Dr. Milton Pippenger: A Case Study

Written interview with Dr. Milton Pippenger, recipient of the Blue Ribbon award, regarding his time in Garden City for Educational Research 803.https://scholars.fhsu.edu/ors/1281/thumbnail.jp

Collaborative Fieldwork Supervision Model Supports Identified by Occupational Therapy Fieldwork Educators

Within the occupational therapy (OT) profession, the collaborative fieldwork supervision model is considered a non-traditional approach to fieldwork education. Although supportive strategies for fieldwork education have been developed, there is little data to validate fieldwork educators\u27 perspectives on the value and helpfulness of these supports for this model. Using a mixed-methods research design, this study aimed to identify what supports influenced fieldwork educators to use the collaborative fieldwork supervision model, what supports are valued when implementing it, and what supports would be considered helpful for those who have not used it. A total of 382 fieldwork educators completed the study, with 113 who identified as model users and 269 who identified as model non-users. Four themes emerged from model users that influenced their decision to use the model: support from 1) fieldwork site context, 2) academic program, 3) student engagement, and 4) professional resources. Based on the study results, a four-part approach is recommended for educational programs to support the initiation and use of the collaborative fieldwork supervision model

Level II Fieldwork Educators\u27 Perceived and Experienced Challenges with Using the Collaborative Fieldwork Supervision Model

Fieldwork shortages have been noted in the literature for some time. With the ever-changing healthcare system and an increasing number of students in occupational therapy programs, the scarcity of fieldwork placements is dire. Rooted in adult learning principles, the collaborative fieldwork supervision model is one approach to fieldwork education that may alleviate the shortage of placements, while also supporting student learning. This model is designed to have one fieldwork educator supervising two or more students throughout a fieldwork experience. The strengths and challenges of this model are well documented, although it is unclear if the identified challenges are the same or different for those who have and have not used the model. Therefore, a research study was conducted to investigate Level II fieldwork educators’ experienced and perceived challenges of the collaborative fieldwork supervision model. Narrative data was gathered from both fieldwork educators who have used the model and those who have not used the model, within the last five years. The researchers investigated two open-ended questions from a nationwide survey disseminated in 2018. Nearly 30% of the study respondents reported having used the model, while 70% reported not using the model. The same five themes emerged from both groups, however, the prevalence and subthemes between the two groups were different. The themes are: 1) considerations at fieldwork site; 2) knowledge, skill, and professionalism of students; 3) client needs and level of comfort; 4) fieldwork educator knowledge and familiarity with model; and 5) culture of fieldwork education. Methods for addressing challenges and implications for occupational therapy education are discussed

Female College Athletes and Osteoporosis: Strategies for Prevention and Treatment

For some female athletes, a risk exists for the development of one or more of the medical disorders that comprise the female athlete triad: the related conditions of disordered eating, amenorrhea, and osteoporosis. These disorders may lead to significant morbidity and a high rate of mortality. The female college athlete, driven to excel in her sport and pressured to fit a thin athletic image, is at risk for the development of premature osteoporosis. College counselors and advisors can be instrumental in the prevention and treatment of these problems in female col­lege athletes

‘I knew which one I wanted’: Interviews with Illinois patients to explore abortion method decision-making after insurance expansion

Introduction: To understand patient preferences around early abortion methods and care-seeking during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic in a state that expanded insurance coverage for abortion care. Methods: We conducted phone interviews between July 2021 and February 2022 with 50 Illinois residents (aged 18–45) who had recently sought abortion at 18 clinics throughout Illinois at or before 11 weeks of pregnancy. We used a semistructured interview guide to explore preferences, motivations and decision-making around the abortion method. We coded transcripts and used code summaries to conduct a thematic content analysis. Results: Half of the participants chose medication abortion, and half chose procedural abortion. Some participants relied upon their past abortion experiences to choose a method. Participants' reasons for choosing medication abortion included home setting with support persons, the noninvasive nature, desiring a more ‘natural’ experience or negative perceptions of procedural abortions. Participants choosing procedural abortions valued increased certainty of completion, the option of sedation and the defined timeline of a clinic visit with fewer physical side effects. Some participants without insurance coverage were motivated to select a method based on cost. Around half of the participants expressed interest in considering a telehealth abortion. Conclusions: Patients cited complex and personal preferences influencing their method selection; when cost barriers were reduced, preferences centred physical or emotional experiences, setting, effectiveness and timing. As abortion access is increasingly restricted, many patients may still highly value a choice between medication and procedural abortion when possible.</p

Understanding the information needs of public health practitioners: A literature review to inform design of an interactive digital knowledge management system

AbstractThe need for rapid access to information to support critical decisions in public health cannot be disputed; however, development of such systems requires an understanding of the actual information needs of public health professionals. This paper reports the results of a literature review focused on the information needs of public health professionals. The authors reviewed the public health literature to answer the following questions: (1) What are the information needs of public health professionals? (2) In what ways are those needs being met? (3) What are the barriers to meeting those needs? (4) What is the role of the Internet in meeting information needs? The review was undertaken in order to develop system requirements to inform the design and development of an interactive digital knowledge management system. The goal of the system is to support the collection, management, and retrieval of public health documents, data, learning objects, and tools.Method:The search method extended beyond traditional information resources, such as bibliographic databases, tables of contents (TOC), and bibliographies, to include information resources public health practitioners routinely use or have need to use—for example, grey literature, government reports, Internet-based publications, and meeting abstracts.Results:Although few formal studies of information needs and information-seeking behaviors of public health professionals have been reported, the literature consistently indicated a critical need for comprehensive, coordinated, and accessible information to meet the needs of the public health workforce. Major barriers to information access include time, resource reliability, trustworthiness/credibility of information, and “information overload”.Conclusions:Utilizing a novel search method that included the diversity of information resources public health practitioners use, has produced a richer and more useful picture of the information needs of the public health workforce than other literature reviews. There is a critical need for public health digital knowledge management systems designed to reflect the diversity of public health activities, to enable human communications, and to provide multiple access points to critical information resources. Public health librarians and other information specialists can serve a significant role in helping public health professionals meet their information needs through the development of evidence-based decision support systems, human-mediated expert searching and training in the use information retrieval systems

An Improved Inactivated Influenza Vaccine with Enhanced Cross Protection

Current inactivated influenza vaccines are strain-specific and poorly effective against variant or mismatched viruses. They are standardized based on their hemagglutinin (HA) or ability to induce strain-specific hemagglutination inhibition (HAI) antibodies. The HA is known to undergo major conformational changes when exposed to the low pH environment of endosomes (pH 5.0 and 37°C), which are required for membrane fusion during virus cell entry. In an effort to improve these vaccines, influenza antigens treated under various low pH conditions were evaluated for increased cross-reactive antibody response and cross protection. It was found that a full range of structural and antigenic changes in HA could be induced by varying low pH treatment conditions from the mild (low pH at ≤25°C) to the strong (low pH at ≥37°C) as determined by analysis of potency, HA morphology, protease sensitivity, and reactivity with an anti-HA2 domain (CD) antibody. Inactivated antigens of both H1N1 and H3N2 strains treated at mild low pH conditions (0–25°C) exhibited only moderate HA structural and antigenic changes and markedly increased antibody response against HA2, the highly conserved part of HA, and cross protection against heterologous challenge in mice by up to 30% in survival. By contrast, antigen treated with low pH at 37°C showed more extensive structural and antigenic changes, and induced much less of an increase in antibody response against HA2, but a greater increase with response against HA1, and did not provide any increased cross protection. These results suggest that the increased response against HA2 obtained with the mild low pH treatment is associated with the increased cross protection. These antigens treated at the mild low pH conditions remained capable of inducing a high level of strain-specific HAI antibodies. Thus, they could readily be formulated as an inactivated influenza vaccine which not only provides the same strain-specific protection but also an increased cross protection against heterologous viruses. Such a vaccine could be particularly beneficial in cases of vaccine mismatch

The Prograde Orbit of Exoplanet TrES-2b

We monitored the Doppler shift of the G0V star TrES-2 throughout a transit of its giant planet. The anomalous Doppler shift due to stellar rotation (the Rossiter-McLaughlin effect) is discernible in the data, with a signal-to-noise ratio of 2.9, even though the star is a slow rotator. By modeling this effect we find that the planet's trajectory across the face of the star is tilted by -9 +/- 12 degrees relative to the projected stellar equator. With 98% confidence, the orbit is prograde.Comment: ApJ, in press [15 pages