Instilling reflective practice – The use of an online portfolio in innovative optometric education Accepted as: e‐poster Paper no. 098

At UCLAN we are breaking the mould and have developed a blended learning MSci optometry programme which is the first blended learning course in optometric education in the UK and the first to use a practice-based online portfolio. Optometry has traditionally been taught as a 3‐year undergraduate programme. Upon successful graduation, students are required to complete a year in practice and meet the General Optical Council's (GOC) “ability to” core competencies. However, a recent study by the GOC found that 76% of students felt unprepared for professional practice with insufficient clinical experience and in response, the GOC is currently undertaking an educational strategic review. To ensure the students receive high-quality clinical experience in the workplace, we have developed an online logbook and portfolio. Students log their experiences, learning points and reflections. The portfolio is closely monitored both by the student's mentor in practice and by academic staff. The content and reflections logged by the students then helps to drive the face to face teaching, small group discussions and clinical experiences provided by the university

Medical Testing and Health Insurance

Tests to identify individuals who are likely to develop serious diseases are being rapidly developed. Some of these tests are directed at diseases for which there are presently no known therapies, thereby raising questions over the social consequences of identifying susceptible persons. This assessment examines existing and developing medical tests and their current and potential uses by health insurers and employers

Orthogeriatrics

This new open access edition supported by the Fragility Fracture Network aims at giving the widest possible dissemination on fragility fracture (especially hip fracture) management and notably in countries where this expertise is sorely needed. It has been extensively revised and updated by the experts of this network to provide a unique and reliable content in one single volume. Throughout the book, attention is given to the difficult question of how to provide best practice in countries where the discipline of geriatric medicine is not well established and resources for secondary prevention are scarce. The revised and updated chapters on the epidemiology of hip fractures, osteoporosis, sarcopenia, surgery, anaesthesia, medical management of frailty, peri-operative complications, rehabilitation and nursing are supplemented by six new chapters. These include an overview of the multidisciplinary approach to fragility fractures and new contributions on pre-hospital care, treatment in the emergency room, falls prevention, nutrition and systems for audit. The reader will have an exhaustive overview and will gain essential, practical knowledge on how best to manage fractures in elderly patients and how to develop clinical systems that do so reliably

Improving the eating behaviours of primary schoolchildren

Socio-ecological health improvement approaches, such as Health Promoting Schools, emphasise the dynamic inter-relationships between individuals and environments, such as children's experiences with food in school. Evaluating previous school-based nutritional interventions from a socio-ecological perspective suggests areas where macro policy is ineffective in influencing children's eating behaviour (e.g., some children remain unwilling to consume healthier food). On the other hand, promising results have been obtained from interventions based on the social interactions between children and school meal staff. The aim of this thesis is to explore how school-based nutritional policies might realise health improvements through understanding the policy and environmental contexts associated with school dining halls, together with the influences on children's eating behaviour of the feeding strategies employed by school meal staff. A qualitative case study was conducted in one Welsh Local Education Authority (LEA). Observations were carried out in eleven primary school dining halls, supplemented by interviews with participants at multiple socio-ecological levels. LEA and school policies reflected national objectives with respect to nutritional guidelines, but were influenced by multiple, competing interests including pupil's food preferences, and organisational objectives such as protecting school meal uptake. Some dining hall features (e.g., accommodation, negative teacher modelling) had an adverse influence on eating behaviour and many children failed to select and/or consume nutritionally balanced meals. The feeding strategies used by school meal staff were used naturally but inconsistently and were subject to contextual constraints (e.g., time pressures). Higher level policy interventions may have limited effectiveness if undermined by lack of attention to lower level factors compromising their effectiveness. Behavioural approaches based on repeated taste exposure to encourage children to taste the nutritionally balanced meals made available by school meal policies are recommended. As utilising teachers during lunchtimes may be problematic, enrichment of the feeding interactions between school meal staff and children is suggested.EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo