Community-Based Oral Health Programs: A Need and Plan for Evaluation

Presents a process for designing a consistent and uniform way to assess and compare oral health programs, based on a review of program evaluations and interviews with oral health experts, program administrators, providers, policymakers, and researchers

Patient-Centered Care for Underserved Populations: Definition and Best Practices

Defines key components of patient-centered care for diverse, vulnerable populations, and describes how patient-centered philosophies can be incorporated into effective delivery models targeting the underserved. Provides recommendations for policymakers

Community-Based Health Coverage Programs: Models and Lessons

Describes a range of current models of community-based coverage programs that vary in target population, benefit package, vehicle for coverage, size, cost, financing mechanism, lead agency, and stage of development

TOXOPLASMA GONDII IN U.S. SWINE OPERATIONS: AN ASSESSMENT OF MANAGEMENT FACTORS

Sera from hogs were analyzed using the modified direct agglutination test (MAT). Serum samples were collected from sows which were part of the National Animal Health Monitoring System (NAHMS) swine survey. The blood sera on file represented 394 randomly selected hog farms throughout the United States. Additionally, the NAHMS survey included information on type of production facilities and level of cat, dog, or bird access to the facilities. Of the sows tested 19 percent tested positive for toxoplasmosis. This study showed a positive relationship between sows or herds testing positive for Toxoplasma gondii and three factors: 1) method of rodent control, 2) type of production facility, and 3) access of certain animals (cats, dogs, birds) to production facilities. These data indicate that it will be difficult to eliminate T. gondii from swine herds which allow cat or dog access to facilities. Use of cats as a method of rodent control should be discouraged. We found a strong association between use of "bait only" for rodent control and the herd testing negative as compared to the use of "cats only" for rodent control. Greater industry awareness is needed for methods of rodent control through the use of baits. Sows in herds where female replacements were raised internally were significantly more likely to test positive for toxoplasmosis. Sows in confinement facilities had a significantly lower prevalence of Toxoplasma gondii. Herds testing positive were significantly smaller than those which were negative. In general, there were not any regional differences in prevalence rates. Sows testing positive did not have a reduced level of productivity.

An emergency department delirium screening and management initiative : the development and refinement of the SCREENED-ED intervention

The current article describes an intervention aimed at emergency department (ED) nurses and physicians that was designed to address the challenges of managing delirium in the ED environment. The intervention development process followed the Medical Research Council principles paired with a user-centered design perspective. Expert clinicians and nursing staff were involved in the development process. As a result, the SCREENED-ED intervention includes four major components: screening for delirium, informing providers, an acronym (ALTERED), and documentation in the electronic health record. The acronym “ALTERED” includes seven key elements of delirium management that were considered the most evidence-based, relevant, and practical for the ED. Nurses are at the frontline of delirium recognition and management and the SCREENED-ED intervention with the ALTERED acronym holds the potential to improve nursing care in this complex clinical setting

Toxoplasma gondii in U.S. swine operations: An assessment of herd factors

This study showed a positive relationship between sows or herds testing positive for Toxoplasma gondii and three factors: 1) method of rodent control, 2) type of production facility, and 3) access of certain animals (cats, dogs, birds) to production facilities. These data indicate that it will be difficult eliminate T. gondii from swine herds which allow cats, dogs or birds access to facilities. While cat or dog access to most facilities can be controlled to a degree by not permitting cats or dogs around the operation, it is impossible to exclude stray cats or dogs from open facilities, lots, or pastures. Similarly, control of bird access is even more difficult, as birds freely move between accessible facilities. Use of cats as a method of rodent control should be discouraged. We found a strong association between use of bait only for rodent control and the herd testing negative as compared to the use of cats only for rodent control. Greater industry awareness is needed for methods of rodent control through the use of baits

Concordance of Self-Report and Measured Height and Weight of College Students

Objective: This study examined associations between college students\u27 self-report and measured height and weight. Methods: Participants (N = 1,686) were 77% white, 62% female, aged 18–24 years (mean ± SD, 19.1 ± 1.1 years), and enrolled at 8 US universities. Body mass index (BMI) was calculated for self-report (via online survey); trained researchers measured height and weight and categorized them as normal (18.5 to \u3c 25), overweight (25 to \u3c 30), obese (30 to \u3c 35), and morbidly obese (≥ 35). Results: Concordance of self-report vs objectively measured BMI groups using chi-square revealed that 93% were accurate, 4% were underestimated, and 2.7% were overestimated. Pearson correlations and adjusted linear regression revealed significant associations between self-report and measured BMI (r = .97; P \u3c .001) and BMI adjusted for age, gender, and race/ethnicity (R2 = .94). Concordance was also high between BMI categories (kappa = 0.77; P \u3c .001). Conclusions and Implications: Findings provide support for the utility of self-report height and weight for survey research in college students

Pathways to Belonging and Engagement: Testing a Tailored Social Belonging Intervention for University Students

Background Prominent theories of motivation suggest that belonging plays a critical role in student success (Connell & Wellborn, 1991). Social-belonging interventions have been shown to improve student belonging, well-being, engagement, and more—especially those from traditionally disadvantaged backgrounds (Walton & Brady, 2017). The current study aimed to explore the effects of a tailored social-belonging intervention delivered in introductory classes at VCU on students’ belonging, engagement, persistence, and achievement. Methods A diverse sample of first-year undergraduate students at VCU participated. To create authentic intervention materials, we collaborated with a diverse group of upper-level undergraduate student researchers who wrote narratives to present vivid stories of how they personally experienced and overcame struggles to belong. Prior to and following the intervention, students completed a survey that assessed student belonging, engagement, and social and academic fit. We also collected student demographics, achievement, and additional data from institutional records. Results Following the implementation of the belonging intervention, data was collected on students’ sense of belonging, their social and academic fit at the university, and other related outcomes. While most students felt as though they belonged at VCU and had the potential to succeed, there were still some students who worried whether they belonged in college. Conclusions From students’ responses, faculty and advisors of first-year students were given an overview on students’ current states of belonging at VCU. As an implication for future research, we argue that including diverse upper-level students as fellow researchers in this work strengthens the authenticity and effectiveness of the belonging intervention.https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1171/thumbnail.jp

Allergy and infant feeding guidelines in the context of resource-constrained settings

Recent discussions about the need for revised infant feeding guidelines in the context of allergy are founded in substantial evidence-based research. Key studies (Table I)1-5 undertaken in high-income country settings provide evidence that the introduction of allergenic foods (eg, cow’s milk protein, egg, peanuts, fish, sesame, and wheat) to infant diets before the age of 6 months might significantly reduce the risk of food allergy at older ages. Although such a strategy does not promote supplanting breastfeeding with the introduction of a diverse set of foods early on, it will shorten the duration of exclusive breast-feeding [EBF], replacing it with ‘‘partial breast-feeding,’’ the combination of breast-feeding with other fluids or solids, and most likely lead to a reduction in overall duration of breast-feeding.IS

Developmental and acquired brain injury have opposite effects on finger coordination in children

The ability to coordinate finger forces to dexterously perform tasks develops in children as they grow older. Following brain injury, either developmental (as in cerebral palsy–CP) or acquired (as in traumatic brain injury—TBI), this developmental trajectory will likely be impaired. In this study, we compared finger coordination in a group of children aged 4–12 with CP and TBI to a group of typically developing children using an isometric pressing task. As expected, deficits were observed in functional tests (Jebsen Taylor test of hand function, Box and Block test) for both groups, and children in both groups performed the pressing task less well than the control group. However, differing results were observed between the CP and TBI groups when using the uncontrolled manifold hypothesis to look at the synergy index. This index measures the relative amount of “good” (does not affect the outcome measure) and “bad” (does affect the outcome measure) variability, where in this case the outcome measure is the total force produced by the fingers. While children with CP were more variable in their performance, their synergy index was not significantly different from typically developing children, suggesting the development of compensatory strategies. In contrast, the children following TBI showed performance that got worse as a function of age (i.e., the older children with TBI performed worse than the younger children with TBI). These differences between the groups may be a result of different areas of brain injury typically observed in CP and TBI, and the different amount of time that has passed since the injury