Impact of Motivations for Volunteering on Well-being Among Health Sciences Students

Motivations for volunteering as a meaningful occupation can influence well-being. This study explored the relationship between motivations for volunteering and perceived well-being among students enrolled in one of ten departments in a School of Health Sciences. A cross-sectional survey incorporating the RAND 36-Item Short Form Survey and Volunteer Function Inventory was employed. Most of the 95 participants were students enrolled in the health science undergraduate and occupational therapy graduate programs. Approximately 75% had volunteered in the past year. RAND SF-36 findings indicated good perceived well-being among many categories. Primary motivations for volunteering included values (Mdn = 30) and understanding (Mdn = 27). Weak positive relationships were found between social motivation and social functioning (rs = 0.198, p = 0.056) and values motivation and social functioning (rs = 0.208, p = 0.046). These findings contribute to volunteerism literature for college students and facilitate the understanding of methods for organizing volunteer opportunities with this population

Exploring Occupational Therapy Student and Entry-Level Practitioner Perceptions of Mental Health Accommodations

Mental health concerns are prevalent among occupational therapy graduate students and entry-level practitioners entering the workforce. Prior research has highlighted that the rise in mental health concerns and the high-achieving nature of occupational therapy students impacts their success in the classroom and the clinic. While formal and informal mental health accommodations are beneficial, obtaining and implementing such accommodations has been cited as a challenging process plagued with negative stigma. This study aimed to understand the perceived effectiveness of common academic and work-related mental health accommodations for meeting the role demands that occupational therapy students and practitioners encounter in the classroom, during fieldwork and capstone, and in entry-level practice. Data were gathered from 218 occupational therapy students and entry-level practitioners who completed an electronic survey, including checklists and Likert scale items. Results include the prevalence of mental health concerns, the use of formal and informal mental health accommodations, and the perceived effectiveness of mental health accommodations in meeting the role demands of occupational therapy students and entry-level practitioners. Participants reported that the commonly prescribed mental health accommodations effectively met role demands in academic and work settings. Qualitative responses to the survey provided a deeper understanding of these perceptions and the barriers students encountered when attaining or implementing such accommodations in the classroom and clinical settings. Implications for occupational therapy education address the prevalence of mental health concerns and the barriers occupational therapy students face when attaining and implementing mental health accommodations

Plate versus bulk trolley food service in a hospital: comparison of patients’ satisfaction

Objective The aim of this research was to compare plate with bulk trolley food service in hospitals in terms of patient satisfaction. Key factors distinguishing satisfaction with each system would also be identified. Methods A consumer opinion card (n = 180), concentrating on the quality indicators of core foods, was used to measure patient satisfaction and compare two systems of delivery, plate and trolley. Binary logistic regression analysis was used to build a model that would predict food service style on the basis of the food attributes measured. Further investigation used multinomial logistic regression to predict opinion for the assessment of each food attribute within food service style. Results Results showed that the bulk trolley method of food distribution enables all foods to have a more acceptable texture, and for some foods (potato, P = 0.007; poached fish, P = 0.001; and minced beef, P ≤ 0.0005) temperature, and for other foods (broccoli, P ≤ 0.0005; carrots, P ≤ 0.0005; and poached fish, P = 0.001) flavor, than the plate system of delivery, where flavor is associated with bad opinion or dissatisfaction. A model was built indicating patient satisfaction with the two service systems. Conclusion This research confirms that patient satisfaction is enhanced by choice at the point of consumption (trolley system); however, portion size was not the controlling dimension. Temperature and texture were the most important attributes that measure patient satisfaction with food, thus defining the focus for hospital food service managers. To date, a model predicting patient satisfaction with the quality of food as served has not been proposed, and as such this work adds to the body of knowledge in this field. This report brings new information about the service style of dishes for improving the quality of food and thus enhancing patient satisfaction

Application of a risk-management framework for integration of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in clinical trials

Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are a potential predictive biomarker for immunotherapy response in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). To incorporate sTILs into clinical trials and diagnostics, reliable assessment is essential. In this review, we propose a new concept, namely the implementation of a risk-management framework that enables the use of sTILs as a stratification factor in clinical trials. We present the design of a biomarker risk-mitigation workflow that can be applied to any biomarker incorporation in clinical trials. We demonstrate the implementation of this concept using sTILs as an integral biomarker in a single-center phase II immunotherapy trial for metastatic TNBC (TONIC trial, NCT02499367), using this workflow to mitigate risks of suboptimal inclusion of sTILs in this specific trial. In this review, we demonstrate that a web-based scoring platform can mitigate potential risk factors when including sTILs in clinical trials, and we argue that this framework can be applied for any future biomarker-driven clinical trial setting

Report on computational assessment of Tumor Infiltrating Lymphocytes from the International Immuno-Oncology Biomarker Working Group

Funder: U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Cancer Institute (NCI)Funder: National Center for Research Resources under award number 1 C06 RR12463-01, VA Merit Review Award IBX004121A from the United States Department of Veterans Affairs Biomedical Laboratory Research and Development Service, the DOD Prostate Cancer Idea Development Award (W81XWH-15-1-0558), the DOD Lung Cancer Investigator-Initiated Translational Research Award (W81XWH-18-1-0440), the DOD Peer Reviewed Cancer Research Program (W81XWH-16-1-0329), the Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation Fund, the Wallace H. Coulter Foundation Program in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Clinical and Translational Science Award Program (CTSA) at Case Western Reserve University.Funder: Susan G Komen Foundation (CCR CCR18547966) and a Young Investigator Grant from the Breast Cancer Alliance.Funder: The Canadian Cancer SocietyFunder: Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF), Grant No. 17-194Abstract: Assessment of tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) is increasingly recognized as an integral part of the prognostic workflow in triple-negative (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer, as well as many other solid tumors. This recognition has come about thanks to standardized visual reporting guidelines, which helped to reduce inter-reader variability. Now, there are ripe opportunities to employ computational methods that extract spatio-morphologic predictive features, enabling computer-aided diagnostics. We detail the benefits of computational TILs assessment, the readiness of TILs scoring for computational assessment, and outline considerations for overcoming key barriers to clinical translation in this arena. Specifically, we discuss: 1. ensuring computational workflows closely capture visual guidelines and standards; 2. challenges and thoughts standards for assessment of algorithms including training, preanalytical, analytical, and clinical validation; 3. perspectives on how to realize the potential of machine learning models and to overcome the perceptual and practical limits of visual scoring

Application of a risk-management framework for integration of stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes in clinical trials

Funder: Breast Cancer Research Foundation (BCRF); doi: https://doi.org/10.13039/100001006Abstract: Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are a potential predictive biomarker for immunotherapy response in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). To incorporate sTILs into clinical trials and diagnostics, reliable assessment is essential. In this review, we propose a new concept, namely the implementation of a risk-management framework that enables the use of sTILs as a stratification factor in clinical trials. We present the design of a biomarker risk-mitigation workflow that can be applied to any biomarker incorporation in clinical trials. We demonstrate the implementation of this concept using sTILs as an integral biomarker in a single-center phase II immunotherapy trial for metastatic TNBC (TONIC trial, NCT02499367), using this workflow to mitigate risks of suboptimal inclusion of sTILs in this specific trial. In this review, we demonstrate that a web-based scoring platform can mitigate potential risk factors when including sTILs in clinical trials, and we argue that this framework can be applied for any future biomarker-driven clinical trial setting

Pitfalls in assessing stromal tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) in breast cancer

Abstract: Stromal tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (sTILs) are important prognostic and predictive biomarkers in triple-negative (TNBC) and HER2-positive breast cancer. Incorporating sTILs into clinical practice necessitates reproducible assessment. Previously developed standardized scoring guidelines have been widely embraced by the clinical and research communities. We evaluated sources of variability in sTIL assessment by pathologists in three previous sTIL ring studies. We identify common challenges and evaluate impact of discrepancies on outcome estimates in early TNBC using a newly-developed prognostic tool. Discordant sTIL assessment is driven by heterogeneity in lymphocyte distribution. Additional factors include: technical slide-related issues; scoring outside the tumor boundary; tumors with minimal assessable stroma; including lymphocytes associated with other structures; and including other inflammatory cells. Small variations in sTIL assessment modestly alter risk estimation in early TNBC but have the potential to affect treatment selection if cutpoints are employed. Scoring and averaging multiple areas, as well as use of reference images, improve consistency of sTIL evaluation. Moreover, to assist in avoiding the pitfalls identified in this analysis, we developed an educational resource available at www.tilsinbreastcancer.org/pitfalls