Engaging Students into Lifelong Learning Using Social Media

We’ve all seen it: Students distracted in class checking their phones under a desk or with Facebook pulled up on their laptops. Social media can often serve as a distraction for students’ education, but when implemented carefully social media can also serve as an effective tool to bringing the “real world” into the classroom. This presentation will review current research and pedagogy on the use of social media in the classroom. The presenter will share practices utilized in preparing and implementing different social media tools as well as specific concerns and challenges that can be problematic in implementing such educational practices. The presentation will also introduce approaches educators can utilize to engage students and prepare them to be lifelong learners through the use of 1) encouraging student collaboration and opportunities for feedback, 2) helping students identify educational resources, 3) connect with professionals and opportunities within their field, 4) become savvy consumers of information available on social media, and 5) highlighting students’ quality work. The presentation will conclude with an opportunity for session attendees to discuss and further share their own experiences with these educational practices

The Politics of Women’s Reproductive Health

This presentation will focus on the politics of women’s reproductive health in the state of South Carolina and beyond. The presenters will discuss legislation aimed at restricting a woman’s access to safe services as well as the role of vital reproductive health, sex education, and general health care information in empowering clients and communities. Issues of health and well‐being as well as social justice will be explored

U.S. Geographic Differences in Media Source Use During COVID-19 Shelter in Place Orders

United States news access patterns may have influenced distribution of misinformation in the COVID-19 infodemic, emphasizing the necessity of targeted communication to increase health literacy during a crisis. This study used sense-making theory to explore information-seeking behaviors of U.S. residents during COVID-19 shelter in place orders. This purpose of this study was to identify media outlets used by U.S. residents to access COVID-19 information and determine if access differed according to geographic region. A representative survey of U.S. residents aged 18 or older (N = 1,048) revealed the mainstream media outlets used most were domestic government-based sources. Northeastern and Western residents used all mainstream media outlets more frequently than Southern or Midwestern residents. Chi-square tests determined the regional news-access differences were significant, revealing inconsistencies in information-seeking behaviors. The findings suggest crisis communication plans that affect food and human health must consider regional information-seeking behaviors of U.S. residents to effectively reach target audiences with pertinent information

A critical appraisal of “A Pilot Study of Randomized Clinical Controlled Trial of Gait Training in Subacute Stroke Patients with Partial Body-Weight Support Electromechanical Gait Trainer and Functional Electrical Stimulation”

Critical appraisal is an effective skill for clinical practitioners to exercise when providing services to a patient. I practiced the skill of critical appraising by using a data base to search for an experimental article relating to my clinical question. My clinical question is comparing electromechanical gait training to traditional gait training for acute stroke patients. I limited my search to interventions with electromechanical-assistance and found four quality research experiments. I chose an article from a hospital in Hong Kong that compares gait training, electromechanical gait training and electromechanical gait training with functional electrical stimulation. I chose the article because of the quantity of information over the reliability and validity of the experiment. In my opinion, the article is controversial over if it would provide credible information to health care providers. I critiqued the introduction, methods, results and discussion by looking at limitations, areas where results could be skewed and the overall quality of the paper. The article provided a detailed description of the methods and stayed in line with the purpose of the experiment. I believe the article’s conclusion is clinically significant to physical therapy practice by the large margin of measurable outcomes for the electrotechnical gait training with functional electrical stimulation. In the future, I would encourage to critique multiple article before using data in the clinic

Diagnosis of spina bifida and symptoms of bilateral foot pain: a case report

Spina bifida is a rare neural tube defect in which malformation of the posterior arch of vertebra leaves the spinal column open. Signs and symptoms of spina bifida include but are not limited to back and lower extremity pain, bowel and bladder dysfunction, and lower extremity weakness and deformity. My goal of the case report is to provide a unique report of a patient who had significant clinical improvement and developed a new belief in the positive impact of physical therapy. The patient is a 34-year-old logistic analyst who presented to physical therapy with a chief complaint of bilateral foot pain causing limited standing and walking tolerance. The onset of pain was insidious approximately 3 years ago. The patient was diagnosed with spina bifida occulta and tethered cord syndrome and had corrective surgery about 1 year ago. Previous treatment for their condition included bilateral tarsal tunnel decompression surgery 1 year ago. Primary interventions include pain neuroscience education, gastrocnemius stretching, and strengthening. The patient present had improvement in ankle dorsiflexion and a slight improvement in plantar flexion range of motion. The patient had improvement in plantar flexion strength with no increase in pain with inversion during manual muscle testing. The patient’s pain scale improved during the time of the progress note and in their reporting of the worst pain in the past 2 weeks. The patient also improved on their LEFS and the single leg balance test. An important finding from the case report is the positive effect of pain neuroscience education on a patient with chronic pain. A primary lesson to take away is to look at the biological, psychological, and social aspects of a person to provide the best care to the patient

Examining assisted living residents’ participation in a group-based art therapy program

In May 2015, Ms. Hebert & Dr. Gibson received $1,483.00 from Winthrop University\u27s Research Council to fund the research project, Examining Assisted Living Residents’ Participation in a Group-Based Art Therapy Program. The aim of the project was to examine an eight session art therapy program for aging adults residing in assisted living. Further, the project aimed to offer a group-based art therapy program to residents in a local assisted living and determine what impact (if any) the art therapy had on the residents’ sense of community among residential peers, psychological well-being, quality-of-life, and sense of identity in the assisted living setting

Eccentric loading of triceps surae modulates stretch shortening cycle behaviour - a possible therapeutic mechanism

Context: Eccentric exercises are increasingly being used to treat lower limb musculoskeletal conditions such as Achilles tendinopathy. Despite widespread clinical application and documented efficacy, mechanisms underpinning clinical benefit remain unclear. Positive adaptations in motor performance are one potential mechanism. Objective: To investigate how an eccentric loading intervention influences measures of stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) behaviour during a hopping task. Design: Within subjects repeated measures observational study. Setting: University motion analysis laboratory. Participants: Healthy adults. Interventions: A single intervention of 5 sets of 10 eccentric plantarflexion contractions at 6 RM using a commercial seated calf raise machine. Main outcome measures: Lower limb stiffness, sagittal plane ankle kinematics, and temporal muscle activity of the agonist (soleus) and antagonist (tibialis anterior) muscles, measured during sub-maximal hopping on a custom-built sledge-jump system. Results: Eccentric loading altered ankle kinematics during sub-maximal hopping; peak ankle angle shifted to a less dorsiflexed position by 2.9° and ankle angle pre-contact shifted by 4.4° (p\u3c0.001). Lower limb stiffness increased from 5.9 to 6.8 Nm-1 (p\u3c0.001), whilst surface EMG measures of soleus occurred 14 to 44% earlier (p\u3c0.001) following the loading intervention. Conclusions: These findings suggest that eccentric loading alters SSC behaviour in a manner reflective of improved motor performance. Decreased ankle excursion, increased lower limb stiffness and alterations in motor control may represent a positive adaptive response to eccentric loading. These findings support the theory that mechanisms underpinning eccentric loading for tendinopathy may in part be due to improved ‘buffering’ of the tendon by the neuromuscular system