Promoting Strategies to Overcome Low Health Literacy and Improve Patient Understanding in Outpatient Setting

Over 36% of US adults have low health literacy. This contributes to poorer health outcomes and increased costs for individuals and health care systems. Many strategies can be used to overcome the barrier of low health literacy and improve patient understanding in clinical encounters. As health care providers have been shown to underestimate patient\u27s needs for information and overestimate their own ability to communicate effectively with patients, these strategies should be used universally. We prepared a presentation on health literacy, its epidemiology, risk factors and implications, and strategies to overcome low health literacy and improve patient understanding. We focused most heavily on Teach-Back, a strategy to assess patient understanding. We presented this to a group of residents and attendings at EMMC Center for Family Medicine and Residency. We prepared pre-presentation and post-presentation surveys to evaluate effect of presentation.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1250/thumbnail.jp

Race and Gender Consciousness of College Students in Relation to Physical Ability

This study examines college students’ beliefs about how race and gender affect physical ability. There were a total of 184 respondents from the University of New Hampshire. Students answered questions through the online survey program Qualtrics. The results of this study show that that roughly the same percentage of males and females agree that women can reach the same level of physical ability. It also revealed that about a third of respondents agreed that African Americans have a natural physical ability

Comrades or Foes: Did the Russians Break the Law or New Ground for the First Amendment?

This Article discusses the recent decision by the United States Federal Government to indict more than a dozen Russian nationals for conspiracy to defraud the United States of America. The Government accused the Russians of staging protests, distributing false propaganda, and spreading political messages and ideologies online in an effort to affect the outcome of the 2016 Presidential Election. We argue that while the Defendants violated several other laws, the majority of the acts the Government classifies as a conspiracy to defraud the United States should not be considered criminal. Rather, these acts are protected political speech under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution because the Russians engaged in conduct that is crucial to political discourse in a Democracy and which the Founding Fathers intended to protect. Therefore, prosecution of the Russian Defendants on that basis should cease

Analysis of Wind Instruments on Orofacial Anatomy: A Review of Literature

The focus of this review of literature is on orofacial anatomy and their association with the longevity of wind instrument use. The importance of how playing wind instruments creates a disadvantage for the oral cavity and therapeutic approaches to decrease the adverse effects. Using the university’s library database and PubMed, the authors performed a thorough search on the literature of our topic. Specific key terms such as wind instrumentalists, oral health, orofacial anatomy, and therapy were used to conduct our search. The searched was limited to the English language and within five years of publications. The findings acknowledged pathologically infectious microorganisms can proliferate in the mouthpiece of wind instruments, leading to diseases. The major orofacial anatomy affected by consistent use of musical instruments include salivary glands, the temporomandibular joint, and the dentition. Excessive pressure was a key factor in inflammation and damage to the hard and soft orofacial tissues. Furthermore, the reviewed literature revealed embouchure is vital to understanding a musicians oral health necessities. Developments in dentistry have been able to establish treatment in many cases for prosthodontic care and treatment plans for others wind instrumentalists so they have a chance to continue their passion with comfort and health.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/denh_student/1007/thumbnail.jp

Cepheid Variables in the Maser-Host Galaxy NGC 4258

We present results of a ground-based survey for Cepheid variables in NGC 4258. This galaxy plays a key role in the Extragalactic Distance Scale due to its very precise and accurate distance determination via VLBI observations of water masers. We imaged two fields within this galaxy using the Gemini North telescope and GMOS, obtaining 16 epochs of data in the SDSS gri bands over 4 years. We carried out PSF photometry and detected 94 Cepheids with periods between 7 and 127 days, as well as an additional 215 variables which may be Cepheids or Population II pulsators. We used the Cepheid sample to test the absolute calibration of theoretical gri Period-Luminosity relations and found good agreement with the maser distance to this galaxy. The expected data products from the Large Synoptic Survey Telescope (LSST) should enable Cepheid searches out to at least 10 Mpc.Comment: Accepted for publication in the Astronomical Journa