Healthcare providers' perceptions of diversity and cultural competence

Swedish society is ethnically diverse and since the early 1960s immigrants have made significant contributions to the labour market in healthcare. Today many Swedes, including first- and second-generation immigrants, work together in a healthcare setting that serves an increasingly diverse population. Cultural competence is required of nurses, healthcare providers and healthcare organisations in order for them to provide quality service to culturally and ethnically diverse populations. The overall aim of the studies included in this licentiate thesis was to assess healthcare providers’ perceptions of diversity and cultural competence. The specific aim of Study I was to compare native Swedish and first- and second -generation immigrant healthcare providers’ perceptions of diversity in relation to equality and communication in elder care settings. Data used in this cross-sectional study on healthcare providers (n=643) were obtained using a Swedish questionnaire; Assessing Awareness and Acceptance of Diversity in Healthcare Institutions (AAAD). Factor analysis revealed five subscales within the areas of communication and equality. These subscales were tested for reliability before being used for data analysis. ANOVA testing compared differences between native Swedes and first- and second-generation immigrants. The results show that there are more similarities in the perceptions of communication and equality between native Swedes and second-generation immigrants than between first- and second-generation immigrants. The specific aim of Study II was to describe the translation, adaptation, and psychometric evaluation of a non-Swedish questionnaire, the Inventory for Assessing the Process of Cultural Competence Among Healthcare Professionals-Revised (IAPCC-R). This instrument assesses five subscales: Cultural Desire, Cultural Awareness, Cultural Knowledge, Cultural Skill and Cultural Encounter. The evaluation process was guided by Gessinger´s structure for translation, validation, and reliability. After translation and adaptation with the help of a group of experts, validity tests were conducted by response test (n=15) and on the content (n=7) and internal structure and internal reliability (n=334). The tests revealed weak validity and reliability for the instrument, and additional item and factor analysis did not confirm the proposed structure. These problems might be related to the translation and adaptation or the structure of the instrument. The IAPCC-R was found to not be appropriate for use in a Swedish context

EXPLORATION OF THE POSSIBILITIES FOR THE PRODUCTION OF TABLEWARE FROM THE BRAN OF VARIOUS CEREALS

Biodegradable and compostable tableware is significantly more environment and nature friendly than disposable tableware and drinkware made of plastic. Tableware made of wheat bran, but also corn and rice bran is already commercially available. It is reasonable to use the by-products of the milling of also other cereals, like rye bran, barley bran and oat bran, for the production of tableware. The aim of this research was to explore the possibilities for the production of tableware and drinkware from the by-products of the milling of wheat and also other cereals like rye and oat bran. In order to achieve the aim, compacts were moulded from rye bran and oat bran and mixtures of bran (wheat bran and rye bran) using various work modes. The moulding of the compacts included different temperatures of the mould, moulding durations and compressive forces. The mechanical properties like density and flexural strength of the compacts were determined and the compostability of the compacts was studied. The test bodies were placed inside a compost bin to check their compostability and to determine the duration of composting.Biodegradable and compostable tableware is significantly more environment and nature friendly than disposable tableware and drinkware made of plastic. Tableware made of wheat bran, but also corn and rice bran is already commercially available. It is reasonable to use the by-products of the milling of also other cereals, like rye bran, barley bran and oat bran, for the production of tableware. The aim of this research was to explore the possibilities for the production of tableware and drinkware from the by-products of the milling of wheat and also other cereals like rye and oat bran. In order to achieve the aim, compacts were moulded from rye bran and oat bran and mixtures of bran (wheat bran and rye bran) using various work modes. The moulding of the compacts included different temperatures of the mould, moulding durations and compressive forces. The mechanical properties like density and flexural strength of the compacts were determined and the compostability of the compacts was studied. The test bodies were placed inside a compost bin to check their compostability and to determine the duration of composting

The Implicit Costs of Regulatory Compliance in Higher Education: A Case Study

It has been proposed that higher education is the most highly regulated sector in America (Lee, 2010). Broadly speaking, institutions are regulated by government at the federal, state, and local levels, as well as other implied sources. While sharing commonalities with other sectors, higher education institutions are differentiated by their educational mission

Chapter 1: Developing Social Empathy with Higher Education

The purposes of this chapter are to demonstrate the need for social empathy in a democratic society, identify polarization barriers, and explore how American higher education can be a leading agent for developing social empathy. The United States has seen a recent rise in political tribalism, and it now faces rising antipathy between those holding polarized perspectives. Higher education is uniquely situated to address these problems. Like a mixing bowl, college is a place where students of all backgrounds can be combined in deep discourse at a key point in their psychological development. However, higher education has struggled to fulfill its potential, as efforts toward diversity have rarely achieved their goals. Utilizing the concepts of social empathy (Segal, 2018) and honest diversity (Manji, 2019), a new approach to diversity work in higher education may hold the key to establishing the sector’s prominence in developing a society of diverse people who can function respectfully toward one another

Virtually There: Distant Freshmen Blended in Classes through Synchronous Online Education

Synchronous online education occurs when the students and faculty member are in different locations geographically and interaction occurs simultaneously through the internet at scheduled times. In this study I investigated the phenomenon of using synchronous online classes blended with a face-to-face classroom to complete the freshman year of college. The essence of the experience emerged around the concept of ambiguity, specifically in regard to group membership, functionality of technology, and place. This understanding of ambiguity provides a framework upon which to design practices for engaging such distance students and best promoting their learning

Through Army-Colored Glasses: A Layered Account of One Veteran’s Experiences in Higher Education

There is a lack of research on military veterans in higher education that captures the issues from an insider’s perspective. To that end, I sought to reflect upon my own experiences with higher education as military veteran—from a budding recruit all the way through to now being an administrator and faculty member. I utilized a layered-account autoethnographic approach (Ronai, 1995) to interrogate my multiple perspectives that developed over time on veterans’ issues in higher education. I found that the GI Bill—the modern iteration of the Serviceman’s Readjustment Act of 1944—was a powerful motivator both in starting my military career and continuing my studies; my thinking on transfer credits from the Joint Service Transcript evolved from seeing them as an entitlement to lacking rigor. I felt out of place as I left the military and attended a traditional university campus, and then I sought out the faculty members who reminded me of the no-nonsense military from which I had departed. My experiences in the military continually guided my behavior as a student and that of other student veterans I observed, thus, I recommend that institutions glean lessons from these experiences to better serve the unique demographic presented by the growing population of student veterans

Book Review: Tyranny of Metrics & Accreditation on the Edge

Review of Jerry Muller, The Tyranny of Metrics and Susan Phillips and Kevin Kinser, Accreditation on the Edg

Preface to the Special Issue: Student Affairs at the State Comprehensive University

In this special issue of Teacher-Scholar: The Journal of the State Comprehensive University, authors are encouraged to submit original manuscripts based on new data collection and/or analysis that investigate student affairs within the context of the state comprehensive university. For the purposes of this special issue, “student affairs” is defined broadly and does not exclude specific divisions of practice (ex. academic advising); rather, it may include anything that extends beyond the standard curriculum of academia in order to develop the whole student. This may even include coursework wherein it is oriented toward the student affairs mission (ex. freshman orientation taught as a for-credit curricular requirement). Submissions do not need to specifically investigate the pandemic crisis, though such submissions are welcome

Special edition on oral infections and microbiology

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