Testifying on racism : African American educators, racial identity and anti-racism professional development in schools.

Limited attention has been given to Black teachers\u27 attitudes toward school-based diversity initiatives. This study focuses on African American educators\u27 responses to strategies to promote academic achievement and anti-racist education in predominantly White schools. Their perceptions are offered about racism\u27s educational ramifications for African American students and families. This inquiry has significance for in-service staff development and pre-service teacher trainers because it illustrates a setting where educators of different races explicitly address racism and factors of student achievement. This study examines African American educators\u27 experiences in an extended professional development course funded by a multi-district consortium created to support Black student achievement. The study focused on Black perceptions of curriculum investigating racial identity development theory, White privilege and the influence of racism in classroom practices. The methodology included ethnographic data, in-depth interviews and analysis of documents from a 52 hour, year long course. The analysis examines Black educators\u27 attitudes on what facilitates or obstructs schools\u27 capacity to provide equitable and anti-racist education. This study finds that Black educators want staff development that provides comprehensive and reflective approaches to address racism. This type of experience is supported by a curriculum that explicitly addresses White privilege, racial identity theory, and social dynamics that perpetuate racism. To carry out this experience instructors need to be experienced in facilitating anti-racist training and indicators of individual and institutional commitment to anti-racist staff development goals must be recognized. This research recommends staff development planners and facilitators working in predominantly White settings recognize distinctive professional conflicts African American educators experience and the significance of having a critical mass of Black participants present in the training experience. It further recommends support for on-going communication for Black and other racial minority members via affinity groups. Finally, this study supports organizational analysis that informs strategic interventions promoting student achievement and active anti-racist programming. From inception to conclusion this study asserts the need to solicit the perceptions of African American and other educators of color regarding institutional commitment to inclusion and educational equity

Understanding SCPHN students’ experience of practice educator led peer support groups

Specialist Community Public Health Nursing (SCPHN) students are expected to develop significant skills and competencies in practice whilst also achieving academic success. This workload can be very stressful for students particularly as their placements with Practice Educators can isolate them from other students, reducing the valuable support that peers can provide. Practice Educator led peer support groups were established in an attempt to ameliorate student stress and improve wellbeing by providing peer support whilst simultaneously delivering opportunities for learning and promoting preparedness for qualification. A service evaluation was subsequently conducted using focus group methodology to explore students’ experience of the peer support groups. This was to ascertain their effectiveness in supporting learning within practice placements and improving student wellbeing. Data analysis identified three key themes: ‘Peer support and Emotional nourishment’ and ‘Filling the Theory-Practice gap’, with a further theme focusing on ‘Group Organisation and Planning’ including ‘what would better look like?’. Findings indicated that the Support Groups were a valued and important element of SCHPN training for the student cohort involved in this service evaluation, engendering an improved sense of wellbeing and an enhanced educational experience

Problematisation and regulation: bodies, risk, and recovery within the context of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome

Background Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS) is an anticipated effect of maternal drug use during pregnancy. Yet it remains a contested area of policy and practice. In this paper, we contribute to ongoing debates about the way NAS is understood and responded to, through different treatment regimes, or logics of care. Our analysis examines the role of risk and recovery discourses, and the way in which the bodies of women and babies are conceptualised within these. Methods Qualitative interviews with 16 parents (9 mothers, 7 fathers) and four focus groups with 27 health and social care professionals based in Scotland. All the mothers were prescribed opioid replacement therapy and parents were interviewed after their baby was born. Data collection explored understandings about the causes and consequences of NAS and experiences of preparing for, and caring for, a baby with NAS. Data were analysed using a narrative and discursive approach. Results Parent and professional accounts simultaneously upheld and subverted logics of care which govern maternal drug use and the assessment and care of mother and baby. Despite acknowledging the unpredictability of NAS symptoms and the inability of the women who are opioid-dependent to prevent NAS, logics of care centred on ‘proving’ risk and recovery. Strategies appealed to the need for caution, intervening and control, and obscured alternative logics of care that focus on improving support for mother-infant dyads and the family as a whole. Conclusion Differing notions of risk and recovery that govern maternal drug use, child welfare and family life both compel and trouble all logics of care. The contentious nature of NAS reflects wider socio-political and moral agendas that ultimately have little to do with meeting the needs of mothers and babies. Fundamental changes in the principles, quality and delivery of care could improve outcomes for families affected by NAS

Fabrication of Robust, Flat, Thinned, UV-Imaging CCDs

An improved process that includes a high-temperature bonding subprocess has been developed to enable the fabrication of robust, flat, silicon-based charge-coupled devices (CCDs) for imaging in ultraviolet (UV) light and/or for detecting low-energy charged particles. The CCDs in question are devices on which CCD circuitry has already been formed and have been thinned for backsurface illumination. These CCDs may be delta doped, and aspects of this type of CCD have been described in several prior articles in NASA Tech Briefs. Unlike prior low-temperature bonding subprocesses based on the use of epoxies or waxes, the high-temperature bonding subprocess is compatible with the deltadoping process as well as with other CCD-fabrication processes. The present improved process and its bonding, thinning, and delta-doping subprocesses, are characterized as postfabrication processes because they are undertaken after the fabrication of CCD circuitry on the front side of a full-thickness silicon substrate. In a typical case, it is necessary to reduce the thickness of the CCD to between 10 and 20 m in order to take advantage of back-side illumination and in order to perform delta doping and/or other back-side treatment to enhance the quantum efficiency. In the prior approach to the fabrication of back-side-illuminated CCDs, the thinning subprocess turned each CCD into a free-standing membrane that was fragile and tended to become wrinkled. In the present improved process, prior to thinning and delta doping, a CCD is bonded on its front side to a silicon substrate that has been prefabricated to include cutouts to accommodate subsequent electrical connections to bonding pads on the CCD circuitry. The substrate provides structural support to increase ruggedness and maintain flatness. At the beginning of this process, the back side of a CCD as fabricated on a full-thickness substrate is polished. Silicon nitride is deposited on the back side, opposite the bonding pads on the front side, in order to define a relatively thick frame. The portion of the CCD not covered by the frame is the portion to be thinned by etching

Oregon Community-Based Care Survey: Assisted Living, Residential Care, and Memory Care

In Oregon, community-based care (CBC) communities include assisted living (AL), residential care (RC), and memory care (MC) communities. These settings provide residential, personal care, and health-related services, primarily to older adults. As the population of Oregonians aged 65 and older is estimated to increase from 16 percent in 2015 to nearly 23 percent in 20501, the availability of CBC settings will continue to be an important source of long-term services and supports. This report provides an in-depth look at Oregon’s CBC settings. Because no central dataset of CBC services, staff, and residents is available, as opposed to nursing facilities, information for this report was collected using a questionnaire that CBC providers (e.g., administrators, directors) were asked to complete. CBC settings provide long-term services and supports to many older Oregonians and their families. These services include daily meals, housekeeping and laundry, assistance with personal care needs, medication administration, monitoring of health conditions, communication with residents’ health care providers, and social and recreational activities. Of the 517 AL, RC, and MC communities licensed as of fall 2016, 60 percent (308) returned a questionnaire. The data described in this report are based upon these 308 communities unless noted otherwise. The goals of the project described in this report included: Describe assisted living, residential care, and memory care community characteristics, including staffing types and levels, policies, and monthly charges and fees Describe current residents’ health and social characteristics Compare current results with prior Oregon surveys and national studies of similar setting types to identify changes and possible trends Compare setting types for differences that might affect access, quality, or cost

2020 Adult Foster Home Resident and Community Characteristics Report on Adult Foster Homes

This report is the sixth in a series prepared by the Institute on Aging at Portland State University for Oregon’s Department of Human Services (ODHS) and examines a sample of Adult Foster Homes (AFHs) throughout the state. This study has four objectives: 1. Describe AFH characteristics, including staffing types, policies and monthly charges and fees. 2. Describe current residents’ health-related needs, service use and demographic characteristics. 3. Compare current results with prior Oregon surveys to identify changes and current trends. 4. Describe characteristics that might affect access, quality, or cost. Oregon has licensed adult foster homes (AFHs) as a type of community-based care (CBC) since 1986. The operators and staff of these small homes provide supportive services, personal care and supervision for up to five older adults and adults with physical disabilities. Most AFHs are modified single-family residences located in residential neighborhoods. The majority of owners live in their AFH and provide care for the residents

2020 Community-Based Care Resident and Community Characteristics Report On Assisted Living, Residential Care, and Memory Care Communities

This report summarizes findings from the 6th annual study of Oregon community-based care settings, including assisted living and residential care facilities, and memory care communities. This study was conducted during fall 2019 and winter 2020

Psychometrics of the personal questionnaire : a client-generated outcome measure

We present a range of evidence for the reliability and validity of data generated by the Personal Questionnaire (PQ), a client-generated individualized outcome measure, using five data sets from three countries. Overall pre-therapy mean internal consistency (alpha) across clients was .80; within-client alphas averaged .77; clients typically had one or two items that did not vary with the other items. Analyses of temporal structure indicated high levels of between client variance (58%), moderate pre-therapy test-retest correlations (r =.57), and high session-to-session lag-1 autocorrelations (.82). Scores on the PQ provided clear evidence of convergence with a range of outcome measures (within-client r = .41). Mean pre-post effects were large (d = 1.25). The results support a revised caseness cut-off of 3.25 and a reliable change interval of 1.67. We conclude that PQ data meet criteria for evidence-based, norm-referenced measurement of client psychological distress for supporting psychotherapy practice and research

2022 Adult Foster Home Resident and Community Characteristics Report on Adult Foster Homes

This report describes results from a study of Oregon adult foster homes (AFH), including home and owner characteristics; monthly charges and payment sources; resident characteristics, personal and health-related needs; and owners’ experiences with supports and challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The study’s purpose was to collect and report data that can inform and advise policymakers, state and county agency staff, aging advocates and AFH owners about the status of AFHs in Oregon. The report includes information collected between December 2021 and March 2022 and, where possible, compares it to findings from prior years of this study and to other reports and articles about AFHs and other types of community-based care

Racial/ethnic disparities in health-related quality of life and health status across pre-, early-, and mid-adolescence: a prospective cohort study.

PURPOSE:To examine (1) racial/ethnic disparities in health-related quality of life (HRQOL) and overall health status among Black, Latino, and White youth during adolescence; (2) whether socioeconomic status (SES) and family contextual variables influence disparities; and (3) whether disparities are consistent from pre- to early- to mid-adolescence. METHODS:A population sample of 4823 Black (1755), Latino (1812), and White (1256) youth in three US metropolitan areas was prospectively assessed in a longitudinal survey conducted on three occasions, in 5th, 7th, and 10th grades, when youth reported their HRQOL using the PedsQL™ short-form Total, Physical and Psychosocial scales and youth and parents separately reported on youth's overall health status. Parents reported their education and household income to index SES, family structure, and use of English at home. RESULTS:Based on analysis conducted separately at each grade, marked racial/ethnic disparities were observed across all measures of HRQOL and health status, favoring White and disfavoring Black, and especially Latino youth. More strongly present in 5th and 7th grade, HRQOL disparities decreased by 10th grade. Most disparities between White and Black youth disappeared when adjusting for SES. However, even after adjusting for SES, family structure, and English use, overall health status disparities disfavoring Latino youth remained across all three assessments. CONCLUSIONS:Racial/ethnic disparities in adolescent HRQOL and health are substantial. These disparities appear consistent from pre- to early-adolescence but diminish for HRQOL by mid-adolescence. As disparities appear influenced by SES and other family contextual variables differently in different racial/ethnic groups, efforts to reduce health disparities in youth should address culturally specific conditions impinging on health