Assessing Organizational Health Literacy at an Academic Health Center: A Quantitative Research Study

Inadequate health literacy is a national health problem that affects about 90 million Americans. Health literacy is the degree to which a person is able to make good health decisions based on his/her ability to read, understand, and use health information and services. Organizational Health Literacy (OHL) is the degree to which an organization considers and promotes the health literacy of patients by providing easy to read, understand, and use health information and services. Since it is difficult to determine which patients have inadequate health literacy, a recommended intervention for addressing health literacy is to use OHL practices at all patient-provider interactions. The purpose of this research study was to assess OHL practices at a large academic health center using criteria found in the ten attributes of a health literate healthcare organization (HLHO). A survey research design was used to collect quantitative data to perform a needs assessment of OHL practices. An online survey that assesses the Ten Attributes of a Health Literate Healthcare Organization was distributed to current employees at the research site. A total of 463 survey responses were received over a ten-week period. On a 7-point Likert-type scale, the mean response on how well the organization considers and promotes the health literacy of patients was 4.72. Univariate analysis of variance revealed that there were no statistically significant differences at the 0.05 level of significance in employee responses to the survey questions based on health profession (p \u3e 0.05), years of service (p \u3e 0.05), or level of patient contact (p \u3e 0.05). Analyses of employee ratings of OHL practices based on race, gender, age, and education revealed that there were statistically significant differences in employee responses based on employees’ highest education completed only. Employees with college degrees provided the lowest ratings of OHL practices at their organization. Findings revealed that employee ratings of OHL practices indicated that the organization is not adequately considering nor promoting the health literacy of patients, and improvements are needed in all areas to become a health literate healthcare organization

Assessing Organizational Health Literacy at an Academic Health Center: A Quantitative Research Study

Inadequate health literacy is a national health problem that affects about 90 million Americans. Health literacy is the degree to which a person is able to make good health decisions based on his/her ability to read, understand, and use health information and services. Organizational Health Literacy (OHL) is the degree to which an organization considers and promotes the health literacy of patients by providing easy to read, understand, and use health information and services. Since it is difficult to determine which patients have inadequate health literacy, a recommended intervention for addressing health literacy is to use OHL practices at all patient-provider interactions. The purpose of this research study was to assess OHL practices at a large academic health center using criteria found in the ten attributes of a health literate healthcare organization (HLHO). A survey research design was used to collect quantitative data to perform a needs assessment of OHL practices. An online survey that assesses the Ten Attributes of a Health Literate Healthcare Organization was distributed to current employees at the research site. A total of 463 survey responses were received over a ten-week period. On a 7-point Likert-type scale, the mean response on how well the organization considers and promotes the health literacy of patients was 4.72. Univariate analysis of variance revealed that there were no statistically significant differences at the 0.05 level of significance in employee responses to the survey questions based on health profession (p \u3e 0.05), years of service (p \u3e 0.05), or level of patient contact (p \u3e 0.05). Analyses of employee ratings of OHL practices based on race, gender, age, and education revealed that there were statistically significant differences in employee responses based on employees’ highest education completed only. Employees with college degrees provided the lowest ratings of OHL practices at their organization. Findings revealed that employee ratings of OHL practices indicated that the organization is not adequately considering nor promoting the health literacy of patients, and improvements are needed in all areas to become a health literate healthcare organization

Performing pasts for present purposes: reenactment as embodied, performative history

History, Memory, Performance is an interdisciplinary collection of essays exploring performances of the past in a wide range of trans-national and historical contexts. At its core are contributions from theatre scholars and public historians discussing how historical meaning is shaped through performance (Palgrave Macmillan

Improving the Sensitivity of LISA

It has been shown in the past, that the six Doppler data streams obtained LISA configuration can be combined by appropriately delaying the data streams for cancelling the laser frequency noise. Raw laser noise is several orders of magnitude above the other noises and thus it is essential to bring it down to the level of shot, acceleration noises. A rigorous and systematic formalism using the techniques of computational commutative algebra was developed which generates all the data combinations cancelling the laser frequency noise. The relevant data combinations form a first module of syzygies. In this paper we use this formalism for optimisation of the LISA sensitivity by analysing the noise and signal covariance matrices. The signal covariance matrix, averaged over polarisations and directions, is calculated for binaries whose frequency changes at most adiabatically. We then present the extremal SNR curves for all the data combinations in the module. They correspond to the eigenvectors of the noise and signal covariance matrices. We construct LISA `network' SNR by combining the outputs of the eigenvectors which improves the LISA sensitivity substantially. The maximum SNR curve can yield an improvement upto 70 % over the Michelson, mainly at high frequencies, while the improvement using the network SNR ranges from 40 % to over 100 %. Finally, we describe a simple toy model, in which LISA rotates in a plane. In this analysis, we estimate the improvement in the LISA sensitivity, if one switches from one data combination to another as it rotates. Here the improvement in sensitivity, if one switches optimally over three cyclic data combinations of the eigenvector is about 55 % on an average over the LISA band-width. The corresponding SNR improvement is 60 %, if one maximises over the module.Comment: 16 pages, 10 figures, Submitted to Class. Quant. Gravit

Delay of dynamic stall using pulsed air-jet vortex generators

No abstract available

Gastrointestinal Dysfunction Criteria in Critically Ill Children: The PODIUM Consensus Conference

CONTEXT Prior criteria to define pediatric multiple organ dysfunction syndrome (MODS) did not include gastrointestinal dysfunction. OBJECTIVES Our objective was to evaluate current evidence and to develop consensus criteria for gastrointestinal dysfunction in critically ill children. DATA SOURCES Electronic searches of PubMed and EMBASE were conducted from January 1992 to January 2020, using medical subject heading terms and text words to define gastrointestinal dysfunction, pediatric critical illness, and outcomes. STUDY SELECTION Studies were included if they evaluated critically ill children with gastrointestinal dysfunction, performance characteristics of assessment/scoring tools to screen for gastrointestinal dysfunction, and assessed outcomes related to mortality, functional status, organ-specific outcomes, or other patient-centered outcomes. Studies of adults or premature infants, animal studies, reviews/commentaries, case series with sample size ≤10, and non-English language studies with inability to determine eligibility criteria were excluded. DATA EXTRACTION Data were abstracted from each eligible study into a standard data extraction form along with risk of bias assessment by a task force member. RESULTS The systematic review supports the following criteria for severe gastrointestinal dysfunction: 1a) bowel perforation, 1b) pneumatosis intestinalis, or 1c) bowel ischemia, present on plain abdominal radiograph, computed tomography (CT) scan, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), or gross surgical inspection, or 2) rectal sloughing of gut mucosa. LIMITATIONS The validity of the consensus criteria for gastrointestinal dysfunction are limited by the quantity and quality of current evidence. CONCLUSIONS Understanding the role of gastrointestinal dysfunction in the pathophysiology and outcomes of MODS is important in pediatric critical illness

Collective Autoionization in Multiply-Excited Systems: A novel ionization process observed in Helium Nanodroplets

Free electron lasers (FELs) offer the unprecedented capability to study reaction dynamics and image the structure of complex systems. When multiple photons are absorbed in complex systems, a plasma-like state is formed where many atoms are ionized on a femtosecond timescale. If multiphoton absorption is resonantly-enhanced, the system becomes electronically-excited prior to plasma formation, with subsequent decay paths which have been scarcely investigated to date. Here, we show using helium nanodroplets as an example that these systems can decay by a new type of process, named collective autoionization. In addition, we show that this process is surprisingly efficient, leading to ion abundances much greater than that of direct single-photon ionization. This novel collective ionization process is expected to be important in many other complex systems, e.g. macromolecules and nanoparticles, exposed to high intensity radiation fields