Attitudes of Undergraduate Social Work Students Toward Interprofessional Health Care Practice and Interprofessional Health Care Education

In 2005, the Centre for Collaborative Health Professional Education at Memorial University in Canada commenced an inquiry into the interprofessional education (IPE) of social work students. In the 2005/2006 academic year, undergraduate social work students were introduced to an IPE program at Memorial University for the first time. This interdisciplinary initiative brought together students from pharmacy, nursing, medicine, and social work to develop and encourage interprofessional educational activities with the purpose of increasing collaborative patient-centered practice competencies of students and professionals (Sharpe & Curran, 2006). In the subsequent three academic years (2005/2006, 2006/2007, 2007/2008) Bachelor of Social Work (BSW) students explored a variety of IPE modules. This paper summarizes the available literature on the topic of IPE and reports on data collected from three cohorts of undergraduate social work students regarding their attitudes toward interdisciplinary team practice. Data collected are in relation to the Health and Wellbeing of Children module, one of the five module topics in which these students participated over the three-year period. It is proposed that by understanding student attitudes as they are evidenced at this early stage of professional development, valuable information will be provided to educators to inform best practices in the teaching and learning of interprofessional practice skills within the discipline of social work. Finally, the authors provide suggested directions for future research

A Study Of The Impact Of The Family Volunteer As A Social Support Intervention With Mothers Of Newborns

The Family Volunteer Project was designed to address two general issues with regard to the area of maladaptive parenting. These were: (1) to contribute to the development of more effective screening procedures for identifying families at high risk for maladaptive parenting; and (2) to assess the feasibility and effectiveness of family volunteers as a promising preventive intervention strategy with respect to parenting problems.;This dissertation focuses upon the second of these objectives. The analyses reported concern the feasibility and effectiveness of volunteer intervention to effect positive change either directly or indirectly upon the psychological well-being, perceived social support and parenting attitudes and perceptions of mothers of newborns.;The design of the study was prospective incorporating features of a randomized trial, subjects (312 women who had recently given birth and who agreed to accept the intervention if so allocated) were randomly assigned to the intervention within four categories of potential risk for maladaptive parenting. The data considered in this dissertation was gathered at eight points in time (two to four weeks after the birth and six months after this baseline).;Female volunteers, recruited by mass media advertising, provided a low-intensity, non-directive social/emotional supportive intervention of six months duration to participants.;It was established that the recruitment and placement of volunteers within such a project is indeed feasible. A total of 143 volunteers were recruited and became involved in 156 placements. The mean level of contact accomplished by the volunteers was a total of 18 contacts (including 6.7 face-to-face contacts) over the six-month period. Given a highly motivated group of volunteers who functioned within a uniformly extensive supportive supervisory system, it was concluded that this level of contact is all that was feasible within the parameters of this project.;The one-way anlyses of variance and regression techniques used to examine the utility of the intervention yielded uniformly negative results. There is no compelling evidence that the particular intervention program mounted had any potency for effecting a positive impact, either directly or indirectly upon the psychological well-being, perceived social support or parenting attitudes and perceptions of participants. . . . (Author\u27s abstract exceeds stipulated maximum length. Discontinued here with permission of author.) UM

Players in control : narrative, new media, and Dungeons & dragons

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on June 21, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Thesis advisor: Dr. Donna Strickland.M.A. University of Missouri--Columbia 2010.Scholars who study learning in video games draw direct parallels to tabletop role-playing games (RPGs) like Dungeons & Dragons in terms of the underlying principles that enhance learning. In fact, tabletop RPGs have formed the statistical, and sometimes creative, basis for many of the most popular role-playing video games to date, so why is it that tabletop RPGs have been largely neglected in favor of the video game variety? This study takes a close look at how one particular group of players of Dungeons & Dragons engages the game as both a game and as an act of narrative creation. Their interactions can reveal something about how storytelling has changed in response to changes in technology and how this contributes to learning within various domains. In conducting this study, the author observed the group play and also became a participant in the experience to better understand how this group functions. Observation and interaction with these players show that they create stories that are not confined by the traditional boundaries of narrative, such as having a beginning, middle, and end. These stories are not confined to a single method of communication; the group takes advantage of music, films, objects, and even an online forum to expand their narratives across multiple media. The members of this group collectively and actively write their stories, all the while remaining aware that they are in fact creating a story. They challenge each other to improve and collectively work to become better, smarter role-players and narrative writers.Includes bibliographical reference

Moving Beyond Tradition: Designing an Online Course for School Leaders

Increasingly post-secondary institutions are dedicating resources to develop online courses. This includes hybrid (classroom and online instruction) and fully online classes. The growth of online options coincides with the creation of various platforms that make communication between graduate students and faculty members seamless. However, there is a gap in the research which examines the development of online courses for current and aspiring school leaders (e.g., teachers, principals, district staff). For this reason, this article utilizes extant literature and autoethnographic vignettes to 1) investigate the steps universities and school districts should take to make online classes more accessible for school leaders; 2) discuss the advantages and challenges of taking online classes for school leaders and 3) describe a faculty members experience developing a graduate online course. The article includes limitations and implications

Leadership Matters: Supporting the Mental Health Needs of Black and Latina/o Students in a Post COVID-19 World

Communities throughout the United States were devastated by the COVID-19 virus. For instance, the mortality rates are higher within Black and Latina/o communities compared to the overall United States population. The pandemic represents another problem that will contribute to anxiety disorders and depression among Black and Latina/o students. How we combat these issues is important. During the 2020-2021 school year millions of students returned to schools and some struggled to adjust because of the traumatic experiences associated with COVID-19. Students will need the support of administrators, teachers, and mental health practitioners. For this reason, this review of literature examined the mental health challenges Black and Latina/o students encountered prior to and during the pandemic. Further, the authors developed recommendations for school leaders, mental health specialists, and teachers while providing important resources. Overall leaders can use the article as a roadmap to navigate the challenges at PreK-12 schools

A Microscale Investigation of Naphthalene Dissolution and Biodegradation

Biodegradation of PAHs by soil microbes is often hindered because the compounds are not always available to the microorganisms responsible for metabolism. Light microscopy, with digital photography and image analysis, was used to observed naphthalene dissolution. A small scale flow cell containing a naphthalene crystal was viewed at 100x magnification. Abiotic, biotic, and azide-inhibited systems were examined in this experimental system. Changes in the crystal's mass were determined from image analysis, and changes in the aqueous naphthalene's mass were determined with a fluorescence detector. Naphthalene's mass decreased approximately 6 x 10-3 mg/hr, 1.5 x 10-3 mg/hr, and 1.0 x 10-3 mg/hr for abiotic, biotic, and azide-inhibited experiments, respectively. Cellular material around the crystal caused slower dissolution rates for the biotic and azide-inhibited experiments. There was no evidence that bacterial metabolism was occurring in the system. A model was developed which underestimated the dissolution rate by approximately one order of magnitude

Assessment of rates of recanting and hair testing as a biological measure of drug use in a general population sample of young people

AIMS: We investigate the extent of and factors associated with denial of previously reported cannabis and other illicit drug use, and assess the potential of hair testing for measuring substance use in general population samples. DESIGN: Birth cohort study. SETTING: United Kingdom, 1991–present. PARTICIPANTS: A total of 3643 participants who provided hair and self‐report measures of cannabis and other illicit drug use in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) at age 18 years. MEASUREMENTS: Denial of ever use of cannabis and other illicit drugs at age 18 following previously reported use. Positive hair drug tests for cannabis and other illicit drugs, and expected numbers of false positives and false negatives based on expected sensitivity and specificity. FINDINGS: Cannabis and other illicit drug use was reported by 1223 and 393 individuals, respectively, before age 18 years. Of these 176 (14.4%) and 99 (25.2%), respectively, denied use at age 18. Denial of cannabis use decreased with the reporting of other substances and antisocial behaviour. Cannabis and other illicit drug use at age 18 was reported by 547 (22.5%) and 203 (8.4%) individuals, respectively. Of these, 111 (20.3%) and 13 (6.4%) were hair‐positive for cannabis and other illicit drugs, respectively. Based on hair testing for cannabis use we expect 0 [95% confidence interval (CI) = 0–169] false positives and 394 (95% CI = 323–449) false negatives compared to observed 362 potential false positives and 436 potential false negatives based on self‐report. In hair‐positive individuals, reporting the use of other substances and antisocial behaviour decreased the odds of a negative self‐report. CONCLUSIONS: Hair analysis provides an unreliable marker of substance use in general population samples. People who report more frequent substance use before age 18 are less likely to later deny previous substance use at age 18 than people who report occasional use

Would you like to add a weight after this blood pressure, doctor? Discovery of potentially actionable associations between the provision of multiple screens in primary care

The CPCSSN was funded through a contribution agreement with the Public Health Agency of Canada.Rationale, aims, and objective:  Guidelines recommend screening for risk factors associated with chronic diseases but current electronic prompts have limited effects. Our objective was to discover and rank associations between the presence of screens to plan more efficient prompts in primary care. Methods:  Risk factors with the greatest impact on chronic diseases are associated with blood pressure, body mass index, waist circumference, glycaemic and lipid levels, smoking, alcohol use, diet, and exercise. We looked for associations between the presence of screens for these in electronic medical records. We used association rule mining to describe relationships among items, factor analysis to find latent categories, and Cronbach α to quantify consistency within latent categories. Results:  Data from 92 140 patients in or around Toronto, Ontario, were included. We found positive correlations (lift >1) between the presence of all screens. The presence of any screen was associated with confidence greater than 80% that other data on items with high prevalence (blood pressure, glycaemic and lipid levels, or smoking) would also be present. A cluster of rules predicting the presence of blood pressure were ranked highest using measures of interestingness such as standardized lift. We found 3 latent categories using factor analysis; these were laboratory tests, vital signs, and lifestyle factors; Cronbach α ranged between .58 for lifestyle factors and .88 for laboratory tests. Conclusions:  Associations between the provision of important screens can be discovered and ranked. Rules with promising combinations of associated screens could be used to implement data driven alerts.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe