We decide what art means: Revitalizing audiences’ authority

Facing stagnant average audience attendance and inequality in governmental support, how can British Columbian arts organizations survive and thrive? Research has shown that audiences have become increasingly disconnected from their meaning-making processes during arts and culture experiences (Brown, 2013; Scollen, 2008; Sedgman, 2017). The literature has also demonstrated that meaning-making experiences could increase the audience’s desire to attend and advocate for others to attend arts and culture events (Brown, 2013; Gwillim et al., 2019; Prendergast, 2004). My research focused on my participants’ experiences at a suite of outreach activities (talkbacks, lectures, digital content, workshops, etc.) which I call information sessions. I was interested in their descriptions of the relationship between attending an information session and their decisions to attend and encourage others to attend arts and culture events. I was also interested in their suggestions for improving information sessions and their perceptions of the barriers to attendance faced by their communities. Using a social constructivist framework, I conducted a thematic analysis drawing on guided journal entries and semi-structured interviews. My findings showed that meaning-making value was a motivational factor in my participants\u27 decisions to attend arts and culture events, share their experiences with others, and encourage others to attend. In addition, participants articulated how improvements to the physical, financial, and content availability of information sessions and arts and culture events could overcome attendance barriers. These findings are useful because revitalizing audiences\u27 authority as meaning makers can recentre their importance in the development of arts programming that provides value and overcomes barriers to attendance. This potential for revitalization could position information sessions as a crucial contributor to the long-term success of the British Columbian arts and culture sector

Deliberate Practice of IV Medication Procedures by Student Nurses: Feasibility, Acceptability, and Preliminary Outcomes: A Dissertation

Background: Medication errors continue to be one of the most prevalent problems in healthcare related to patient safety, often resulting in injury or death, with higher incidences of error occurring with intravenous medications. The purpose of this study was to explore the use of deliberate practice (DP) with second-degree nursing students in developing and maintaining fundamental intravenous medication management practices required for safe practice. Method: This was a feasibility study using a two-arm, single-blind, randomized controlled trial design. Vygotsky’s Zone of Proximal Development model was used to explore the use of a DP teaching intervention to achieve competency in skills associated with safe IV medication management. A convenience sample of first-year, first-semester nursing students enrolled in an accelerated graduate program (N = 32) were invited to participate; 19 enrolled, and 12 completed the study. Students (n = 12) received three 30- minute one-on-one practice sessions at 2-week intervals with an expert nurse (the intervention group focused on IV skills and the control group on skills unrelated to IVs). Pre- and post-intervention instruments tested participants’ confidence with IV management and safety skills. The primary outcome was their ability to safely administer and monitor IV medications during a 20-minute videotaped medication administration scenario. Results: Low recruitment (19 of 32) and high attrition (37%) were observed. Participants completing the study (5 in the intervention group and 7 in the control group) reported that the time required to attend the sessions was not burdensome (91.7%); time allotted was adequate (100%); 100% reported positive experience; 91.7% found the DP sessions essential to learning. Change in confidence scores for IV skills were not significant (P = 0.210), but were higher in the intervention group (2.97–4.14 = 1.50 change) compared to the control group (2.71–3.77 = 1.04 change). Significant differences were found in overall medication administration skills between the control and intervention groups (t [-2.302], p = 0.044) in favor of the intervention group, particularly with medication preparation skills (p = 0.039). Overall raw scores were low in both groups; only 16–42 (26%–70%) of the total 60 steps required for safe practice were completed. Participants scored lowest in the evaluation phase, with all participants performing less than 50% of the 14 steps. Conclusion: Even though participant satisfaction was high, significant attrition occurred. Students reported the DP sessions to be beneficial and they felt more confident in performing skills, but three 30-minute sessions (90 minutes) were not adequate to develop, maintain, or refine all the IV-management skills associated with safe medication practices. Determining the length and duration of DP sessions as well as comparing the efficacy of DP sessions between individual and group sessions with varying doses and frequencies is needed to advance our understanding of using DP within nursing education

Experimental constraints on supersymmetric theories

We extended the analyses of Fayet, and Fayet and Farrar, of experimental searches for gluinos, the sypersymmetric partners of gluons. Because of their large production cross sections, present data appears to exclude gluino masses below 3.5–6 GeV/c2 and may be more restrictive. Since gluinos remain very light in many models, they will either be detected soon or many supersymmetric theories will be excluded.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87578/2/196_1.pd

MOBILE HEALTH AND ITS ROLE IN ADDRESSING MATERNAL HEALTH IN SUB-SAHARAN AFRICA

ABSTRACT Background: In the last 10-15 years, mobile health (mHealth) interventions have generated considerable interest as tools for sustainable development in the global health sector as well as to improve access to care for remotely isolated populations in Sub-Saharan Africa. This paper explores existing literature on mHealth for clinical data collection for maternal health, discusses some of its benefits and challenges, and addresses mHealth’s limitations, such as 1) inadequate monitoring and evaluation framework; (2) inability for project scalability; and (3) lack of partnerships that are unsustainable and inclusive of all stakeholders. Although the healthcare sector acknowledges the potential benefits of mHealth, there should be further efforts to address these limitations. Methods: Initially, literature reviews were conducted to gain general knowledge about mHealth in Sub-Saharan Africa. After the literature review, 4 interviews with global health professionals working in global health consulting organizations in Boston were interviewed to gain further insight from those directly involved in mHealth projects. Results/Findings: Based on the interviews, it was determined that mHealth project scalability, local and external international partnership, and monitoring and evaluation framework are aspects requiring further investigation before integrating mHealth within a larger national healthcare system in a country in Sub-Saharan Africa. Conclusions: mHealth should be implemented with the intention of incorporating it into existing national health systems rather than as an external supplement. If stakeholders show interest in nationalizing mHealth interventions, project partnership, monitoring and evaluation framework, and project scalability should be give greater attention

Commentary: is digital health technology empowering patients?

This brief commentary explores how Web 2.0 technology is leading to a new kind of digital health technology. It considers what this might mean for the patient–practitioner encounter; whether practitioners are signed up to the notion of shared decision-making, and whether patients feel empowered and confident to make decisions about their car

Helping Elders Living with Pain (HELP)

The HELP study, which is a two-year study supported by a R21 grant from National Institute on Aging, is a direct extension of our previous work examining attentional demands of chronic pain in the older population. The HELP study is designed to compare two different exercise programs - simple body exercise and mind-body exercise, in their effects on pain symptoms, cognitive function, dual-task walking ability, and levels of pain-related biomarkers in community-dwelling older adults with multisite pain who are at risk of falling

Effective charges and expansion parameters in QCD

The momentum subtraction scheme MOM has been empirically successful in producing small QCD corrections to physical quantities at one loop order. By explicit calculations, we show that with a suitable shift in the renormalization scale, the minimal subtraction scheme coupling constant αMS coincides with typical momentum scheme coupling constants at both one and two loop order.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/87888/2/107_1.pd