Academic Council Meeting Agenda and Minutes, November 26, 1984

Agenda and minutes from the Wright State University Academic Council Meeting held on November 26, 1984

How We Thrive: Black Clergywomen Experiencing Intersectionality and Influenced by the Strong Black Woman Schema

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the lived experiences of Black women in church leadership (e.g., pastors, clergywomen) who experienced intersectionality and were influenced by the Strong Black Woman (SBW) motif, specifically in the Black Church in the southern United States. Intersectionality and the SBW schema were the guiding theoretical frameworks in this study. With adherence to these guiding theories, the participants were asked to describe their experiences with intersectionality while influenced by SBW and to examine well-being as it pertained to their lives and ministerial calling. Despite the emergence of more women in ministry, the barriers these women faced were great. Their responses to intersectionality and the embodiment of the key tenets of SBW were crucial for efficacious leadership. The Positive Emotion, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, and Accomplishment (PERMA) model was utilized to measure the clergywomen’s well-being. Data collection included a 30-question semi-structured interview with each participant and a culminating focus group of participants to validate and refine themes developed from the interviews. Six themes and 15 sub-themes emerged from data analysis. The prevalent themes were contemporary experiences with intersectionality, responses to intersectionality, SBW influence, well-being, PERMA, and the How I Thrive mantra. The results from the study addressed the gaps in the extant literature: contemporary experiences of Black clergywomen with intersectionality, the influence of SBW, and their impact on maintaining a healthy well-being

Politicized Healing: Addressing the Impact of State-Sponsored Violence

From 1972 to 1991, the Chicago Police Department (CPD), particularly CPD Commander Jon Burge, systematically tortured over 120 predominately African-American men into false confessions for crimes that they did not commit, resulting in several decades of incarceration for many of these men.  After years of activism, in May 2015 the Chicago City Council offered an unprecedented response to oppressive and anti-black racism demonstrated by the Chicago Police Department by approving an ordinance to provide reparations to those harmed by racially-motivated law enforcement violence.  The Reparations Ordinance included the creation of a community center informed by the needs of survivors of police torture. This paper explores the concept of politicized healing as a method to address racialized trauma, providing a case study and discussing the impact of race-based police violence and key aspects of the model, including how this can be supported for individuals and communities impacted by other forms of state-sponsored violence and oppression.&nbsp

Politicized Healing: Addressing the Impact of State-Sponsored Violence

From 1972 to 1991, the Chicago Police Department (CPD), particularly CPD Commander Jon Burge, systematically tortured over 120 predominately African-American men into false confessions for crimes that they did not commit, resulting in several decades of incarceration for many of these men.  After years of activism, in May 2015 the Chicago City Council offered an unprecedented response to oppressive and anti-black racism demonstrated by the Chicago Police Department by approving an ordinance to provide reparations to those harmed by racially-motivated law enforcement violence.  The Reparations Ordinance included the creation of a community center informed by the needs of survivors of police torture. This paper explores the concept of politicized healing as a method to address racialized trauma, providing a case study and discussing the impact of race-based police violence and key aspects of the model, including how this can be supported for individuals and communities impacted by other forms of state-sponsored violence and oppression.&nbsp

Exploring Perceptions of Colorectal Cancer and Fecal Immunochemical Testing Among African Americans in a North Carolina Community

Introduction: African Americans have a lower colorectal cancer screening rate than whites and higher disease incidence and mortality. Despite wide acceptance of colonoscopy for accurate screening, increasing promotion of high-sensitivity stool test screening, such as the fecal immunochemical test (FIT), may narrow racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic disparities in screening. This study provides formative research data to develop an intervention to increase colorectal cancer screening among underinsured and uninsured African Americans in central North Carolina. Methods: We held 4 focus groups to explore knowledge, beliefs, and attitudes about colorectal cancer screening, particularly FIT. Participants (n = 28) were African American adults recruited from neighborhoods with high levels of poverty and unemployment. Constructs from the diffusion of innovation theory were used to develop the discussion guide. Results: In all groups, participants noted that lack of knowledge about colorectal cancer contributes to low screening use. Attitudes about FIT sorted into 4 categories of "innovation characteristics": relative advantage of FIT compared with no screening and with other screening tests; compatibility with personal beliefs and values; test complexity; and test trialability. A perceived barrier to FIT and other stool tests was risk of incurring costs for diagnostic follow-up. Conclusion: Community-based FIT screening interventions should include provider recommendation, patient education to correctly perform FIT, modified FIT design to address negative attitudes about stool tests, and assurance of affordable follow-up for positive FIT results

Do drivers with epilepsy have higher rates of motor vehicle accidents than those without epilepsy?

AbstractObjectiveWe sought to understand the magnitude of the risk that drivers with epilepsy (DWE) contribute to motor vehicle accidents (MVAs) compared to other drivers.MethodsWe performed an evidence-based, systematic review using the American Academy of Neurology (AAN) guideline methodology.ResultsContributory evidence consisted of six Class II studies and one Class III study. Two articles reported a trend toward a decreased rate of overall MVA rates for DWE when compared with the general population with a relative risk (RR) of 0.86 (95% CI: 0.65–1.14) (Class III) and a RR of 1.00 (95% CI: 0.95–1.06) (Class II); both studies used patient report to ascertain MVA rates. Three Class II studies reported either a trend toward or an increased risk of MVA rates for DWE when compared with the general population with a RR of 1.62 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.95–2.76), as ascertained by insurance, emergency department, and physician reporting databases, a RR of 1.73 (95% CI 1.58–1.90), as ascertained by police reports, and a RR of 7.01 (95% CI 2.18–26.13), as ascertained by casualty department visits. One Class II study showed that, compared to fatal crashes with DWE, fatal crashes were 26 times more likely to occur because of other medical conditions and 156 times more likely to occur because of alcohol abuse. Motor vehicle accident crashes due to seizures in DWE occurred in one out of every 2800 MVAs, as reported in another Class II study.ConclusionsThe evidence for the difference in MVA rates in DWE compared to the general population is inconsistent, and no conclusion can be made. Important methodological differences across the studies contribute to the imprecision. Future research should be performed using objective measures rather than self-reporting of MVAs by DWE and “miles driven” as the denominator to calculate MVA rates

Updated meta-review of evidence on support for carers

Objective To update a 2010 meta-review of systematic reviews of effective interventions to support carers of ill, disabled, or older adults. In this article, we report the most promising interventions based on the best available evidence. Methods Rapid meta-review of systematic reviews published from January 2009 to 2016. Results Sixty-one systematic reviews were included (27 high quality, 25 medium quality, and nine low quality). The quality of reviews has improved since the original review, but primary studies remain limited in quality and quantity. Fourteen high quality reviews focused on carers of people with dementia, four on carers of those with cancer, four on carers of people with stroke, three on carers of those at the end of life with various conditions, and two on carers of people with mental health problems. Multicomponent interventions featured prominently, emphasizing psychosocial or psychoeducational content, education and training. Improved outcomes for carers were reported for mental health, burden and stress, and wellbeing or quality of life. Negative effects were reported in reviews of respite care. As with earlier work, we found little robust evidence on the cost-effectiveness of reviewed interventions. Conclusions There is no ‘one size fits all’ intervention to support carers. There is potential for effective support in specific groups of carers, such as shared learning, cognitive reframing, meditation, and computer-delivered psychosocial support for carers of people with dementia. For carers of people with cancer, effective support may include psychosocial interventions, art therapy, and counselling. Carers of people with stroke may also benefit from counselling. More good quality, theory-based, primary research is needed. </jats:sec

Comment on "Local accumulation times for source, diffusion, and degradation models in two and three dimensions" [J. Chem. Phys. 138, 104121 (2013)]

In a recent paper, Gordon, Muratov, and Shvartsman studied a partial differential equation (PDE) model describing radially symmetric diffusion and degradation in two and three dimensions. They paid particular attention to the local accumulation time (LAT), also known in the literature as the mean action time, which is a spatially dependent timescale that can be used to provide an estimate of the time required for the transient solution to effectively reach steady state. They presented exact results for three-dimensional applications and gave approximate results for the two-dimensional analogue. Here we make two generalizations of Gordon, Muratov, and Shvartsman’s work: (i) we present an exact expression for the LAT in any dimension and (ii) we present an exact expression for the variance of the distribution. The variance provides useful information regarding the spread about the mean that is not captured by the LAT. We conclude by describing further extensions of the model that were not considered by Gordon,Muratov, and Shvartsman. We have found that exact expressions for the LAT can also be derived for these important extensions..