Biomechanical Effects of Obesity on Balance

International Journal of Exercise Science 5(4) : 301-320, 2012. The objective of this review was to analyze the current literature related to the effects of obesity on balance. These effects were observed during conditions of static balance, perturbed balance and dynamic balance during gait. The literature review included studies focused on the biomechanical effects of obesity, the relationship between weight loss and balance, and the relative efficacy of weight loss as a balance intervention. The older adult population, which faces increased risk of falls and related injuries, was highlighted where targeted research was available. The existing literature provides evidence for a strong link between obesity and balance impairments. This meta-analysis supports the efficacy of weight loss as an intervention to improve balance in the obese. Additional investigations are needed to confirm the reliability of relationships noted in this review paper, and to explore the potential of weight loss in simple and combined interventions. Future research should also determine whether efficacy differs among populations

Preparing Students to Serve a Refugee Population Through a Health-Focused Interprofessional Education Experience

Refugees may arrive to their destination country with complex mental and physical health challenges. However, healthcare providers often are unprepared to manage refugees\u27 health-related challenges. An interprofessional team of faculty developed an interprofessional education (IPE) training to help prepare health professions students to address refugees\u27 health needs. This paper describes the development and assessment of the training. A three-hour case-based training was created with the following format: online pre-assessment; introduction; radio story about the experience of local refugees; pre-recorded presentation about healthcare in a detention facility; interprofessional group work in small teams; large group discussion; profession-specific group reflections; and online post-assessment. The training was implemented twice (across two successive years), and an investigation of the study participants\u27 self-perceived learning was completed after each training. In the first training, 62 participants (representing medicine, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, and social work) completed the assessments. In the second training, 151 participants (representing medicine, nursing, occupational therapy, physical therapy, public health, and social work) completed the assessments. In each study, a statistically significant increase in each of four outcome variables was found at post-assessment. The findings of each study suggested that perceived learning about refugees\u27 health and health care improved after participation in a three-hour IPE training

Incorporating Spanish Language Instruction Into Health Sciences Programs in a Hispanic-Serving Institution

© 2017, The Author(s) 2017. Patient-provider language discordance is a growing problem in health care among Spanish-speaking patients. To produce graduates capable of linguistically competent care, three university programs are incorporating Spanish language instruction into their curricula (pharmacy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology). We review these three models of Spanish language training and summarize the lessons learned to date. Differences in the training models reflect fundamental differences regarding the use of spoken language in the disciplines

Interprofessional education: a pilot study of rehabilitation sciences students participating in interdiscplinary international service-learning

Various models of interprofessional education, including service-learning, are used to teach students how to be effective members of healthcare teams. The purpose of this study was to examine pilot data related to the impact of an elective one-credit global health course with an international service-learning experience (ISL) on the student participants. An interdisciplinary team of 3 faculty accompanied 4 students representing occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech-language pathology programs for an 8-day ISL experience. Students responded to faculty-developed reflection questions pre-travel, during travel, and 2-weeks and 4-months post travel. Content analysis was used to analyze themes that emerged from the students\u27 written reflections. Three major themes emerged: collaboration, satisfaction, and self-discovery. The most prominent theme was related to interprofessional collaboration

Development and preliminary assessment of interprofessional education focused on vulnerable populations

© 2018 Association of Schools of Allied Health Professions, Wash., DC. With the current state of the U.S. healthcare system, interprofessional collaborative practice (IPCP) has never been more important. Health professions educators are increasingly incorporating interprofessional education (IPE) in their curricula in order to prepare students for IPCP. The Health-Focused IPE Community of Practice (representing nursing, occupational therapy, pharmacy, physical therapy, rehabilitation counseling, social work, and speech-language pathology) at the University of Texas at El Paso has created a unique IPE model centered on vulnerable populations. The purposes of this paper are to describe the early development of this innovative IPE model and present findings from an evaluation of an IPE learning experience focused on a case involving a transgender individual. The evaluation of the first IPE activity demonstrated that the students\u27 knowledge and attitudes related to interprofessional collaboration improved for all participating professions. Additionally, the post-training evaluation revealed that students were more comfortable providing services to transgender individuals than interacting with them. This IPE model has leveraged the strengths of community-engaged faculty in order to infuse content related to vulnerable populations across multiple curricula. This holistic approach models to the students that complex problems require multifaceted solutions generated by IPCP