Fighting Cancer With Purpose: Best Practices for Charity Event Planning

The 2017-2018 school year was the first year The University of Akron competed in the Bateman competition, a national public relations competition. The Bateman competition challenges students to research, execute, and evaluate a public relations plan within their college campus and the surrounding community. Two teams at The University of Akron successfully created and implemented a plan that benefitted the non-profit With Purpose, an organization dedicated to increasing funding and research efforts allocated toward pediatric cancer. As a member of one of those teams, the author was responsible for planning the Bateman team’s large event during the implementation period. This paper details the necessary steps one must take in order to host a successful charity event at The University of Akron. It explores, generally, what the best practices are in regard to planning an event, motivating volunteers, and evaluating the success of an event. This paper also details a survey that was conducted among undergraduate students at The University of Akron to learn more about what motivates them to attend events, what types of media students use, and how motivated students feel toward affecting change on a large problem like pediatric cancer. Finally, this paper includes the event plan of a charity event that took place at The University of Akron and a post event evaluation

Improving Pharmacists’ Targeting of Patients for Medication Review and Deprescription

Background: In an acute hospital setting, a multi-disciplinary approach to medication review can improve prescribing and medicine selection in patients with frailty. There is a need for a clear understanding of the roles and responsibilities of pharmacists to ensure that interventions have the greatest impact on patient care. Aim: To use a consensus building process to produce guidance for pharmacists to support the identification of patients at risk from their medicines, and to articulate expected actions and escalation processes. Methods: A literature search was conducted and evidence used to establish a set of ten scenarios often encountered in hospitalised patients, with six or more possible actions. Four consultant physicians and four senior pharmacists ranked their levels of agreement with the listed actions. The process was redrafted and repeated until consensus was reached and interventions were defined. Outcome: Generalised guidance for reviewing older adults’ medicines was developed, alongside escalation processes that should be followed in a specific set of clinical situations. The panel agreed that both pharmacists and physicians have an active role to play in medication review, and face-to-face communication is always preferable to facilitate informed decision making. Only prescribers should deprescribe, however pharmacists who are not also trained as prescribers may temporarily “hold” medications in the best interests of the patient with appropriate documentation and a follow up discussion with the prescribing team. The consensus was that a combination of age, problematic polypharmacy, and the presence of medication-related problems, were the most important factors in the identification of patients who would benefit most from a comprehensive medication review. Conclusions: Guidance on the identification of patients on inappropriate medicines, and subsequent pharmacist-led intervention to prompt and promote deprescribing, has been developed for implementation in an acute hospital

A new measure of fear of falling: psychometric properties of the fear of falling questionnaire revised (FFQ-R)

BACKGROUND: Although fear of falling is prevalent among older adults recovering from hip fracture, current instruments are inadequate due to focus on specific situations and measurement of self-efficacy rather than fear. METHODS: The authors revised and tested a form of the Fear of Falling Questionnaire with three groups of older adults: 405 recovering from hip fracture, 89 healthy community-dwelling, and 42 with severe fear of falling. Test-retest reliability was evaluated in a subsample of 16 hip fracture patients. Internal consistency was compared across all groups Construct validity was established through factor analysis, convergent validity with a measure of fall-related self-efficacy, and discriminant validity with measures of depression and affect. RESULTS: A revised two-factor, 6-item scale appears to have adequate psychometric properties. Scores were lower among the healthy comparison group relative to the hip fracture and fear of falling groups. Cronbach’s alphas ranged from .72–.83, with test-retest reliability of .82. Correlations with a measure of fall-related self-efficacy were moderate for the hip fracture group (.42) and high with the healthy comparison (.68) and fear of falling (.70) groups. Correlations with depression, negative, and positive affect were low to moderate. CONCLUSIONS: The Fear of Falling Questionnaire - Revised shows promise as a self-report measure of fear of falling, and is one of the first to be tested in older adults recovering from hip fracture. Advantages are that it is global rather than situation-specific and measures fear rather than self-efficacy. Future research on this scale is recommended in other older adult samples for whom fear of falling is relevant

Gilmore Terrace, Lee County, North Carolina : an action-oriented community diagnosis

This document details the steps and results of the Action Oriented Community Diagnosis (AOCD) conducted in the Gilmore Terrace public housing community located in Sanford, North Carolina. The AOCD was performed between September 2004 and May 2005 by six students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, School of Public Health’s Department of Health Behavior and Health Education in conjunction with residents and service providers of the Gilmore Terrace community. The purpose of an AOCD is to explore a community through participant observation and qualitative interviewing and to engage residents in a discussion of strategies to improve quality of life in the community. The student team interviewed both residents of Gilmore Terrace (insiders) and individuals who provide services to residents (outsiders). The interviews were analyzed to identify key themes, or ideas that were repeated by many interviewees (see Appendix I for a complete list of themes). The most important element of an AOCD is a community forum, where residents come together to discuss the themes and begin working towards solutions to issues facing the community. At the forum, the student team presented themes that were determined to be the most relevant and changeable (as determine by a planning committee of residents and service providers). These themes were: 1) there is a lack of established lines of communication between the residents of Gilmore Terrace and the Sanford Housing Authority (SHA); 2) Gilmore Terrace has higher rates of crime than other areas of Sanford, but much of that crime is attributed to nonresidents rather than residents; 3) residents of Gilmore Terrace do not have an official location to gather and hold community events since the neighborhood community center has been rented to the Boys and Girls Club and 4) community members and service providers are concerned that there is a lack of childcare and after-school activities that are affordable and easily accessible to youth and their parents. After the themes were presented to the community, forum participants divided into small groups to discuss what could be done to address these issues. First, a representative of Boys and Girls Club offered 50 summer scholarships to children living in Gilmore Terrace. Residents agreed to fill out applications and consider volunteering at the Club. Other action steps that came from small group discussions included: 1) forming a Resident Council to improve communication with the SHA; 2) working to have speed bumps installed in Gilmore Terrace and 3) converting a unit offline to use for community events. (See Appendix D9 for complete list of action steps.) It is the hope of the student team that the AOCD and enthusiasm generated by the community forum will only be the beginning to on-going collaborative relationship between residents and service organizations in Sanford to address issues in Gilmore Terrace.Master of Public Healt

Dengue Reporter Virus Particles for Measuring Neutralizing Antibodies against Each of the Four Dengue Serotypes

The lack of reliable, high-throughput tools for characterizing anti-dengue virus (DENV) antibodies in large numbers of serum samples has been an obstacle in understanding the impact of neutralizing antibodies on disease progression and vaccine efficacy. A reporter system using pseudoinfectious DENV reporter virus particles (RVPs) was previously developed by others to facilitate the genetic manipulation and biological characterization of DENV virions. In the current study, we demonstrate the diagnostic utility of DENV RVPs for measuring neutralizing antibodies in human serum samples against all four DENV serotypes, with attention to the suitability of DENV RVPs for large-scale, long-term studies. DENV RVPs used against human sera yielded serotype-specific responses and reproducible neutralization titers that were in statistical agreement with Plaque Reduction Neutralization Test (PRNT) results. DENV RVPs were also used to measure neutralization titers against the four DENV serotypes in a panel of human sera from a clinical study of dengue patients. The high-throughput capability, stability, rapidity, and reproducibility of assays using DENV RVPs offer advantages for detecting immune responses that can be applied to large-scale clinical studies of DENV infection and vaccination

Out of Pocket Expenses in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Background: Despite anecdotal evidence that the out of pocket costs of OCD can be substantial in some cases, there is no evidence on how many people they affect, or the magnitude of these costs. Aims: This paper explores the type and quantity of out of pocket expenses reported by a large sample of adults with OCD. Methods: Data on out of pocket expenses were collected from participants taking part in the OCTET multi-centre randomised controlled trial. Participants were aged 18+, meeting DSM-IV criteria for OCD, and scoring 16+ on the Yale Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale. Individual-level resource use data including a description and estimated cost of out of pocket expenses were measured using an adapted version of the Adult Service Use Schedule (AD-SUS): a questionnaire used to collect data on resource use. Results: Forty-five percent (208/465) reported out of pocket expenses due to their OCD. The mean cost of out of pocket expenses was £19.19 per week (SD £27.56 SD), range £0.06–£224.00. Conclusions: Future economic evaluations involving participants with OCD should include out of pocket expenses, but careful consideration of alternative approaches to the collection and costing of this data is needed

Delivery of an Ebola Virus-Positive Stillborn Infant in a Rural Community Health Center, Sierra Leone, 2015.

We report the case of an Ebola virus (EBOV) RNA-negative pregnant woman who delivered an EBOV RNA-positive stillborn infant at a community health center in rural Sierra Leone, 1 month after the mother's last possible exposure. The mother was later found to be immunoglobulins M and G positive indicating previous infection. The apparent absence of Ebola symptoms and not recognizing that the woman had previous contact with an Ebola patient led health workers performing the delivery to wear only minimal personal protection, potentially exposing them to a high risk of EBOV infection. This case emphasizes the importance of screening for epidemiological risk factors as well as classic and atypical symptoms of Ebola when caring for pregnant women, even once they have passed the typical time frame for exposure and incubation expected in nonpregnant adults. It also illustrates the need for health-care workers to use appropriate personal protection equipment when caring for pregnant women in an Ebola setting

Obsessive Compulsive Treatment Efficacy Trial (OCTET) comparing the clinical and cost effectiveness of self-managed therapies: study protocol for a randomised controlled trial

Background: UK National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence guidelines for obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) specify recommendations for the treatment and management of OCD using a stepped care approach. Steps three to six of this model recommend treatment options for people with OCD that range from low-intensity guided self-help (GSH) to more intensive psychological and pharmacological interventions. Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), including exposure and response prevention, is the recommended psychological treatment. However, whilst there is some preliminary evidence that self-managed therapy packages for OCD can be effective, a more robust evidence base of their clinical and cost effectiveness and acceptability is required. Methods/Design: Our proposed study will test two different self-help treatments for OCD: 1) computerised CBT (cCBT) using OCFighter, an internet-delivered OCD treatment package; and 2) GSH using a book. Both treatments will be accompanied by email or telephone support from a mental health professional. We will evaluate the effectiveness, cost and patient and health professional acceptability of the treatments. Discussion: This study will provide more robust evidence of efficacy, cost effectiveness and acceptability of self-help treatments for OCD. If cCBT and/or GSH prove effective, it will provide additional, more accessible treatment options for people with OCD