A case study of Oulu University’s teacher students’ understanding of inclusive education and their sense of self-efficacy to implement inclusive education in their future work

Abstract. Inclusive education has been a prevalent value in Finnish educational context since the 1990s. However, teacher education has not sufficiently adapted to the policy changes regarding inclusive education in schools. Previous research shows that teacher students feel that their education has not given them sufficient competence to implement inclusive education. Additionally, in order to implement inclusive education successfully, inclusive education must be understood as a right of every student to quality education. Firstly, the purpose of this research is to examine and describe how master’s level classroom and special education teacher students understand the concept of inclusive education. Secondly, the research aims to gain an in-depth understanding of teacher students’ sense of self-efficacy to implement inclusive education in their future work. Lastly, we examine how teacher education has developed the teacher students’ sense of self-efficacy. The theoretical framework of our research considers inclusive education as a concept, different approaches to the implementation of it and its state particularly in the Finnish context. Additionally, we will discuss sense of self-efficacy especially according to Bandura. The research is a qualitative case study situated at the University of Oulu. The data was collected through an anonymous online questionnaire. The chosen analysis method is qualitative content analysis. The research findings reveal that overall teacher students understand inclusive education to consider all students and reflect values of equality and participation. However, some define inclusive education through the concept of integration. Special education teacher students’ self- efficacy was found higher than that of the classroom teacher students. Practicality of the studies and discussions were found most meaningful for the strengthening of their sense of self-effi- cacy. Additionally, special education teacher students are more satisfied with their studies regarding inclusive education. The research highlights that inclusive education must be considered more in teacher education.Tapaustutkimus Oulun yliopiston opettajaopiskelijoiden ymmärryksestä inklusiivisesta koulu- tuksesta ja heidän minäpystyvyydestään toteuttaa inklusiivista koulutusta tulevassa työssään. Tiivistelmä. Inklusiivisuus on ollut keskeinen arvo suomalaisessa koulutuksessa 1990-luvulta lähtien. Siitä huolimatta opettajakoulutus ei ole riittävästi mukautunut linjauksiin, joita on tehty inklusiiviseen koulutukseen liittyen kouluissa. Aiempi tutkimus osoittaa, että opettajaopiskelijat kokevat, ettei heidän koulutuksensa ole tukenut tarpeeksi minäpystyvyyden tunnetta inklusiivisen koulutuksen toteuttamiseen. Lisäksi, jotta inklusiivista koulutusta voidaan toteuttaa onnistuneesti, ymmärryksen siitä tulee painottaa jokaisen oppilaan oikeutta laadukkaaseen opetukseen. Tämän tutkimuksen tarkoituksena on ensinnäkin tutkia ja kuvailla, kuinka maisterivaiheen luokanopettaja- ja erityisopettajaopiskelijat ymmärtävät inklusiivisen koulutuksen. Lisäksi tutkimuksen tavoitteena on luoda kattava käsitys opettajaopiskelijoiden minäpystyvyydestä toteuttaa inklusiivista koulutusta tulevassa työssään. Lopuksi tarkastelemme, kuinka opettajakoulutus on vaikuttanut opiskelijoiden minäpystyvyyteen. Tutkimuksemme teoreettinen viitekehys tarkastelee inklusiivisen koulutuksen käsitettä, erilaisia lähestymistapoja sen toteutukseen sekä sen tilaa erityisesti suomalaisessa kontekstissa. Lisäksi käsitelemme minäpystyyden käsitettä etenkin Banduran teorian mukaan. Tutkimus on kvalitatiivinen tapaustutkimus Oulun yliopistossa. Aineisto kerättiin anonyymin verkkokyselyn kautta. Analyysimetodina on käytetty laadullista sisällönanalyysia. Tutkimustuloksemme osoittavat, että yleisesti opettajaopiskelijat ymmärtävät inklusiivisen koulutuksen koskevan kaikkia oppilaita ja ymmärrys seuraa tasa-arvon ja osallisuuden arvoja. Kuitenkin jotkut opettajaopiskelijat määrittelevät inklusiivisen koulutuksen integraation käsitteen kautta. Erityisopettajaopiskelijoiden minäpystyvyys havaittiin tutkimuksessamme vahvemmaksi kuin luokanopettajaopiskelijoiden. Käytännönläheisyys ja keskustelut koettiin merkittävimmiksi osa-alueiksi minäpystyvyyden vahvistamiseksi. Lisäksi tutkimus osoittaa, että erityisopettajaopiskelijat ovat tyytyväisempiä opintoihinsa inklusiivisesta koulutuksesta. Tutkimus painottaa, että inklusiivinen koulutus tulisi huomioida paremmin opettajakoulutuksessa

Children's Medicines in Tanzania: A National Survey of Administration Practices and Preferences.

The dearth of age-appropriate formulations of many medicines for children poses a major challenge to pediatric therapeutic practice, adherence, and health care delivery worldwide. We provide information on current administration practices of pediatric medicines and describe key stakeholder preferences for new formulation characteristics. We surveyed children aged 6-12 years, parents/caregivers over age 18 with children under age 12, and healthcare workers in 10 regions of Tanzania to determine current pediatric medicine prescription and administration practices as well as preferences for new formulations. Analyses were stratified by setting, pediatric age group, parent/caregiver education, and healthcare worker cadre. Complete data were available for 206 children, 202 parents/caregivers, and 202 healthcare workers. Swallowing oral solid dosage forms whole or crushing/dissolving them and mixing with water were the two most frequently reported methods of administration. Children frequently reported disliking medication taste, and many had vomited doses. Healthcare workers reported medicine availability most significantly influences prescribing practices. Most parents/caregivers and children prefer sweet-tasting medicine. Parents/caregivers and healthcare workers prefer oral liquid dosage forms for young children, and had similar thresholds for the maximum number of oral solid dosage forms children at different ages can take. There are many impediments to acceptable and accurate administration of medicines to children. Current practices are associated with poor tolerability and the potential for under- or over-dosing. Children, parents/caregivers, and healthcare workers in Tanzania have clear preferences for tastes and formulations, which should inform the development, manufacturing, and marketing of pediatric medications for resource-limited settings

Taste Sensitivity Is Associated with Food Consumption Behavior but not with Recalled Pleasantness

As taste perception varies between individuals, it might be important in explaining food consumption behavior. Previous studies have focused on sensitivity to the bitter tastant PROP (6-n-propylthiouracil) concerning eating with little attention paid to other tastants. For the first time, connections between food consumption behavior, pleasantness, and taste sensitivity are studied with five taste modalities. Sensitivity to bitterness, sourness, umami, saltiness, and sweetness as well as an overall taste sensitivity score was determined with intensity evaluation for 199 Finnish adults. Recalled pleasantness and food consumption behavior were enquired with online questionnaires. Consumption concerned intake of vegetables, fruits, and berries; use-frequency of specific foods; and tendency to mask or modify tastes of foods. All modality-specific taste sensitivities were related to some consumption behavior but none to recalled pleasantness. A higher taste sensitivity score indicated avoidance of coffee, lower consumption of pungent foods, and a more frequent habit of adding ketchup to a meal. In conclusion, it may be more informative to study the influence of taste sensitivity on food consumption behavior with taste modalities separately rather than with a general indicator of taste sensitivity. Additionally, these results highlight the importance of studying actual behavior toward food and not just liking

Food Consumption and Emotions at a Salad Lunch Buffet in a Multisensory Environment

The food experience is multisensory and multisensory external stimuli may affect food choice and emotions. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of a multisensory eating environment on food choice, intake and the emotional states of the subjects in a salad lunch buffet setting. A total of 30 female subjects consumed a salad lunch twice in the multisensory laboratory. The two test conditions (control and multisensory condition with environmental stimuli) were randomized and the visits were scheduled one week apart. Subjects selected and ate a meal from a salad buffet including 14 food items and the intake of each item was weighed. They answered an online questionnaire about the meal and their emotional states (20 different emotion terms) after the lunch. There was no significant difference in the food consumption between the control and multisensory conditions. The subjects were very satisfied with their lunch for both study visits but the pleasantness of the eating environment was rated higher under the multisensory condition. In emotional terms, the subjects selected the term "happy" significantly more frequently under the multisensory condition compared with the control. In conclusion, the multisensory eating environment in this study was not related to food intake but may be associated with positive emotions. The effect of the eating environment on food choice and experience deserves further study with a larger study population in a real lunch restaurant setting

Posttraumatic epilepsy in intensive care unit-treated pediatric traumatic brain injury patients

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Costs, outcome and cost-effectiveness of neurocritical care: a multi-center observational study

Background: Neurocritical illness is a growing healthcare problem with profound socioeconomic effects. We assessed differences in healthcare costs and long-term outcome for different forms of neurocritical illnesses treated in the intensive care unit (ICU).Methods: We used the prospective Finnish Intensive Care Consortium database to identify all adult patients treated for traumatic brain injury (TBI), intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH), subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) and acute ischemic stroke (AIS) at university hospital ICUs in Finland during 2003-2013. Outcome variables were one-year mortality and permanent disability. Total healthcare costs included the index university hospital costs, rehabilitation hospital costs and social security costs up to one year. All costs were converted to euros based on the 2013 currency rate.Results: In total 7044 patients were included (44% with TBI, 13% with ICH, 27% with SAH, 16% with AIS). In comparison to TBI, ICH was associated with the highest risk of death and permanent disability (OR 2.6, 95% CI 2.1-3.2 and OR 1.7, 95% CI 1.4-2.1), followed by AIS (OR 1.9, 95% CI 15-23 and OR 1.5, 95% CI 1.3-1.8) and SAH (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.5-2.1 and OR 0. 8, 95% CI 0.6-0.9), after adjusting for severity of illness. SAH was associated with the highest mean total costs ((sic)51,906) followed by ICH ((sic)47,661), TBI ((sic)43,916) and AIS ((sic)39222). Cost per independent survivor was lower for TBI ((sic)58,497) and SAH ((sic)96,369) compared to AIS ((sic)104,374) and ICH ((sic)178,071).Conclusion: Neurocritical illnesses are costly and resource-demanding diseases associated with poor outcomes. Intensive care of patients with TBI or SAH more commonly result in independent survivors and is associated with lower total treatments costs compared to ICH and AIS

Effect of salt reduction on consumer acceptance and sensory quality of food

Reducing salt (NaCl) intake is an important public health target. The food industry and catering services are searching for means to reduce the salt content in their products. This review focuses on options for salt reduction in foods and the sensory evaluation of salt-reduced foods. Simple salt reduction, mineral salts and flavor enhancers/modifiers (e.g., umami compounds) are common options for salt reduction. In addition, the modification of food texture and odor-taste interactions may contribute to enhanced salty taste perception. Maintaining consumer acceptance of the products is a challenge, and recent examples of the consumer perception of salt-reduced foods are presented.</p

Priority Medicines for Maternal and Child Health: A Global Survey of National Essential Medicines Lists

BACKGROUND: In April 2011, the World Health Organization (WHO) published a list of "priority medicines" for maternal and child health based on 1) the global burden of disease and 2) evidence of efficacy and safety. The objective of this study was to examine the occurrence of these priority medicines on national essential medicines lists. METHODS AND FINDINGS: All essential medicines lists published since 1999 were selected from the WHO website collection. The most-up-to date list for each country was then selected, resulting in 89 unique country lists. Each list was evaluated for inclusion of medicines (chemical entity, concentration, and dosage form) on the Priority Medicines List. There was global variation in the listing of the Priority Medicines. The most frequently listed medicine was paracetamol, on 94% (84/89) of lists. Sodium chloride, gentamicin and oral rehydration solution were on 93% (83/89) of lists. The least frequently listed medicine was the children's antimalarial rectal artesunate, on 8% of lists (7/89); artesunate injection was on 16% (14/89) of lists. Pediatric artemisinin combination therapy, as dispersible tablets or flexible oral solid dosage form, appeared on 36% (32/89) of lists. Procaine benzylpenicillin, for treatment of pediatric pneumonia and neonatal sepsis, was on 50% (45/89) of the lists. Zinc, for treatment of diarrhoea in children, was included on only 15% (13/89) of lists. For prevention and treatment of postpartum hemorrhage in women, oxytocin was more prevalent on the lists than misoprostol; they were included on 55 (62%) and 31 (35%) of lists, respectively. Cefixime, for treatment of uncomplicated anogenital gonococcal infection in woman was on 26% (23/89) of lists. Magnesium sulfate injection for treatment of severe pre-eclampsia and eclampsia was on 50% (45/89) of the lists. CONCLUSIONS: The findings suggest that countries need to urgently amend their lists to provide all priority medicines as part of the efforts to improve maternal and child health