We Want to Play Too

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requires that persons with disabilities be integrated to the maximum extent possible, and that these persons cannot be excluded from participation. Intramural directors need to be proactive in this area. The benefits of intramural sports are vast, and they help many students become part of the college community. Forming an alliance with the Disability Services on campus, the first step, is the most vital aspect of making these programs successful. It is important to remember the difference between what can be done and what must be done. Even with the best of intentions, it is impossible to accommodate everyone, but modified games can be more inclusive. Program facilitators can use their imagination to modify rules to get even more students involved. Beginning a program like this can be a challenge, but the long-term impact is a program beneficial to persons with and without disabilities

Rethinking High School: Inaugural Graduations at New York City's New High Schools

Provides graduation and college acceptance rates at fourteen high schools established as part of New York City's 2002 new schools initiative. Reviews the new schools' goals and accomplishments in improving outcomes, such as offering advanced courses

How distressing is it to participate in medical research? A calibration study using an everyday events questionnaire

Objectives: To investigate how distressing participating in medical research is perceived to be, compared to everyday events. Design: Anonymous questionnaire. Setting: Scotland and New Zealand. Participants: One hundred members of the Scottish general public, 94 University of Auckland students, 22 New Zealand Ministry of Health ethics committee members. Main outcome measures: Distress ratings made on a 0-10 scale for everyday events and common medical research procedures. Results: Both general population and student samples generally rated the distress caused by participating in various medical research procedures as low or very low. Most research procedures were rated less than the distress caused by not being able to find a car park at a supermarket. In contrast, the ethics committee members rated the distress caused by most of the medical research procedures at a significantly higher level than the ratings of the student and general population samples. Ethics committee members overestimated the distress caused by interview or questionnaire assessments (M = 203.31%, SE = 11.42, 95% CI [179.79, 226.83]) more than medical testing for research (M = 158.06%, SE = 12.33, 95% CI [132.66, 183.46], p = 0.04) and everyday events (M = 133.10%, SE = 7.80, 95% CI [117.03, 149.16], p < 0.001). Conclusions: Common medical research procedures are not rated as particularly distressing by the general public, and ethics committees may be adopting an over-protective role when evaluating research applications that involve the use of questionnaire or survey methodology

Enhancing our knowledge of students' independent learning techniques via a qualitative approach.

This presentation seeks to outline the concepts of independent learning (IL) and its importance in the development of lifelong learning amongst a range of staff and students within a Scottish University context. By exploring staff and student perspectives, many fail to understand what independent learning is. As such, better guidance may be required to enhance IL, so that students are better prepared to meet goal 4 of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals

Review of alcohol and drug treatment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

This review provides an overview of treatments for problem alcohol and other drug (AOD) use for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes information on the available research and discusses core principles for providing treatment. The review outlines how effective mainstream treatment approaches can be adapted to be more suitable for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of being or worldview. It also highlights that services, such as those offered by Aboriginal community controlled health organisations are in a unique position to offer culturally secure treatment approaches. The barriers to accessing treatment are discussed as well as recommendations for future strategic directions in service delivery such as collaboration and two-way learning. This review is part of a suite of knowledge exchange products that includes a summary, video, and factsheet

PsychStart: a novel mentoring scheme for supporting and valuing medical students interested in psychiatry

We describe the establishment and evaluation of a career-based mentoring scheme (PsychStart) for medical students interested in psychiatry. Medical students reported multiple benefits of mentoring, including enhanced personal and professional development, increased career and clinical knowledge, and broadened exposure to psychiatry. The mentoring scheme was also found to promote and sustain interest in the specialty. Further evaluation is required to determine the long-term effects of mentoring and how this may compare with other undergraduate enrichment activities. We conclude that mentoring in psychiatry could offer innovative solutions for improving recruitment and retention, and for supporting and valuing medical students who demonstrate an early interest in the specialty

L’impact de l’évolution climatique à Hong Kong et dans le delta de la rivière des Perles

Cet article constitue une première tentative, sur la base des informations disponibles, de brosser un tableau des conséquences de l’évolution climatique dans la région du grand delta de la rivière des Perles (Hong Kong, Macao et le delta de la rivière des Perles). On compte parmi les nombreux effets du réchauffement climatique l’élévation du niveau de la mer qui représente un souci majeur pour cette région déjà extrêmement vulnérable du fait de sa position géographique (le sud du delta se situe entre 0,3 et 0,4 mètre au-dessous du niveau moyen de la mer) et de son urbanisation. Il faudrait mener des recherches plus poussées et construire des modèles pour que les autorités, la communauté d’affaires et la société civile puissent mieux saisir les effets du changement climatique dans cette partie du monde. Cet article montre que l’évolution du climat peut avoir de graves conséquences sur l’économie régionale — celle-ci représente près de 10% du PNB chinois — et présente quelques mesures que le gouvernement et la communauté d’affaires auront à étudier pour faire face à la situation à venir

The Impact of Climate Change in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta

This article represents a first attempt to pull together relevant materials with the aim of providing a broad-brush view of how climate change may affect Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) region (Hong Kong, Macau and the Pearl River Delta). Among the various consequences of climate change, rising sea levels are a matter of great concern for the GPRD region, which is made vulnerable both by its physical geography (the southern part of the delta lies between - 0.3m to 0.4m relative to mean sea level (MSL)) and its urban development. More in-depth research and modeling remain to be done so that the authorities, business and civil society can better understand climate impacts on the region, but this article shows that climate change could have a big impact on the regional economy, which represents nearly 10% of China’s GNP. The paper concludes with a discussion of the measures that government and businesses will need to consider in order to adapt to these future conditions

The Impact of Climate Change in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta

This article represents a first attempt to pull together relevant materials with the aim of providing a broad-brush view of how climate change may affect Greater Pearl River Delta (GPRD) region (Hong Kong, Macau and the Pearl River Delta). Among the various consequences of climate change, rising sea levels are a matter of great concern for the GPRD region, which is made vulnerable both by its physical geography (the southern part of the delta lies between - 0.3m to 0.4m relative to mean sea level (MSL)) and its urban development. More in-depth research and modeling remain to be done so that the authorities, business and civil society can better understand climate impacts on the region, but this article shows that climate change could have a big impact on the regional economy, which represents nearly 10% of China’s GNP. The paper concludes with a discussion of the measures that government and businesses will need to consider in order to adapt to these future conditions

Criterion validity of the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire and one- and two-item depression screens in young adolescents

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>The use of short screening questionnaires may be a promising option for identifying children at risk for depression in a community setting. The objective of this study was to assess the validity of the Short Mood and Feelings Questionnaire (SMFQ) and one- and two-item screening instruments for depressive disorders in a school-based sample of young adolescents.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Participants were 521 sixth-grade students attending public middle schools. Child and parent versions of the SMFQ were administered to evaluate the child's depressive symptoms. The presence of any depressive disorder during the previous month was assessed using the Diagnostic Interview Schedule for Children (DISC) as the criterion standard. First, we assessed the diagnostic accuracy of child, parent, and combined scores of the full 13-item SMFQ by calculating the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC), sensitivity and specificity. The same approach was then used to evaluate the accuracy of a two-item scale consisting of only depressed mood and anhedonia items, and a single depressed mood item.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>The combined child + parent SMFQ score showed the highest accuracy (AUC = 0.86). Diagnostic accuracy was lower for child (AUC = 0.73) and parent (AUC = 0.74) SMFQ versions. Corresponding versions of one- and two-item screens had lower AUC estimates, but the combined versions of the brief screens each still showed moderate accuracy. Furthermore, child and combined versions of the two-item screen demonstrated higher sensitivity (although lower specificity) than either the one-item screen or the full SMFQ.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Under conditions where parents accompany children to screening settings (e.g. primary care), use of a child + parent version of the SMFQ is recommended. However, when parents are not available, and the cost of a false positive result is minimal, then a one- or two-item screen may be useful for initial identification of at-risk youth.</p