Improving Health Literacy Among Latino Migrant Dairy Farmworkers

Background/Purpose: Latino migrant farmworkers are a marginalized and medically underserved population in Vermont and nationally. They experience significant health disparities and barriers to healthcare access compared to others living in rural areas. Barriers include limited knowledge regarding available services and low general and health literacy. These barriers lead to poorer health outcomes. The purpose of this evidence-based project was to enhance health literacy and follow-up care for migrant farmworkers by improving health literacy in a community health outreach setting. Methods: In northwestern Vermont, 33 outpatient migrant farmworkers were recruited following health screening visit and referred for follow-up. AHRQ Health Literacy Universal Precautions Toolkit (HLUPT) provided the framework for follow-up visit conducted in Spanish. Baseline health literacy was determined using the Short Assessment of Health Literacy. Qualitative data was obtained one month later by semi-structured phone interview to assess efficacy. Results: Of the 33 workers, 17 volunteered for follow-up healthcare. 40% (n=10) workers met the cut-point for inadequate health literacy. Visits consisted mainly of education on medication doses and expected effects and non-pharmacological treatments for various conditions. Most common complaints were dermatologic, sleep-related, and gastrointestinal. Each intervention was tailored based on the HLUPT. The most highly utilized resources were Teach-Back Method and providing easy-to-understand printed materials. Stakeholders endorsed that visits were value-added to pre-existing farm health outreach program by providing the opportunity to reinforce health concepts and strengthen community ties outside farm. Conclusions: Implementation of the HLUPT to guide follow-up care was an effective means of conducting visits with migrant farmworkers, as it allowed visits to be tailored to specific needs of client. Community outreach to migrant communities using the framework of health literacy helps strengthen ties to farmworker community and closes the loop between health outreach visits and need for further follow-up

Two Manifolds for Metal-Catalyzed Intramolecular Diels-Alder Reactions of Unactivated Alkynes

Being unconventional: Although conventional metal-catalyzed [4+2] cycloadditions of inactivated dienynes are known to proceed by an oxidative cyclization/insertion mechanism, two entirely different pathways also result in formal Diels–Alder reactions (see scheme). These alternative mechanisms open new vistas for further functionalization of the products, as exemplified by an unprecedented cycloaddition/alkylation cascade

Aperture efficiency of chemically etched horns at 93 GHz

The aperture efficiency of monolithic two-dimensional horn imaging arrays has been optimized at 93 GHz. The imaging arrays consist of several silicon wafers into which arrays of pyramidal horns are etched chemically. Dipole antennas and detectors are suspended on thin silicon oxynitride membranes on one of the central silicon wafers about halfway down the horns. The devices are 7×7 arrays with a 1 λ opening and a 71° flare angle. Antenna impedances have been measured on a low-frequency model. A variety of millimeter-wave dipole antennas and bolometers have been designed and tested. A large-area bismuth thin-film power meter is used to obtain accurate absolute power. The measured aperture efficiency improved from 44% to 72%. The highest system coupling efficiency with a lens was 36% including lens absorption and reflection losses

Micromechanical tuning elements in a 620-GHz monolithic integrated circuit

While monolithic integrated-circuit technology promises a practical means for realizing reliable reproducible planar millimeter and submillimeter-wave circuits, conventional planar circuits do not allow for critical post-fabrication optimization of performance. A 620-GHz quasi-optical monolithic detector circuit is used here to demonstrate the performance of two integrated micromechanical planar tuning elements. This is the first reported demonstration of integrated micromechanical tuning at submillimeter wavelengths. The tuning elements, called sliding planar backshorts (SPBs), are used to adjust the electrical length of planar transmission-line tuning stubs to vary the power delivered between a substrate-lens coupled planar antenna and a thin-film bismuth detector over a range of nearly 15 dB. The circuit performance agrees with theoretical calculations and microwave measurements of a -0.06-dB reflection coefficient made for a scale model of the integrated tuners. The demonstrated tuning range for the SPB tuners indicates that they can be valuable for characterizing components in developmental circuits and for optimizing the in-use performance of various millimeter and submillimeter-wave integrated circuits

A planar quasi-optical SIS receiver for array applications

A planar, quasi-optical SIS receiver operating at 230 GHz is described. The receiver consists of a 2 x 5 array of half wave dipole antennas with ten niobium-aluminum oxide-niobium SIS junctions on a quartz dielectric-filled parabola. The 1.4 GHz intermediate frequency is coupled from the mixer via coplanar strip transmission lines and 4:1 balun transformers. The receiver is operated at 4.2 K in a liquid helium immersion cryostat. We report accurate measurements of the performance of single receiver elements. A mixer noise temperature of 89 K DSB, receiver noise temperature of 156 K DSB, and conversion loss of 3 dB into a matched load have been obtained

Resources for parents raising a disabled child in the UK

This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Elsevier via the DOI in this record

Assessing the Feasibility of a Parent Life Coaching Intervention to Support Parents and Children Who Have Experienced Domestic Violence and Abuse

This is the final version. Available on open access from Springer Verlag via the DOI in this recordData accessibility: Due to ethical concerns, the research data supporting this publication are not publicly available.Children exposed to domestic violence are at risk for a range of psychosocial difficulties, which may be mitigated by improving their caregiver’s mental health and capacity to parent. Life coaching is a promising behaviour change approach for improving the empowerment, efficacy and well-being of carers who are parenting alone following domestic violence. This study evaluated the feasibility of a novel life coaching programme. Using a pre- post-test design, the Family Vision© (FV) programme was implemented in two community settings. The programme was offered to single mothers with experience of domestic violence. Feasibility data were collected using satisfaction forms, semi-structured interviews and focus groups with parents, facilitators and managers. Mothers’ self-reports about their mental well-being; empowerment and self-efficacy were collected, as well as the quality of their parent-child relationships and children’s psychosocial functioning, using standardised measures at baseline and end of programme. The programme was found to have good acceptability for this population of parents and was considered feasible to deliver in the two community settings where it was piloted. There were indications that women who completed the programme had improved mental well-being, as well as improved empowerment and efficacy by the end of the programme. The FV programme is feasible to implement and could support positive change for single parents with respect to their mental health and capacity to parent effectively. Demonstrated mediators, these effects could also promote children’s health and well-being. Feasibility for a randomised trial and wider scale-up in the community is now required.Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC

Child relationships in the middle grades

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit