Complex associations : facilitator, host and refugee, a 'round-about' way of drama for inclusion

Includes bibliographical references.This dissertation focuses on the use of drama as a method of fostering inclusion of refugees and asylum seekers living in host communities. It examines two theatrically based studies simultaneously facilitated over a six month period between July and December of 2012 and explores the two programs from the stage of conception to conclusions regarding their effectiveness in tackling issues related to social exclusion, xenophobic sentiment and violence.The study approaches the topic from three social perspectives considering the position of refugee, host and facilitator and parallels these positions in order to highlight relationship structures which both prevent and assist in the fostering of inclusion and/or coexistence. The study further examines how the interactions help to develop the programs and how the use of theatre can bridge societal gaps; with a unique focus on environments where host and refugee find themselves in a non-encounter position due to the potential for violence. The research methodology stems primarily from grounded theory and brings together elements of symbolic interactionism, pedagogy, sociology, psychology and applied theatre. The method looks at increasing and facilitating communication about and between host and refugee through exploration in applied theatre and intends to increase social understanding between the parties by challenging participant’s stereotypes of the other

The Overtraining Syndrome in Endurance Athletes; A Guide for Coaches and Athletic Trainers for Prevention and Treatment

Training may be the most vital aspect of competition for serious athletes. The goal of training is to improve athletic performance by improving physiological performance, but there are instances when training can push an athlete physiologically beyond the threshold of tolerance. Most coaches and athletic trainers are aware that overtraining leads to physical injury when little recovery time is allowed, but what is still unclear is how overtraining affects the emotional and psychological stability of the athlete. The purpose of this guide is to educate coaches, athletic trainers, and even athletes, on the methods to potentially avoid overtraining, to recognize symptoms and indicators and how to establish a training program that enhances performance while allowing periods of recovery

Critical and Higher Order Thinking Skills Required For Admission To Physical Therapist Education Programs: A Modified E-Delphi Study

Physical therapy has changed from its humble beginnings as informal classes for reconstruction aides (RAs) educated in gymnasiums to the professional education programs for students graduating with an entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy. The occupation, now a profession, complete with autonomy, direct access, and great responsibility for decision-making for those we care for has changed; however, the need for physical therapists to care for those with physical disabilities has not changed. In order for physical therapists to manage care, responsibility, and autonomy in the ever-changing economic and healthcare environment, physical therapist education programs need, as part of the admission process, some standardization to help them select the best students who have the potential to succeed academically, as well as, pass the national licensure examination. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine which critical thinking skills and higher order constructs would be essential to assess on an admission examination for entrance into physical therapist education programs. A modified e-Delphi was used to answer this question by surveying a group of experts determined by the criteria of being a licensed physical therapist who has been published for their research on critical thinking and higher order thinking, as well as, program directors of physical therapist education programs. The critical thinking skills of clarifying meaning, assessing claims, assessing arguments, stating results, self-examination, and self-correction, and the higher order thinking constructs of critical thinking and logical thinking emerged as the consensus items to be assessed in a discipline-specific examination prior to entrance into a physical therapist education program

Can Online Consumers Contribute to Drug Knowledge? A Mixed-Methods Comparison of Consumer-Generated and Professionally Controlled Psychotropic Medication Information on the Internet

Background Ongoing initiatives to filter online health searches exclude consumer-generated content from search returns, though its inferiority compared with professionally controlled content is not demonstrated. The antidepressant escitalopram and the antipsychotic quetiapine have ranked over the last 5 years as top-selling agents in their respective drug classes. Both drugs have various off-label mental health and non?mental health uses, ranging from the relief of insomnia and migraines to the treatment of severe developmental disorders. Objective Our objective was to describe the most frequently reported effects of escitalopram and quetiapine in online consumer reviews, to compare them with effects described in professionally controlled commercial health websites, and to gauge the usability of online consumer medication reviews. Methods A stratified simple random sample of 960 consumer reviews was selected from all 6998 consumer reviews of the two drugs in 2 consumer-generated (www.askapatient.com and www.crazymeds.us) and 2 professionally controlled (www.webmd.com and www.revolutionhealth.com) health websites. Professional medication descriptions included all standard information on the medications from the latter 2 websites. All textual data were inductively coded for medication effects, and intercoder agreement was assessed. Chi-square was used to test for associations between consumer-reported effects and website origination. Results Consumers taking either escitalopram (n = 480) or quetiapine (n = 480) most frequently reported symptom improvement (30.4% or 146/480, 24.8% or 119/480) or symptom worsening (15.8% or 76/480, 10.2% or 49/480), changes in sleep (36% or 173/480, 60.6% or 291/480) and changes in weight and appetite (22.5% or 108/480, 30.8% or 148/480). More consumers posting reviews on consumer-generated rather than professionally controlled websites reported symptom worsening on quetiapine (17.3% or 38/220 versus 5% or 11/220, P \u3c .001), while more consumers posting on professionally controlled websites reported symptom improvement (32.7% or 72/220 versus 21.4% or 47/220, P = .008). Professional descriptions more frequently listed physical adverse effects and warnings about suicidal ideation while consumer reviews emphasized effects disrupting daily routines and provided richer descriptions of effects in context. The most recent 20 consumer reviews on each drug from each website (n = 80) were comparable to the full sample of reviews in the frequency of commonly reported effects. Conclusion Consumer reviews and professional medication descriptions generally reported similar effects of two psychotropic medications but differed in their descriptions and in frequency of reporting. Professional medication descriptions offer the advantage of a concise yet comprehensive listing of drug effects, while consumer reviews offer greater context and situational examples of how effects may manifest in various combinations and to varying degrees. The dispersion of consumer reviews across websites limits their integration, but a brief browsing strategy on the two target medications nonetheless retrieved representative consumer content. Current strategies for filtering online health searches to return only trusted or approved websites may inappropriately address the challenge to identify quality health sources on the Internet because such strategies unduly limit access to an entire complementary source for health information

Quantitative analysis of gradient sensing: towards building predictive models of chemotaxis in cancer

Chemotaxis of tumor cells in response to a gradient of extracellular ligand is an important step in cancer metastasis. The heterogeneity of chemotactic responses in cancer has not been widely addressed by experimental or mathematical modeling techniques. However, recent advancements in chemoattractant presentation, fluorescent-based signaling probes, and phenotypic analysis paradigms provide rich sources for building data-driven relational models that describe tumor cell chemotaxis in response to a wide variety of stimuli. Here we present gradient sensing, and the resulting chemotactic behavior, in a ‘cue-signal-response’ framework and suggest methods for utilizing recently reported experimental methods in data-driven modeling ventures.United States. Dept. of Defense. Breast Cancer Research Program (U.S.) (Fellowship BC087781)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant U54-CA112967)National Institutes of Health (U.S.) (Grant R01-GM081336

A pilot evaluation investigating weekend food programs addressing food insecurity in Pittsburgh, PA

There is a significant gap in the literature regarding the effectiveness of weekend food programs aiming to decrease food insecurity among children and adolescents. In May 2016, we investigated the weekend food program implemented at different schools in the Pittsburgh area, referenced as Schools A, B and C. A mixed-methods approach was utilized to combine descriptive information depicting the program processes along with a t-test analysis of student-based data. We analyzed 63 students' attendance rates, years of program enrollment and grades. The qualitative aspects of the study analyzed 134 students and 30 teachers. Methods included key informant interviews, survey distribution, and a community map. A paired samples t-test was conducted to compare the year of program enrollment with student grades and attendance rates. There was a significant difference in the attendance rates from students who were not enrolled in 2014-2015 (M=.93, SD=.05) and when they were enrolled in the year 2015-2016 (M=.94, SD=.06); t (62)=-2.12, p=.035). Specifically, students who were not enrolled in the weekend food program in the year of 2014-2015 experienced a significant increase in attendance when enrolled in the program during the year of 2015-2016. The qualitative arm of this study was collected at Schools A and B in the Greater Pittsburgh Community. Results suggested a significantly positive response to weekend food program enrollment, and revealed the bags were very likely to be shared with at least one other member in the household. The findings suggested high levels of satisfaction associated with enrollment in weekend food programs. The boost in attendance serves as the foundation to explore more long-term outcomes that have yet to be addressed. The public health significance of this paper is that it illustrates the need to address the social inequities children in low socioeconomic status disproportionately experience, it supplements the limited existent literature surrounding the evaluation of weekend food programs, and may allow future improvements for cost effectiveness and student-based outcomes. The statistical and descriptive support from this pilot evaluation strongly encourages the further analysis of weekend food programs addressing food insecurity

Overcoming Barriers to Health and Wellbeing : Community Assets in North East Essex

The Overcoming Barriers to Health and Wellbeing report presents research carried out by Public Health and Social Science researchers at Anglia Ruskin University. Colchester Borough Council commissioned this independent study with funding from the North East Essex Health and Wellbeing Alliance. The aim of the research is to provide Local Authorities and health and wellbeing commissioners with insight into the public health benefits of community assets from the perspective of citizens who access them in their local communities. This report provides an evidence-based rationale for the support of community assets to improve the health and wellbeing outcomes of citizens in North East Essex. There is a focus on populations considered to be at increased risk of poor health and wellbeing outcomes, and on addressing populations in places where there are areas of comparative social deprivation in the context of growing health inequalities in the region