Building LGBT Nonprofit Leadership Talent: Thoughts and Suggestions for LGBT Organizations and Funders

Offers a model for supporting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender nonprofit leadership development: define strategic aims and recruit, manage, develop, and retain talent. Includes practical guidance and list of LGBT leadership development programs

The outcomes of single event multilevel surgery and physiotherapy in the walking spastic diplegic child with CP or HIV in a resource poor setting

A research dissertation submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of a Master of Science in Physiotherapy January 2016Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most commonly seen neurological disorder in children. The incidence of CP is two to four children per 1000 live births. With there being continuous advances in the medical field, the management of these children is continuously changing and evolving. The current preferred orthopaedic management of children with CP is single event multilevel surgery (SEMLS). Although SEMLS is well supported in the literature there is little evidence to show the outcomes of SEMLS in developing countries where resources are limited. Physiotherapy post SEMLS is less available in developing countries. There is little research showing whether the outcomes of SEMLS are still favourable with less physiotherapy intervention post surgery. There is a high prevalence of children who are infected with the Human Immunodefiency Virus (HIV) in South Africa. Many of these children have HIV Encephalopathy (HIVE) and as a result present with spastic diplegia. There is very little research investigating the appropriate management of these children. There is no research available comparing the management of these children to the management of children with spastic diplegic CP. The aim of this study was to determine the outcomes of SEMLS in children with spastic diplegia, either with CP or HIVE, Gross Motor Function Classification System (GMFCS) level two or three, who receive combined orthopaedic and physiotherapy management at Chris Hani Baragwanath Academic Hospital (CHBAH). Ten children with spastic diplegia were enrolled (six with CP, four with HIVE). All children underwent SEMLS at CHBAH and received therapy at a local clinic or hospital or a special needs school. Therapy consisted of predominantly a home-based exercise program. All children were followed up for a period of twelve months. The primary outcome measures were the Gross Motor Function Measure (GMFM), the Functional Mobility Scale (FMS) and the Edinburgh Visual Gait Score (EVGS). A total of sixty-seven procedures were performed with a mean of 6.7 procedures per child. From the baseline assessment there was an improvement in the EVGS of 6.8 at the six month follow-up and 6.4 at the one year follow-up assessment. There was a deterioration of 2.77% in the GMFM-66 scores at the six month assessment, with an improvement of 3.23% at the one year follow-up. The FMS also revealed an initial deterioration in function, with return to pre-operative function at the twelve month assessment. Changes in the EVGS for this study were not clinically significant. Changes in the GMFM-66 were found to be clinically significant. There was greater functional change post SEMLS in this study in comparison to ii previous studies. When comparing children with CP to those with HIVE the changes in the gait parameters, as measured by the EVGS, and those in function, as measured by the GMFM-66, were similar. Children who received therapy at the schools had better results when looking at the EVGS, whereas children receiving therapy at health care facilities had better results according to the GMFM-66. This study shows that SEMLS has similar outcomes in developing countries to those seen in developed countries. Children receiving therapy in different settings showed some differences with regards to improvement in function and gait parameters. This study also highlights the effectiveness of managing children with spastic diplegia due to HIVE similarly to children with spastic diplegic CP.MT201

Faculty Perceptions about Virtual World Technology: Affordances and Barriers to Adoption

Providing instruction using different instructional delivery methods allows the learner to absorb content in a way that fits the individual learner. Today’s students have grown up immersed in digital technology. However, many higher education faculty are still not speaking the same digital language as their students. The issue may be that the pedagogical and epistemological beliefs of faculty who are “digital immigrants” affect the teaching methods used in the higher education classroom today. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to explore design college faculty perceptions of the adoption of virtual world technology into the classroom. Diffusion and adoption theories, adoption models, and patterns of adoption provided a conceptual framework for this study. This mixed methods study collected data through a survey and post-survey interviews administered to faculty of 21 design colleges. The quantitative survey instrument included questions about the usage of technology, including virtual world technology, in the higher education classroom. A total of 309 faculty completed the survey. Descriptive statistics, including frequencies, means, and standard deviations were used in the analysis. A correlation analysis was performed to determine if there was a relationship between selected variables and the survey responses. Post-survey semi-structured interviews were conducted with 12 faculty participants who volunteered for the interviews after participating in the survey. In this study, I used the constant comparative open coding hybrid method for the interview analysis. The specific research question posed in this study was: What are the perceptions of design college faculty regarding the use of virtual world technology in their courses? Guiding questions included: (a) What are faculty perceptions about virtual world technology that potentially affect its adoption into the classroom? (b) What are faculty perceptions of the affordances of using virtual world technology in the classroom? (c) What are faculty perceptions of the challenges of using virtual world technology in the classroom? In general, the results of this study indicate that while higher education faculty perceive that virtual world technology has the potential to be a useful teaching tool in the classroom, the faculty also perceive that they do not have the essential software and hardware support from their colleges to adopt this type of technology as a teaching tool in their courses

Long-term condition management in adults with intellectual disability in primary care: a systematic review

Background: Adults with intellectual disabilities have higher morbidity and earlier mortality than the general population. Access to primary health care is lower, despite a higher prevalence of many long-term conditions. Aim: To synthesise the evidence for the management of long-term conditions in adults with intellectual disabilities and identify barriers and facilitators to management in primary care. Design & setting: Mixed-methods systematic review. Method: Seven electronic databases were searched to identify both quantitative and qualitative studies concerning identification and management of long-term conditions in adults with intellectual disability in primary care. Both the screening of titles, abstracts, and full texts, and the quality assessment were carried out in duplicate. Findings were combined in a narrative synthesis. Results: Fifty-two studies were identified. Adults with intellectual disabilities are less likely than the general population to receive screening and health promotion interventions. Annual health checks may improve screening, identification of health needs, and management of long-term conditions. Health checks have been implemented in various primary care contexts, but the long-term impact on outcomes has not been investigated. Qualitative findings highlighted barriers and facilitators to primary care access, communication, and disease management. Accounts of experiences of adults with intellectual disabilities reveal a dilemma between promoting self-care and ensuring access to services, while avoiding paternalistic care. Conclusion: Adults with intellectual disabilities face numerous barriers to managing long-term conditions. Reasonable adjustments, based on the experience of adults with intellectual disability, in addition to intervention such as health checks, may improve access and management, but longer-term evaluation of their effectiveness is required

A Study of Nontraditional Undergraduate Students at the University of Memphis.

This study examined nontraditional student engagement into the collegiate environment on the University of Memphis (U of M) campus, specifically services and programs in the University College. The sample surveyed included 4 nontraditional undergraduate students, 1 from each grade level, aged 25 years or older. The 4 nontraditional undergraduate study participants were admitted and enrolled at the U of M. Additionally, there was 1 alumnae member included in the study. The study employed the use of multiple forms of data collection including interviews, personal and focus group, journaling, life stories, and an online campus climate survey. In order to analyze the multiple forms of data received, data analyses were broken down into 3 chapters. Each chapter revealed findings that provided answers to the initial research question. Each chapter was then further divided into themes or categories that emerged from questions and interviews. Results of the research revealed that nontraditional students did not feel active engagement with the collegiate environment was a major component contributing to the success of their academic career. Research data indicated that nontraditional students because of their maturity level are at times disappointed with their traditional counterparts and faculty in classroom activities. Further, data analyzed support nontraditional student need for more communication from campus staff as well as development of separate tutoring services and offices for nontraditional students. Additionally, findings indicated that the institution should hire faculty and staff who understand nontraditional students\u27 learning styles and needs

Isoniazid preventive therapy for tuberculosis in South Africa: An assessment of the local evidence base

Worldwide, South Africa (SA) has the worst tuberculosis (TB) epidemic. In SA, there are > 6.1 million people living with HIV (PLWH) and the country now has the largest antiretroviral treatment programme with > 2 million people receiving combination therapy. While there has been a marked recent decline in HIV-associated deaths, > 50% of TB cases still continue to be diagnosed in PWLH. The current TB control strategy based on passive case finding, chemotherapy of childhood TB contacts and directly observed therapy has clearly failed to control endemic TB in SA. Two recent meta-analyses have shown a > 60% reduction in TB in HIV-infected adults after isoniazid preventive therapy (IPT). SA has implemented the World Health Organization policy and IPT is now recommended for HIV-positive people for up to 36 months. Originally, there was only one SA study included in the evidence base supporting this policy, but subsequently four randomised controlled trials have been conducted in SA populations. These studies, together with local observational studies, are the subject of this local, evidence-based review