Industry‐Dominated Science Advisory Boards Are Perceived To Be Legitimate…But Only When They Recommend More Stringent Risk Management Policies

In 2017, the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) was criticized for two controversial directives that restricted the eligibility of academic scientists to serve on the agency’s key science advisory boards (SABs). The EPA portrayed these directives as necessary to ensure the integrity of the SAB. Critics portrayed them as a tactic by the agency to advance a more industry‐friendly deregulatory agenda. With this backdrop, this research examined board composition and its effect on the perceived legitimacy of risk management recommendations by the SAB. In an experiment, we presented participants with hypothetical EPA SABs composed of different proportions of academic and industry scientists. We then asked participants to rate their satisfaction with, and the legitimacy of, these boards in light of their decisions in scenarios based on actual EPA SAB deliberations. Participants perceived higher levels of satisfaction and legitimacy when SABs made more stringent risk management recommendations. While SABs dominated by industry scientists were perceived to be more strongly motivated to protect business interests, we found no effect of board composition on perceptions of satisfaction and legitimacy. These results are consistent with prior research on decision quality that suggests people use normative outcomes as a heuristic for assessing the quality of deliberations. Moreover, these results suggest that members of the public are supportive of federal SABs regardless of their composition, but only if they take actions that are consistent with normative expectations.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163630/2/risa13540.pdfhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/163630/1/risa13540_am.pd

Investigating primary preservice teachers’ ultraviolet radiation awareness and perceived ability to teach sun safety

Issue addressed Sun protection practices in Australian primary schools remain inconsistent. Therefore, this study investigates primary PSTs sun protective sun behaviours, ultraviolet (UV) radiation awareness and perceived ability to teach sun safety. Methods A convenience sample of undergraduate PSTs (N = 275; mean age = 23.13 years) enrolled at one Western Australian university completed an online survey. Descriptive analyses provided features of the data. Factors associated with sun protection behaviours and perceived knowledge and skill to teach sun safety were explored using multivariable logistic regression models. Results Lesser than 10% of participants reported using sun protective measures daily (midday shade use: 6.5%; sunscreen: 7.6%; hat: 4.4%). Only 56.3% reported they understand the UV index, with 68.0% rarely/never using it to aid sun protection. Under half the participants reported they felt they had the knowledge (38.5%) or skills (40%) to effectively teach sun safety in primary schools. Regression analysis revealed gender, undergraduate, year and skin sensitivity were not predictors of UV index use (P \u3e .05) or perceived knowledge of sun safety (P \u3e .05). Skin sensitivity was the strongest predictor for shade usage (P = .02), hat usage (P = .05) and perceived skill to teach sun safety (P = .02). Conclusions Survey data indicate UV radiation is inconsistently understood by PSTs. Many felt that they did not have the required knowledge or skill to teach sun safety effectively. So what? Improving PSTs UV radiation knowledge while at university is a potential opportunity to improve sun safety delivery in primary schools. A targeted intervention for PSTs is warrante

Summary of Major Findings: Learn and Serve America, Higher Education

This report provides an overview of results from the first year evaluation of Learn and Serve America, Higher Education (LSAHE), an initiative of the Corporation for National Service (CNS). The evaluation assessed the impacts of LSAHE on communities, students, and institutions in fiscal year 1995

How can we better support families living with cardiovascular disease and depression?

Published in accordance with the Publisher's Open Access policyPurpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss the role of psychosocial treatments to support families living with cardiovascular disease (CVD) and depression. The paper highlights that depression in people with CVD is a predictor of non-adherence to both medicines and cardiovascular rehabilitation programmes. The authors believe there is a clinical need to develop a programme of care to support the whole family to adhere to cardiovascular rehabilitation programmes. Design/methodology/approach – A team of expert cardiovascular nurses, mental health nurses (MHN) and cardiologist clinical opinions and experiences. These opinions and experiences were supplemented by literature using MEDLINE as the primary database for papers published between December 2000 and December 2013. Findings – People with CVD who become depressed are more likely to stop taking their medicine and stop working with their health care worker. Most people with heart and mood problems live with their families. Health workers could have a role in supporting families living with heart and mood problems to their care and treatment. The paper has highlighted the importance of working with families living with heart and mood problems to help them to stick with care and treatment. Originality/value – Most people with heart and mood problems live with their families. The paper has highlighted the importance of working with families living with heart and mood problems to help them to persevere with care and treatment. MHN may have a role, though consideration should also be given to exploring the role of other health care workers and members of the community. As the population ages, clinicians and communities will need to consider the impact of depression on adherence when working with families living with CVD and depression

Gendered violence and sexualized representations in video games: (Lack of) effect on gender-related attitudes

This research explored how gender portrayals in video games affect gender-related attitudes. Two hundred participants from the United Kingdom and Malaysia participated across three experiments, where the appearance and behaviour of video game characters were manipulated with regard to target (enemy) gender (Study 1), sexually explicit attire (Study 2) and level of character agency (Study 3). We found minimal evidence that exposure to gender-stereotyped content resulted in differential gender-related attitudes (implicit associations, hostile and benevolent sexism, or rape myth acceptance). However, Study 1 findings showed that individuals who played a first-person shooter with male enemies showed lower endorsement of some (benevolent) sexist attitudes (cf. control) and showed difference in game behaviour (cf. female enemies). Together, our results suggest that short-term exposure to video games containing female characters (sexualised, passive, or otherwise) does not consistently lead to the endorsement of negative gender attitudes

Hearing Aid Patients in Private Practice and Public Health (Veterans Affairs) Clinics: Are They Different?

Objective: In hearing aid research, it is commonplace to combine data across subjects whose hearing aids were provided in different service delivery models. There is reason to question whether these types of patients are always similar enough to justify this practice. To explore this matter, this investigation evaluated similarities and differences in self-report data obtained from hearing aid patients derived from public health (Veterans Affairs, VA) and private practice (PP) settings. Design: The study was a multisite, cross-sectional survey in which 230 hearing aid patients from VA and PP audiology clinic settings provided self-report data on a collection of questionnaires both before and after the hearing aid fitting. Subjects were all older adults with mild to moderately severe hearing loss. About half of them had previous experience wearing hearing aids. All subjects were fitted with wide-dynamic-range-compression instruments and received similar treatment protocols. Results: Numerous statistically significant differences were observed between the VA and PP subject groups. Before the fitting, VA patients reported higher expectations from the hearing aids and more severe unaided problems compared with PP patients with similar audiograms. Three wks after the fitting, VA patients reported more satisfaction with their hearing aids. On some measures VA patients reported more benefit, but different measures of benefit did not give completely consistent results. Both groups reported using the hearing aids an average of approximately 8 hrs per day. VA patients reported age-normal physical and mental health, but PP patients tended to report better than typical health for their age group. Conclusions: These data indicate that hearing aid patients seen in the VA public health hearing services are systematically different in self-report domains from those seen in private practice services. It is therefore risky to casually combine data from these two types of subjects or to generalize research results from one group to the other. Further, compared with PP patients, VA patients consistently reported more favorable hearing aid fitting outcomes. Additional study is indicated to explore the determinants of this result and its generalizability to other public health service delivery systems such as those in other countries. Moreover, efforts should be made to assess the potential for transferring positive elements from the VA system to the PP service delivery system, if possible. (Ear & Hearing 2005;26;513-528) It is arguable that audiology in the United States had its origins in the programs designed to provide rehabilitation for veterans who had sustained hearing damage as a result of military service in World War II. One of the major components of those programs was provision of amplification and counseling about its use. Since that time, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has been a major supporter of research oriented toward the acquisition of scientific and clinical knowledge about provision of hearing aids for adults. A large volume of literature has accumulated describing the results of experiments that have featured hearing-impaired veterans as subjects. These patients receive services in a public health system in which public funds are used to provide services to improve or protect the health of veterans. At least two other entities have supported and produced research exploring hearing aids and fitting methods: hearing aid manufacturers and academic institutions such as universities and the National Institutes of Health. Many of the subjects serving in these studies were recruited from sources that would not be classified as public health services, such as free-standing dispensing practices or university-based dispensing clinics. In this article, patients seen in free-standing dispensing practices are classified as receiving services in a private practice (PP) system. University-based clinics might differ from freestanding dispensaries along several dimensions. a Some university-based clinics operate in a way that is similar to a private practice, whereas others do not follow this model. The VA public health service delivery setting is different in several key respects from most PP service delivery settings. The VA clinic is usually lo

Impact of COVID-19 on lifestyle and mental wellbeing in a drought-affected rural Australian population

INTRODUCTION: The SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic has caused unprecedented social and economic disruption, accompanied by the enactment of a multitude of public health measures to restrain disease transmission. These public health and social measures have had a considerable impact on lifestyle and mental wellbeing, which has been well studied with metropolitan populations. However, limited literature concerning such effects on a selectively rural population is presently available. Additionally, the use of a standardised scoring system for lifestyle may be valuable for an overall assessment of lifestyle that may be incorporated into clinical practice. METHODS: This study examined the associations between psychological distress and changes in SNAPS health behaviours (smoking, nutrition, alcohol, physical activity, sleep) since the onset of COVID-19 in Australia. A cross-sectional anonymous survey was distributed online to adults in the Western New South Wales Primary Health Network in August 2020 and included measures of psychological distress, income, disposition and lifestyle factors during the pandemic as well as changes to lifestyle due to COVID-19. A novel Global Lifestyle Score (GLS) was generated as a holistic assessment of lifestyle across multiple domains. RESULTS: The survey was completed by 304 individuals (modal age group 45-54 years, 86.8% female). High distress on the Kessler-5 scale was present in over one-third of participants (n=95, 33.7%). Detrimental change was reported for sleep (22.7%), nutrition (14.5%), alcohol (16.7%), physical exercise (34.0%) and smoking (24.7%) since the onset of the pandemic. Changes in sleep, nutrition, physical activity and smoking were associated with distress. Participants with a poor lifestyle (GLS) during the pandemic were significantly more distressed. Perceived COVID-19 impact was associated with high distress, drought impact and loss of income. Participants who reported negative impact from both COVID-19 and drought were significantly more distressed than those reporting a negative impact from drought alone or neither event. CONCLUSION: High rates of distress among rural Australians during the COVID-19 pandemic was linked to low GLS, worsening lifestyles and loss of income. Healthy lifestyle strategies should be considered by health professionals for the management of crisis-related distress. Further research may explore the impact of COVID-19 on a larger study population with a greater proportion of male participants and to examine the effect of modifying lifestyle factors in reducing distress in the context of a stressor such as this pandemic

Targeted Teacher Education to Improve Primary Preservice Teachers’ Knowledge and Understanding of UV and Effective Sun Protection Measures for Children

Teachers are responsible for children at school during peak ultraviolet (UV) times of the day. It is paramount that teachers have knowledge and understanding of UV to effectively protect themselves and their students. The aim of this pilot study was to investigate the effect of a short intervention on preservice teachers’ sun protective behaviours, knowledge and perceived skill to teach sun safety. Participants (n =161; median age=20 years) attended a 45-minute preservice teacher sun safety intervention and completed pre- and post-test surveys. Post-intervention, most participants indicated they felt: i) more informed about the dangers of UV and risks of developing skin cancer (93.3%); ii) more knowledgeable about the importance of sun protection (92%); and iii) more skilled to teach sun safety (87.4%). Our findings indicate that the targeted preservice teacher sun safety education intervention improved understandings of UV, effective sun-protective practices, and their perceived skills to teach sun safety

Evaluation of Learn and Serve America, Higher Education: First Year Report, Volume I

This report presents evaluation results for the first year of the Learn and Serve America, Higher Education (LSAHE) initiative, sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNS). It addresses impacts of LSAHE on communities, higher education institutions, and service providers