Toolbox Talks: Insights for Improvement

Tool box talks (TBTs) have the potential to improve communication, empower workers, reduce injuries and improve safety; however, they can also be “missed opportunities” for providing important safety messages in construction. The goal of this paper is to share the results from two research projects designed to improve the frequency, delivery, participation, and outcomes of TBTs. The results of these projects provide suggestions for planning and delivering TBTs in construction. METHODS: In the first project, 86 residential carpentry foremen from 8 different residential contractors in the St. Louis region participated in training for delivering TBTs as part of an 8-hour fall prevention and safety communication intervention. We compared baseline measures of safety behavior and fall prevention knowledge items to follow-up between participating foremen and their crewmembers. Concurrently, surveys of 300 apprentice carpenters were collected to describe the frequency and delivery methods of TBT and to serve as a comparison group for the TBT intervention. In the second project, we evaluated the utility of ergonomics TBTs delivered by a safety representative to 36 carpenters and laborers. Workers rated their perceptions of topic relevance, delivery method, similarities to traditional TBTs, and intent to change behaviors. The safety representative provided feedback regarding the TBTs and reported their observations of improved worker use of ergonomics in work tasks post-training. DISCUSSION / CONCLUSIONS: Both interventions described in this paper improved workplace safety. The interventions demonstrate how to simply shift from non-collaborative TBTs to participatory, context-driven TBTs by using a pre-printed TBT template, modified to address the hazards present at the worksite. Delivery suggestions relate the information to the workers, and include workers in the identification of problems and safety-related solutions. These participatory methods for preparing and delivering TBTs have the potential to improve construction workplace safety practices

Medication Adherence and People Living with HIV: A Qualitative Study

Abstract While significant strides have developed evidence-based preventions and treatments for people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA), only 26% percent of HIV-positive people in care achieve the treatment objective of viral suppression (Viral Suppression, 2018). While the literature has identified a positive relationship between patient-provider communication and optimum treatment adherence, nonadherence is poorly understood, and no evidence-based model for such communication exists. This study aims to examine the perspectives of HIV-positive patients and family/friend caregivers (FFC) related to treatment adherence, as most of the literature has been dominated by the clinician’s point of view. Further, this work seeks to provide knowledge that will inform medication-taking behaviors so that future interventions can include patient-driven adherence discussions in treatment planning. This project employs a grounded theory approach to analyze HIV-positive patient and caregiver interviews about treatment. A convenience sampling method drew participants from an HIV support organization in Memphis, Tennessee. Results indicate that medication adherence demands collaborative communication between patients, caregivers, and providers that prioritizes the patient’s perspective. This communication approach requires the provider to respond to the patient’s concerns first to achieve positive medication-taking practices and quality of life. Adherence communication also allows the provider to perform a holistic assessment of the patients’/caregivers’ cognitive, emotional, behavioral, and environmental capacity to achieve treatment goals. Central to medication adherence is the discussion of supportive services. Keywords: HIV, medication adherence, patient-provider communication, caregive

Evidence indicates that drug crime is greater in neighborhoods with middle and high schools.

For many adolescents experimenting with drugs is a fairly normal part of growing up, but many are accessing these drugs at, or near to, schools. In new research, Dale Willits, Lisa Broidy, and Kristine Denman find that drug crime is higher in city blocks that have middle and high schools. They write that schools give drug dealers and buyers the opportunity to meet, a process that occurs regardless of the neighborhood’s characteristics

Sexual socialisation in Life Orientation manuals versus popular music: responsibilisation versus pleasure, tension and complexity

This paper compares two forms of sexual socialisation to which learners are exposed: the sexuality education components of the Life Orientation (LO) manuals and the lyrical content and videos of popular songs. We performed a textual analysis of the sexual subject positions made available in, first, the LO manuals used in Grade 10 classes and, second, the two songs voted most popular by the Grade 10 learners of two diverse schools in the Eastern Cape. Of interest in this paper is whether and how these two forms of sexual socialisation – one representing state-sanctioned sexual socialisation and the other learners’ chosen cultural expression that represents informal sexual socialisation – dovetail or diverge. Against a backdrop of heterosexuality and an assumption of the ‘adolescent-in-transition’ discourse, the main sexual subject positions featured in the LO manuals are the responsible sexual subject and the sexual victim. A number of sexualised subject positions are portrayed in the songs, with these subject positions depicting sex as a site of pleasure, tension and complexity. Although these two modes of sexual socialisation use different genres of communication, we argue that learners’ choice of songs that depict fluid sexual subject positions can help to inform LO sexuality education in ways that takes learners’ preferred cultural expression seriously and that moves away from the imperative of responsibilisation

Social Emotional Learning in Young Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

Interventions for young children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) often focus on reducing negative behaviors or increasing the frequency of positive behaviors. Little discussion, however, focuses on the underlying mental health and developmental factors or ancillary skill deficits that may be contributing to problem behaviors. With social emotional standards built into the educational system, schools are uniquely positined to provide social emotional support and instruction to students with disabilities, especially children with ASD. Often, Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) of preschool and early elementary school children with ASD focus on state academic standards rather than the social-emotional needs often associated with the underlying core symptoms of ASD that are the true driver of “educational need” in the school setting. This manuscript provides a framework for incorporating social emotional learning (SEL) goals into the IEPs of young children with ASD. The family- school partnership approach, including effective relational (i.e., communication, collaboration, parent-teacher relationship/alliance) and structural (i.e., behavioral supports, home-based involvement) components (Sheridan et al., 2019) will be emphasized to meet the mental health and developmental needs of children with ASD via pivotal SEL goals across home and school environments. We conclude with a case study of the COMPASS parent-teacher consultation intervention for improving SEL outcomes through shared parent-teacher decision making and collaboration for SEL goal selection, individualized intervention planning, teacher coaching, and outcomes-based monitoring

Assessing a Scholarship Program for Underrepresented Students in Computer Science & Information Technology

There continue to be underrepresented student populations in undergraduate computer science and information technology programs in the United States and Pennsylvania. Despite some enrollment growth, female students in particular continue to be underrepresented. The authors are in the final year of managing a five-year, $614,375 program to support underrepresented student populations in our majors via scholarships and supporting activities, funded by the National Science Foundation. The program has been particularly successful in recruiting and retaining female students. We have discovered several patterns of behavior that provide early warnings for at-risk students. Lack of first-semester contribution to simple activities such as suggested blogging are about 93% accurate in predicting students who will not remain in the program due to lack of motivation and/or reliable work habits. Scholars leave the program because of low grade point averages, changes to non-STEM majors, or dropping out of college. Low incoming standardized exam scores also provide warnings. Detecting at-risk students early, and making continued scholarship support contingent on attendance at classes and tutoring sessions, are promising means for improving retention. Additional, more positive types of intervention are considered. Some of our findings may apply to our department’s overall undergraduate population