Evaluating a Domestic Violence Task Force: Methods to Strengthen a Community Collaboration

A domestic violence collaborative was surveyed to evaluate and make recommendations for strengthening membership, structure, and cohesiveness. The article presents the evaluation methods, key findings, recommendations, and the outcome of their implementation. Areas identified for improvement include: membership diversification, membership-driven agenda, improved sub-committees, and increased community involvement through outreach. A revised meeting format, agenda setting strategy, sub-committee parameters, and the addition of quarterly meetings were recommended and implemented. This model received positive feedback as a method to strengthen collaboratives. The case study demonstrates how evaluation research can be linked to practice to make real improvements to a community collaborative

HARNESSING THE POWER OF FILM TO COMBAT MENTAL HEALTH STIGMA. A UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON PSYCHIATRY SOCIETY EVENT

Aims: To conduct a pilot study on a motion picture based, anti-stigma programme entitled, "The Wounded Healer film" to measure if it is associated with any changes in stigma variables in healthcare students and if it encouraged care seeking in this group. Background: The 2008 Stigma Shout Survey of almost 4000 people using mental health services and carers revealed that healthcare professionals are a common source of stigma reported by people with mental illness. Psychological problems are common in medical students and doctors, however, thelevel of care seeking in this group is low. Fear of exposure to stigmatization is a crucial barrier to accessing and using mental health services. Recent research has revealed that film-based interventions can be used to challenge mental health stigma and encourage care seeking. Methods: We conducted a single-arm, pre-post comparison study on students who attended the Wounded Healer film at a University College London Psychiatry Society event (n=11). Before and after exposure to the film, students were asked to complete validated stigma scales that measured mental health-related knowledge, attitudes and behaviours. Responses were on a Likert scale and participants also provided free free-text comments which were subjected to thematic analyses. Results: There was a statistically significant difference in the mental health-related knowledge pre-intervention score compared to the post-intervention score (p=0.0322). All participants either strongly agreed or agreed with the post-evaluation statement, "I feel inspired to raise awareness of the importance of mental health and to take action to challenge stigma." Conclusion: This pilot study provides provisional support that The Wounded Healer film may be associated with reductions in stigma variables in healthcare students and encourage them to seek care for their own psychological problems. More robust research in this area is needed before we can scale up such an initiative

Quantum logic gates for coupled superconducting phase qubits

Based on a quantum analysis of two capacitively coupled current-biased Josephson junctions, we propose two fundamental two-qubit quantum logic gates. Each of these gates, when supplemented by single-qubit operations, is sufficient for universal quantum computation. Numerical solutions of the time-dependent Schroedinger equation demonstrate that these operations can be performed with good fidelity.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figures, revised for publicatio

Frequency and Impact of Intensive Care Unit Complications on Moderate-Severe Traumatic Brain Injury – Early Results of the Outcome Prognostication in Traumatic Brain Injury (OPTIMISM) Study

Background: Known predictors of adverse outcomes in patients with moderate-severe TBI (msTBI) explain only a relatively small proportion of patient-related outcomes. The frequency and impact of intensive care unit complications (ICU-COMPL) on msTBI-associated outcomes is poorly understood. Methods: In 213 consecutive msTBI patients admitted to a Level-I-Trauma-Center neuro-trauma-ICU, twenty-eight ICU-COMPL (21 medical and 7 neurological) were prospectively collected and adjudicated by group consensus, using pre-defined criteria. We determined frequencies, and explored associations of ICU-COMPL and functional neurological outcomes measured by Glasgow Outcome Scale (GOS) at hospital discharge using multivariable logistic regression. Results: The average age of the study sample was 53 years, and the median presenting Glasgow Coma Scale and Injury Severity Scores were 5 and 27, respectively. Hyperglycemia (79%), fever (62%), systemic inflammatory response syndrome (60%), and hypotension requiring vasopressors (42%) were the four most common medical ICU-COMPL. Herniation (39%), intracranial rebleed (39%), and brain edema requiring osmotherapy (37%) were the three most common neurological ICU-COMPL. After adjusting for admission variables, duration of ventilation, and ICU length-of-stay, patients with brain edema (OR 5.8; 95% CI 2,16.7) had a significantly increased odds for dying during hospitalization whereas patients with hospital-acquired urinary tract infection (UTI) had a decreased odds (OR 0.05; 95% CI 0.005,0.6). Sensitivity-analysis revealed that UTI occurred later, suggesting a non-causal association with survival. Brain herniation (OR 15.7; 95% CI 2.6,95.4) was associated with an unfavorable functional status (GOS 1-3). Conclusion: ICU-COMPL are very common after msTBI, have a considerable impact on short-term outcomes, and should be considered in the prognostication of these high-risk patients. Survival associations of time-dependent complications warrant cautious interpretation