The Traditional Roles of Caring for Elders: Views from First Nations Elders Regarding Health, Violence, and Elder Abuse

This study sought to respectfully understand Northern British Columbia First Nations Elders\u27 views regarding health of communities, intergenerational relationships, Elder roles, and violence towards Elders. Injuries, both intentional and unintentional, are a leading cause of death for First Nations Peoples. Information regarding Elder abuse in First Nations communities is lacking, though family violence has been identified as a problem within First Nations communities. The goal of this research was to understand the point of view and Elders\u27 reality through the creation of a dialogue with Elders, and to discern the interface between Traditional First Nations\u27 belief systems, healing methods, and current legal and health care systems within Canada. This study used a community-based participatory research design to explore social and cultural context through the views of Carrier Sekani Elders in the Ts\u27il Kaz Koh community. The design acted to support the aims of the study which were: To explore how First Nations Elders understand violence in their communities, to explore what First Nations Elders believe gives rise to violence in First Nations communities; to illuminate the factors that First Nations Elder view as affecting the safety and well-being of Elders living in First Nations communities; to explore First Nations Elders\u27 narration of intergenerational relationships before and after contact; and to make clear factors which First Nations Elders view as required for Elders to remain safe and stay within their respective communities. The study followed the CIHR Guidelines for Research with Aboriginal Peoples. Approval was obtained from Carrier Sekani Family Services\u27 Research Review Committee, from the Ts\u27il Kaz Koh Chief and Council and Ts\u27il Kaz Koh Community, the Ethics Review Board of the University of Northern British Columbia, and the Institutional Review Board of the University of Tennessee. Informed consent was obtained both from the Ts\u27il Kaz Koh community and from participating Elders, utilizing Ts\u27il Kaz Koh cultural protocol. Six Ts\u27il Kaz Koh Elders residing in Northern British Columbia participated in interviews utilizing an interview guide. Interviews were then read, categorized, and coded according to identified concepts, allowing for retrieval of themes. Codes were submitted to two committee members for review and consensus regarding the categories of each code for reliability. Both a domain analysis and a taxonomic analysis were performed on the data. A convergent analysis of themes was performed to assure internal and external validity. The findings were presented to the Elders at each step of the analysis to ensure validity and reliability. The final document was presented to the community to ensure that all information was accurate and acceptable to the community. Limitations of the study include the limited sample of Elders solely from the Ts\u27il Kaz Koh (Burns Lake) community. This limitation is also viewed as an opportunity for the Ts\u27il Kaz Koh to request program development funding as a pilot initiative. This sample limited to one First Nations community prohibits the generalization of findings to other communities until further research occurs with other communities. Themes related to the problems of violence were multiple, including changes from Traditional way of living to contemporary way of life, changes from the Residential School experience, loss of Traditional roles, and change in community from communal structure to that of nuclear family units, and the influence of alcohol and drugs on individuals and families. Sub-themes related to violence included the loss of intergenerational relationships, changes in Elder roles from the past, and the change in roles and behavior from the past across all ages. Also identified as sub-themes were the influences of change from that of communal caring, to individuals watching out for their own welfare, and the change from hard work being valued within Traditional roles to lack of value for hard work in contemporary society. Disruption of intergeneration roles within the community was also identified as a theme related to violence. Recommendations from this study include the need to further research the views of Elders surrounding violence and Elder abuse in other First Nations communities, with translation to clinical practice and the development of a culturally appropriate screening tool for First Nations Elder safety and abuse. Further research with other First Nations communities will allow generalization of results to be utilized in program development and evaluation. This study supports the utilization of the health determinants model in program planning and the developing of capacity for First Nations to control their health care services. The findings of this study also support the need for funding of Youth-Elder initiatives which foster the re-establishment of intergenerational relationships and the concurrent translation of Elders\u27 Traditional knowledge. Utilizing Elders as leaders and a source of Traditional health knowledge is part of a viable model of combining contemporary and Traditional health care practices. The Elders\u27 views supported the importance of a strength-based approach to healing with the prior work of McCormick who found that effective healing for First Nations people must have a focus on interconnectedness rather than personal autonomy in order for communities to heal. This study would like to acknowledge the strength of these Elders and the Ts\u27il Kaz Koh community to deal with the historical trauma of Residential Schools and the effects on individual, family and community health

The Effect of Low Temperature Laundering and Detergents on the Survival of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus on Textiles Used in Healthcare Uniforms

The file attached to this record is the author's final peer reviewed version. The Publisher's final version can be found by following the DOI link.Aims: To determine the survival of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus on cotton and polyester and the effectiveness of low temperature laundering and detergents on the removal of microorganism from healthcare laundry. Methods and Results: Survival of E. coli and S. aureus on polyester or cotton was assessed over 3 weeks and the efficacy of a domestic wash (40°C and 60°C) and a range of detergents was also determined. Both bacteria were able to survive on cotton (5 log(10)) and polyester (0.28 log(10)) for up to 3 weeks. Laundering at 40°C resulted in a 3.5 log(10) removal of the initial 7.7 log(10) inoculum and some cross contamination to sterile fabrics (3 log(10). Increasing the temperature to 60°C resulted in the complete removal of the initial inoculum. Conclusions: This study shows that most of the microorganisms are removed at 40°C however, those cells still remaining may have the potential for further contamination to the clinical environment and patients Significance and Impact of Study: National Health Service (NHS) nurses are required to domestically launder their uniforms at 60°C to ensure safe removal of microorganisms, 33% of NHS staff questioned said they launder their uniforms at 40°C, which could potentially result in transmission of Hospital Acquired Infections (HAIs)

Modelling the response of surface fuel to climate change across south-eastern Australia: consequences for future fire regimes

Geophysical Research Abstracts of EGU General Assembly 2014, held 27 April - 2 May, 2014 in Vienna, Austria

Down-delta hydraulic geometry and its application to the rock record

Data Availability Statement: Data from this paper are publicly available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.19574938.v2.This research was funded by an award from the Indonesia Endowment Fund for Education (LPDP) to Prasojo. The global river discharge dataset is available from The Global Runoff Data Centre (GRDC), 56068 Koblenz, Germany or and via the web (http://www.bafg.de/grdc.htm).Copyright . Palaeodischarge estimation is largely undertaken within fluvial settings. However, there are limited palaeodischarge estimates specifically from delta deposits, despite their significance globally. Estimating water palaeodischarges for deltas using catchment-based approaches developed using data from fluvial settings requires estimating parameters from the rock record (for example, palaeotemperature, palaeoslope and palaeorelief). These may be difficult to determine, leading to under-estimation or over-estimation of palaeodischarge values due to differences in process-form relationships between alluvial rivers and deltas. When a sediment-conveying fluvial channel enters a standing body of water, delta lobes develop through repeating mouth bar deposition due to flow deceleration, forming a deltaic morphology with distributary channel networks that differ morphologically from those developed in unidirectional flowing alluvial rivers. This study provides empirical relationships determined across five climate regions, using 3823 measurements of distributary channel width from 66 river deltas alongside the trunk river bankfull discharge that feeds into the entire delta, using a hydraulic geometry scaling approach. Empirical relationships are developed from the global delta dataset between bankfull discharge and catchment area (Qb–A), and bankfull discharge and median distributary channel width (Qb–Wmed). These empirical relationships produce very strong statistical correlations, especially between Qb and Wmed, across different climate regions (Qb = 0.34 Wmed1.48, R2 = 0.77). However, both Qb–A and Qb–Wmed relationships have outliers that may be explained by particular hydrological or geomorphic conditions. These new empirical relationships derived from modern systems are then applied to Cretaceous outcrops (Ferron Sandstone and Dunvegan Formation). The comparatively simple scaling relationships derived here produced palaeodischarge estimates within the same order of magnitude as palaeodischarge values previously obtained using existing, more complex approaches. This study contributes to source-to-sink investigations by enabling palaeodischarge estimates that intrinsically account for climate impacts on channel geometry at the time of deposition, using measurements of channel width or catchment area of a deltaic outcrop.Lembaga Pengelola Dana Pendidikan. Grant Number: 20190222021387

The feasibility of a home-based exercise intervention for the improvement of aerobic function in young cystic fibrosis patients.

Conference poster displayed at Clinical Trials Symposium, RD&E Exeter, 5/11/1

The feasibility of a home-based exercise intervention for the improvement of aerobic function in young cystic fibrosis patients.

Conference poster displayed at Clinical Trials Symposium, RD&E Exeter, 5/11/1

Graduate Entry Medicine: Selection Criteria and Student Performance

Background: Graduate entry medicine raises new questions about the suitability of students with different backgrounds. We examine this, and the broader issue of effectiveness of selection and assessment procedures. Methods: The data included background characteristics, academic record, interview score and performance in pre-clinical modular assessment for two years intake of graduate entry medical students. Exploratory factor analysis is a powerful method for reducing a large number of measures to a smaller group of underlying factors. It was used here to identify patterns within and between the selection and performance data. Principal Findings: Basic background characteristics were of little importance in predicting exam success. However, easily interpreted components were detected within variables comprising the ‘selection ’ and ‘assessment ’ criteria. Three selection components were identified (‘Academic’, ‘GAMSAT’, ‘Interview’) and four assessment components (‘General Exam’, ‘Oncology’, ‘OSCE’, ‘Family Case Study’). There was a striking lack of relationships between most selection and performance factors. Only ‘General Exam ’ and ‘Academic ’ showed a correlation (Pearson’s r = 0.55, p,0.001). Conclusions: This study raises questions about methods of student selection and their effectiveness in predicting performance and assessing suitability for a medical career. Admissions tests and most exams only confirmed previous academic achievement, while interview scores were not correlated with any consequent assessment