Parents as partners in learning

Globally, teachers and school leaders are increasingly encouraging parents to become more directly involved in their children’s schooling and academic development. This study was designed to support the parents of students who experience difficulty with academic learning via a school-based Parent Mindset Program comprised of three parent engagement workshops delivered fortnightly over six weeks by a teacher. The Program was designed to support participants to practice growth mindset knowledge and skills at home with their child and receive feedback to support skill mastery. Cognitive tools were used to create the social process essential for learning by providing a point of reference and opportunities for parents to discuss, inquire, and problem-solve with other parents and the presenter. From the socio-cultural perspective, this study aimed to develop the capacity of parents as partners in learning to support their children during the time when they are not in the classroom and thus align the parents’ contributions with the supportive approach used in the school. An intrinsic case study research design enabled the development of a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of parental engagement in their child’s schooling. Three elements were found to have influenced the effectiveness of the parent engagement program’s capacity to increase parental self-efficacy to engage in their child’s schooling: demographic factors; participant motivation factors; and, the instructional design of the program

The Right to Health in Evidence-based Policymaking

The right to health is included in United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) number 3, “Good health and well-being”. This goal aims to ensure healthy life and to promote well-being for all, at all ages. The SDGs, which build on the Millennial Development Goals (MDGs), provide a significant expansion to the development agenda. Inclusive development is part and parcel of the SDGs. Evidence-based policymaking studies provide explanations of normative and legitimate expectations for policymakers, namely, to use scientific evidence and specific indicators in their policymaking process. The right to health, as constructed, in evidence-based policymaking discourse is in contention. This paper addresses the various types of meaning Indonesian policymakers attach to the right to health through their discourses in norms of health policy. This study provides an analysis of discourses, regulatory analysis, and historical narratives (based on analysis of health regulations and newspaper articles) pertaining to evidence-informed policy in the health sector in Indonesia from 2009-2017. Our findings elucidate how the right to health manifests in the processes of evidence-based policymaking. We do so by way of a two-pronged analysis, i) discourse analysis at the macro level in Indonesia about the right to health as a norm and ii) health policymaking at the micro level, in the Indonesian district of Gunungkidul,within the region of Yogyakarta

Institutional Design for Sustainable Urbanization in the Caribbean

Essentially, sustainable urbanization is a political choice. Following this proposition, this paper seeks to critically assess the policy-institutional framework that is established or being proposed to shape the urban agenda in the Caribbean. Locating the research activity within a sample of countries in the region, desk analysis of the policies and legislation corresponding to urbanization in these countries is undertaken, complemented by lesson-drawing from case studies of international experience to determine the efficacy of the region’s policy-institutional framework and the extent to which it mirrors international norms. Preliminary findings suggest that sustainable urbanization remains a concept in the Caribbean as policies and legislation either predate ideas of urban sustainability, or do not target sustainability challenges adequately. The paper is part of a larger research project on sustainable urbanization in the Caribbean and therefore is intended to initiate debate and further research towards production of policy relevant information in this area of study

Smallpox Then and Now

Smallpox has claimed millions of lives during its existence. Deaths from the disease far out numbered that of the bubonic plague, the Black Death of the Middle Ages, and the wars of the 20th century all combined. Survivors of the disease acquired immunity but suffered a variety of long-term afflictions, such as permanent scarring, disfiguration, and blindness (Tucker, 2001). Although smallpox was eventually eradicated from the wild, it left a long trail of sickness and deaths that afflicted people of every race, class and social status. Even as recently as 1967, the disease continued to leave a devastating impact on the world causing an estimated two million deaths (Tucker, 2001). After the declaration of freedom from smallpox occurred in 1980, the terror of the disease faded from our awareness (Tucker, 2001). While some would consider smallpox to be a disease of the past and long forgotten, such consideration would be premature.Master of Public Healt

Salesforce: A Library Management Solution

Library Management Systems are designed specifically for the needs of libraries; however, since not all libraries are exactly the same, they are still challenged when managing their unique collections. The goal of this project was to explore a Customer Relationship Management platform (CRM) as an alternative option for smaller libraries that struggle with issues like cost, maintenance, and custom processes within their traditional library management systems. The cloud-based software company, Salesforce®, was used as the CRM platform for this project and involved building a standard library environment using custom processes in a Salesforce database. The database was tested and evaluated by seven librarians for professional feedback and further improvements.Master of Science in Information Scienc

Are hygiene standards useful in assessing infection risk?

We monitored the surface level cleanliness of a five-bedded surgical intensive care unit (SICU) over a ten-week period in order to evaluate proposed hygiene standards.Ten environmental sites within SICU were sampled twice weekly along with collection of clinical and patient activity data. The standards designate aerobic colony counts (ACCs) >2.5cfu/cm2 from hand-touch sites and the presence of Staphylococcus aureus as hygiene failures. Nearly a quarter of 200 samples failed the standards, mostly from hand-touch sites on curtains, beds and medical equipment. The total number of fails each week was associated with bed occupancy (p=0.04), trending towards association with SICU-acquired infections (p=0.11). Environmental S.aureus was associated with the proportion of beds occupied (p = 0.02). Indistinguishable genotypes were found between patient and environmental staphylococci, with timescales supporting staphylococcal transmission in both directions. Hygiene standards based on microbial growth levels and the presence of S.aureus reflect patient activity and provide a means to risk manage infection. They also exposed a staphylococcal reservoir that could represent a more tangible risk to patients. Standards for surface level cleanliness deserve further evaluation

A multi-component evaluation framework of a state-wide preventive health program : My health for life

Issue Chronic disease is a growing problem affecting approximately half of all Australian adults. In response to growing calls for action on chronic disease, the My health for life program was created, aimed at improving the health of individuals at high risk of developing preventable chronic disease. The preventive health program is multi-modal, cross-culturally tailored and contains complex social marketing, community engagement, risk assessment and health promotion components. Therefore, a multi-component evaluation framework is essential to understand the effectiveness of the My health for life program. This brief report details the evaluation. Methods The evaluation design uses non-randomised, longitudinal analysis using repeated measures, observational, program goal-based and pretest-posttest design features to assess the program, its specific modalities and its program adaptations. To ensure timely and credible evaluation, different evaluative implementation frameworks and methods are considered. Quantitative and qualitative methods collect an array of program data at differing levels to assess the processes, outcomes and impacts of My health for life. Discussion The implemented evaluation framework has allowed measurement of: (i) process impacts including uptake, retention and attrition, participant satisfaction, fidelity and program stakeholder engagement and (ii) outcomes relating to individual participant level changes in health behaviours. So what? This evaluation is an example of an integrated evaluation approach in a large successful preventive health program. Findings from the evaluation will ultimately inform the applicability and transferability of the program and inform policy makers, stakeholders and other health professionals in preventive health practice

Geographic remoteness and socioeconomic disadvantage reduce the supportiveness of food and physical activity environments in Australia

Objective An analysis of food and physical activity environments in relation to socioeconomic disadvantage was conducted in 25 communities across Queensland, Australia. Methods Physical activity and food environments were assessed in 25 Queensland communities using The Systematic Pedestrian and Cycling Environmental Scan (SPACES) and the Nutrition Environment Measurement Survey (NEMS). Spearman's correlation tested the association between physical activity and food environments and degree of remoteness and socioeconomic disadvantage of each region. Results A significant negative association was observed between the supermarket food environment and degree of remoteness and socioeconomic disadvantage. All regions have a moderately supportive environment for physical activity. Food availability and price varied in supermarkets with more remote communities having less supportive food environments. Conclusions Areas with a high degree of remoteness and socioeconomic disadvantage were more likely to experience disadvantages in the physical activity, supermarket, and restaurant food environments than metropolitan areas and socioeconomically disadvantaged areas. Implications for public health Socioeconomic disadvantage and remoteness were associated with reduced supportiveness of the built environment hindering the ability of consumers to make healthy food and physical activity choices. Improving the food and physical activity environments in these areas may assist in reducing the health inequalities experienced by these communities

A qualitative investigation into the cultural master narrative for overcoming trauma and adversity in the United Kingdom.

esearch in the field of narrative psychology has found that redemption—a narrative sequence in which people recount emotionally negative experiences as having positive endings—is a useful mechanism for coping with adversity. Redemption has been viewed as a cultural master narrative in North America, providing individuals with a socially valued script for narrating challenging life experiences. Presently little research has examined the presence and function of the redemption narrative outside of North American contexts. The aim of this qualitative study, therefore, was to identify themes in U.K. individuals’ narratives of trauma and adversity to gain insight into the content of the master narrative for meaning-making in the U.K. Sixty-five participants (57 females, Mage = 21.97, SD = 7.24) with little to no experience of lifetime adversity were recruited into an online survey. Participants answered open-ended questions adopting the perspective of a survivor from a selected U.K. national tragedy, focusing on how they felt survivors could recover from trauma. We identified 2 themes in our thematic analysis that were relevant to recovery: recuperation and redemption. Recuperation was most commonly reported, it was described as a gradual lessening of symptoms over time and the ability to cope with the lasting emotional and physical scars. Our findings suggest that redemption is not necessarily the dominant cultural script in the U.K. for guiding recovery in the aftermath of trauma. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2020 APA, all rights reserved

Health action process approach : Promoting physical activity, and fruit and vegetable intake among Australian adults

Based on the health action process approach (HAPA) this study examined whether changes in social cognition constructs could predict change in physical activity and fruit and vegetable intake for adult participants in My health for life, an Australian health promotion behaviour change program. Variance-based structural equation modelling was used to analyse data obtained from Australian adult program participants (n = 167) at baseline (T1), week 14 (T2), week 26 (T2), and 6-month post-program (T4). Change scores were calculated for the social cognition constructs and behaviour. Changes in action self-efficacy and outcome expectancies positively predicted changes in intentions. Action self-efficacy changes also predicted changes in maintenance self-efficacy which, in turn, mediated the effect of action self-efficacy on recovery self-efficacy and planning. Planning was predicted by changes in intentions and maintenance self-efficacy. Findings support the use of the HAPA model in designing complex health behaviour change interventions to achieve sustained behaviour change