Aħħar għalqa

Ġabra ta’ poeżiji u proża li tinkludi: Jesu dulcis memoria ta’ P. Galea Curmi – Ewnuki ta’ Carmel Calleja – Is-sewwa – Sagrifiċċju ta’ Carmel Calleja – Epigrammi ta’ J. J. Camilleri – Ħajku ta’ Oliver Friggieri – Għal Ġorġ Pisani ta’ J. Zammit Tabona – Ibqa’ int miegħi ta’ H. F. Lyte bi traduzzjoni ta’ P. Galea Curmi – L-aħħar għalqa ta’ Lilian Sciberras.peer-reviewe

A healthy start : promoting mental health and well-being in the early primary school years

This study was in part funded by the University of Malta.Mental health problems in children represent a significant international health concern, with up to one in five children using mental health services during the course of any given year. Identifying the processes of what prevents social, emotional and behaviour difficulties (SEBD) and promotes healthy development from an early age can make a significant contribution to the promotion of positive mental health in children. This article describes a longitudinal study which sought to identify the risk and promotive factors as young children move from the early to junior years in primary school. Multilevel analysis was used to identify the individual, classroom, school, home and community factors that predict change in SEBD and in prosocial behaviour in the early school years. It also calculated the cumulative effect of the various risk and promotive factors on the pupils’ well-being and mental health. The article presents the windows of vulnerability and opportunity for young children’s healthy development, proposing a trajectory for healthy development in early and middle childhood.peer-reviewe

Social difference, cultural arbitrary and identity : an analysis of a new national curriculum document in a non-secular environment

This article focuses on the idea of the Curriculum as a 'selection from the cultures of society' and as a site of contestation for legitimacy and identity affirmation. The purpose is to shed some light on the nature of curricular reform being advocated in a specific context - Malta. Throughout the past four years, there has been a revamping of the National Minimum Curriculum (NMC) document in Malta, established in 1988. The 'old' National Minimum Curriculum was subject to criticism focusing on a variety of issues (echoing criticisms levelled at similar National Curricula elsewhere), including issues concerning difference and identity. The first part of the article deals briefly with the issues concerning difference raised in this criticism, focusing on the issues of class, race/ethnicity, gender and disability. The second part focuses on the long and gradual build up towards the development of the new National Curriculum document. The process centres around two documents, the preliminary Tomorrow's Schoolsdocument and the draft NMC document. The issues of equity and the affirmation of social difference, as well as the move towards de-streaming, are discussed. It is argued that this process of reform benefited from the criticism of the earlier NMC document. The process of reform involved an attempt at widespread participation by various stakeholders - parents, teachers, students, unions, women's organisations, disabled person's organisations etc. The final section focuses on the final new NMC document. In this section, the authors explore the compromises, which have been made in reaction to the draft document, indicating the interests at play. Whose cultural arbitrary is reflected in the final document? The article concludes with a discussion centring around lessons to be drawn from a process of curricular reform, involving issues related to identity and difference, carried out in a country characterised by a non-secular environment.peer-reviewe

Afrika

Ġabra ta’ poeżiji u proża li tinkludi: Kavallier ta’ Sergio Grech – Tiġrib ta’ Toni Aquilina – Kappella pprofanata ta’ Ġorġ Borg – Leħħiet ta’ Pawlu Aquilina – Fir-raqda ħadra ta’ Carmel Calleja – Epigrammi: X’dinja din! ta’ J. J. Camilleri – Karnival 1999 (Għawdex) ta’ Joe M. Attard – Ħarsti lejn l-art ta’ Ġorġ Zammit – Lill-mewt ta’ J. Zammit Tabona – Tifkira ta’ Lillian Sciberras – Lill-pitirross ta’ K. Vella Haber – Lill-irġiel miżżewġa ta’ Ġanni A. Cilia – Meta Hamlet u l-fjuri eterni jiltaqgħu ta’ Doreen Micallef – It-tren iżomm il-ħin ta’ Pawlu Aquilina – Kemm tiswa tarbija? ta’ Ġorġ Mallia – Jien naf ta’ J. J. Cremona – Odessa ta’ Charles Coleiro – L-isptar ta’ Charles Coleiro – Agunija ta’ Charles Coleiro – Milied XXI ta’ Charles Coleiro – Entużjażmu ta’ Charles Briffa – Londra ta’ Charles Briffa – Dal-ġebel kbir ta’ Emanuel Attard – Lit-Teatru Rjal ta’ Maurice Mifsud Bonnici – Fl-Ewropa magħquda ta’ Doreen Micallef – Fil-mewt ta’ Ġorġ Pisani ta’ Carm Cachia – Lejl id-19 ta’ Diċembru ta’ Charles B. Spiteri – Kont waħdi ta’ Suzanne Gatt – Imħabbti ta’ Nathalie Micallef – Xi ġralek, Ma? ta’ Oliver Friggieri – Anki t-tislima ta’ Oliver Friggieri – Fuq xifer nimxu ta’ Oliver Friggieri – Afrika ta’ Oliver Friggieri.peer-reviewe

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Correction to: Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake

Prevalence, associated factors and outcomes of pressure injuries in adult intensive care unit patients: the DecubICUs study

Funder: European Society of Intensive Care Medicine; doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100013347Funder: Flemish Society for Critical Care NursesAbstract: Purpose: Intensive care unit (ICU) patients are particularly susceptible to developing pressure injuries. Epidemiologic data is however unavailable. We aimed to provide an international picture of the extent of pressure injuries and factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries in adult ICU patients. Methods: International 1-day point-prevalence study; follow-up for outcome assessment until hospital discharge (maximum 12 weeks). Factors associated with ICU-acquired pressure injury and hospital mortality were assessed by generalised linear mixed-effects regression analysis. Results: Data from 13,254 patients in 1117 ICUs (90 countries) revealed 6747 pressure injuries; 3997 (59.2%) were ICU-acquired. Overall prevalence was 26.6% (95% confidence interval [CI] 25.9–27.3). ICU-acquired prevalence was 16.2% (95% CI 15.6–16.8). Sacrum (37%) and heels (19.5%) were most affected. Factors independently associated with ICU-acquired pressure injuries were older age, male sex, being underweight, emergency surgery, higher Simplified Acute Physiology Score II, Braden score 3 days, comorbidities (chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, immunodeficiency), organ support (renal replacement, mechanical ventilation on ICU admission), and being in a low or lower-middle income-economy. Gradually increasing associations with mortality were identified for increasing severity of pressure injury: stage I (odds ratio [OR] 1.5; 95% CI 1.2–1.8), stage II (OR 1.6; 95% CI 1.4–1.9), and stage III or worse (OR 2.8; 95% CI 2.3–3.3). Conclusion: Pressure injuries are common in adult ICU patients. ICU-acquired pressure injuries are associated with mainly intrinsic factors and mortality. Optimal care standards, increased awareness, appropriate resource allocation, and further research into optimal prevention are pivotal to tackle this important patient safety threat

Understanding children and youth at risk : narratives of hope

Many students are convinced, early on in their scholastic life, that success at school is beyond them. Students who encounter difficulties in the core areas of the curriculum can get discouraged in the world of school and, eventually, are 'pushed out' of the system without mastering the basic skills. While the reasons for students' lack of success at school are varied, theories oflearning are increasingly highlighting the possibility that education systems are not responding to the multiplicity of individual differences in learning and to the different circumstances and contexts in which learning takes place. Such theories underline the fact that schools are partially responsible for the plight of students at risk when they misread, misunderstand or are completely indifferent to the polyphony of student voices. This chapter foregrounds the voices of four, Grade 9 (ll-12-yearold) students who, according to the scores of the Learning Connection Inventory (LCI), an instrument that captures students' interactive learning patterns, lead with the technical and/or confluent learning patterns. At the time of the research, these students were attending an independent, non-profit, Parents' Foundation (PFE) school in Malta. These students, who originally formed part of a larger cohort (n=74), were first administered the LCI and then selected 18) for a closer, qualitative analysis. These students were specifically selected because they did not seem to conform to the 'ideal' image of a learner as portrayed by most teachers.peer-reviewe