Encouraging research and group cohesion through walking art.

How does a free form response to making work, gained through the act of walking, contribute to the occurrence of creative discoveries and genuine knowledge in and around media arts practice

Knitwalks

I’ve been knitting for most of my life and I really like particular images of women knitting whilst walking – they’re carrying milk, balancing barrels on their heads, carrying babies, wearing clogs and walking barefoot, knitting in between gutting fish…and they’re knitting complex patterns with multiple needles and colours. I just wanted to try knitting and walking. I change the colour for every walk, and the knitting is informed by the weather, conversation and terrain. Too cold, dark or boggy, I drop stitches. Sometimes I’m talking so much, and gesturing with my hands instead of knitting and little gets done. If the terrain is smooth and easy, the weather warm, and I’m listening more than talking, the stitches are good and the walk produces a large section. The knitting is a map of walks, each one defined through colour, amount and quality of stitches. I document the journey using two cameras – one strapped to my head filming the view, the other filming my hands. It’s a kind of performance – I’m not entirely sure where its going yet, or how it will be presented – I like the idea that although I am producing an object, that it’s the walks themselves that are the main event.</p

HIV risk reduction interventions in populations with serious mental illness: a critical review of the "second generation"

There is a disparity between the HIV prevalence in the seriously mentally ill (SMI) population (8%) as compared to the general population (0.6%) in the United States. In order to identify interventions for HIV prevention for people with SMI, a literature search was conducted in PubMed and PsychInfo. For PubMed, the following Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) terms were used: HIV Infections, Prevention and control, and Mental Disorders. For PsychInfo the following terms were used in the search: Mental Disorders and HIV. Sixteen independent studies were found after being subjected to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The most notable finding of this study was that effective gender-specific interventions have been designed and implemented in SMI populations. Also HIV prevention interventions have demonstrated changes in attitudes and HIV related risk behaviors in this population. However analysis by some of the studies revealed that the intervention outcomes can be impacted by individual differences (i.e. race, psychiatric diagnosis, and reported substance use). The issue of exploring subpopulations among people with SMI is the next suggested step in combatting this issue. This essay is of public health significance because it explores the issue of reducing HIV related risk behaviors in people with mental illness in order to reduce their chance of contracting this deadly virus

Bridging the Global and the Local? A look at Local-International Student Interaction in Singapore

Master'sMASTER OF ART

Strategies for Systems Change: Lessons Learned from the Transforming Early Educator Lead Teacher Preparation Programs Through Multi-Partner Innovation Grant Program

In 2021–22, The Collaborative awarded eight grants in support of partnerships between institutions of higher education (IHEs) and states/territories/tribal nations to transform their preparation programs for early educators. To support our grantees in their work, The Collaborative engaged School Readiness Consulting (SRC) to develop a learning community to foster peer learning and collective problem-solving.Two years into this work, The Collaborative and SRC provided grantees with an opportunity to reflect on their experiences through the lens of an overarching question: How have the IHEs and their partners made meaningful, systemic changes to address barriers on their campuses, in their communities, and in the field at large?This report describes the strategies grantees used for systems change, as well as their reflections on next steps and sustainability.Key insights from the report include:Grantees readily leveraged policies, practices, and resources to create immediate and measurable impacts on their institutions and their students. Strategies include centering equity in student recruitment and retention, enhancing coursework offerings and strengthening classes related to culturally relevant practices, and investing in resources driven by the actual needs of their students.In addition, grantees identified strategies to create the conditions needed to maintain progress and enable further changes to best support their students. These strategies include strengthening and creating connections, shifting power dynamics, and changing mental models

It's not what you do it's the way that it's measured: quality assessment of minor ailment management in community pharmacies:Quality assessment of minor ailment management in community pharmacies

Background: Effective management of minor ailments in community pharmacies could reduce the burden on alternative high-cost services (general practices, Emergency Departments). Evidence is needed regarding the appropriateness of management of these conditions in community pharmacies. Objective: To explore the appropriateness of minor ailment management in community pharmacies. Setting: Prospective, observational study of simulated patient (SP) visits to community pharmacies in Grampian (Scotland) and East Anglia (England). Method: Eighteen pharmacies (nine per centre) were recruited within a 25-mile radius of Aberdeen or Norwich. Consultations for four minor ailments were evaluated: back pain; vomiting/diarrhoea; sore throat; and eye discomfort. Each pharmacy received one SP visit per ailment (four visits/pharmacy; 72 visits total). Visits were audio-recorded and SPs completed a data collection form immediately after each visit. Primary Outcome Measure: Each SP consultation was assessed for appropriateness against product licence, practice guidelines and study-specific consensus standards developed by a multi-disciplinary consensus panel. Results: Evaluable data were available for 68/72 (94.4%) visits. Most (96%) visits resulted in the sale of a product; advice alone was the outcome of three visits. All product sales complied with the product licence, 52 (76%) visits complied with practice guidelines and seven visits achieved a ‘basic’ standard according to the consensus standard. Conclusion: Appropriateness of care varied according to the standard used. Pharmacy-specific quality standards are needed which are realistic and relevant to the pharmacy context and which reflect legal and clinical guidelines to promote the safe and effective management of minor ailments in this setting

Development of a Village-Scale, Solar-Powered Reverse Osmosis System

This paper details the development of a photovoltaic reverse osmosis water desalination system for a groundwater well in Bercy, Haiti. The well was constructed to provide potable drinking and agricultural water for the 300-person community. However, its water has a salinity level of 5,290 ppm, rendering it harmful for both human consumption and soil fertility. This reverse osmosis system is designed to be low-cost and operational off-grid while providing 900 gallons per day of desalinated water for the community. The system is composed of a photovoltaic power system, a submersible solar pump, and three reverse osmosis membranes. The system is designed to have a material cost significantly below that of any commercially-available system of similar scale. Furthermore, it has an average water production cost of $1.21/m3 and an average specific energy of 1.2 kWh/m3. Its performance was tested in the laboratory by connecting the desalination module to a DC power supply, demonstrating good agreement with its modeled performance. The installation of the full system with the PV module will take place on-site in the summer of 2016. Following implementation, the system will be monitored and compared against predicted performance. The first attempt is meant to serve as a verification and validation of the system as a whole. However, successful operation within the given cost target could pave the way for wider use of off-grid reverse osmosis systems at many remote locations with limited freshwater access around the world.Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Tata Center for Technology and Desig

Poster for Media Arts Walking Research Group

The inclusive Media Arts Walking Research Group has become a forum for practice and reflection, where the group acts as a vessel, enabling individuals and collaborations to generate their own areas of research interest. Seven members will present their individual area of research at the symposium. We created a poster displaying individual QR codes linking to research.</p

Evaluating the impact of a community health worker program on non-communicable disease, malnutrition, tuberculosis, family planning and antenatal care in Neno, Malawi : protocol for a stepped-wedge, cluster randomized controlled trial

Introduction: This protocol concerns the implementation and evaluation of an intervention designed to realign the existing cadre of Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Neno District, Malawi to better support the care needs of the clients they serve. The proposed intervention is a ‘Household Model’ where CHWs will be reassigned to households, rather than to specific patients with HIV and/or TB. Methods and Analysis: Using a stepped-wedge, cluster-randomized design, this study investigates whether high HIV retention rates can be replicated for non-communicable diseases (NCDs), and the Model’s impact on TB and pediatric malnutrition case-finding, as well as the uptake of family planning and antenatal care. Eleven sites (health centres and hospitals) were arranged into six clusters (average cluster population 21,800). Primary outcomes include retention in care for HIV and chronic NCDs, TB case finding, pediatric malnutrition case finding, and utilization of early and complete antenatal. Clinical outcomes are based on routinely collected data the Ministry of Health’s District Health Information System 2 and an OpenMRS Electronic Medical Record supported by Partners In Health. Additionally, semi-structured qualitative interviews with various stakeholders will assess community perceptions and context of the Household Model. Ethics and dissemination: Ethics approval has been obtained from the Malawian National Health Science Research Committee (#16/11/1694) in Lilongwe, Malawi; Partners Healthcare Human Research Committee (#2017P000548/PHS) in Somerville, Massachusetts; and by the Biomedical and Scientific Research Ethics Sub-Committee (REGO-2017-2060) at the University of Warwick in Coventry, United Kingdom. Dissemination will include manuscripts for peer-reviewed publication as well as a full report detailing the findings of the intervention for the Malawian Ministry of Health. Registration: Registered on ClinicalTrials.gov in April 2017. Identifier: NCT0310672