Building Partnerships for Youth: An Online Youth Development Resource Center

Youth development practitioners have a great need for quality professional development resources. The Building Partnerships for Youth project is a partnership of National 4-H Council and The University of Arizona designed to provide research-based, practical, applied resources. To achieve the project goal, a Web site containing a menu of effective youth development programs, fact sheets, training opportunities, and other useful information has been developed. This collection of materials was designed to be useful to Extension educators, as well as health and education professionals

Development of a framework to improve rehabilitation and health outcome in major trauma patients and trauma systems.

PhDRehabilitation outcomes are an important measurement of trauma system effectiveness. However, currently there is no clinically applicable trauma rehabilitation score or framework available to evaluate health and rehabilitation needs after trauma. The World report on Disability (2011) recommended the application of the World Health Organisation International Classification of Function, Disability and Health (ICF) as a framework for all aspects of rehabilitation. A standardised language, based on coded categories would aid in international efforts to evaluate health and disability globally. The ICF framework has not been applied in trauma rehabilitation or trauma systems to date. The objectives were to investigate rehabilitation needs of trauma patients and evaluate to what extent the ICF can be used as a framework to capture and assess health and rehabilitation outcome of patients following traumatic injuries. Two cohort studies with 103 and 308 patients respectively demonstrated the utility of the Rehabilitation Complexity Scale (RCS) in an acute trauma setting. The RCS outperformed other acute measures and rehabilitation complexity correlated with length of stay and discharge destination. A systematic review of 34 articles confirmed that outcome measures frequently used in trauma outcome studies represent only six percent of health concepts contained in the ICF. A quantitative international on-line questionnaire with expert clinicians working in trauma (n=217), identified 121 ICF categories pertinent to rehabilitation and health outcome of trauma patients. Qualitative patient interviews (n=32) identified nearly double the amount of ICF categories (n=234) compared to clinicians. Combined analysis of qualitative and quantitative data presents 109 ICF categories important for rehabilitation and health outcome assessment of trauma patients, using the ICF as a framework. This thesis describes the need for improved outcome evaluation of trauma patients. It demonstrates the acceptability of the ICF language and framework amongst clinicians and suggests the application of the ICF as a framework for trauma service delivery and outcome assessment

Mindfulness and Indigenous Knowledge: Shared Narratives About Reconciliation and Decolonization in Teacher Education

This article discusses how shared narratives about mindfulness practices and Indigenous knowledge advance the reconciliation and the decolonization of Teacher Education curricula. We, the authors, experienced the beneficial impact of our personal mindfulness practices in nurturing and cultivating the harmonious balance of the physical, emotional, mental, and spiritual dimensions of the self. Within the context of the Truth and Reconciliation’s Calls to Action (2015), we observed the connections between mindfulness practices and local and place-based teachings of First Nation and Métis First Peoples in Northern British Columbia and in the Interior of British Columbia, Canada. Our experiences are informed by our personal mindfulness practices and from traditional and ancestral practices led by Elders and Knowledge Keepers. Our distinct narratives describe our learnings and our unlearnings as we participated in ceremony and listened and learnt from Elders and Knowledge Keepers of Syilx Okanagan Nation, Lheidli T’enneh First Nation, the Māori Nation, and the Métis Nation of Manitoba. By recognizing and respecting ancestral ways of doing and ways of being, we propose that contemplative practices like mindfulness can support a deeper understanding of how reconciliation and decolonizing are brought to the forefront of shared narratives in Teacher Education programs in the Okanagan and in Prince George