Accessibility of generic services to children with intellectual disability: An evaluation of shared family care

This paper summarises one aspect of an evaluation of the Shared Family Care Service operating in the state of Victoria. The focus of this study is on accessibility of Shared Family Care to children with intellectual disabilities or developmental delay. The study found that children with a range of intellectual and multiple disabilities were being referred to the program and the eligibility and acceptance criteria used within the foster care agencies did not restrict access. Potential restrictions in accessibility of the service were noted in relation to regional/agency differences in sources of referral, and in the perceptions of regional Disability Service staff regarding the circumstances in which this service would be considered by them as an option when out-of-home care was required. However, the major factor found to be restricting access to the service was lack of caregivers for the children being referred. © 1991, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved

Parental stress attributed to family members with and without disability: A longitudinal study

In this longitudinal study, stress attributed by parents to their family member with intellectual disability was investigated over a period of seven years in relation to specific foci of parental worry, and also in relation to stress attributed to the youngest sibling without a disability. The stress parents attributed to their family member with a disability was about double that attributed to the youngest sibling without a disability. However multiple regression analysis revealed that the stress attributed to the sibling without a disability actually accounted for most of the variance in explaining the stress attributed to the family member with a disability. It is concluded that the stress attributed to any specific child may be an indicator of more general family stress. It was also found that, while the strength of parental worry decreased from time 1 to 2, the pattern of worries did not change over time, and nor did the specific foci of worry differentiate low-stressed from high-stressed parents. It is suggested that the latter result may be due to the inadequacy of the specific foci to cover all sources of parental stress over the duration of the study

A model system for the construction and evaluation of general service plans

The appropriate delivery of service to people with an intellectual disability can be facilitated with the use of General Service Plans (GSPs). However, the guidelines for their construction are inadequate. This paper provides a suggested content for such plans, a protocol for their evaluation, and an assessment of GSPs in Victoria constructed between 1987 and 1990. It is concluded that the suggested evaluation procedures have face validity and are simple to implement. A large number of GSPs were found to have been inadequately prepared. © 1994, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved

A model system for the evaluation of individual program plans

Individual Program Plans are an essential component of quality assurance in service delivery to people with an intellectual disability. This paper describes a system for the evaluation of such plans. One hundred and sixty- three plans were analysed from clients being serviced by 11 Community Living Support Services. While the plans prepared by non-government agencies were generally superior, the average level of plan presentation was poor. Only 14% offered any criterion for evaluating performance objectives, the average number of skill building objectives was less then three per plan, and only 39% of plans were current. It is concluded that if Individual Program Plans are to realize their quality assurance potential, the issues of staff resources, staff training in plan preparation and overall professional accountability will need to be addressed

Assessment of mobile health apps using built-in smartphone sensors for diagnosis and treatment: Systematic survey of apps listed in international curated health app libraries

Background: More than a million health and well-being apps are available from the Apple and Google app stores. Some apps use built-in mobile phone sensors to generate health data. Clinicians and patients can find information regarding safe and effective mobile health (mHealth) apps in third party-curated mHealth app libraries. Objective: These independent Web-based repositories guide app selection from trusted lists, but do they offer apps using ubiquitous, low-cost smartphone sensors to improve health? This study aimed to identify the types of built-in mobile phone sensors used in apps listed on curated health app libraries, the range of health conditions these apps address, and the cross-platform availability of the apps. Methods: This systematic survey reviewed three such repositories (National Health Service Apps Library, AppScript, and MyHealthApps), assessing the availability of apps using built-in mobile phone sensors for the diagnosis or treatment of health conditions. Results: A total of 18 such apps were identified and included in this survey, representing 1.1% (8/699) to 3% (2/76) of all apps offered by the respective libraries examined. About one-third (7/18, 39%) of the identified apps offered cross-platform Apple and Android versions, with a further 50% (9/18) only dedicated to Apple and 11% (2/18) to Android. About one-fourth (4/18, 22%) of the identified apps offered dedicated diagnostic functions, with a majority featuring therapeutic (9/18, 50%) or combined functionality (5/18, 28%). Cameras, touch screens, and microphones were the most frequently used built-in sensors. Health concerns addressed by these apps included respiratory, dermatological, neurological, and anxiety conditions. Conclusions: Diligent mHealth app library curation, medical device regulation constraints, and cross-platform differences in mobile phone sensor architectures may all contribute to the observed limited availability of mHealth apps using built-in phone sensors in curated mHealth app libraries. However, more efforts are needed to increase the number of such apps on curated lists, as they offer easily accessible low-cost options to assist people in managing clinical conditions

The impact of viral mutations on recognition by SARS-CoV-2 specific T cells

We identify amino acid variants within dominant SARS-CoV-2 T cell epitopes by interrogating global sequence data. Several variants within nucleocapsid and ORF3a epitopes have arisen independently in multiple lineages and result in loss of recognition by epitope-specific T cells assessed by IFN-γ and cytotoxic killing assays. Complete loss of T cell responsiveness was seen due to Q213K in the A∗01:01-restricted CD8+ ORF3a epitope FTSDYYQLY207-215; due to P13L, P13S, and P13T in the B∗27:05-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope QRNAPRITF9-17; and due to T362I and P365S in the A∗03:01/A∗11:01-restricted CD8+ nucleocapsid epitope KTFPPTEPK361-369. CD8+ T cell lines unable to recognize variant epitopes have diverse T cell receptor repertoires. These data demonstrate the potential for T cell evasion and highlight the need for ongoing surveillance for variants capable of escaping T cell as well as humoral immunity