Visual stimulus disrupts the spatial localization of a tactile sensation in Virtual Reality

Phantom limb pain is a neuropathic condition in which a person feels pain in a limb that is not present. Cognitive treatments that visually recreate the limb in an attempt to create a cross modal interaction between vision, and touch/proprioception have shown to be effective at alleviating this pain. With improvements in technology, Virtual Mirror Therapy is starting to gain favor, however, there are currently no applications that utilize passive touch in the same way non-virtual reality applications do. This paper investigates whether a visual stimulus can relocate a tactile stimulus to a different location using principles from the rubber hand illusion and mirror therapy. We demonstrate that a displaced visual stimulus in virtual reality can disrupt accurate spatial perception of a physical vibrotactile sensation however the effects are small and require further investigation

Cross–cultural care program for aged care staff : workbook for staff

This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license .Cultural and linguistic diversity between residents and staff is significant in residential aged care homes in Australia. Residents are from over 170 countries with 31% born overseas and 20% born in a non-English speaking country (AIHW, 2016). Staff who care for residents are also from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds. It is estimated that 32% of staff were born overseas and 26% were born in a non-English speaking country (Mavromaras et al., 2017). The majority of overseas-born residents come from Europe while the majority of overseas-born staff come from Asian and African regions (Mavromaras et al., 2017, AIHW, 2016). This diversity generates many opportunities for aged care organisations to address equitable and culturally appropriate care for residents. However, the diversity can also be a challenge to achieving high-quality care for residents and to staff cohesion. The program is developed from a 2-year action research project entitled ‘Developing the multicultural workforce to improve the quality of care for residents’. The project is funded by the Australian Government Department of Health under the ‘Service Improvement and Healthy Ageing Grants’ in 2015. During the project life, the project team worked with residents and staff in four participating residential aged care homes to implement and evaluate the program. The details of the research project are presented in the project final report (Xiao et al., 2017). The program has been adapted into an online self-learning program using the Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) and is free to access. Instruction for accessing the online program is attached as Appendix 1: Instructions for accessing the online Cross-cultural Care Program for Aged Care Staff

Staying connected during a global pandemic: telephone support for vulnerable populations

This qualitative organisational ethnography explores and analyses the ways in which a local government-provided volunteer telephone support program for vulnerable and older members of the community quickly adapted to continue working during the pandemic. Thematic analysis of data collected through researcher participation in 26 weekly zoom debrief sessions with local government staff and volunteers captures the experience of providing telephone support during a pandemic. Three key themes emerged as integral to the shaping and reshaping of the service: (1) the importance of care and relationships in service provision; (2) the need for flexibility to make service change; and (3) like a beating heart, the regular calls became part of the rhythm of life, providing certainty for staff, volunteers, and those they called. This program offers a model for best practice in low cost, low risk, place-based interventions that can increase social connection for vulnerable community members

Widening Access; Developing an eLearning Resource for Health and Social Care Professionals Caring for Children and Young People with Cancer

Cancer is a key priority worldwide, and caring for children and young people with cancer requires a range of specific knowledge, skills and experience in order to deliver the complex care regimes both within the hospital or community environment. The aim of this paper is to disseminate work undertaken to design and develop pedagogical practice and innovation through an eLearning resource for health care professionals caring for children and young people with cancer across the globe. The work undertaken evaluated an existing cancer course (which has been withdrawn) that was developed and delivered through the Paediatric Oncology Nurses Forum, Royal College Nursing (Nurse Educators) and Warwick University. The evaluation consisted of 26 open and closed questions relating to the previous resource and was circulated to all health and social care professionals involved directly within specialist oncology services through the Children’s Cancer and Leukaemia Group. Questionnaires were sent out to a convenience sample of 773 health care professionals and the response rate was 14%. The findings identified that the course was predominantly accessed by nurses, but other health care professionals also found it useful. Participants highlighted several areas where they believed content could be developed or was lacking. This included areas such as palliative and end of life care, nutrition, sepsis and teenagers and young people. This feedback was then used to develop a site dedicated to the care of children and young people with cancer

Complex Challenges and New Opportunities: Building the Framework for Boundary Review. An Assessment of PPS’s Organizational Readiness and Options for Citizen Engagement

On February 25, 2013, the PPS Board unanimously approved Resolution 4718, which directs staff “to develop and recommend a process for a comprehensive review of school boundaries district-wide and policies related to student assignment and transfer to better align with the Racial Educational Equity Policy and promote strong capture rates and academic programs at every grade level.” To deal with the student assignment and transfer policy issues, Superintendent Carole Smith charged the “Superintendent’s Advisory Committee on Enrollment and Transfer” (SACET) with recommending changes to student assignment and transfer policies to bring them into alignment with the district’s racial educational equity policy. As for the Districtwide Boundary Review component, in December 2013, Portland Public Schools entered into an Intergovernmental Agreement with the Center for Public Service (CPS) at Portland State University (PSU) to assist the District with eventually achieving two important tasks: Devise and implement a process to engage a wide range of current and future PPS parents, students and staff, community organizations; and other key stakeholders to conduct a comprehensive District-wide Boundary Review and recommend new PPS school boundaries for adoption by the Portland School Board; Create a flexible and dynamic “Boundary Review Framework” on which the current and future boundary-setting processes will be based. CPS proposed a three-phase approach for the “PPS District-Wide Boundary Framework” project, which would include recommendations at the end of each Phase as to recommended next steps. As initially outlined from the vantage point of October 2013, the proposed approach would be as follows: Phase I (3 months): Initial Assessment and Framework Recommendations Phase II (7-8 months): Stakeholder and Community Engagement Phase III (4 months): Final Recommendations, Community Deliberations, and Decision Making This report concludes Phase I and includes the Findings and Recommendations from our Initial Assessment

Older Adult Compendium of Physical Activities: Energy Costs of Human Activities in Adults Aged 60 and Older

Purpose: To describe the development of a Compendium for estimating the energy costs of activities in adults ≥60 years (OA Compendium). Methods: Physical activities (PAs) and their metabolic equivalent of task (MET) values were obtained from a systematic search of studies published in 4 sport and exercise databases (PubMed, Embase, SPORTDiscus (EBSCOhost), and Scopus) and a review of articles included in the 2011 Adult Compendium that measured PA in older adults. MET values were computed as the oxygen cost (VO2, mL/kg/min) during PA divided by 2.7 mL/kg/min (MET60+) to account for the lower resting metabolic rate in older adults. Results: We identified 68 articles and extracted energy expenditure data on 427 PAs. From these, we derived 99 unique Specific Activity codes with corresponding MET60+ values for older adults. We developed a website to present the OA Compendium MET60+ values: https://pacompendium.com. Conclusion: The OA Compendium uses data collected from adults ≥60 years for more accurate estimation of the energy cost of PAs in older adults. It is an accessible resource that will allow researchers, educators, and practitioners to find MET60+ values for older adults for use in PA research and practice

Normalizing Deviants: Notes on the De-Stigma Trend

This article explores destigmatization discourses in the United States in the early 21st century, as social and political strategies and as narrative social movements unto themselves. We argue that the first decades of the new century see a trend of marginalized actors across many categories, including queer marriage, drugs, (discreditable) mental illness and (discredited) other areas of identity and disability, make narrative attempts to neutralize their “deviant” identities. We argue that de-stigmatization has occurred through the successful use of medicalization and assimilation framing of de-stigma discourses. Assimilationist frames increase “liberal” emphasis on actionable outcomes of de-stigma, like cultural access (i.e. inclusion, visibility, representation), and legal justice for marginalized people. Some assimilationist discourse endeavors to situate stigmatized identities inside of conformist frames, while (fewer and less visible) others resist dominant frames of acceptability. Contested assimilation and radical leftist de-stigmatization, as well as re-stigma discourses are also discussed

Developing the multicultural workforce to improve the quality of care for residents: Final report

This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. This report is made available following 24 month embargo from date of publication (November 2017).Cultural and linguistic diversity between residents and staff is significant in residential aged care homes in Australia. The diversity generates many opportunities for aged care organisations to address equitable and culturally appropriate care for residents. However, diversity can also be a challenge to achieving high-quality care for residents and to staff cohesion. This final report describes the project: ‘Developing the multicultural workforce to improve the quality of care for residents’. This project was funded by the Australian Government Department of Health under the ‘Service Improvement and Healthy Ageing Grants’ in 2015. Flinders University, AnglicareSA Inc. and Resthaven Inc. formed the consortium to undertake the project led by Flinders University. Participating sites from these organisations included four residential aged care homes (RACHs). The aim of the project was to work with stakeholders to develop, implement and evaluate a multicultural workforce development model (MCWD), an education program and resources to support the implementation of the model. A Critical Action Research approach was applied to achieve the aims and objectives described above. The project was completed in two phases over a 2-year period. In phase one (12 months), the project team undertook a study of residents and staff experiences in cross-cultural care services in the four participating sites. Findings from the literature review and the study informed the development of the MCWD model and resources to support the implementation of the model. In phase two (12 months), a site champion in each participating site was appointed by their organisation to implement the MCWD model, cross-cultural care toolkit, cross-cultural care self-reflection toolkit and cross-cultural care program for aged care staff. The implementation of the Multicultural Workforce Development (MCWD) Model and resources using the site champion model was associated with improved resident satisfaction with cross-cultural care services, staff perceptions of cultural competence, and experiences in cross-cultural interactions with residents and co-workers. There is a need to embed and sustain the MCWD model in residential aged care homes using the site champion model

Multicultural workforce development model and resources in aged care

This publication is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license. Full-text embargoed for 24 months until 31 Dec 2019