MRSA model of learning and adaptation: a qualitative study among the general public

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>More people in the US now die from Methicillin Resistant <it>Staphylococcus aureus </it>(MRSA) infections than from HIV/AIDS. Often acquired in healthcare facilities or during healthcare procedures, the extremely high incidence of MRSA infections and the dangerously low levels of literacy regarding antibiotic resistance in the general public are on a collision course. Traditional medical approaches to infection control and the conventional attitude healthcare practitioners adopt toward public education are no longer adequate to avoid this collision. This study helps us understand how people acquire and process new information and then adapt behaviours based on learning.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Using constructivist theory, semi-structured face-to-face and phone interviews were conducted to gather pertinent data. This allowed participants to tell their stories so their experiences could deepen our understanding of this crucial health issue. Interview transcripts were analysed using grounded theory and sensitizing concepts.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Our findings were classified into two main categories, each of which in turn included three subthemes. First, in the category of <it>Learning</it>, we identified how individuals used their <it>Experiences with MRSA</it>, to answer the questions: <it>What was learned? </it>and, <it>How did learning occur? </it>The second category, <it>Adaptation </it>gave us insights into <it>Self-reliance, Reliance on others</it>, and <it>Reflections on the MRSA journey</it>.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>This study underscores the critical importance of educational programs for patients, and improved continuing education for healthcare providers. Five specific results of this study can reduce the vacuum that currently exists between the knowledge and information available to healthcare professionals, and how that information is conveyed to the public. These points include: 1) a common model of MRSA learning and adaptation; 2) the self-directed nature of adult learning; 3) the focus on general MRSA information, care and prevention, and antibiotic resistance; 4) the interconnected nature of adaptation; and, 5) the need for a consistent step by step plan to deal with MRSA provided at the time of diagnosis.</p

Implementing Trust-Based Relational Intervention® in a Charter School at a Residential Facility for At-Risk Youth

This study examines the implementation of Trust-Based Relational Intervention® (TBRI®) in a secondary charter school located at a residential facility for at-risk youth. This intervention has been used successfully with individual families, group homes, summer camps, and more recently, school environments. Through TBRI, school staff created conditions to help children succeed behaviorally with strategies grouped into three evidenced-based principles: (a) empowering, (b) connecting, and (c) correcting. After implementation, results showed that students were more likely to discuss their problematic issues with counselors, used less profanity, were less likely to complain and had fewer behavioral incidents (i.e., physical and verbal aggression, disruptive behavior). In addition, school staff reported improved school culture including an overall more positive mood and countenance among staff and students

A New Epistemic and Methodological Approach to the Study of Violence

This chapter presents a new epistemic and methodological framework for the study of violence. Arguing that both idealist (e.g. post-structural) and foundationalist (e.g. positivist) epistemologies are both inadequate, a new epistemic framework is presented which draws on updated early Frankfurt-School critical theory, post-Husserlian phenomenology, and Critical Realism. Key epistemic attitudes are discussed, such as a dialectical approach to ‘bracketing’ based in a more phenomenologically grounded concept of intersubjectivity and a resistance to ‘identity thinking’, as well as emphasis on the multidimensionality and processual nature of phenomena. Grounded in this epistemic framework, a methodological approach is outlined, which draws on aspects of ‘radical enquiry’ and Grounded Theory, and a compatible approach to causality. The data collection and analysis methods upon which this book is based are also outlined, which include a ‘naturalistic enquiry’ approach to participant observation and a multidimensional causal chain analysis