Improving Awareness of Low Health Literacy and Strategies to Overcome It

This project outlines an intervention delivered at a family medicine residency program in Bangor, ME to increase residents\u27 knowledge of the impact of low health literacy and supply them with communication techniques to help improve patient understanding. Over 36% of U.S. adults have basic or below basic health literacy skills and low health literacy has been shown to lead to poorer health outcomes, increased health disparities, and increased cost. Our presentation focused on communication techniques like Teach-Back, an evidence-based strategy that assesses patient understanding by asking patients to repeat back healthcare instructions in their own words, that has been shown to improve health outcomes.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1254/thumbnail.jp

Nonlawyers Influencing Lawyers: Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen or Stone Soup?

In NonLawyer Influencing Lawyers: Too Many Cooks in the Kitchen or Stone Soup?, __ Fordham L. Rev. __ (2012), I argue that the current U.S. rules and regulations governing nonlawyer investment in claims epitomize the U.S. legal profession’s closed stance on nonlawyers influencing lawyers’ work and on collaboration between and alliances among lawyers and nonlawyers. The article starts with the premise that although law is not only a business (in that lawyers are fiduciaries to their clients), the law market cannot be insulated from capital markets. Because this is true, and because what happens in other parts of the world invariably affects what happens in the United States and the ability of U.S. lawyers to continue to profit, there will be strong pressure for the U.S. to allow investment in claims in all 50 states and to a larger degree than allowed now. Although the Bar may be able to resist for some unpredictable but possibly significant time period, I contend it should not – that lawyers as well as clients would benefit by allowing alternative litigation funding in the commercial context and managing the transition in order to maximize benefits and minimize potential risks. Utilizing outside investment in claims as an example, I also seek to demonstrate a larger point than simply the “train has left the station” in other parts of the world (or the importance of “being at the table”) with respect to alternative litigation funding, and that is that more influence by nonlawyers in general could result in a positive good. It could lead to much needed innovation in how legal services are provided and managed and it could enhance problem solving and efficiency. Therefore, instead of equating to "too many cooks in the kitchen," a certain (regulated) level of influence or sway by nonlawyers may help create the richest stone soup possible

Word mastery in oral reading, look on versus not look on, in the second grade

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston Universit

Costs and finance of higher education in Pakistan

Using data from colleges and universities, the authors investigate the costs and effectiveness of higher education in Pakistan, identify factors that influence those costs and effectiveness, and estimate levels of study subsidies. Not surprisingly, they find that most colleges and universities are underfunded. They operate with minimal faculty, spend little on learning materials, and cannot cut costs by enrolling more students without jeopardizing the quality of education. Available resources could be used more effectively by reducing the proportion of nonteaching employees - most of them servants - and by reallocating those resources to faculty and instructional materials. Student performance in examinations is consistent with the level and use of resources.Most students fail examinations, particulary in crowded institutions that offer few courses. And those who pass do so largely through their own efforts, not because of the quality of teaching. There are no institutional incentives for achievement or penalties for failure. Colleges and universities are not held accountable for the quality of instruction, cost recovery is low, and the government demands no standards. It would be imprudent for the Pakistan government to allocate more resources to the education sector until mechanisms have been established for more effectively allocating resources within and among institutions and for establishing incentives and improving institutional performance.Business in Development,Tertiary Education,Gender and Education,Teaching and Learning,Girls Education

Three Generations of Italians: Interview with Emilia Destefano by Susan McGuire

Subjects covered: family, parents, Italian influence, traditions, social issues, education.https://digitalcommons.ric.edu/italians/1014/thumbnail.jp

Usability and utility of behavioral health provider and state agency databases for quantifying and classifying Autism Spectrum Disorders: an example from Southwestern Pennsylvania

According to the CDC, the most recent estimate of the prevalence of autism spectrum disorders is 1 in 88. The continuing increase in prevalence over the last several years has professionals across disciplines searching for the true etiology of the disorder and for effective treatments to address this public health problem. An important caveat to acknowledge is that the CDC’s prevalence estimates for autism are based upon a sentinel surveillance system that experiences great variability between sites. In order for a more population-based surveillance system to be implemented, a standardized set of data would need to be collected across the entire population. This paper will examine what kind of data would be available from the electronic health records of behavioral health treatment agencies using data from an autism treatment agency in Southwestern Pennsylvania and reviews Pennsylvania’s current efforts to estimate the burden of autism throughout the state. This paper focuses on the public health problem of accurate assessment of disease burden to allow for adequate resource allocation at a state policy level to care for affected residents