Incorporating Service Learners in Community Engaged Research: Experiential Application of Social Science Perspectives and Research Methods

Community engaged scholarship and service learning pedagogy are increasing trends in higher education (Reardon, 1998; Fitzgerald et al., 2012; Campus Compact, 2013a; Fuller, 2013) and yield synergistic value to the three-pronged mission of higher education of teaching, service and research (Boyer, 1990; Furco, 2010; Stanton, 2012; Fitzgerald et al., 2012; CCEC, 2013). Engaged social science faculty offer meaningful contributions to the community and their work serves to enhance university-community partnerships (Stanton, 2007; Furco, 2010; Klein et al., 2012). Students participating in service learning in these fields can “acquire first-hand knowledge” as well as develop social science skills and perspectives through structured interaction with the community (NCSS, 2007, p. 1). While ample literature presents student outcomes in service learning, few studies specifically address student outcomes related to participation in community engaged research (Reardon, 1994; Schaffer and Peterson, 1998). This paper presents student outcomes and perceptions from a service learning project across two social science courses where undergraduate students participated in community engaged research. Our findings reveal that students across both courses effectively applied course themes to the service learning research project. The experience is of high value to students in both courses, the community, and faculty. Evidence presented here of students’ transformative experiences in service learning can inform future efforts in higher education to bridge faculty research with innovative pedagogy and meaningful community collaboration

Validation of the AUDIT-C in adults seeking help with their drinking online

Abstract Background The abbreviated Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test for Consumption (AUDIT-C) is rapidly becoming the alcohol screening tool of choice for busy practitioners in clinical settings and by researchers keen to limit assessment burden and reactivity. Cut-off scores for detecting drinking above recommended limits vary by population, setting, country and potentially format. This validation study aimed to determine AUDIT-C thresholds that indicated risky drinking among a population of people seeking help over the Internet. Method The data in this study were collected in the pilot phase of the Down Your Drink trial, which recruited people seeking help over the Internet and randomised them to a web-based intervention or an information-only website. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated for AUDIT-C scores, relative to weekly consumption that indicated drinking above limits and higher risk drinking. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were created to assess the performance of different cut-off scores on the AUDIT-C for men and women. Past week alcohol consumption was used as the reference-standard and was collected via the TOT-AL, a validated online measure of past week drinking. Results AUDIT-C scores were obtained from 3720 adults (2053 female and 1667 male) searching the internet for help with drinking, mostly from the UK. The area under the ROC curve for risky drinking was 0.84 (95% CI 0.80, 0.87) (female) and 0.80 (95% CI 0.76, 0.84) (male). AUDIT-C cut-off scores for detecting risky drinking that maximise the sum of sensitivity and specificity were ≥8 for women and ≥8 for men; whereas those identifying the highest proportion of correctly classified individuals were ≥4 for women and ≥5 for men. AUDIT-C cut-off scores for detecting higher risk drinking were also calculated. Conclusions AUDIT-C cut-off scores for identifying alcohol consumption above weekly limits in this largely UK based study population were substantially higher than those reported in other validation studies. Researchers and practitioners should select AUDIT-C cut-off scores according to the purpose of identifying risky drinkers and hence the relative importance of sensitivity and/or specificity

Validation of the AUDIT-C in adults seeking help with their drinking online.

BACKGROUND: The abbreviated Alcohol Use Disorder Identification Test for Consumption (AUDIT-C) is rapidly becoming the alcohol screening tool of choice for busy practitioners in clinical settings and by researchers keen to limit assessment burden and reactivity. Cut-off scores for detecting drinking above recommended limits vary by population, setting, country and potentially format. This validation study aimed to determine AUDIT-C thresholds that indicated risky drinking among a population of people seeking help over the Internet. METHOD: The data in this study were collected in the pilot phase of the Down Your Drink trial, which recruited people seeking help over the Internet and randomised them to a web-based intervention or an information-only website. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive and negative likelihood ratios were calculated for AUDIT-C scores, relative to weekly consumption that indicated drinking above limits and higher risk drinking. Receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curves were created to assess the performance of different cut-off scores on the AUDIT-C for men and women. Past week alcohol consumption was used as the reference-standard and was collected via the TOT-AL, a validated online measure of past week drinking. RESULTS: AUDIT-C scores were obtained from 3720 adults (2053 female and 1667 male) searching the internet for help with drinking, mostly from the UK. The area under the ROC curve for risky drinking was 0.84 (95% CI 0.80, 0.87) (female) and 0.80 (95% CI 0.76, 0.84) (male). AUDIT-C cut-off scores for detecting risky drinking that maximise the sum of sensitivity and specificity were ≥8 for women and ≥8 for men; whereas those identifying the highest proportion of correctly classified individuals were ≥4 for women and ≥5 for men. AUDIT-C cut-off scores for detecting higher risk drinking were also calculated. CONCLUSIONS: AUDIT-C cut-off scores for identifying alcohol consumption above weekly limits in this largely UK based study population were substantially higher than those reported in other validation studies. Researchers and practitioners should select AUDIT-C cut-off scores according to the purpose of identifying risky drinkers and hence the relative importance of sensitivity and/or specificity

Older UK sheltered housing tenants’ perceptions of wellbeing and their usage of hospital services

The aim of this study was to examine sheltered housing tenants’ views of health and wellbeing, the strategies they adopted to support their wellbeing and their use of health and social care services through a Health Needs Assessment. Sheltered housing in the UK is a form of service-integrated housing for people, predominantly over 60. The study used a parallel, three-strand mixed method approach to encompass the tenants’ perceptions of health and wellbeing (n=96 participants), analysis of the service’s health and wellbeing database and analysis of emergency and elective hospital admissions (n= 978 tenant data sets for the period January to December 2012). Tenants’ perceptions of wellbeing were seen to reinforce much of the previous work on the subject with strategies required to sustain social, community, physical, economic, environmental, leisure, emotional and spiritual dimensions. Of the tenants’ self-reported chronic conditions, arthritis, heart conditions and breathing problems were identified as their most common health concerns. Hospital admission data indicated that 43% of the tenant population was admitted to hospital (886 admissions) with 53% emergency and 47% elective admissions. The potential cost of emergency as opposed to elective admissions was substantial. The mean length of stay for emergency admissions was 8.2 days (median 3.0 days). While elective hospital admission had a mean length of stay of 1.0 day (median 0.0 days). These results suggest the need for multi-professional health, social care and housing services interventions to facilitate sheltered housing tenants’ aspirations and support their strategies to live well and independently in their own homes. Equally there is a need to increase tenants’ awareness of health conditions and their management; the importance of services which offer facilitation, resources and support and the key role played by prevention and reablement

Approaches to integrated housing, health and social care services: case studies from North Tyneside Council and Northumbria Healthcare

The Care Act 2014 places a duty on local authorities to integrate services, including housing, where this could improve wellbeing by preventing, reducing and/or delaying care needs (LGA 2015). Despite calls for greater collaborative working between housing and health professionals, there are limited examples of live projects taking an integrated approach to service delivery. This case study report presents three case studies of innovative approaches to integrated working across housing, health and adult social care from North Tyneside Council and Northumbria Healthcare Foundation Trust. The case studies highlight the relevance of understanding access processes within different services, the role of workforce development in aligning referral and access pathways, targeted and more cost-effective health intervention delivery via housing services, and the potential for achieving health outcomes through housing improvement. Understanding of these issues informed the approach that was developed for the co-ordination of services and departments to work together across organization and sector boundaries

Experiences of learning Emotion-Focused Therapy - a qualitative interview study

Training in Emotion-Focused Therapy (EFT) is a multifaceted learning process that many trainees find to be challenging. In order to develop a fuller understanding of the process of learning EFT, we carried out a qualitative interview study focused on practicing psychotherapists who had completed at least the four-day level one EFT training. Transcripts of twelve semi-structured interviews focused on facilitative factors and challenges in learning EFT were analysed using the descriptive-interpretive method (Elliott & Timulak, 2005) to identify the main learning experiences and themes. Revealing a continuum driven by therapist motivation, our results depict learning EFT as a synthesis of personal and professional growth. The experiential activity of engaging with the many aspects of EFT training promotes a learning process that spans five broad domains of Personal Motivation for Learning & Development, Experiences of Formal EFT Training, Informal Learning Activities, and Learning & Development via both Supervision and Professional Practice. Grounded in the search for meaningful and fruitful practice, and generating a deep and sustained commitment, EFT training is an immersive process fuelled by experiencing the effectiveness of the approach. This study maps the complexity of the modality, its learning pathways and the overall experience of EFT in action. In addition, we summarize steps that can be taken to enhance formal EFT training. Whilst participants highlighted its emotionally demanding complexity, dedication and enthusiasm for this model of therapy remained unabated due to 'in practice' observable effects and enhanced understanding of the therapeutic process