The Impact of Reflective Practice on Teacher Candidates\u27 Learning

Reflection is a high impact practice that develops teacher candidates’ learning. Critical reflection requires teacher candidates to continually examine their own thoughts, perspectives, biases, and actions. Reflective practice facilitates the development of new knowledge, skills, and dispositions in teacher candidates by fostering critical contemplation of actions in a real-world environment. Reflection practice is specifically used when students study education in a university course and apply what they learn in a related field experience in a K-12 school. This study was conducted in order to determine the impact of reflective practice on teacher candidates enrolled in a course focused on developmental sciences in a context of poverty. Results demonstrate what level of research is required to prepare teacher candidates to make instructional decisions as well as become self-aware of their perspectives and attitudes in teaching

Using technology for improving population health: comparing classroom vs. online training for peer community health advisors in African American churches

Technology is increasingly used in health promotion interventions. Project HEAL (Health Through Early Awareness and Learning) compared two methods of training lay community health advisors (CHAs): 1) the traditional/classroom approach vs. 2) a new online training system.https://doi.org/10.1186/1748-5908-10-S1-A6

The contribution of advisory committees and public involvement to large studies: case study

Background: Many large studies have complex advisory committee structures, yet there is no empirical evidence regarding their optimal composition, scope and contribution. The aim of this study was to inform the committee and advice infrastructure for future research studies. Methods: In the context of a five-year study funded by the UK National Institute for Health Research, three advisory committees were formed. In addition, advice was obtained from individual experts. All recommendations received in the start-up phase (first seven months) of the study were recorded, along with the decision about implementation of the recommendation. A particular focus was on the impact of public involvement. Results: A total of 172 recommendations were made, including 70 from 20 individual experts. The recommendations were grouped into five emergent themes: Scientific, Pragmatic, Resources, Committee and Collaboration. Most recommendations related to strengthening existing components or adding new components to the study protocol. Very few recommendations either proposed removing study components or contradicted other recommendations. Three 'implementation criteria' were identified: scientific value, pragmatic feasibility, and paradigmatic consistency. 103 (60%) of recommendations were implemented and 25 (15%) were not implemented. The benefits identified by the research team were improved quality and confidence, and the costs were increased cognitive demands, protocol revision time, and slower progress. Conclusions: The findings are discussed in the context of the wider literature on public involvement in research. Six recommendations are identified. First, have a clear rationale for each advisory committee expressed as terms of reference, and consider the best balance between committees and individual consultation with experts. Second, an early concern of committees is inter-committee communication, so consider cross-representation and copying minutes between committees. Third, match the scope of advisory committees to the study, with a less complex advisory structure for studies with more finalised designs. Fourth, public involvement has a mixed impact, and relies on relationships of trust, which take time to develop. Fifth, carefully consider the match between the scientific paradigm applied in the study and the contribution of different types of knowledge and expertise, and how this will impact on possibilities for taking on advice. Finally, responding to recommendations uses up research team resources, and the costs can be reduced by using the three implementation criteria

Australia\u27s health 1992 : the third biennial report of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

Australia\u27s Health is the most comprehensive and authoritative source of national information on health in Australia. Australia\u27s Health is published mid-year in even-numbered years and provides national statistics and related information that form a record of health status, service provision and expenditure in Australia

Staff understanding of recovery-orientated mental health practice: a systematic review and narrative synthesis

Background: Mental health policy is for staff to transform their practice towards a recovery orientation. Staff understanding of recovery-orientated practice will influence the implementation of this policy. The aim of this study was to conduct a systematic review and narrative synthesis of empirical studies identifying clinician and manager conceptualisations of recovery-orientated practice. Methods: A systematic review of empirical primary research was conducted. Data sources were online databases (n = 8), journal table of contents (n = 5), internet, expert consultation (n = 13), reference lists of included studies and references to included studies. Narrative synthesis was used to integrate the findings. Results: A total of 10,125 studies were screened, 245 full papers were retrieved, and 22 were included (participants, n = 1163). The following three conceptualisations of recovery-orientated practice were identified: clinical recovery, personal recovery and service-defined recovery. Service-defined recovery is a new conceptualisation which translates recovery into practice according to the goals and financial needs of the organisation. Conclusions: Organisational priorities influence staff understanding of recovery support. This influence is leading to the emergence of an additional meaning of recovery. The impact of service-led approaches to operationalising recovery-orientated practice has not been evaluated. Trial Registration: The protocol for the review was pre-registered (PROSPERO 2013: CRD42013005942)

Effects of antiplatelet therapy on stroke risk by brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases: subgroup analyses of the RESTART randomised, open-label trial

Background Findings from the RESTART trial suggest that starting antiplatelet therapy might reduce the risk of recurrent symptomatic intracerebral haemorrhage compared with avoiding antiplatelet therapy. Brain imaging features of intracerebral haemorrhage and cerebral small vessel diseases (such as cerebral microbleeds) are associated with greater risks of recurrent intracerebral haemorrhage. We did subgroup analyses of the RESTART trial to explore whether these brain imaging features modify the effects of antiplatelet therapy

Using focus groups to design systems science models that promote oral health equity

Background While the US population overall has experienced improvements in oral health over the past 60 years, oral diseases remain among the most common chronic conditions across the life course. Further, lack of access to oral health care contributes to profound and enduring oral health inequities worldwide. Vulnerable and underserved populations who commonly lack access to oral health care include racial/ethnic minority older adults living in urban environments. The aim of this study was to use a systematic approach to explicate cause and effect relationships in creating a causal map, a type of concept map in which the links between nodes represent causality or influence. Methods To improve our mental models of the real world and devise strategies to promote oral health equity, methods including system dynamics, agent-based modeling, geographic information science, and social network simulation have been leveraged by the research team. The practice of systems science modeling is situated amidst an ongoing modeling process of observing the real world, formulating mental models of how it works, setting decision rules to guide behavior, and from these heuristics, making decisions that in turn affect the state of the real world. Qualitative data were obtained from focus groups conducted with community-dwelling older adults who self-identify as African American, Dominican, or Puerto Rican to elicit their lived experiences in accessing oral health care in their northern Manhattan neighborhoods. Results The findings of this study support the multi-dimensional and multi-level perspective of access to oral health care and affirm a theorized discrepancy in fit between available dental providers and patients. The lack of information about oral health at the community level may be compromising the use and quality of oral health care among racial/ethnic minority older adults. Conclusions Well-informed community members may fill critical roles in oral health promotion, as they are viewed as highly credible sources of information and recommendations for dental providers. The next phase of this research will involve incorporating the knowledge gained from this study into simulation models that will be used to explore alternative paths toward improving oral health and health care for racial/ethnic minority older adults

Diabetes, periodontitis, and the subgingival microbiota

Both type 1 and type 2 diabetes have been associated with increased severity of periodontal disease for many years. More recently, the impact of periodontal disease on glycaemic control has been investigated. The role of the oral microbiota in this two-way relationship is at this stage unknown. Further studies, of a longitudinal nature and investigating a wider array of bacterial species, are required in order to conclusively determine if there is a difference in the oral microbiota of diabetics and non-diabetics and whether this difference accounts, on the one hand, for the increased severity of periodontal disease and on the other for the poorer glycaemic control seen in diabetics

Ancient nuclear genomes enable repatriation of Indigenous human remains.

After European colonization, the ancestral remains of Indigenous people were often collected for scientific research or display in museum collections. For many decades, Indigenous people, including Native Americans and Aboriginal Australians, have fought for their return. However, many of these remains have no recorded provenance, making their repatriation very difficult or impossible. To determine whether DNA-based methods could resolve this important problem, we sequenced 10 nuclear genomes and 27 mitogenomes from ancient pre-European Aboriginal Australians (up to 1540 years before the present) of known provenance and compared them to 100 high-coverage contemporary Aboriginal Australian genomes, also of known provenance. We report substantial ancient population structure showing strong genetic affinities between ancient and contemporary Aboriginal Australian individuals from the same geographic location. Our findings demonstrate the feasibility of successfully identifying the origins of unprovenanced ancestral remains using genomic methods

Diagnostic Yield and Treatment Impact of Targeted Exome Sequencing in Early-Onset Epilepsy

Targeted whole-exome sequencing (WES) is a powerful diagnostic tool for a broad spectrum of heterogeneous neurological disorders. Here, we aim to examine the impact on diagnosis, treatment and cost with early use of targeted WES in early-onset epilepsy. WES was performed on 180 patients with early-onset epilepsy (≤5 years) of unknown cause. Patients were classified as Retrospective (epilepsy diagnosis >6 months) or Prospective (epilepsy diagnosis <6 months). WES was performed on an Ion Proton™ and variant reporting was restricted to the sequences of 620 known epilepsy genes. Diagnostic yield and time to diagnosis were calculated. An analysis of cost and impact on treatment was also performed. A molecular diagnoses (pathogenic/likely pathogenic variants) was achieved in 59/180 patients (33%). Clinical management changed following WES findings in 23 of 59 diagnosed patients (39%) or 13% of all patients. A possible diagnosis was identified in 21 additional patients (12%) for whom supporting evidence is pending. Time from epilepsy onset to a genetic diagnosis was faster when WES was performed early in the diagnostic process (mean: 145 days Prospective vs. 2,882 days Retrospective). Costs of prior negative tests averaged $8,344 per patient in the Retrospective group, suggesting savings of$5,110 per patient using WES. These results highlight the diagnostic yield, clinical utility and potential cost-effectiveness of using targeted WES early in the diagnostic workup of patients with unexplained early-onset epilepsy. The costs and clinical benefits are likely to continue to improve. Advances in precision medicine and further studies regarding impact on long-term clinical outcome will be important