A horizon scanning system for identifying new telehealth innovations

The paper presents the development of a new horizon scanning tool to identify recent innovations in telehealth technologies; specifically, those that are relevant to the care and management of long-term conditions (LTCs). It also discusses the issues regarding matching appropriate technologies with relevant applications

Improving HPV Vaccination Series Initiation Rates and Compliance Among Indigent Women in South Texas, Ages 19-26, Through Provider Recommendation and Additional Clinic Funding: a Quality Improvement Project

The purpose of this quality improvement project was to increase human papillomavirus vaccination series initiation rates among indigent women, ages 19-26, at a clinic in South Texas. The human papillomavirus is a sexually transmitted infection that has been associated with multiple types of cancers. Each year, approximately 6.2 million cases of the human papillomavirus infection are diagnosed; as many as 75% of all new infections occur among females 18-26 years of age. The human papillomavirus vaccination has a high efficacy in regards to cancer prevention, preventing as many as 76% of cancers with only one dose. The project included educating clinic staff about human papillomavirus vaccination guidelines, finding a funding source for the human papillomavirus vaccine and developing a protocol for aligning the providers with current guidelines and screening patients to identify vaccine eligible women. The population served at this clinic was primarily Hispanic (84%), 22 years of age, used no contraceptive methods (62%), was single (92%), with a high school diploma (56.9%). Before initiation of the project, random chart audits of 50 human papillomavirus vaccination eligible women indicated that only one out of 50 received the human papillomavirus vaccination. During the project cycle, 21 of the 50 human papillomavirus vaccination eligible women received at least 1 dose of the vaccination, indicating clinical and statistical significance. The interventions implemented were effective in improving adherence to guidelines and improved vaccination rates by 40%. Stakeholder commitment to the project ensures sustainability

Maavis@School

Managed Access to Audio, Visual and Information Services (Maavis) was launched as an open source beta release application in September 2008. Maavis was developed by the authors with the participation of older people using a prototype called ‘SIMWIN’ which showed proof of concept and indicated beneficial outcomes1-3. The concepts behind Maavis, which partially were guided by human computer interfacing for people with dementia4, were always recognised as beneficial to other populations5. During 2008 these concepts, summarised as use of IT without understanding it or extreme simplification of the interface, were evaluated with four school pupils with varying physical and learning impairments. Again this work indicated beneficial outcomes6. This lead to the authors adding features to Maavis to make it suitable for use in the special needs school environment, eg being network friendly and single switch scanning access. This was achieved through brainstorming and consultations with staff within three schools. These developments will be tested during the autumn term 2009 in the same three schools. The details of the developments and their success so far in the classroom will be reported. In June 2009 Maavis was adopted by JISC’s OSS Watch as a ‘strategic’ project that will significantly address accessibility issues of IT and the web for groups who struggle with standard IT and/or are e-isolated. The aim is to establish an active open development community by the first half of 2010. Links with others in the adult education field and with UK and international care providers are already initiated

The Perceived Benefits of Participation in Community Drum Circles

The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives of adults who participate in community drum circles. The act of striking a vibrating membrane or drum surface to produce a sound with a group of people comprises a drum circle. Drumming has been utilized for many different reasons for a large portion of human history. A phenomenological study was conducted to examine perceived benefits of participation in a drum circle. Six participants from two different drum circles were interviewed and data was coded inductively and deductively. Interview questions gathered data related to participants’ perception of the benefits and meaning of drum circle participation, social components, and how they were initially introduced to drumming. Findings related to interview questions were used to organize deductive findings. Further data analysis revealed the following inductive themes. Participants experienced many positive physiological and emotional responses in anticipation, during, and after participation in drum circles. Participants experienced an increased connectedness to the group and the present moment. Differences were revealed in participants’ path to drum circle participation. Other differences include how the context of drumming influenced participant expectations. Despite differences, all participants were open to new learning and experiences, possessed a desire to share drumming with others, and experienced drumming as a valued and meaningful activity. The use of drumming in the context of drum circles may be useful as a therapeutic tool to promote, maintain, and restore engagement in meaningful occupations with beneficial outcomes related to physical and mental health

Is Capitalism Good for Women?

This is the author's accepted manuscript.The original publication was made available in May, 2014 at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs10551-014-2185-9.This paper investigates an aspect of the question of whether capitalism can be defended as a morally legitimate economic system by asking whether capitalism serves progressive, feminist ends of freedom and gender equality. I argue that although capitalism is subject to critique for increasing economic inequality, it can be seen to decrease gender inequality, particularly in traditional societies. Capitalism brings technological and social innovations that are good for women, and disrupts traditions that subordinate women in materially beneficial and socially progressive ways. Capitalism upholds the ideology of individual rights and the ideal of mutual advantage. By institutionalizing mutual advantage through the logic of voluntary exchange, progressive capitalism promotes the idea that no one is to be expected to sacrifice their interests with no expectation of benefit. Thus capitalism opposes the traditional, sexist ideal of womanly self-sacrifice

Missionary Positions

Postcolonial feminist scholars have described some Western feminist activism as imperialistic, drawing a comparison to the work of Christian missionaries from the West, who aided in the project of colonization and assimilation of non-Western cultures to Western ideas and practices. This comparison challenges feminists who advocate global human rights ideals or objective appraisals of social practices, in effect charging them with neocolonialism. This essay defends work on behalf of universal human rights, while granting that activists should recognize their limitations in local cultural knowledge

Auslegung: A journal of philosophy, volume 17, number 2 (summer 1991) book review

Review of Allan Gibbard's "Wise Choices, Apt Feelings

Wanting Freedom

This is the author's accepted manuscript.The original publication is available at http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/josp.12005/abstract.Not applicabl

Truly humanitarian intervention: considering just causes and methods in a feminist cosmopolitan frame

This is the author's accepted manuscript.The original publication is available at http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/17449626.2013.849288#.VD7cERYXNWs.In international law, ‘humanitarian intervention’ refers to the use of military force by one nation or group of nations to stop genocide or other gross human rights violations in another sovereign nation. If humanitarian intervention is conceived as military in nature, it makes sense that only the most horrible, massive, and violent violations of human rights can justify intervention. Yet, that leaves many serious evils beyond the scope of legal intervention. In particular, violations of women's rights and freedoms often go unchecked. To address this problem, I begin from two basic questions: When are violations of human rights sufficiently serious to require an international response of some sort? What should that response be? By re-orienting the aim and justification of international law to focus on individual autonomy rather than on peace between nations, I argue that women's rights violations other than genocide and mass rape can warrant intervention. Military intervention is often counter-productive to the aim of achieving autonomy, however. I suggest a range of responses to human rights violations that includes military intervention as one end of the spectrum, and combine this with a greater understanding of the scope of human rights violations that require international response