A Multi-Level Assessment of Healthcare Facilities Readiness, Willingness, and Ability to Adopt and Sustain Telehealth Services

Telehealth technologies are becoming more pervasive throughout the healthcare system as a way to provide services to patients that would otherwise have difficulty with access. Currently, little is known about the current state of telehealth use within clinics and hospital in the US. Most studies evaluating telehealth programs are feasibility or small patient outcome studies from one location. Utilizing a hybrid framework combining the levels of complex socio-technical systems with the theory of ready, willing and able. The theory of ready, willing, and able is founded on the basis that these three preconditions need to be met for a change in behavior to occur, such as adoption of telehealth technologies. Study 1 utilizes multiple national healthcare data sets to analyze the higher levels of organizational factors that are associated with US hospitals who are ready and willing to implement telehealth technologies but lack the ability. Providing insight to the factors that can facilitate the ability to adopt such innovations. Study 2 is a mixed methods study that evaluates clinic data from the state of Nebraska. The quantitative survey data was used to develop interview questions and determine the sample population. The qualitative interviews yielded several themes on barriers to implementing and sustaining telehealth services in Nebraska. These include lack of providers to network with and technology malfunction issues. Many clinics want to increase their telehealth programs but are lacking the ability to do so. Study 3 is a combination of two meta-analyses that evaluate the effect of telehealth programs on the QOL for cancer patients in treatment and cancer survivors who are no longer in active treatment. The effect of the telehealth interventions on survivors QOL is significantly increased compared to survivors in usual care. More needs to be done to standardize telehealth evaluation and connection processes. Positive patient outcomes and clinical benefits can strengthen the legitimacy of telehealth technologies as part of normal healthcare practice. Yet without accurate data, the benefits cannot be fully assessed. Innovation is outpacing policy and procedures, this needs to be amended to fully maximize the benefits of telehealth technologies in the healthcare system

The Economic Impact of Increasing Cigarette Taxes in the State of Nebraska

https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/coph_policy_reports/1008/thumbnail.jp

The Effect of Telehealth Interventions on Quality of Life of Cancer Patients: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

Introduction:In 2016, ∼1.7 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed. Cancer patients can have physical, functional, and psychosocial issues when dealing with cancer treatment. Telehealth has been effectively introduced to help deliver treatment to patients suffering from chronic disease; however, there is little consensus on its effectiveness in administering sociobehavioral cancer treatments. Thus, this study determines the benefits of telehealth-based interventions providing emotional and symptom support in improving quality of life (QOL) among cancer patients. Methods:Two researchers conducted comprehensive searches on PubMed, SCOPUS, Medline, PsycINFO, ERIC, Psychology and Behavioral Collection, and Medline Complete. Key search terms included telehealth or telemedicine and QOL and cancer. Articles were included if they assessed a telehealth-delivered intervention for adult cancer patients and provided a QOL assessment. Data were extracted to calculate mean effect sizes for QOL measures on the effectiveness of telehealth relative to usual care (UC) for cancer treatments. Results:Out of 414 articles identified in our initial search, nine articles fit our inclusion criteria. Both telehealth (Hedges g = 0.211, p = 0.016) and standard of care (Hedges g = 0.217, p \u3c 0.001) cancer treatment delivery methods demonstrated small, but statistically significant improvements in QOL measures. However, there were no statistically significant differences in effectiveness between the telehealth interventions and UC (p = 0.76). Conclusions:The results indicate that telehealth interventions are as effective at improving QOL scores in patients undergoing cancer treatment as in-person UC. Further studies should be undertaken on different modalities of telehealth to determine its appropriate and effective use in interventions to improve the QOL for cancer patients undergoing treatment

The Impact on Youth Smoking of Increasing the Cigarette Tax in Nebraska: An Update for 2018

https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/coph_policy_reports/1014/thumbnail.jp

Predicted Impact on Youth Smoking from Increasing the Cigarette Tax in Nebraska

https://digitalcommons.unmc.edu/coph_policy_reports/1015/thumbnail.jp

Quantitative Trait Loci Associated with the "Shade Avoidance" Type Response in A. thaliana when Grown under Oscillating Daily Summer Temperatures

A poster discussing "shade avoidance" in A. thaliana plants

Promoting Health Across the Lifespan: Stress Management Topics

This document contains six lesson plans. The first lesson plan is designed to introduce the principles of mindfulness and stress management through music listening and mandala free drawing activities. The second lesson plan addresses stress management in the workplace through the introduction of the Freeze Frame method. The third lesson plan is designed to teach stress management through the principle of gratitude. The fourth lesson introduces the mind-body connection and principles of self-care through self-assessment of behavior. The fifth lesson plan is designed to discuss issues of mental illness and to provide resources to address mental health concerns. The sixth lesson plan addresses time management skills and the implementation of SMART goals to improve academic success. The content is intended for high school or college-aged students and health care professionals. Each lesson plan has a topic overview, time and format information, Healthy People 2020 Objectives, National Health Education Standards information, learning objectives, key concepts and terms, materials needed, and teaching steps. This material was developed by Plymouth State University students as a part of their coursework for Promoting Health Across the Lifespan, in fall 2016 with Dr. Barbara McCahan

Everything You Need to Know about Grants: Beginning, Middle and End

“Everything You Need to Know about Grants: Beginning, Middle and End” was a 90-minute session presented at the Society of California Archivists Annual General Meeting in Berkeley, CA, on April 13, 2013. As a part of the archival community, many of us know that grants are an excellent way to reduce backlogs or accomplish projects we don\u27t have the resources to tackle. However, what many of us may not know is how much work goes into successfully implementing and completing a grant. The purpose of this session was to assemble a group of individuals who have been involved in various aspects of the grant application and implementation process to share their expertise with the archival community. The session utilized a question and answer format with a moderator asking pre-arranged questions. This article provides excerpts from the panelists’ responses