Lighten Up Iowa: An Interdisciplinary, Collaborative Health Promotion Campaign

In Iowa, obesity nearly doubled between 1990 (12.8%) and 2002 (22.9%). Rural areas, like Iowa, tend to have a higher prevalence of obesity and are difficult to reach with health promotion efforts. The Iowa Department of Public Health, Iowa Games, and Iowa State University Extension deliver Lighten Up Iowa, a friendly team competition promoting physical activity and fruit/vegetable consumption. In 2003, Lighten Up Iowa reached 1,400 teams (12,000 Iowans in 99 counties) that logged 2.6 million miles of physical activity and lost 23.5 tons of weight. Pre- and post-surveys indicate significant (p\u3c0.05) increases in physical activity and fruit/vegetable consumption

Local environmental knowledge and perspectives on change : a case study in the Tumut region of New South Wales

This thesis demonstrates the value of bringing together local environmental knowledge and perspectives on change with professional knowledge. Since the first pastoralists displaced Aboriginal land owners in the Tumut region, the country has been shaped by successive waves of occupation and land use. Each time a new land use industry was imposed on the country, the knowledge base of previous occupants was devalued, and the country once again managed without a knowledge of its history. I explore the characteristics of local environmental knowledge in order to understand how it may be tapped by new land managers. In doing so, I analyse the subjective nature of local people’s memories as well as the information resource which they contain. By drawing on local knowledge, and contextualising it with reference to scientific and historical sources, it is possible to construct a more detailed picture of how a particular region has changed over time. The environmental impact of various land uses can be better understood and the social impact also becomes clearer

Development and evaluation of an interactive multimedia clinical skills teaching program designed for the pediatric clerkship.

Background and Purpose: The physical examination section of a multimedia program developed to teach infant history and physical examination skills was evaluated. Methods: 71 students participated: one group viewed only the physical examination section (PX), one the history section (HX), one none of the program (CX). Physical examination skills were assessed by direct observation of medical students performing an abdominal exam and scored using a checklist at baseline, immediately after intervention and at the end of the pediatric clerkship. Results were analyzed using ANOVA with repeated measures. Results: Baseline scores were: PX 2.5; HX 2.8. The PX group scored significantly higher immediately post intervention at 6.8 compared to the HX group 3.1. At the end of the clerkship significant differences between the groups remained. Final group mean scores were: PX 5.5, HX 4.4 and CX 2.7. Conclusion: The program improved examination skills with attenuation over 6 weeks

A comparative study of menarche and menstruation knowledge and experiences of girls aged 16-19 years old in low-resource settings of the Philippines and the United Kingdom

It is known that menstruation is a challenge to schoolgirls that can affect both attendance and participation. This research seeks to understand the factors that affect the quality of the menstrual experience of schoolgirls so that more supportive policies can be designed. This was a mixed-methods study which recruited menstruators between the ages of 16 and 19 in the Philippines (a Low-and-Middle Income Country (LMIC)) and in the United Kingdom (UK) (a High-Income Country (HIC)) using Facebook Advertising. Respondents completed an on-line survey in Qualtrics. 11 Likert-style questions were used to produce a Menstrual Knowledge score and 14 Likert-style questions were used to produce a Menstrual Experiences score. Regression analysis looked for associations between the menstrual experience and demography. A small group of respondents from each country took part in an asynchronous epistolary Focus Group Discussion via social media. Qualitative data were imported into Nvivo for Thematic Analysis. 706 menstruators were recruited (Philippines n = 308 and UK n = 398). For the focus groups, n = 12 and n = 8 respectively. Using P<0.5, predictors of knowledge in the Philippines were perceived income, improved sanitation, a waste-collection service and state-schooling Predictors of experience were absolute income (food security) and improved sanitation. Predictors of knowledge in the UK were perceived income, urban setting and state-schooling. Predictors of experience were perceived income, urban setting and age. There was a significant difference between the Philippines and the UK in knowledge score but no difference between experience score (P<0.001). There was a significant difference between the two countries in how girls feel when they are menstruating (P<0.01). Girls in the UK felt more negative about menstruation than those in the Philippines. Girls in both countries frequently described suffering from dysmenorrhea which affected their participation. They also reported anxiety about leaking which affected their concentration. This study confirmed that access to menstrual products and adequate Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities is a fundamental requirement for girls to manage their menstruation at school. Limited access to resources in the Philippines affected girls’ menstrual experiences, and a few were forced to go home from school to deal with the bleeding. This study also revealed that despite UK schools providing products and a good standard of facilities, this alone did not improve girls’ experience of menstruation; girls in the UK did not rate their menstrual experience any better than those in the Philippines. Debilitating dysmenorrhea was very commonly experienced. In the Philippines, girls got support from their peers and their teachers and could leave the classroom temporarily to change or rest if necessary. In the UK, girls complained about school policies that did not let them out of the classroom. They routinely took painkillers, and some took the contraceptive pill, in order to be able to cope. The menstrual stigma requiring them to ‘put up and shut up’ led to anxiety and negative feelings around menstruation. These findings concur with what has been called ‘the Menstrual Mandate’ in HICs in which girls are expected to conceal their menstruation from others (Bobel, 2019). This research found that girls in LMIC need access to painkillers as well as pads and infrastructure to enable them to participate in school activities, but in both LMIC and HIC, policies that remove the menstrual stigma, educate about dysmenorrhea and menstrual disorders, and promote Menstrual Health more widely need to be developed. The results of the literature review into menstrual education interventions suggested that interactive interventions that promote discussion are the most effective for improving menstrual literacy

ADAPTATIONS ASSESSMENT ON THE IMPACTS OF FLOODING UNDER CURRENT CONDITION AND CLIMATE CHANGE SCENARIO, CASE STUDY: CENTINI VILLAGE, INDONESIA

Reducing community vulnerability to flooding is increasingly important given predicted intensive flood events in many parts of the world. We built a community vulnerability model to explore the effectiveness of a range of proactive and reactive adaptations to reduce community vulnerability to flood. The model consists of floods, victims, housings, responses, savings, expenditure and income sub models. We explore the robustness of adaptations under current conditions and under a range of future climate change scenarios. We present results of this model for a case study of Centini Village in Lamongan Municipality, Indonesia, which is highly vulnerable to the impacts of annual small-scale and infrequent extreme floods.  We compare 11 proactive adaptations using indicators of victims, damage/losses and recovery process to reflect the level of vulnerability. We find that reforestation and flood infrastructure redevelopment are the most effective proactive adaptations for minimising vulnerability to flood under current condition. Under climate change scenario, the floods are predicted to increase 17% on the average and 5% on the maximum measurements. The increasing floods result reforestation is the only effective adaptations in the future under climate change scenario

Les ateliers d’autoréparation du vélo et l’enseignement de la vélonomie

Une équipe internationale de chercheurs décrit comment s’enseigne la culture du vélo à l’échelle globale: par le développement d’un réseau d’ateliers où apprendre la mécanique, la récupération et aussi la contre-culture cycliste