Student radiographers' attitudes toward the older patient: an intervention study

Purpose: To design, implement and evaluate the effect of an educational intervention on Norwegian student (diagnostic) radiographers' attitudes towards older people. Design: This study is part of a wider longitudinal study that will evaluate student radiographer attitudes towards the older patient as they progress through their training. In this phase an educational intervention, aimed at improving student radiographer attitudes towards the older person, was designed and implemented. What is reported here are the findings of a pre-test, post-test design that used the Kogan's attitudes towards older people scale to determine whether this intervention had any effect of student radiographer attitudes towards older people. Results: Overall students reported significantly more positive attitudes towards older people after intervention (p = 0.01). However, analysis of responses to individual questions reveals that this difference was not significant in all cases. Conclusion: The results of the present study suggest that an educational intervention can have a significant impact on student radiographer's attitudes towards older people. Whether this positive attitude remains throughout training, forms part of the wider basis for this study

On becoming a consultant: a study exploring the journey to consultant practice

Background: This paper reports a qualitative study exploring the establishment of non-medical consultant roles in Radiography. Given the difficulties reported in recruiting and retaining staff in these posts, we hope this paper offers a historical documentation of those consultants who were some of the first in post, sharing their stories of how they obtained and transitioned into their roles. Methods: This paper is part of a two year case study exploring the leadership domain of consultant practice. The focus of this paper is a reflection, by the consultants, of their journey to becoming a consultant; a documentation of some of the practical issues in establishing the roles; and the transition to higher levels of practice. Eight consultant radiographers participated in the initial interviews (two consultants withdrew from the study subsequent to this). In-depth iterative interviewing was used to explore and record individual stories and experiences. Findings: The consultants shared their perceptions of being in post, including their own motivation to progress to a new role, how prepared they felt initially, the lack of role models, the lack of clarity surrounding the role and a perception of ‘being on display’. Conclusions: The paper offers insight into the journey of these consultants and some of the common characteristics they share. These characteristics give some indication of what motivated them to step into higher level roles, in particular the need to drive change and improvement. The paper also offers suggestions for how the transition into the role could be more effectively supported

A cross-sectional pilot study of the Scottish early development instrument : a tool for addressing inequality

Early childhood is recognised as a key developmental phase with implications for social, academic, health and wellbeing outcomes in later childhood and indeed throughout the adult lifespan. Community level data on inequalities in early child development are therefore required to establish the impact of government early years' policies and programmes on children's strengths and vulnerabilities at local and national level. This would allow local leaders to target tailored interventions according to community needs to improve children's readiness for the transition to school. The challenge is collecting valid data on sufficient samples of children entering school to derive robust inferences about each local birth cohort's developmental status. This information needs to be presented in a way that allows community stakeholders to understand the results, expediting the improvement of preschool programming to improve future cohorts' development in the early years. The aim of the study was to carry out a pilot to test the feasibility and ease of use in Scotland of the 104-item teacher-administered Early Development Instrument, an internationally validated measure of children's global development at school entry developed in Canada. Phase 1 was piloted in an education district with 14 Primary 1 teachers assessing a cohort of 154 children, following which the instrument was adapted for the Scottish context (Scottish Early Development Instrument: SEDI). Phase 2 was then carried out using the SEDI. Data were analysed from a larger sample of 1090 participants, comprising all Primary 1 children within this school district, evaluated by 68 teachers. The SEDI displayed adequate psychometric and discriminatory properties and is appropriate for use across Scotland without any further modifications. Children in the lowest socioeconomic status quintiles were 2-3 times more likely than children in the most affluent quintile to score low in at least one developmental domain. Even in the most affluent quintile though, 17% of children were 'developmentally vulnerable', suggesting that those in need cannot be identified by socioeconomic status alone. The SEDI offers a feasible means of providing communities with a holistic overview of school readiness for targeting early years' interventions

SCREENING FOR CLAUSTROPHOBIA IN MRI – A PILOT STUDY

Purpose- Claustrophobia during MRI examinations still presents a significant burden for patients and the NHS. Despite many strategies being suggested to reduce this burden, many are not routinely practiced due to questions over their cost-effectiveness. One way to ensure that strategies are cost effective is to screen for those patients who are most likely to experience difficulties during the examination.Method – This pilot study utilised the Claustrophobia Questionnaire (CLQ) to determine its predictive qualities in screening for claustrophobia in MRI. A retrospective sample of patients who withdrew from the MRI examination (citing claustrophobia as the cause) were cross matched against a population who were able to tolerate the exam.Results – The results were analysed using Mann Whitney and demonstrated a significant difference in the scores between those who could tolerate the MRI environment and those who could not.Conclusion – The CLQ may be a valid tool for screening those patients who may be unable to tolerate MRI examinations prior to attendance, enabling strategies to be targeted to this particular group

Connecting with Careers & Community: Image/Text

Experiential learning characterizes several advanced writing courses at Ithaca College, ranging from preprofessional classes in editing and publishing and feature and magazine journalism to hands-on practicums in proposal and grant writing and image-text production. Our group presentation, a four-poster exhibition showcasing experiential learning in the Department of Writing, discusses students’ application and reflection. Students will display how they’ve taken understanding acquired in their coursework and applied it –– through writing, editing and publishing; collaborating with professionals in the community; creating artistic and expressive products shared via readings or public exhibits; and interning at a range of professional organizations in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. In our Image-Text Practicum course (WRTG-31200) and image-text independent studies, we work at the intersection of writing and visual art. We learn through a careful, hands-on study of craft and form. We work to understand how to utilize white space, juxtaposition, and our associative minds to come to some new understanding and to create work that feels whole and dynamic. Lisa Booth’s “We Are Family: A Meditation on Inheritance and Patterns” combines found family photographs, psychological theory, and her own memories and observations as she works to understand, as she puts it, “inheritance and the idea of history repeating within the family system. The work tries to make sense of how inheritance can shape the individual in their family as well as in the larger society.” “Still Here by Will Cohan is a short work of fiction he describes as “journal entries from a ghost as it explores the world, searching for other ghosts and watching centuries go.” It pairs the text with simple, sketch-like drawings similar to those seen in the margins of a notebook. His intent was to explore ghosts in less of a horror light and come at the topic from a more childlike perspective. Alex Durham’s “Coming Together/ Falling Apart: A Study in Visual Text” was an independent study performed over the summer of 2018. The work “explored the relationship between visuals and text through the medium of the video essay.” It was completed under the mentorship of Professor Katie Marks and with support from the H&S Summer Scholars program. All this creative work requires the intersection of mediums, aesthetics, and new audiences. In conjunction with the Image-Text course, students also display their work for the public in an interactive fair

Reflections on the role of consultant radiographers in the UK: what is a consultant radiographer?

Context: This paper is the second paper from a two year in depth case study, exploring the role of consultant radiographers in the UK. Methods: A longitudinal case study approach was used to determine the role of consultant radiographers. Interviews were used to explore experiences of being a consultant, which were analysed using thematic analysis. Eight consultant radiographers participated (Note, two of the consultants withdrew after the first interview due to workload). Therefore two consultants were interviewed only once. The remaining six consultants were interviewed twice over a 12 month period. Findings: The data presented in this paper explores the nature of the role, differences between roles, the four domains of practice, and how the role fits into local organisational structures. The study shows wide variation in the types of roles undertaken, reflecting that the creation of these roles were in response to local clinical need and often related to an individual practitioner's skills. The broad scope of the role was shown across all the consultants, with evidence of roles developing into new areas of service delivery. Conclusions: The paper offers insight into the role(s) of consultant radiographers in the UK. The range and scope of their practice is extensive, with much variation. It is evident that the clinical aspect of the role dominates, with research being the least supported domain of practice. There remains a lack of clarity around the role, with concerns about remuneration and other limitations that may restrict the role developing further