Building and Mobilizing Social Capital: A Phenomenological Study of Part-time Professors

This paper explores the experiences of new part-time professors (instructors hired on a semester-by-semester basis that have been working at the institution for less than five years) and considers the phenomenon of how they connect with peers. It examines whether a lack of connection exists among part-time professors at the University of Ottawa and how this may affect their experience (i.e. teaching and career), lead to barriers to connection, and affect their social capital (i.e., their ability to access or use resources embedded in their social networks). Using Moustakas’ (1994) phenomenological approach for collecting and analyzing data and Creswell’s (2007) approach for establishing validity, we uncovered several thematic patterns in participants’ experience that indicate barriers to connection and affect the ability to access and mobilize social capital: Feeling uncertain or impermanent, isolated, overwhelmed, and like second-class citizens. The paper concludes that inadequate social capital may not only influence part-time professors – it may also have problematic implications for students, the department, and the University as a whole. Keywords: Social capital, barriers to communication, phenomenology, qualitative methods, part-time professor

Screen Time Overtime: Should a “Screen Time Diet” be Part of Healthy Everyday Activities and Routines for Families and Their Young Children?

Introduction: Though television is still the primary form of media for children, almost one-third of TV programming is accessed through smart phones, tablets, and computers (Strasburger et al., 2013). •Families do not adhere to AAP’s guidelines (Brown, 2011) •Research suggests detrimental effect on young children OT’s are an integral resource to help families design healthy recreational “screen time diets.

ECR collective response:the future of criminology and the unsustainability of the status quo for ECRs

We were delighted to be asked to respond to Richard Spark’s paper. We are encouraged by the themes and issues highlighted, and feel passionately about many of the areas of future research identified in the piece. Indeed, many of the areas of scholarship (such as research with the Global South, practices and experiences of crime and punishment, violence in all its forms, crime and technology, socio-legal research, and political discourses around crime) are areas with which we – as a collective group of early career researchers (ECRs) – are currently engaged, often in collaboration with other ECRs within and outwith the United Kingdom. We commend both Prof. Sparks and the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) for this important and timely reflection on the direction and possible futures of criminology

Cool with Change: young people and family change

This research briefing reports on interim findings from a study which seeks to understand more about young people's perspectives on what kinds of support are helpful to them

Impact of Anticholinergic Burden on Cognitive Performance: A Cohort Study of Community-Dwelling Older Adults

Older people are susceptible to the adverse effects of anticholinergic medications, including cognitive impairment. A systematic review of observational studies reported mixed associations between high anticholinergic burden, a cumulative measure of anticholinergic medications, and cognitive performance in older people. Observational studies may have biased estimates of the impact of exposures, as the exposed and unexposed may systematically differ in covariates associated with the outcomes

Drug Burden Index is a Modifiable Predictor of 30-Day-Hospitalization in Community-Dwelling Older Adults with Complex Care Needs:Machine Learning Analysis of InterRAI Data

BACKGROUND: Older adults (≥ 65 years) account for a disproportionately high proportion of hospitalization and in-hospital mortality, some of which may be avoidable. Although machine learning (ML) models have already been built and validated for predicting hospitalization and mortality, there remains a significant need to optimise ML models further. Accurately predicting hospitalization may tremendously impact the clinical care of older adults as preventative measures can be implemented to improve clinical outcomes for the patient.METHODS: In this retrospective cohort study, a dataset of 14,198 community-dwelling older adults (≥ 65 years) with complex care needs from the Inter-Resident Assessment Instrument database was used to develop and optimise three ML models to predict 30-day-hospitalization. The models developed and optimized were Random Forest (RF), XGBoost (XGB), and Logistic Regression (LR). Variable importance plots were generated for all three models to identify key predictors of 30-day-hospitalization.RESULTS: The area under the receiver operating characteristics curve for the RF, XGB and LR models were 0.97, 0.90 and 0.72, respectively. Variable importance plots identified the Drug Burden Index and alcohol consumption as important, immediately potentially modifiable variables in predicting 30-day-hospitalization.CONCLUSIONS: Identifying immediately potentially modifiable risk factors such as the Drug Burden Index and alcohol consumption is of high clinical relevance. If clinicians can influence these variables, they could proactively lower the risk of 30-day-hospitalization. ML holds promise to improve the clinical care of older adults. It is crucial that these models undergo extensive validation through large-scale clinical studies before being utilized in the clinical setting.</p

Twenty + Futures

In a period of heightened awareness of global threats to orderly and predictable futures for people and planet – recession, climate change, peak oil, loss of biodiversity, terrorism – does this uncertainty impact on how young adults in their twenties think about their futures, particularly partnering and parenting? Exploratory interviews with childless young men and women in their twenties sought to investigate

Role-emerging physiotherapy placements in a residential care setting: exploring the student experience

Purpose: As physiotherapists progressively work across wider and more diverse domains of practice within health, social care and the third sector, it has become increasingly incumbent upon higher education institutions (HEIs) to equip their graduates with the requisite skills to work flexibly in both traditional and non-traditional roles and environments. To address the rapidly evolving character of modern physiotherapy, thus, a range of innovative approaches to both academic education and practice placement have been introduced by HEIs in recent years. One such development is the use of role-emerging placements (REPs). A physiotherapy REP is, fundamentally, a practice placement at a site where there is no established physiotherapy role. REP students are supported by an onsite supervisor from another healthcare profession and receive offsite clinical supervision from a qualified physiotherapist approximately once per week. While a longstanding commonplace in Occupational Therapy, REPs have to date found limited purchase in physiotherapy, and there is similarly limited research assessing their impact on participating students and/or the workplace itself. Methods: With institutional ethical approval (ref: 20/34), N=6 participants were purposively recruited. Of these, N=4 were final-year undergraduate (BSc) students and N=2 were final-year postgraduate (MSc) students, all of whom had completed a full six-week REP at the given site. Each participant sat for a single extended semi-structured interview, which was transcribed verbatim, with redactions made for identity protection. The corpus was then analysed using reflexive thematic analysis. Results: Analysis of data yielded five major themes. (1) Preparedness and complexity: While some participants argued that stronger resources might have been provided regarding the structure of the REP itself, all were clear that no on-paper information could have fully readied them for the reality of the residents’ complex needs, which became understandable only through direct experience. (2) Peer environment: All participants noted that peers had helped them develop their communication, organisation and conflict-resolution skills. (3) Free to fall: All participants reported an initial anxiety about the lack of an onsite physiotherapist ‘covering their backs’ when the REP began. Some also maintained that a lack of watch-and-learn facility remained difficult for them, as was the lack of opportunity to ask physiotherapy-specific questions in-the-moment. (4) Free to fly : The same lack of direct physiotherapy oversight was ultimately reported to be a strength of the REP for most participants, gradually building their confidence and autonomy through both through intrinsic and extrinsic reinforcement. (5) Ecological validity: All participants were clear that the independent character of the REP had advanced important skills that would make them stronger physiotherapists. Foremost among these were time-management, self-reflection, autonomous learning and confident decision-making. Conclusions: The outcomes demonstrate how some key structural features of a REP can advance physiotherapy students’ capacity to consolidate and enhance the skills and mindset necessary for qualification and successful practice. Impact: These findings have clear import for the design of future role-emerging placements in physiotherapy, particularly regarding how to maintain the strengths of this particular intervention while being vigilant that the requisite autonomy involved may not suit all students equally

Developing pedagogy for 'Big Qual' methods: teaching how to analyse large volumes of secondary qualitative data

The sharing and re-use of data is encouraged by major research funding bodies in the UK as a way of maximising its value and as vital to accountability and transparency. The creation of repositories, such as the UK Data Archive which houses over 1,000 qualitative and mixed methods datasets, offers qualitative researchers and students many opportunities to re-use data. However, the practice of moving beyond the reuse of one or two datasets to working across multiple small-scale archived qualitative studies remains under developed. This represents a challenge, both for researchers seeking to develop their skills and for methods teachers tasked with developing research capacity. This working paper describes the work of a unique collaboration between researchers of methods for analysing large volumes of qualitative data, ‘big qual’, and researchers of social science research methods pedagogy to develop big qual methods teaching and open educational resources. Using reflective and evaluative methods, the combined team completed three cycles of action and reflection based upon the teaching of big qual analysis using an innovative breath-and-depth method for working across multiple archived qualitative data sets. This paper reports key messages for teachers of big qual and related innovative methods, identifying the importance of teachers’ pedagogic reflection across their approaches, strategies, tactics and discrete in-class tasks, and other key pedagogic resources that are necessary to develop teaching and learning. These resources respond to particular challenges for interdisciplinary and innovative methods teaching. They include modes of teaching through data, the use of worked examples and metaphors for articulating and structuring the acquisition of new concepts and knowledge, and the use of peer-learning to enrich learning and manage diversity. Lastly the paper links to an extensive suite of Open Educational Resources for the teaching of big qual analysis at the ESRC National Centre for Research Methods

Randomized controlled trial of laparoscopic anterior 180° partial versus posterior 270° partial fundoplication.

Article first published online: 28 NOV 2013. This item is under embargo for a period of 12 months from the date of publication, in accordance with the publisher's policy.BACKGROUND: Previous trials show good outcomes following anterior and posterior partial versus Nissen fundoplication for gastro-oesophageal reflux. However, it is unclear which partial fundoplication performs best. This study compared anterior 180° versus posterior 270° fundoplication. METHODS: At three hospitals, patients were randomized to anterior 180° versus posterior 270° partial fundoplication, and clinical outcomes were determined using a structured questionnaire at 3, 6 and 12 months. Heartburn, dysphagia and satisfaction were assessed using 0-10 analoue scales, and adverse outcomes and side effects were determined. Endoscopy, manometry and pH monitoring were performed 6 months after surgery. RESULTS: Forty-seven patients were randomized to anterior (n = 23) versus posterior (n = 24) fundoplication. Clinical outcomes for 93-98% of patients were available at each follow-up point. At 12 months, the mean heartburn score was higher following anterior fundoplication (2.7 versus 0.8, P = 0.045), although differences were not significant at earlier follow-up. Conversely, following posterior fundoplication, patients were less able to belch at 3 (56% versus 16%, P = 0.013) and 6 months (43% versus 9%, P = 0.017). No significant differences were demonstrated for dysphagia. Both groups had high rates of satisfaction with the outcome - 85% versus 86% satisfied at 12 months follow-up. CONCLUSION: Both partial fundoplications are effective treatments for gastro-oesophageal reflux. Posterior partial fundoplication is associated with less reflux symptoms offset by more side effects.Australian National Health & Medical Research Council