An approach to meeting the ICT requirements of the social work degree

This presentation shows how the social work team at the University of Lincoln have worked together to ensure a model of good ICT practice in meeting the requirements of the Social Work degree. When the GSCC introduced ICT competencies, the management and assessment was left to individual institutions. Many initially chose the ECDL route or incorporated ICT criteria into assessed modules. At Lincoln neither the ECDL nor incorporation into assessed units proved sustainable in practice so an alternative approach was developed. Taking advantage of the institution’s VLE (Blackboard), an automated student-centred resource has been designed. This consists of a self-paced set of learning objects giving students control over their own learning experience. The area provides learning materials, formative interactive assessment opportunities and final summative assessments undertaken in exam conditions. Links to the Blackboard Gradebook ensure staff can see at a glance which students have certified competencies and which need to undertake further assessment. Staff can also view final ICT assessment results. In February 2009 QAA subject benchmarks for social work changed (QAA 2009) and the GSCC decided the ECDL is no longer appropriate for assessing competency. Students are now required to demonstrate a more critical understanding of the role of ICT, including an awareness of the impact of the "digital divide". Reference to the role of technology within social work in the recent Task Force Report (DCSF 2009) shows how good quality ICT supports effective professional social work practice. As the government pushed towards achieving a ‘Digital Britain’ and making explicit the links between social and digital exclusion, (DCMS 2009) then the newly qualified social worker needs to demonstrate competence with the technology and the implications of digital exclusion. The model used at Lincoln not only encourages engagement with technology and assessment of software skills but also provides an adaptable automated system for developing the prerequisite confidence and competencies required in an increasingly digital society. D.C.M.S. 2009. Digital Britain. Communities and Local Government Publications. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://www.culture.gov.uk/what_we_do/broadcasting/5631.aspx/) D.C.S.F. 2009. Building a safe confident future; social work task force final report. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://publications.dcsf.gov.uk/default.aspx?PageFunction=productdetails&PageMode=publications&ProductId=DCSF-01114-2009 Q.A.A. 2009. Code of Practice Benchmark statements for Social Work. Retrieved 1 May 2010 (http://www.qaa.ac.uk/academicinfrastructure/benchmark/statements/socialwork08.pdf

Knowledge creation as an approach to facilitating evidence informed practice in early years settings : Examining ways to measure the success of using this method with early years practitioners in Camden (London).

This paper has three key aims. First it examines the authors’ attempts to use knowledge creation activity as a way of developing evidence informed practice amongst a learning community of 36 early years practitioners in the London Borough of Camden. Second, it seeks to illustrate how the authors approached the idea of measuring evidence use and our engagement with two separate measurement scales: the ‘ladder of research use’ and Hall and Hord’s (2001) Levels of Use scale. Finally we examine the ‘trustworthiness’ of our approaches to measuring evidence use, which we explored via in-depth semi structured interviews. Our findings would appear to be encouraging, suggesting that knowledge creation activity provides an effective way of communicating research and keeping it top of mind; also that our interview data would appear to support the trustworthiness of our measurement scales as a means to ascertain levels of evidence use. At the same time the approach we have developed does have its limitations: namely, that it is only really applicable to situations where researchers are working regularly with practitioners on areas of practice development, where the general desire is that these areas should become evidence-informed. We suggest, however, that in school systems such as England’s, where the expectation is that schools or alliances of schools should lead their professional development activity, often in partnership with universities, it is likely that these instances will soon be increasing in number

The Role of Reading Specialist in Developing IEP\u27s (Individual Education Programs)

Everywhere, supervisors, teachers and education specialists are busily engaged in inservice meetings and workshops in an effort to become familiar with writing, implementing and revising Individual Education Programs (IEP\u27s) for children eligible or enrolled in a Special Education Program. The provision in The Education For All Handicapped Children Act, Public Law 94-142, requiring an IEP for each handicapped child has caused a great deal of activity and development in the field of Special Education

Economic costs of conventional surface-water treatment: A case study of the Mcallen northwest facility

Conventional water treatment facilities are the norm for producing potable water for U.S. metropolitan areas. Rapidly-growing urban populations, competing demands for water, imperfect water markets, and uncertainty of future water supplies contribute to high interests in alternative sources of potable water for many U.S. municipalities. In situations where multiple supply alternatives exist, properly analyzing which alternative is the most-economically efficient over the course of its useful life requires a sound economic and financial analysis of each alternative using consistent methodology. This thesis discusses such methodology and provides an assessment of the life-cycle costs of conventional water treatment using actual data from an operating surface-water treatment facility located in McAllen, Texas: the McAllen Northwest facility. This facility has a maximum-designed operating capacity of 8.25 million gallons per day (mgd), but due to required shutdown time and other limitations, it is currently operating at 78% of the designed capacity (6.44 mgd). The economic and financial life-cycle costs associated with constructing and operating the McAllen Northwest facility are analyzed using a newly-developed Excel 2 spreadsheet model, CITY H O ECONOMICS . Although specific results are applicable only to the McAllen Northwest facility, the baseline results of 771.67/acre-foot (acft)/ yr {2.37/1,000 gallons/yr} for this analysis provide insight regarding the life-cycle costs for conventional surface-water treatment. The baseline results are deterministic (i.e., noninclusive of risk/uncertainty about datainput values), but are expanded to include sensitivity analyses with respect to several critical factors including the facility’s useful life, water rights costs, initial construction costs, and annual operations and maintenance, chemical, and energy costs. For example, alternative costs for water rights associated with sourcing water for conventional treatment facilities are considered relative to the assumed baseline cost of $2,300/ac-ft, with results ranging from a low of$653.34/ac-ft/yr (when water rights are $2,000/ac-ft) to a high of$1,061.83/ac-ft/yr (when water rights are $2,600/ac-ft). Furthermore, modifications to key data-input parameters and results are included for a more consistent basis of comparison to enable comparisons across facilities and/or technologies. The modified results, which are considered appropriate to compare to other similarly calculated values, are$667.74/ac-ft/yr {2.05/1,000 gallons/yr}

The Incidence of Breast Cancer among Disabled Kansans with Medicare

BACKGROUND: Breast cancer disparities by disability status are poorly understood. While previous studies have shown increased odds of late stage at diagnosis, it is unclear whether the incidence of breast cancer varies by disability status. METHODS: To assess cancer incidence and stage at diagnosis among disabled and nondisabled Medicare beneficiaries in Kansas, a retrospective cohort study was conducted using linked Medicare enrollment and Kansas Cancer Registry data from 2007 to 2009. Disability status was determined by the indicator for the original reason for Medicare eligibility. RESULTS: Among the 651,337 Medicare beneficiaries included in the cohort, there were 2,384 cases of breast cancer. The age-adjusted incidence was 313 per 100,000 among female beneficiaries with disabilities and 369 per 100,000 among nondisabled female beneficiaries. The adjusted incidence rate ratio was 0.93 (95% CI 0.73-1.18). When assessing stage at diagnosis, there was no difference in the odds of late stage at diagnosis by disability status (OR = 1.02; 95% CI 0.68-1.50). CONCLUSION: No significant difference in incidence or stage at diagnosis was identified among this cohort. The use of Medicare eligibility to define disability status presented a number of limitations. Future studies should seek alternate definitions of disability to assess disparities in breast cancer incidence, including definitions using Medicare claims data

Home-based reach-to-grasp training for people after stroke: study protocol for a feasibility randomized controlled trial

BackgroundThis feasibility study is intended to assess the acceptability of home-based task-specific reach-to-grasp (RTG) training for people with stroke, and to gather data to inform recruitment, retention, and sample size for a definitive randomized controlled trial. Methods/designThis is to be a randomized controlled feasibility trial recruiting 50 individuals with upper-limb motor impairment after stroke. Participants will be recruited after discharge from hospital and up to 12 months post-stroke from hospital stroke services and community therapy-provider services. Participants will be assessed at baseline, and then electronically randomized and allocated to group by minimization, based on the time post-stroke and extent of upper-limb impairment. The intervention group will receive 14 training sessions, each 1 hour long, with a physiotherapist over 6 weeks and will be encouraged to practice independently for 1 hour/day to give a total of 56 hours of training time per participant. Participants allocated to the control group will receive arm therapy in accordance with usual care. Participants will be measured at 7 weeks post-randomization, and followed-up at 3 and 6 months post-randomization. Primary outcome measures for assessment of arm function are the Action Research Arm Test (ARAT) and Wolf Motor Function Test (WMFT). Secondary measures are the Motor Activity Log, Stroke Impact Scale, Carer Strain Index, and health and social care resource use. All assessments will be conducted by a trained assessor blinded to treatment allocation. Recruitment, adherence, withdrawals, adverse events (AEs), and completeness of data will be recorded and reported. DiscussionThis study will determine the acceptability of the intervention, the characteristics of the population recruited, recruitment and retention rates, descriptive statistics of outcomes, and incidence of AEs. It will provide the information needed for planning a definitive trial to test home-based RTG training. Trial registrationISRCTN: ISRCTN5671658

Interprofessional Primary Care: The Value of Occupational Therapy

The authors explore the training and expertise of occupational therapists and the cost benefit of the strategic use of occupational therapists as members of the interprofessional primary care (PC) team. PC practices can optimize successful and cost-effective patient care delivery, outcomes, and access to care by using interprofessional care teams and allowing physicians to off-load patients whose issues relate to routines and habits and do not require diagnostic or prescriptive intervention. This, and the occupational therapist’s ability to obtain reimbursement for his or her services, demonstrates that this professional can be an invaluable addition to the integrated PC team. The authors review the educational background, core competencies, and skill set of this group of professionals. Occupational therapists have a comprehensive education and are well equipped to address patient issues related to general health and chronic illness management, behavioral health, rehabilitation, and habilitation. Their ability to treat health issues that affect quality of life and overall function ensures that they are an asset to the interprofessional team. They can improve patient care and assist practices in their goal to achieve the triple aim. The authors encourage PC practices to include occupational therapists as value-added members of integrated PC teams

Shaping Translation: A View from Terminology Research

This article discusses translation-oriented terminology over a time frame that is more or less congruent with META’s life span. Against the backdrop of the place of terminology in shaping professional issues in translation, we initially describe some stages in the process by which terminology has acquired institutional identity in translator training programmes and constituted its knowledge base. We then suggest a framework that seeks to show how theory construction in terminology has contributed to a better understanding of technical texts and their translation. A final section similarly illustrates how this overarching theoretical scheme has driven, or is at least consistent with, products and methods in the translation sector of the so-called language industries.Cet article aborde la terminologie dans l’optique de la traduction (profession, pratique, théorie) durant les cinquante dernières années - période correspondant à la vie de META. Après avoir esquissé ce que le profil contemporain du traducteur doit à la terminologie, l’article examine à tour de rôle: (a) les étapes dans la constitution de cette science des termes, (b) comment cette science a acquis droit de cité dans les programmes de formation des traducteurs, (c) le cadre explicatif contemporain qu’elle propose pour rendre compte des textes techniques et de leur traduction, (d) les retombées de ce cadre pour les secteurs des industries de la langue qui se justifient largement par rapport à la traduction