A Decade of Grantmaking in Global Development and Population

The ten-year picture of Global Development and Population Program grantmaking, including grant type, size, and duration, reflects two factors operating simultaneously in a complex portfolio: the amount of resources available and shifts in strategy. These factors played out during the period from 2004 to 2010, when the work was undertaken within the separate Population and Global Development programs, and after 2011, when the budget was unified under one program

Start With a Girl: A New Agenda for Global Health

Examines how social factors shape the health issues adolescent girls face in developing countries. Calls for a health agenda for girls, including focused HIV prevention and maternal health advocacy; elimination of child marriage; and secondary education

"It's always been stuck inside me but now it's come out": Children’s explorations of their language identities through creative activities

¿Qué significa para los niños ser usuarios de diferentes lenguas? Una serie de actividades reflexivas y creativas se han desarrollado en un estudio doctoral reciente sobre las identidades lingüísticas de los niños, para ayudarles a explorar y articular sus identidades como hablantes de distintas lenguas. Los análisis de auto-representaciones explícitas de los niños en estas actividades establecieron que los individuos construyen, representan y negocian las identidades lingüísticas que pueden ser múltiples, cambiantes y a veces estar en tensión o contradicción. Por otra parte, las actividades utilizadas para la recolección de datos proporcionan un espacio en el que los niños exploran el uso de las lenguas dentro de sus diferentes comunidades y así aprenden a negociar sus múltiples y cambiantes identidades lingüísticas con mayor comprensión y confianza.What does it mean to children to be users of different languages? A series of reflective and creative activities were developed in a recent doctoral study of children’s language identities, to support children to explore and articulate their identities as users of different languages. Analysis of the children’s explicit self-representations in these activities established that individuals construct, represent and negotiate language identities which may be multiple, shifting and sometimes in tension or contradiction. Furthermore, the activities used for data collection provide a navigational space in which children explore their use of languages within their different communities and so learn to negotiate their multiple and shifting language identities with greater understanding and confidence

Girls Count: A Global Investment & Action Agenda

Explains how girls' welfare affects overall economic and social outcomes. Outlines steps to disaggregate health, education, and other data by age and gender; invest strategically in girls' programs; and ensure equitable benefits for girls in all sectors

Power in global health agenda-setting: the role of private funding Comment on “Knowledge, moral claims and the exercise of power in global health”

The editorial by Jeremy Shiffman, “Knowledge, moral claims and the exercise of power in global health ”, highlights the influence on global health priority-setting of individuals and organizations that do not have a formal political mandate. This sheds light on the way key functions in global health depend on private funding, particularly from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

Mentorship experiences in a group of occupational therapy leaders.

OBJECTIVES: The development of occupational therapy leaders is a long-held goal of many members of the American Occupational Therapy Association and of state associations. The initiation of mentor programs is a common means to accomplish this goal. These programs take time and effort, and, although occupational therapists have described how mentorship programs work in the literature, there are few articles that describe the actual mentorship experiences of occupational therapy leaders. METHOD: To study the experiences of elected occupational therapy leaders, a 30-item questionnaire was distributed at the annual meeting of the Committee of State Association Presidents and completed by 53 respondents. Results were analyzed, and cross tabulations were run between selected items. RESULTS: Respondents were frequently exposed to role models, were assisted by sponsors, were mentored by other occupational therapists, and served as mentors themselves. There was little evidence that the respondents were mentored by high-powered individuals who helped launch their careers. CONCLUSION: More than half of the respondents were mentored by other occupational therapists, and only 29% of the respondents reported that they surpassed the status and position of their mentors. Plans to initiate mentorship programs should include activities that promote powerful leaders who move beyond the status and position of their mentors, so that occupational therapists can represent the interests of the profession to others

The economic impact of obesity in the United States

Over the past several decades, obesity has grown into a major global epidemic. In the United States (US), more than two-thirds of adults are now overweight and one-third is obese. In this article, we provide an overview of the state of research on the likely economic impact of the US obesity epidemic at the national level. Research to date has identified at least four major categories of economic impact linked with the obesity epidemic: direct medical costs, productivity costs, transportation costs, and human capital costs. We review current evidence on each set of costs in turn, and identify important gaps for future research and potential trends in future economic impacts of obesity. Although more comprehensive analysis of costs is needed, substantial economic impacts of obesity are identified in all four categories by existing research. The magnitude of potential economic impact underscores the importance of the obesity epidemic as a focus for policy and a topic for future research

A model to promote activity competence in elders.

This paper describes an occupational therapy home-based intervention in which purposeful activities were used to promote adaptation and competence in older adults with chronic disabilities. Seven home care therapists visited 17 randomly selected, community-living elders who were chronically disabled and who volunteered to participate in the program. The number of visits ranged from 3 to 10 and occurred over a 3-month period according to clients\u27 needs and wishes. Therapists enhanced their ability to enter the client\u27s social and cultural system by using participant-observation techniques and collaboratively identified activities. Therapists documented each home visit with a structured fieldnote form. An analysis of 112 field-notes indicated that therapists were able to understand a client\u27s needs; this understanding resulted in small qualitative gains in areas identified as important by the client. Reilly\u27s concept of an activity continuum was a useful framework from which to work with this population. The implications for program development, treatment outcomes, and accountability with this approach promote improved future treatment planning with the elderly with chronic disability

Home adaptations for persons with chronic disabilities: an educational model.

This paper offers a method by which to train students in the provision of culturally relevant, in-home environmental adaptations for persons with chronic disabilities. On the basis of a theoretical framework, the student therapist learns about the client\u27s life-style and offers adaptations that evolve from a collaborative problem-solving process. The training process has been developed and refined over a 3-year period. A case study illustrates the student\u27s application of theory and practice and the outcome for the client of this service provision approach

How occupational therapists teach older patients to use bathing and dressing devices in rehabilitation.

OBJECTIVE: This article describes the methods occupational therapists use to teach bathing and dressing device use to older patients in rehabilitation programs. The relationship of three patient characteristics to five aspects of assistive device instruction was examined. METHOD: The study sample included 86 patients and 19 occupational therapists who provided the assistive device training. Patients were 55 years of age or older and in rehabilitation for an orthopedic deficit, cerebrovascular accident, or lower limb amputation. Therapists recorded information on teaching methods, perceptions of patient knowledge, and expectations for future device use after each treatment session. RESULTS: Patients received an average of three dressing and two bathing devices for home use. Therapists devoted an average of two and a half sessions (10 min average duration) to teach dressing device use and an average of one session (9 min average duration) to teach bathing device use. Teaching occurred mostly in the clinic setting through oral instruction and demonstration. At discharge, patients who evaluated devices positively and were evaluated as having a positive affect were perceived by the therapists as having greater knowledge of device use. More time was spent teaching those patients with lower Functional Independence Measure scores, less positive evaluations of devices, and lower affect scores. Family caregivers were involved in one or more dressing sessions for 26% of patients and one or more bathing sessions for 36% of patients. CONCLUSION: Assistive device training in rehabilitation centers consists largely of simulated sessions in the occupational therapy clinic, and patients in the study described the instruction they received as satisfactory. More research is needed to study the long-term effectiveness of assistive device training after patients return home