Development of a sense of community in an instant town.

Currently, resource towns in British Columbia are facing changes and are dealing with the challenges of restructuring, diversification, and sustainability. In order to overcome these challenges, communities must demonstrate capacity: the ability to come together to overcome challenges and change. Community capacity depends on the development of social cohesion among other things. Social cohesion, in turn, is developed through interaction. However, interaction is structured by many factors including place and social characteristics, either of which can inhibit or encourage interaction. This presentation outlines work for my master\u27s thesis. Through a triangulated approach using focus groups and interviews, supplemented by GIS techniques, the research will identify the specific factors of place and identification that structure interaction and the development of a sense of community. With a better understanding of what encourages and prohibits interaction and the development of a sense of community, we can work to develop policies and plans that allow for the development of structures that encourage interaction and minimized those that inhibit it

Handover - Enabling Learning in Communication for Safety (HELiCS): a report on achievements at two hospital sites

The provision of health care is becoming increasingly complex and fragmented.1,2 As a result, to ensure continuity of care, the handover of clinical tasks is becoming more frequent and important. However, the general lack of clinical handover planning and training in handover communication creates unacceptable risks for patients.1 Not surprisingly, clinical handover has been identified as a major international policy and research priority

Resident-Led Physical Wellness Initiative Linked to Less Burnout for Emergency Physicians during COVID-19 Pandemic

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has taken a significant toll on societal, physical, and psychological health. Emergency physicians (EPs) are susceptible to burnout under ordinary circumstances and may be particularly vulnerable during the pandemic. To reduce pandemic-related burnout, we implemented a residency-led physical wellness initiative and evaluated the effect on burnout among EPs. Methods: In the spring of 2020, we invited all resident and attending EPs in our department to participate in a four-week physical wellness initiative as part of a prospective study. After completing or opting out of this wellness initiative, EPs responded to an online survey comprised of five sections: demographics, participation, opinion on wellness initiative, opinion on the impact of COVID-19, and the Maslach Burnout Index (MBI-HSS). We stratified respondents by initiative participation, described the characteristics of each group, and then compared the perceived impact of COVID-19 and the MBI-HSS results between the two groups. Results: Out of 110 eligible participants, 57 EPs completed the survey (51.8%). Thirty-five respondents completed the wellness initiative. Few (37.1%) documented their progress, though most worked with accountability partners (85.7%). Most enrollees enjoyed participation (Likert Score 3.2-5, CI 2.9-3.5) and would participate again (3.3, CI 3.0-3.6). The reported effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental wellbeing was lower for participants, although this was not significant (2.1, CI 1.5-2.1 vs 2.4, CI 2.0-2.7, p=0.312). On the MBI-HSS, participants had a lower emotional exhaustion score (1.4, 95% CI 0.9-1.8) than non-participants (2.2, 95%CI 1.8-2.6, p=0.005). Conclusion: Participation in a residency-led, physical wellness initiative was linked to lower emotional exhaustion for EPs during the COVID-19 pandemic

Delivering safe and effective test-result communication, management and follow-up : a mixed-methods study protocol

Introduction: The failure to follow-up pathology and medical imaging test results poses patient-safety risks which threaten the effectiveness, quality and safety of patient care. The objective of this project is to: (1) improve the effectiveness and safety of test-result management through the establishment of clear governance processes of communication, responsibility and accountability; (2) harness health information technology (IT) to inform and monitor test-result management; (3) enhance the contribution of consumers to the establishment of safe and effective test-result management systems. Methods and analysis: This convergent mixed-methods project triangulates three multistage studies at seven adult hospitals and one paediatric hospital in Australia. Study 1 adopts qualitative research approaches including semistructured interviews, focus groups and ethnographic observations to gain a better understanding of test-result communication and management practices in hospitals, and to identify patient-safety risks which require quality-improvement interventions. Study 2 analyses linked sets of routinely collected healthcare data to examine critical test-result thresholds and test-result notification processes. A controlled before-and-after study across three emergency departments will measure the impact of interventions (including the use of IT) developed to improve the safety and quality of test-result communication and management processes. Study 3 adopts a consumer-driven approach, including semistructured interviews, and the convening of consumer-reference groups and community forums. The qualitative data will identify mechanisms to enhance the role of consumers in test-management governance processes, and inform the direction of the research and the interpretation of findings. Ethics and dissemination: Ethical approval has been granted by the South Eastern Sydney Local Health District Human Research Ethics Committee and Macquarie University. Findings will be disseminated in academic, industry and consumer journals, newsletters and conferences

Abscess of adrenal gland caused by disseminated subacute Nocardia farcinica pneumonia. A case report and mini-review of the literature

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Infections caused by <it>Nocardia farcinica </it>are uncommon and show a great variety of clinical manifestations in immunocompetent and immunocompromised patients. Because of its unspecific symptoms and tendency to disseminate it may mimic the clinical symptoms and radiologic findings of a tumour disease and the diagnosis of nocardiosis can easily be missed, because there are no characteristic symptoms.</p> <p>Case presentation</p> <p>We present a case of an adrenal gland abscess caused by subacute disseminated <it>N. farcinica </it>pneumonia.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>An infection with <it>N. farcinica </it>is potentially lethal because of its tendency to disseminate -particularly in the brain- and its high resistance to antibiotics. Awareness of this differential diagnosis allows early and appropriate treatment to be administered.</p

Process to continuously prepare an aqueous mixture of ε-caprolactam and ε-caprolactam precursors

This continuous process for preparing an aqueous mixture of epsilon-caprolactam and 6-aminocaptoic acid and/or 6-aminocaproamide which involves as the reductive amination step, continuously contacting 5-formylvaleric acid or an alkyl 5-formylvalerate in water as solvent with hydrogen and an excess of ammonia in the presence of a ruthenium on carrier, as a catalyst, wherein the carrier is at least one of titanium oxide or zirconium oxide. The aqueous mixture can de used to prepare ε-caprolactam

Our Experience Adapting Team Based Learning (TBL) for Online Teaching: Our New Normal

In response to COVID-19, we rapidly transitioned our three-hour sessions (comprising lecture, tutorial, and practical components) for ‘Human Body 1’ to an interactive online format from 20S2. We decided to adapt a TBL approach as it lends itself to Zoom delivery in combination with other platforms, is associated with high levels of active student participation, and incorporates many assessment touchpoints – creating new opportunities for feedback and longitudinal performance monitoring1. Our approach involved flipping and chunking lecture content, supplemented by knowledge-check activities with automated feedback as pre-work. Weekly Zoom sessions started with an individual readiness assurance test (RAT) comprising 10 multiple-choice-questions; immediately followed by the same RAT, completed by student teams in separate breakout rooms – all via Blackboard. Student performance was quickly analysed, with individual and team results presented back to the cohort in a ‘clarification’ session (that focussed on poorly answered questions with explanations of the most correct response and exploration of misconceptions). Teams returned to breakout rooms to complete focused application tasks (FAT) before debriefing as a cohort. In our approach, the FAT varied between teams – with each requiring students to work through a case scenario or interpret complex data. Student performance is enhanced following peer-teaching and learning in our TBL. Online TBL has been well-received, with internal course evaluations improved since introduction – in our student’s voice, “I really enjoyed the pre-work… it [was] really helpful in consolidating knowledge. I also really enjoyed the i[ndividual]RAT and t[eam]RAT quizzes and discussing the trickier questions afterwards in class. It encouraged us to keep on top of the large workload.” (SEC-21S1) The additional results and feedback generated through the pre-work, RAT and FAT have provided new ways to see how performance is developing from week to week. Courses interested in adopting a flipped online format may benefit from using this approach