Imagining the Tar Sands 1880-1967 and Beyond

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Evaluation of primary caregivers\u27 perceptions on home trampoline use

Trampolines are widely used by children, but trampoline injuries can be severe and may require hospital care or even surgery. This pilot study examined the effectiveness of an educational intervention on caregivers\u27 perceptions of trampoline use and safety for their children. Primary caregivers were recruited from the orthopedic clinic at the Children\u27s Hospital at our institution in 2015. Caregivers were asked to complete a survey at two time points, initially in clinic and one week post educational intervention. The educational intervention was a pamphlet outlining trampoline safety data. Data analysis occurred in 2016. From the 100 primary caregivers recruited, 39 caregivers owned a trampoline, and 10 had presented to the emergency department with their child for an injury related to trampoline use. After educational intervention, caregivers had higher rating of perceived danger associated with trampolines (6/10 vs. 8/10, p \u3c 0.001). Additionally, a greater number of caregivers were more knowledgeable on the safe age of trampoline use (56% vs. 91%, p \u3c 0.001) and safe number of jumpers (45% vs. 86%, p \u3c 0.001). Finally, there was a 29% increase in the proportion of caregivers who at least agreed that trampolines are dangerous (pre: 44% vs. post: 73%, p \u3c 0.001), however 50% of caregivers would still allow their child to use a trampoline. Overall, the results of this study show that a simple educational intervention can help to increase knowledge around safe trampoline practices and increase awareness of injury. Further, this study can act as initial evidence for future studies to implement this type of intervention long-term

International Perspectives of Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Professionals Clinical Academic Roles: Are We at Tipping Point?

Healthcare research activity improves patient outcomes. Nurses, Midwives and Allied Health Professions (NMAHPs) make an important contribution to clinical research. Within the United Kingdom (UK), there is a 25-year history of increasing healthcare research capacity and capability through clinical academic roles. Medical colleagues were the first to introduce the role in 2005. In 2007, a national policy identified inequalities in access to and success of research training fellowships between medical and nursing healthcare professionals. This was followed by a number of national initiatives, which continue to evolve to the present day. There is evidence that the UK has reached the ‘tipping point’ to increase NMAHP research capacity and capability through clinical academic roles. Despite these initiatives substantial gaps remain. Outside, the UK, the term ‘clinical academic’ is not well understood. There is evidence of the presence of senior clinical academic roles, a clinical professor within Australia and the United States, for example, but there is a lack of opportunities and of a formulised research training pathway at a junior level. There is interest and appreciation of the NMAHP research-active clinical academic within the clinical setting in the Nordic countries and China, but the pace of change is slow due to co-existing priorities involving change and innovation. There is a need to develop and agree both national and international definitions that describes the NMAHP research-focused clinical academic role activity

How safe is your playground? Analyzing soil in Scottish schools through a university outreach project

School pupils often perceive STEM subjects to be challenging; thus, in this project, an interactive, nationwide STEM investigation was designed to stimulate their interest. The “Soils in Scottish Schools” project provided teachers with a flexible package of resources to allow them to enhance the profile and understanding of soil science of their pupils. This package included presentations, experimental procedures, activities, and monthly newsletters which could be adapted to the particular learning environment of their pupils. In the focal point of the project, teachers were supported to encourage their pupils to collect samples from their school ground which were then analyzed for copper, lead, and zinc levels. This year-long project also afforded teachers with the opportunity to develop the pupils’ investigative skills through engagement with experiments in their own classrooms where they could engage with real data

Are you reading me? Narrative and the student experience in education for archaeology

In this study, I set out to address a problem of conceptualisation in archaeology. That problem concerns the role and scope of education in the discipline and has consequences for practice. Despite initiatives in teaching and learning in the discipline in recent decades, a thorough understanding of and attention to the educational task is still not accorded the place it merits in disciplinary activity. Central to a better understanding of the priorities and purposes of education for archaeology is an understanding of the student perspective. This perspective: of what students believe archaeology is for; what formal study of the subject offers; and, the role they see for the discipline in their lives is critical for educational planning and practice. Knowledge of the student perspective is critical because it is where the transactional process of learning begins. Without this knowledge, articulated and explicated in a systematic and in-depth way, educational ventures may be at worst misconceived and at best operating from an unduly partial perspective. Students' reasons for studying are often conceived and represented, by and to themselves and to others, as narrative. Herein, I develop understanding of the student perspective by placing it in the context of disciplinary, educational and narrative theory to illuminate the emergence and development of student interest in archaeology. Such a study has not previously been attempted and is a major step in developing the truly student-centred learning advocated by educational theorists. The study also throws light, from the student perspective, on the discipline itself: its current preoccupations and its ontological and epistemological complexities. I also explore how we can apply a lens to the process of research in archaeology education through the application of an appropriate qualitative methodology for investigating perceptual questions, a grounded theory approach. Foundational to the proposition that knowledge of the student perspective is critical for educational practice, is the consideration that research in the discipline should be extended to education just as it is applied to research about the human past. This study thus looks beyond achieving good teaching techniques and argues for a research culture of education in archaeology, a scholarship of teaching and learning

Prevalence and characteristics of Complementary and Alternative Medicine use by Australian children

This study was conducted to evaluate the prevalence and characteristics of complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) use, among Australian children and adolescents within the previous 12 months. Methods: Parents with children up to the age of 18 years were recruited from online parenting groups. Questions addressed demographic factors, socioeconomic status, conventional health service use, including vaccination status, and use of CAM. Results: A total of 149 parents responded to the study of which 73.8% (n=110) children had visited a CAM practitioner or used a CAM product in the previous 12 months. The two most frequently visited CAM practitioners were naturopath/herbalist (30.4%) and chiropractor (18.4%). The most commonly used products were vitamins/minerals (61.7%), and herbal medicine (38.8%). Children had also consulted with a general practitioner (89.8%), community health nurse (31.29%) and paediatrician (30.3%) over the same period. A total of 52% of parents did not disclose their child’s use of CAM to their medical provider. Children’s vaccination status was less likely to be up-to-date if they visited a CAM practitioner (OR 0.16; CI 0.07, 0.36; p<0.001) or used a CAM product (OR 0.25; CI 0.09, 0.64; p=0.004). Conclusion: Despite a lack of high quality research for efficacy and safety, many children are using CAM products and practices in parallel with conventional health services, often without disclosure. This highlights the need to initiate conversations with parents about their child’s use of CAM in order to ensure safe, coordinated patient care. The association between vaccine uptake and CAM use requires further investigation

Who Listens to Our Advice? A Secondary Analysis of Data From a Clinical Trial Testing an Intervention Designed to Decrease Delay in Seeking Treatment for Acute Coronary Syndrome

Objective Prolonged prehospital delay in persons experiencing acute coronary syndrome (ACS) remains a problem. Understanding which patients respond best to particular interventions designed to decrease delay time would provide mechanistic insights into the process by which interventions work. Methods In the PROMOTION trial, 3522 at-risk patients were enrolled from 5 sites in the United States (56.4%), Australia and New Zealand; 490 (N = 272 intervention, N = 218 control) had an acute event within 2 years. Focusing on these 490, we (1) identified predictors of a rapid response to symptoms, (2) identified intervention group subjects with a change in these predictors over 3 months of follow-up, and (3) compared intervention group participants with and without the favorable response pattern. Hypothesized predictors of rapid response were increased perceived control and decreased anxiety. Knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs were hypothesized to differ between responders and non-responders. Results Contrary to hypothesis, responders had low anxiety and low perceived control. Only 73 (26.8%) subjects showed this pattern 3 months following the intervention. No differences in ACS knowledge, attitudes, or beliefs were found. Conclusion The results of this study challenge existing beliefs. Practice implications New intervention approaches that focus on a realistic decrease in anxiety and perceived control are needed