The Chinese Health Care System: An Analysis of the Current and Emerging Health Care Needs

This paper presents an overview of the health care system, current and anticipated health care challenges, and the potential for medical technology to address the health care needs of the People’s Republic of China. The implications of these topics for the modification of current strategies or development of new technologies to address the current and emerging health care needs in China will be reviewed in order to assess the industry’s current plans for expansion of their operations to the health care market in the People’s Republic of China

E-reference: incorporating electronic publications into reference

The traditional work of reference librarians has been greatly impacted by access to electronic publications on the World Wide Web. Reference librarians are also using the Web to create electronic publications for in-library users and Web surfers. By creating HTML documents that provide access to Web and other electronic resources, reference service is extended beyond the physical library and designated reference desk hours, opening the building for 24-hour access. As our definition of traditional reference service expands and evolves, so do the resources we use to provide that service. Electronic publications - resources not in a printed format which are accessible through the use of a computer with a modem or CD-ROM drive - deliver information to library users as a complementary alternative to printed reference collections. While most people would define electronic publications as electronic databases, full-text journal articles, and catalogs, a new resource is now possible. Reference librarians themselves are participating in the electronic publication trade by creating Web pages and finding aids to assist both themselves and their users to locate information electronically on the World Wide Web. The same Web medium that poses a new challenge for librarians offers major new tools to give us the power to control our own situation

Quality of Life for Pediatric Prosthetic Users

The population of children with limb loss fall into a category of children with chronic physical disability and are vulnerable to functional challenges resulting in adverse impacts on their participation and performance of life activities, known as occupational participation. A mixed method research study was aimed at answering the following research questions: (a) is there an impact on the engagement in meaningful everyday activities for children with prosthetic limbs, considering the functional, emotional, and social challenges they might encounter? (b) does their level of engagement in meaningful everyday activities have an impact on their quality of life (QoL) and (c) how does the care they receive influence their QoL? Assessment measures were administered, and interviews were completed. The inclusion criteria consisted of pediatric prosthetic users between the ages of 8 and 18 years with at least one prosthetic limb and their primary caregiver. A total of 8 families participated in this study. This study found areas of significant challenge to this population that impact their overall QoL. These include their communication and interactive skills impacting their psychosocial well-being, physical participation impacting their occupational participation, and systemic issues of healthcare and insurance coverage impacting their obtainment of necessary prosthetic limbs. This study confirmed that the skill set of occupational therapy (OT) is not being utilized to its fullest potential and that there is a general lack of understanding among the healthcare professionals who treat pediatric prosthetic users regarding each other\u27s scope of practice and level of expertise. An increased awareness of the skill set that OT’s can provide to pediatric amputees regardless of their amputation level, is necessary so that their unmet needs can be better addressed.https://soar.usa.edu/otdcapstones-spring2022/1031/thumbnail.jp

Shaking Up Traditional Training With Lynda.com

Supporting the diverse technology training needs on campus while resources continue to dwindle is a challenge many of us continue to tackle. Institutions from small liberal arts campuses to large research universities are providing individualized training and application support 24/7 by subscribing to the lynda.com Online Training Library(r) and marketing the service to various combinations of faculty, staff and students. As a supplemental service on most of our campuses, lynda.com has allowed us to extend support to those unable to attend live lab-based training, those who want advanced level training, those who want training on specialized applications, and those who want to learn applications that are not in high demand. The service also provides cost effective professional development opportunities for everyone on campus, from our own trainers and technology staff who are developing new workshops, learning new software versions or picking up new areas of expertise from project management to programming, to administrative and support staff who are trying to improve their skills in an ever-tighter economic environment. On this panel discussion, you will hear about different licensing approaches, ways of raising awareness about lynda.com on our campuses, lessons learned through implementation, reporting capabilities, and advice we would give for other campuses looking to offer this service

“Toxic” Schools? How School Exposures During Adolescence Influence Trajectories of Health Through Young Adulthood

© 2020 The Author(s) A large body of research identifies the critical role of early-life social contexts such as neighborhoods and households in shaping life course trajectories of health. Less is known about whether and how school characteristics affect individual health and contribute to population health inequality. However, recent scholarship argues that some school environments are so stressful due to high levels of violence, disorder, and poverty that they may be “toxic” to student health, but this hypothesis has not been tested using population data. Integrating insights from the life course perspective and stress process model, we use rich longitudinal data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (n = 11,382), diverse markers of physiological functioning and psychological well-being, and multilevel regression models to examine whether and how school characteristics shape trajectories of physiological dysregulation and depressive risk from adolescence through early adulthood. Findings reveal that, across multiple measures of physiological functioning and psychological well-being, the social and structural characteristics of schools play an essential role in shaping health risk from adolescence through young adulthood—long after students left school. In particular, indicators of school-level violence and perceptions of safety and school social disconnectedness had especially strong associations with health risk in both the short- and long-term. School socioeconomic composition was also strongly associated with physiological dysregulation in young adulthood, net of individual and neighborhood socioeconomic exposures. Together, findings from this study suggest that school environments can serve as early-life stressors in the lives of young people that unequally shape health trajectories and contribute to broader patterns of health inequality

Theatre of the Beat’s Restorative Justice Theatre Program: Highlights from the Baseline Evaluation

This report highlights the findings from the evaluation of Theatre of the Beat’s (TOTB) Restorative Justice Theatre Program, which works with incarcerated persons at the Grand Valley Institution for Women (GVIW), a federal prison in Kitchener, Ontario. The project was conducted by the Research Shop, part of the Community Engaged Scholarship Institute (CESI) at the University of Guelph, in partnership with Theatre of the Beat (TOTB), a not-for-profit theatre company with a process rooted in restorative justice principles and a passion for promoting conversations around social justice

The Effect of Walking Poles on Gait Characteristics and Fear of Falling in Community Dwelling, Four-Wheel Walker Dependent and Non-Assistive Device Dependent Older Adults

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Walking poles are advertised as a beneficial gait device for individuals of all ages. Claims that they help increase confidence, balance, posture, and stride quality have led to their growth in popularity. However, to date there is no published evidence showing the impact of walking poles on gait parameters or fear of falling in the older adult population. The purpose of this study was to analyze gait speed, stride length, double-limb support, base of support, fear of falling, and change in perceived walking quality in four-wheel walker (4WW) and non-assistive device (NAD) dependent older adults, comparing the differences between walking pole and usual assistive device usage. METHODS: Using a two-group repeated measures design, twenty-one community dwelling older adults (mean age = 85.4 ± 5.1, 7 male, 14 female) participated in this study. Eight subjects were 4WW dependent and 13 were NAD dependent for mobility. Participants completed walking trials with their usual assistive device and with walking poles. Gait characteristics were measured using the GAITRite® system. Fear of falling was measured on a visual analog scale and a global rating of change scale was used for perceived gait quality. Statistical significance was determined with p\u3c0.05 using paired and two-sample t-tests. Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to analyze relationships between measures. RESULTS: Significant differences (p\u3c0.05) were found within the 4WW dependent group for gait speed, double-limb support, base of support, and fear of falling in trials with walking poles compared to usual assistive device. Within the NAD dependent group, significant differences were found in gait speed, double-limb support, and fear of falling in trials with walking poles compared to trials without. Between groups, significant differences were found in stride length and base of support. Strong correlations between gait speed and double-limb support time were discovered with use of usual assistive device compared to use of walking poles. CONCLUSION: With minimal training on walking pole usage, both 4WW dependent and NAD dependent older adults displayed decreased gait speed, increased double-limb support time, and increased fear of falling when using walking poles. Additionally, 4WW dependent adults displayed decreased stride length and increased base of support

Community acceptance and implementation of HIV prevention interventions for injection drug users

In 1997, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) reviewed evidence of the effectiveness of HIV prevention programs for injection drug users (IDUs) and recommended that three types ofinterventions be implemented to prevent transmission of HIV among IDUs: 1) community-based outreach, 2) expanded syringe access (including needle exchange programs [NEP] and pharmacy sales), and 3) drug treatment. Progress on increasing the acceptance and feasibility of implementing these programs has been made at the national level, but their implementation has been varied at the local level.Understanding the conditions under which communities accept and implement interventions can help guide effective strategies to foster the implementation of these interventions in areas where programs do not currently exist

Privacy and senior adoption of assistive technology in residential care

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Vita."May 2006"Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2006.Within the next twenty years, there is a large increase anticipated in the segment of the population ages sixty five and older and a subsequent increase in demand on residential care facilities. With this expectation, researchers have been exploring the use of assistive information-based technologies in residential care facilities to enhance resident quality of life and safety. Assistive technologies in this context are information based technologies that collect and share resident information to health care providers such as nurses or physicians. Little evaluation research exists on user acceptance and effectiveness of assistive technologies in RC facilities (Demiris et al., 2004). Older adults' perceptions of privacy can inhibit their adoption of assistive technologies. This qualitative study used descriptive content analysis of focus group sessions and individual interviews to explore the relationship between privacy, living environment and willingness to adopt assistive technology with older adults living in residential care facilities. The findings from this study indicate that privacy can be a barrier for older adults' adoption of assistive technologies; however their perception of their need for the technology may override their own privacy concerns. Privacy concerns, as a barrier to technology adoption, can be influenced by both individual-level and community-level factors. Further exploration of the factors influencing older adults' perceptions of assistive technology need is necessary.Includes bibliographical references