The local agricultural community exchange: outcomes and lessons learned from a public-private initiative to revitalize a downtown community

This brief describes a revitalization project in Barre, Vermont, led by a public-private partnership involving the Agricultural Community Exchange, the Central Vermont Community Action Council, and the private businesses that operated out of the storefront. The Nancy Nye Fellowship, through the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire, supported the evaluation of the project from 2007 to 2010. After four years of operation, the market, café, and Gallery closed due to economic hardship. Author Michele Schmidt, the 2008 recipient of the Nancy Nye Fellowship, examines the impact the initiative had on community revitalization and economic development, and she cites the recommendations offered by the staff and vendors

Assessing final-year practical work through group projects; A further study

The use of a group-based approach to project working has been shown to provide significant advantage to students in terms of project outcomes, motivation and engagement. The Department of Chemistry at the University of Reading has recently explored the use of group projects for final year practical work. In this model, students are presented with a research problem that they investigate within a team of three to five students. Students are expected to divide the work and share results in a manner that closely resembles project working in industry. This paper will report the experiences and attitudes of final-year BSc students towards this group-based approach, and outline the self-identified skills development of these students

Interpreting the environmental record in the sediments of Blelham Tarn

Two aspects of the environmental record in the sediments of Blelham Tarn have been investigated: (1) the ecological history of the catchment, and lake-catchment relationships, by detailed analysis of the preserved pollen (as an indication of vegetation) and sediment composition with respect to a range of inorganic and organic geochemical variables and (2) a detailed investigation of the manner in which sediment is being formed today, including the way in which microfossils (pollen and diatoms) are being recruited and incorporated into sediments. When the record was examined by biological and geochemical analysis, together with radionuclide dating, of closely spaced samples, it was found that the changes of the last 30 yrs represented only the most recent episode in a long history of modification of the lake by man. To find an approach to this it is necessary to go back for at least 2500 yrs

Improving mental health service users' with medical co-morbidity transition between tertiary medical hospital and primary care services: A qualitative study

BACKGROUND: Mental health service users have high rates of medical co-morbidity but frequently experience problems accessing and transitioning between tertiary medical and primary care services. The aim of this study was to identify ways to improve service users’ with medical co-morbidity care and experience during their transition between tertiary medical hospitals and primary care services. METHOD: Experience-based co-design (EBCD) qualitative study incorporating a focus group discussion. The study took place in a large tertiary medical service, incorporating three medical hospitals, and primary care services, in Melbourne, Australia. A purposive sample of service users and their caregivers and tertiary medical and primary care clinicians participated in the focus group discussion, in August 2014. A semi-structured interview guide was used to inform data collection. A thematic analysis of the data was undertaken. RESULTS: Thirteen participants took part in the focus group interview, comprising 5 service users, 2 caregivers and 6 clinicians. Five themes were abstracted from the data, illustrating participants’ perspectives about factors that facilitated (clinicians’ expertise, engagement and accessibility enhancing transition) and presented as barriers (improving access pathways; enhancing communication and continuity of care; improving clinicians’ attitudes; and increasing caregiver participation) to service users’ progress through tertiary medical and primary care services. A sixth theme, enhancing service users’ transition, incorporated three strategies to enhance their transition through tertiary medical and primary care services. CONCLUSION: EBCD is a useful approach to collaboratively develop strategies to improve service users’ with medical co-morbidity and their caregivers’ transition between tertiary medical and primary care services. A whole-of-service approach, incorporating policy development and implementation, change of practice philosophy, professional development education and support for clinicians, and acceptance of the need for caregiver participation, is required to improve service users’ transition