor Donald A. Fuller, pode inverter esta tendência e contribuir para desenvolver modelos de produção diferentes em relação ao meio ambiente. O objectivo do presente estudo de caso é realizar uma auditoria de marketing sustentável para: Auditar a sustentabilidade do produto-específico; Avaliar a sustentabilidade do produto-específico; Identificar medidas de diferenciação e inovação que possam constituir vantagens de marketing; Avaliar o compromisso do produto-específico com a responsabilidade ecológica e social. A nova abordagem do marketing sustentável foi aplicada à marca de café capsulado Delta Q, da empresa portuguesa líder da indústria de café, DELTA Cafés. Da pesquisa resultou um posicionamento, ambiental e estratégico, claro do Delta Q em relação aos objectivos básicos do marketing sustentável: P2 (Prevenção da Poluição) e R2 (Recuperação de Recursos), como objectivos básicos do marketing sustentável. Resultou também uma análise SWOT que abrange tanto a empresa como o produto-específico, em relação a cada dimensão dos processos de produção e comercialização que são responsáveis pela geração de resíduos e, que permitem definir uma estratégia sustentável para o futuro. Outro resultado da pesquisa foi a identificação das oportunidades para desenvolver vantagens de marketing através de diferenciação e inovação do produto e respectivos processos de produção e distribuição. Adicionalmente, a pesquisa permitiu concluir sobre a operacionalidade da nova abordagem do marketing sustentável e identificar questões importantes para futuras investigações, tais como o impacto do marketing sustentável na estrutura de custos, ou a internalização dos custos ecológicos no processo de formação do preço do produto