Education and Learning Opportunities (NVP 2014, Report 3)

With support and collaboration from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the America Healing initiative,  researchers at the University of Michigan are leading the National Voices Project (NVP) from 2011-2016. The central goals of the NVP are to examine the sourcesof racial/ethnic inequity and other disparitiesfor children in the United States today and identify interventions that address disparities effectively.The NVP offers an unprecedented perspective on community-level opportunities for children throughout the country, in the domains of health and nutrition, education and learning, and economic security – through the eyes of adults whose occupations and volunteer work affect such opportunities. In other words, the NVP reflects the perceptions of individuals throughout the United States who are in a position to improve children's opportunities inthe future. We generally use the word "children" throughout the report to describe children from age 0-18 years, unless otherwise noted.Previous reports for NVP 2014 focused chiefly on respondent characteristics and findings regarding health,  healthcare, and nutrition. This report for NVP 2014 will center on findings related to children's education and learning

Health, Nutrition and Healthcare Availability (Survey 2, Report 2)

With support and collaboration from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the America Healing initiative, researchers at the University of Michigan are leading the National Voices Project (NVP) from 2011-2015. The central goals of the NVP are to examine the sources of racial/ethnic inequity and other disparities for children in the United States today, identify interventions that address disparities effectively, and inform the public dialogue about racial healing and racial equality. The NVP offers a fresh perspective on community-level opportunities for children throughout the country, in the domains of health and nutrition, education, and economic security -- through the eyes of adults whose work and volunteer efforts affect such opportunities. In other words, the NVP reflects the perceptions of individuals throughout the United States who are in a position to improve children's opportunities in the future. The questionnaire for NVP Survey 2 was developed by the National Voices Project team at the University of Michigan, with input from WKKF collaborators. We examined how individuals who work or volunteer with children view opportunities for education, health and healthcare, and economic well-being related to children and adolescents. Many of the questions were identical to questions fielded for NVP Survey 1 in 2011, to facilitate comparisons of responses across these different samples and over time. New questions in NVP Survey 2 centered on respondents' perceptions of segregation and inequities in the communities they know best, and on respondents' awareness about efforts to bridge racial/ethnic inequities in those communities

Education and Learning Opportunities (Survey 2, Report 3)

With support and collaboration from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the America Healing initiative, researchers at the University of Michigan are leading the National Voices Project (NVP) from 2011-2016. The central goals of the NVP are to examine the sources of racial/ethnic inequity and other disparities for children in the United States today, identify interventions that address disparities effectively, and inform the public dialogue about racial healing and racial equality.The NVP offers a fresh perspective on community-level opportunities for children throughout the country, in the domains of health and nutrition, education, and economic security – through the eyes of adults whose work and volunteer efforts affect such opportunities. In other words, the NVP reflects the perceptions of individuals throughout the United States who are in a position to improve children?s opportunities in the future.NVP Survey 1 was conducted in November-December 2011. NVP Survey 2 was fielded in August-September 2012. NVP Survey 2 differed from NVP Survey 1 in two key respects: 1) NVP Survey 2 included an oversample in communities included in the "Place Matters" initiative led by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a fellow grantee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The oversample included sufficient numbers of responses to permit the NVP team to analyze differences across 6 specific "Place Matters" counties, and 2) Questions were asked in greater depth about efforts at community levels about bridging efforts to address racial/ethnic inequities.

A comparison of the initial orthotic effects of functional electrical stimulation and ankle-foot orthoses on the speed and oxygen cost of gait in multiple sclerosis

Foot drop affects walking in people with multiple sclerosis (pwMS). This study compares the initial orthotic effects of two treatments for foot drop: ankle-foot orthoses (AFO) and functional electrical stimulation (FES), on the speed and oxygen cost of walking in MS. Method and materials: Seventy-eight pwMS were randomised to receive AFO or FES (ODFS PACE (OML, Salisbury, UK)). Participants completed the 25-ft walk test (25ftWT) and 5-min self-selected walk test (5minSSWT), from which oxygen cost was determined, with and without their device. Between-, within- and sub-group analyses (based on baseline walking speed of <0.8 m/s (slow) or ≥0.8 m/s (fast)) were undertaken. Results: No significant differences between baseline measures were observed. The AFO group walked significantly slower than the FES group (5minSSWT, p = 0.037, 0.11 m/s). The AFO group walked significantly slower with than without AFO (25ftWT, p = 0.037), particularly in the fast-walking group ( p = 0.011). The slow-walking FES group walked significantly faster with FES than without (25ftWT; p = 0.029, 5minSSWT; p = 0.037). There were no differences in the fast-walking FES group or in the oxygen cost for either device. Conclusion: AFO reduced walking speed, particularly in fast walkers. FES increased walking speed in slow, but not fast walkers

Opportunities and Barriers Related to Income (Survey 2, Report 4)

Led by researchers at the University of Michigan, the National Voices Project is an effort to bring the perspectives of thousands of people in communities across the United States to the national dialogue about opportunities and barriers for children related to race/ethnicity. The National Voices Project conducts major national surveys twice each yearamong adults who work and volunteer on behalf of children. These surveys focus on racial/ethnic disparities at the community level that affect children?s health, education, and economic security.NVP Survey 1 was conducted in November-December 2011. NVP Survey 2 was fielded in August-September 2012.The final eligible sample for NVP Survey 2 included 2,311 adults from 48 states and D.C. NVP Survey 2 differed from NVP Survey 1 in two key respects: 1) NVP Survey 2 included an oversample in communities included in the "Place Matters" initiative led by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a fellow grantee of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. The oversample included sufficient numbers of responses to permit the NVP team to analyze differences across 6 specific "Place Matters" counties, and 2) Questions were asked in greater depth about efforts at community levels about bridging efforts to address racial/ethnic inequities.

Education and Learning Opportunities (NVP 2013, Report 3)

With support and collaboration from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the America Healing initiative,  researchers at the University of Michigan are leading the National Voices Project (NVP) from 2011-2016. The central goals of the NVP are to examine the sources of racial/ethnic inequity and other disparities for children in the United States today and identify interventions that address disparities effectively.The NVP offers an unprecedented perspective on community-level opportunities for children throughout the country, in the domains of health and nutrition, education and learning, and economic security – through the eyes of adults whose occupations and volunteer work affect such opportunities. In other words, the NVP reflects the perceptions of individuals throughout the United States who are in a position to improve children's opportunities in the future. We generally use the word ?children? throughout the report to describe children from age 0-18 years, unless otherwise noted.Report #3 for NVP 2013 focuses on findings related to children's education and learning

Opportunities and Barriers Related to Income (NVP 2013, Report 4)

With support and collaboration from the W.K. Kellogg Foundation through the America Healing initiative, researchers at the University of Michigan are leading the National Voices Project (NVP) from 2011-2016. The central goals of the NVP are to examine the sources of racial/ethnic inequity and other disparities for children in the United States today and identify interventions that address disparities effectively.The NVP offers an unprecedented perspective on community-level opportunities for children throughout the country, in the domains of health and nutrition, education and learning, and economic security – through the eyes of adults whoseoccupations and volunteer work affect such opportunities. In other words, the NVP reflects the perceptions of individuals throughout the United States who are in a position to improve children's opportunities in the future. We generally use the word "children" throughout the report to describe young children from age 0-8 years, and "teens" for children ages 13-18 years old.Report #4 for NVP 2013 focuses chiefly on findings on children's and teens' health, education and learning, andeconomic opportunities related to income

Pain neuroscience education on YouTube

Objectives The Internet in general, and YouTube in particular, is now one of the most popular sources of health-related information. Pain neuroscience education has become a primary tool for managing persistent pain, based in part on the discovery that information about pain can change pain. Our objective was to examine the availability, characteristics, and content of YouTube videos that address the neuroscience of pain. Methods We conducted a systematic review of videos on YouTube using the search terms “pain education”, “what is pain”, and “pain brain” in January 2018. Videos were included if they were in English, were under 10 minutes long, and included information on the neuroscience of pain. Videos were coded for (i) descriptive characteristics (e.g., number of views, duration on YouTube), (ii) source and style, (iii) whether or not they addressed seven pre-determined target concepts of pain neuroscience education (e.g., ‘Pain is not an accurate marker of tissue state’), and (iv) how engaging they were. Results We found 106 unique videos that met the inclusion criteria. The videos ranged from having four views to over five million views (Mdn = 1,163 views), with the three most highly viewed videos accounting for 75% of the total views. Animated videos were much more highly viewed than non-animated videos. Only a small number of videos had been posted by a clearly-identifiable reputable source such as an academic or medical institution (10%), although a number of videos were posted by healthcare professionals and professional medical societies. For a small number of videos (7%), the source was unclear. We found 17 videos that addressed at least one target concept of pain neuroscience science education, only nine of which were considered to be at least somewhat engaging. The target concept ‘Pain is a brain output’ was considered to be well addressed by the most videos (N = 11), followed by ‘Pain is a protector’ (N = 10). We found only one video that adequately addressed all seven target concepts of pain neuroscience education. Discussion YouTube contains a variety of videos that practitioners, patients, and families may view to access pain neuroscience education information. A small portion of these videos addressed one or more target concepts of pain neuroscience education in an engaging manner. It is yet to be determined to what extent patients are able to learn information from these videos, to what extent the videos promote behavior change, and thus to what extent the videos may be useful for clinical practice

A Prospective Study to Validate the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy (FACT) for Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Inhibitor (EGFRI)-induced Dermatologic Toxicities FACT-EGFRI 18 Questionnaire: SWOG S1013

Background Papulopustular rash is a common class effect of epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFRI) that can affect patients’ health-related quality of life and cause disruptions to treatment. SWOG S1013 (NCT01416688) is a multi-center study designed to validate the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy EGFRI 18 (FACT-EGFRI 18) using 7-items from the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) version 4.0 to assess EGFRI-induced skin-related toxicities and their impact on functional status. Methods Patients with a diagnosis of colorectal or lung cancer to receive EGFRI therapies for at least 6 weeks were enrolled. Patient self-assessments using the FACT-EGFRI 18 were completed prior to undergoing CTCAE assessment by trained clinicians at baseline, weekly × 6, and then monthly × 3. The psychometric properties of the FACT-EGFRI 14 (skin toxicity items only) and 18 (plus 2 nail and 2 hair items) were established based on criterion validity, known groups validity, internal consistency reliability, and responsiveness to change. Results Of the 146 registered patients, 124 were evaluable. High Cronbach’s alpha (\u3e 0.70) for both FACT-EGFRI 14 and FACT-EGFRI 18 scores across assessment times were observed. Although agreement (i.e. criterion validity) between individual and summary scales of the FACT-EGFRI 18 for assessing skin toxicity was good, agreement with the clinician-reported CTCAE was only fair. The minimal important difference was determined to be 3 points. The results also demonstrated responsiveness to symptom change. Discussion Based on the results of this multi-center validation study, the FACT-EGFRI 18 patient-reported outcome instrument provided data from the patient’s perspective yielding unique information as well as complementing clinician-rated CTCAE grades, especially for the symptoms of pain, pruritus, and paronychia. Conclusions Good to excellent psychometric properties for the FACT-EGFRI 18 were demonstrated, supporting further use of this patient-reported outcomes measure. Additional validation with a more diverse group of patients should be conducted