Migrant Hispanic Families of Young Children: An Analysis of Parent Needs and Family Support

The population served by early interventionists has changed to include more migrant families. Although there has been much research concerning Caucasian families, less is known about culturally and linguistically diverse families. Forming partnerships with families can be aided by understanding how to identify families\u27 needs and support networks. The purpose of this study was to assess the group differences between Hispanic migrant families of young children with and without disabilities (ages birth - 5) regarding their perceptions of needs and use of support systems. The findings indicate that there is little difference between migrant families of young children with and without disabilities. Implications of the findings and suggestions for further research are discussed

Assessing Readiness for Clinical Practice: Students’ Perspectives of their Veterinary Curriculum

Studies describing the effectiveness of a veterinary curriculum from the student perspective are currently sparse. The overall purpose of this investigation was to describe students’ perceived preparedness for clinical practice. Three focus group meetings with fourth year veterinary students were conducted. Data were open-coded and categorized to identify themes. Four main themes emerged: Challenging communications, Un/appreciating curricular experiences, Documenting demands impede case involvement, and Hungering for timely, effective feedback. Overall students felt comfortable talking to clients about medicine but less comfortable discussing euthanasia or money; they appreciated the split clinical curriculum but questioned the value of the 1st/2nd year courses; they felt that paperwork on clinical rotations negatively impacted patient involvement; expressed the need for well-defined expectations regarding grading/assessment and autonomy on clinical rotations. Despite the reported issues, students expressed satisfaction with the split curriculum and readiness to enter their chosen field of study

Embedding cultural competence in faculty : a mixed-methods evaluation of an applied Indigenous proficiency workshop

One of the most pressing issues in Australian society is the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous health and life expectancies (Marmot, 2017). Australia agreed with the World Health Organisation’s 2008 Closing the Gap in a Generation report (WHO, 2008), spending approximately 5.6% of government expenditure towards ameliorating this gap (Gardiner-Garden & Simon-Davies, 2012), yet there have been only minimal positive outcomes (Alford, 2015; Gannon, 2018). In applied terms, this means Indigenous people are still dying younger (Anderson et al., 2016), scoring higher on psychological distress (Markwick, Ansari, Sullivan, & McNeil, 2015) and suffering poorer indices on all chronic diseases (e.g. Walsh & Kangaharan, 2016; Thompson, Talley, & Kong, 2017). The level of complexity involved in addressing these “wicked” or seemingly “impossible to solve” health problems is made worse by the lack of any pan-national strategic planning and/or intervention evaluation (Lokuge et al., 2017), even though there has been a plethora of programs and projects designed to improve Indigenous health (see for example, AGPC, 2016). Leaders in health and educational institutions must consider why there is a lack of progress in closing the gap in Indigenous health and life expectancies. Addressing the inequities in Indigenous health requires a determinant of health approach (Mitrou et al., 2014), as 39% of the gap in health outcomes can be explained by social determinates (AIHW, 2017; Markwick, Ansari, Sullivan, Parsons, & McNeil, 2014). The social determinant considered to most reliably predict Indigenous poor health is racism (Kelaher, Ferdinand, & Paradies, 2014; Paradies, 2006; Paradies & Cunningham, 2009; Paradies et al., 2015; Paradies, Truong, & Priest, 2014)

Reflections and Actions for Creating an Inclusive Research Environment

In order for the scientific enterprise to ensure equitable participation for all identities, the settings of professional research labs must cultivate an environment that is inclusive of all backgrounds. We explore here strategies to consider for research labs interested in cultivating inclusive environments. Investigators enacting inclusive strategies must understand the social context of the lab members and their reasons for engaging in science research. For this to be authentic, principal investigators should spend time exploring their own social positioning as well as the purpose of their professional engagement. We unpack the philosophies behind these constructs and provide specific suggestions to prepare individuals to fully engage in the practice of inclusive mentoring in science research labs. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals LLC