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Cultural competency is the ability to respectfully engage, understand, and communicate through conscientious interaction, enabling effective work and meaningful relationships in cross-cultural situations. Cultural competency recognizes the importance for organizations of participants' diverse social and cultural values, beliefs, and behaviors, and has gained attention because it can bridge health perspectives, understanding, and respect between health professionals and patients. There remains a need for cultural competency in healthcare as disparities persist across the U.S. in racial and ethnic minority groups who experience worse health outcomes and lower healthcare quality than the general public. Therefore, a cultural competency training curriculum was created using various resources to improve interactions between Pacific Islander patients and healthcare professionals. This training helps to reduce racial/ethnic disparities in healthcare by encouraging mutual understanding and improving patient satisfaction, adherence to medical instructions, and overall health outcomes by highlighting patient-centered care as a result of utilizing components of cultural competency. To improve patient experiences in Hawai'i, healthcare professionals need the tools to better interact with patients from different cultures, such as Pacific Islanders. This training provides healthcare professionals with culturally-based content for improving cultural competence techniques for interacting with Pacific Island patients. This training was pilot tested with key stakeholders from community organizations and Cancer Center faculty/staff. Local health clinics, providers, and practices will have the opportunity to participate in this training through a Zoombased electronic training format and be provided with three continuing medical education credits. The initial delivery of the training was intended for in-person sessions;however, a virtual format was adapted due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent social distancing regulations. Healthcare providers are provided pre-training resources, a pre- and post-test, and a course evaluation to determine the validity of training objectives. To date, two Federally Qualified Health Centers have been provided the training, n=60, as well as one Cancer Health Equity Partnerships' Scientific Workshop, n=40. For attendees, the analysis of correct responses from the pretest to post-test showed a significant improvement on 6 of the 12 questions. Respondents also agreed that the training resources aligned with the course objectives. Improved patient interactions from this training can help support better patient outcomes, adherence to medical advice regarding cancer screenings, and many other aspects of improving health equity for Pacific Islanders.
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Background: Pain is the main complaint felt by mothers during childbirth. Pain management can be done with non-pharma-cological techniques, one of which is using the Rebozo technique. Objective(s): This study aimed to determine the effectiveness of the rebozo technique for active phase 1 labour pain in primipa-rous women. Method(s): The study used a quasi-experimental design with a pretest and posttest control group. An accidental sampling technique divided a sample of 30 people into control and intervention groups. The intervention group received Rebozo therapy, a therapy using a traditional cloth wrapped around the pelvis and buttocks with the mother kneeling, then shaking it slowly. The pain was measured using the Visual Analogue Scale (VAS), ranging from 0-10. Bivariate test using Wilcoxon. Result(s): The majority of respondents were aged 21-29 years (56.7%), had high school education (83.3%) and were house-wives (50%). The majority of the control group showed moderate pain (53.3%), while the intervention group showed severe (60%). The reduction in pain in the intervention group was more significant than in the control group (2.27 > 0.73). Both the control group and the intervention group showed p < 0.001. Conclusion(s): The Rebozo technique effectively reduces labour pain in the active phase of the first stage in primiparous women. This technique is easy and inexpensive, so it can be an option for non-pharmacological therapy to treat labour pain.Copyright © 2023 Japan University of Health Sciences.
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Background and purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic have led to some psychological disorders and sleep problems that should be taken into account after recovery. After recovering from COVID-19 people are at risk of sleep disorders, depression, and low quality of life and there is paucity of information about this issue. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness and aerobic exercise on depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and sleep quality in recovered COVID-19 patients. Material(s) and Method(s): An intervention field research was performed in 60 male and female patients (mean age: 39.52+/-5.82) recovered from COVID-19 in Kermanshah, Iran. Participants were randomly divided into four groups (n=15): 1) attending mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program, 2) aerobic exercise, 3) combination of MBSR and aerobic exercise, and 4) control group. The study was carried out at four stages: pretest, interventions, post-test, and follow-up test. Dependent variables included depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and sleep quality. Bonferroni Post hoc test in 4*3 mixed ANOVA was used for data analysis. Result(s): In this study, depression and perceived stress reduced in all experimental groups compared to the control group (P= 0.001). Also, sleep quality improved in these groups compared to the control group (P= 0.001). Post hoc tests showed the superiority of combination of MBSR and aerobic exercise compared to other interventions. Conclusion(s): According to current study, combination of MBSR and physical activity shows to be more helpful than mindfulness training and physical activity alone in improving psychological problems and sleep quality after recovering from COVID-19.Copyright © 2023, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.
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This purpose of this study is to help students developing problem-solving skills by using Problem-based Learning (PBL) as a teaching model, combining with the Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) as a training tool to evaluate students' clinical competencies. Sixty-five college junior students from a therapeutic nutrition course were participated. The topics of PBL included diabetes, kidney disease, cancer, and cardiovascular disease. For each disease, pre- and post-test quiz and after class exam were assessed to evaluate the students' learning effectiveness. Due to the impact of the COVID-19 epidemic, OSCE was performed online. The focus group interview and learning effectiveness questionnaire were conducted by the end of this course for all participants. Moreover, 37 students who attended the dietitian internship filled in the learning effectiveness questionnaire again after the internship. The results indicated that after the PBL, the post quiz score for each disease was increased, and through the online OSCE training, students' abilities to master nutrition education and counseling had been upgraded. Students indicated that both PBL and OSCE training could contributed to the learning effectiveness. The better academic performance students were, the more willing they are to work in nutrition-related fields in the future. For those who finished the dietitian internship agreed that they could understand the work content better in general regional and regional hospitals than in teaching ones. In conclusion, PBL teaching model combined with OSCE training could effectively improve students' learning motivation, learning effectiveness and practical application in a therapeutic nutrition course.Copyright © 2022 Nutrition Society in Taipei. All rights reserved.
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Introduction: Urine drug testing has been the standard for monitoring opioid compliance in chronic pain patients. The COVID-19 pandemic created a dilemma for opioid monitoring by severely limiting in-person testing due to safety concerns. Oral fluid toxicology emerged as a feasible, alternative test due to its ability for remote sample collection under virtual supervision while minimizing infringements on patient privacy. However, the efficacy of these two tests for reliably detecting opioids should be explored prior to transitioning to testing only with oral fluids. Method(s): In this study, we compared morphine levels in oral fluid and urine toxicology studies from 5 randomly selected patients from a Chronic Pain Center who were regularly taking high doses (>=90 mEq) of extended-release morphine. Charts from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic until July 2022 were reviewed for urine and oral fluid testing results and medication regimens. All oral fluid and urine test results and collection methods were validated by a nationally recognized toxicology lab. Prescription Monitoring Program (PMP) reports were reviewed for each patient to observe pre-testing prescription trends. Result(s): We found that the overwhelming majority of patients had at least 1 false negative oral fluid test result. The remainder of the oral fluid results were below threshold (10 ng/mL) or ranged from 11.3 to 54 ng/mL of morphine. 80% of patients (n = 5) had at least one negative or positive-but-below-threshold (10 ng/mL) result in their oral fluid sample analyses. In contrast, none of the urine studies had negative results. Urine studies for all patients were positive for morphine and well-above primary cutoff values (100 ng/mL) with levels >6000 ng/mL. PMP reports did not reveal any aberrant drug taking behavior in any of the patients. No unprescribed medications or illicit substances were detected in any of the oral or urine samples. Conclusion(s): The prevalence of false negative results for the detection of morphine metabolites in oral fluid toxicology may be higher than clinicians are currently aware of. Physicians and other providers monitoring opioid compliance in chronic pain patients should keep this possibility in mind when selecting toxicology tests and making conclusions about aberrant drug-taking behavior. Larger scale studies are needed to compare oral fluid and urine levels of morphine with extension to other commonly prescribed opioids. Disclosure: Evan Chung, MD: None, Joseph Valenza, MD: NoneCopyright © 2023
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Background/Aims During 2020-2021 many usual hospital services were affected as focus turned towards managing COVID-19. Elective outpatient surgery ceased and rheumatology staff were redeployed to covid wards. This reduced the availability of temporal artery biopsy (TAB) and temporal artery ultrasound (TAUS) to aid in diagnosing giant cell arteritis (GCA). The rheumatology team making diagnoses of GCA or not-GCA were doing so often based entirely on clinical and laboratory findings. We aimed to determine referral patterns and investigations for suspected GCA during the covid pandemic, compare diagnoses at 6 months after initial assessment and retrospectively apply the Southend Pretest Probability Score (PTPS) and correlate with the diagnosis of GCA or not-GCA. Methods We reviewed all electronic referrals for suspected GCA from July 2020 - June 2021. Clinical details and investigations reviewed. PTPS applied giving a result of low, intermediate or high probability of GCA. Results 84 referrals for suspected GCA over 12 months. 20 diagnosed GCA/ large vessel vasculitis (LVV), 64 not-GCA. Peak referral months Nov 2020 and April 2021 with 13 and 16 referrals. Lowest in October 2020 with 1 referral. 57 female, 27 male. Mean age 70.1 years. 19% male referrals diagnosed GCA, 26% female diagnosed GCA. All LVV and PMR diagnoses were female. 27 TAUS, 6 TAB, 7 PET, 13 CT, 3 MRI performed. 30 patients had no additional investigations. Of 20 GCA;14 had supporting investigations, 6 were clinical diagnoses. All GCA diagnoses were consistent at 6 months. One not-GCA case was subsequently diagnosed with LVV on CTPET. All other not-GCA diagnoses were consistent at 6 months. The PTPS was retrospectively applied based on available clinical information in all except 2 cases, and compared to GCA/not-GCA diagnosis and investigations undertaken. Conclusion Referral numbers for suspected GCA were higher than previous years however the number of actual GCA diagnoses was similar. With limitations on diagnostic investigations due to covid, diagnoses of GCA with and without additional tests were accurate at 6 months, and correlated with a high probability score. The PTPS is a therefore valuable clinical tool in the assessment of GCA. (Table Presented).
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This study aimed to analyze the effect of eight weeks of neurofeedback training to increase the stress tolerance level of swimmers the current researchers examined six all-India inter-university male swimmers. For the pre-test and post-test data on stress tolerance of swimmers, the current author used the computer-based, pre-designed "Determination Test" on the Schuhfried "Vienna Test System", and the alpha and beta training was provided by the pre-designed Med-Life biofeedback/neurofeedback system. Swimmers go-through under rigorous training cycle andat the time of the race, and to reduce that stress, the current author conducted this study on swimmers and found the difference in the mean of the pre-test, i.e., 27.67, while the post-test mean was 59.5;hence, the value of the t-statistic(5.338) is also significant to its corresponding p-value, i.e., 0.003, which is less than 0.05, which shows the significant difference between the pre-test and post-test, thus leading the current authors conclude that there was a significant improvement in the swimmers' perception of their stress tolerance level and, it shows that the 21 tutelage sessions were effective in increasing the swimmers' stress tolerance level, which can help the swimmers maintain an optimal state at the time of the race.Copyright © 2023, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.
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Background and purpose: The COVID-19 pandemic have led to some psychological disorders and sleep problems that should be taken into account after recovery. After recovering from COVID-19 people are at risk of sleep disorders, depression, and low quality of life and there is paucity of information about this issue. The present study aimed to compare the effectiveness of mindfulness and aerobic exercise on depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and sleep quality in recovered COVID-19 patients. Material(s) and Method(s): An intervention field research was performed in 60 male and female patients (mean age: 39.52+/-5.82) recovered from COVID-19 in Kermanshah, Iran. Participants were randomly divided into four groups (n=15): 1) attending mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) program, 2) aerobic exercise, 3) combination of MBSR and aerobic exercise, and 4) control group. The study was carried out at four stages: pretest, interventions, post-test, and follow-up test. Dependent variables included depressive symptoms, perceived stress, and sleep quality. Bonferroni Post hoc test in 4*3 mixed ANOVA was used for data analysis. Result(s): In this study, depression and perceived stress reduced in all experimental groups compared to the control group (P= 0.001). Also, sleep quality improved in these groups compared to the control group (P= 0.001). Post hoc tests showed the superiority of combination of MBSR and aerobic exercise compared to other interventions. Conclusion(s): According to current study, combination of MBSR and physical activity shows to be more helpful than mindfulness training and physical activity alone in improving psychological problems and sleep quality after recovering from COVID-19.Copyright © 2023, Mazandaran University of Medical Sciences. All rights reserved.
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Introduction and Aim: Job and stress are not mutually exclusive;in fact, stress is inherent to job. In the present era of COVID pandemic, working as health care providers may entail highest levels of stress leading to burnout. Thus, affecting work efficiency of faculty, in turn reflecting on students' performance and health care services to patients. However, de-stressors like yoga and art-based interventions are scarce and not well documented to date. Hence, the present study was undertaken to determine the efficacy of stress alleviating yoga and creative art therapy through interprofessional collaborative approach. Method(s): Sixty medical faculty of either gender aging 30-60 years, were randomly divided into two equal groups-control and intervention group. The intervention group underwent yoga and creative art therapy for 10 days duration each. International stress management association (ISMA) stress questionnaire and Kessler's psychological distress (K-10) scale were administered before and post-intervention, to compare the stress levels. Blood pressure (BP), pulse rate, body mass index (BMI) and waist hip ratio (WHR) were also measured. Comparative analysis of pre-post test scores was done using Student's paired 't' test. Result(s): According to ISMA and K-10 scores, the intervention group showed statistically significant (p <= 0.05) decrease in stress levels among faculty. However, BP, BMI and WHR didn't show any significant change after the intervention. Conclusion(s): Yoga and art therapy were proved to be beneficial in reducing the stress levels among faculty significantly. Comparative analysis also showed significant reduction irrespective of their gender and specialty.Copyright © 2023, Indian Association of Biomedical Scientists. All rights reserved.
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Purpose: To explore how motivational interviewing (MI) training might benefit the practice of COVID-19 contact tracers. Design/methodology/approach: Following co-production of a MI training package, with a United Kingdom (UK) track and trace organisation, training was delivered virtually to 101 volunteer participants involved in contact tracing. Data were captured via an online survey, incorporating questions from recognised measures of occupational self-efficacy and workplace wellbeing, prior to the training. Open data fields were used to gather feedback about participants' reasons for attending, and views about the training afterwards. Finding(s): Although the contact tracers reported high occupational self-efficacy and workplace wellbeing, both quantitative and qualitative data suggested participants saw practitioner value and utility in MI. Research limitations/implications: The sample was self-selecting and typically involved contact tracers from UK local authorities. The study did not measure impact on compliance with self-isolation guidance and/or providing details of contacts, and larger-scale research would be needed to establish this. This was not a pre-post-test evaluation study, and measures of occupational self-efficacy and workplace wellbeing were gathered to give insight into the sample and to test the feasibility of using this survey for a future large-scale study. The research was conducted during the height of the pandemic. While UK COVID-19 contact tracing services have since been reduced, there are potential implications for infection control more generally. Practical implications: MI is potentially a useful approach for enhancing contact tracing practice. However, implementation factors should be carefully considered, to ensure effective and sustainable practice. Social implications: Improved practice in contact tracing could have potential benefits in infection control, through improving compliance with central guidance, although this requires more widespread investigation. Originality/value: This is the first empirical study to investigate how MI training could benefit COVID-19 contact tracing practice.Copyright © 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited.
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Background: School-based sleep education programmes can promote the importance of sleep health and may improve adolescent sleep. To date, only limited research has examined the feasibility of integrating sleep programmes into the school curriculum. Objectives: This study evaluated the feasibility, acceptability and preliminary efficacy of the Strathclyde intervention to encourage good sleep health in teenagers (SIESTA). Methods: A total 171 students (12–15 years, 53% women) from secondary schools in Scotland participated in the study. Recruitment and retention, data collection and design procedures were assessed to establish feasibility. Qualitative feedback on acceptability was collected via focus group discussions. Outcome measures assessing insomnia symptoms, sleep hygiene, depression, anxiety and stress were completed at baseline and post-intervention to explore the preliminary effects of SIESTA. Results: All schools that were approached consented to participate, and most students completed assessments at both time points (171) with a dropout rate of 5%. Assessment measures provided sufficient data to compare baseline and post-intervention values. Training and delivery manuals ensured successful delivery of the programme. Qualitative feedback indicated SIESTA was acceptable, and students spoke favourably about the content, delivery and techniques. Students reported that SIESTA was age-appropriate, relevant and the techniques were beneficial. There were significant improvements in insomnia and stress, but no improvements were noted for sleep hygiene, depression or anxiety. Conclusion: The findings suggest that SIESTA is feasible and acceptable for delivery via the school curriculum. The results indicate that a controlled trial is required to further investigate the efficacy of SIESTA implemented in an educational context.
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Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, considerable improvement have been made in the technical aspects and in our understanding of diagnostic strategy for SARS-CoV-2 infection. The RT-PCR is still the cornerstone of diagnostic testing for SARS-CoV-2 infection but the clinician should be aware of its imperfect sensibility in particular for mild or moderate COVID-19, and order a second test and/or a CT-scan if needed. Results of all tests should be interpreted taking into account the pretest probability of COVID-19, which depends on the local incidence of the disease and on the patient's symptoms. New molecular testing approaches like multiplex PCR, the use of antigen test and serologic testing now complete the available diagnostic procedures.Copyright © SRLF 2021.
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The impact of COVID-19 pandemic on nurses has been significant on their mental & physical health. To minimize their psychological impact Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) is cost effective, self-administrative successful treatment in very minimum time and highly effective on stress and anxiety. Aim(s): To assess the effect of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) on stress & anxiety among nurses working in covid ward. The focus of the study was analysis of data related to the effect of Emotional Freedom Technique (EFT) on stress & anxiety among nurses in covid ward at Dr. D.Y. Patil Hospital in Pune city. Methodology: An evaluative with One- group pre-test post-test research design was adopted to this study.A Non-probability purposive sampling technique was used for selecting 60 samples of covid ward nurses who met the designated set of criteria in the period of data collection in Dr. D.Y. Patil Hospital. In this study there was one experimental group, 60 covid ward nurses were taught EFT method by the researcher and advised to apply this technique continue for 10days twice a day, early morning & night time before sleep. Telephonic follow up was taken with record. Result(s): In pre-test, 20% of the nurses working in covid ward had mild stress levels, 75% of them had moderate stress and 5% of them had severe stress. In post-test, 90% of them had mild stress levels and 10% of them had moderate stress and in pre-test, 73.3% of the nurses working in covid ward had mild anxiety levels, 25% of them had moderate anxiety and 1.7% of them had severe anxiety. In post-test, all of them had mild anxiety. The findings related to association of stress and anxiety levels with demographic variables said that p-value corresponding to number of children is small (<= 0.05), the demographic variable number of children and family type was found to have significant association with the stress among nurses working in COVID ward, and the association of stress with demographic variables said that p-values are large (greater than 0.05) So, there is no significant association with the anxiety among the nurses working in covid ward. Conclusion(s): The research found that in pre-test nurses working in covid ward had mild stress levels and in post-test, all of them had mild anxiety.Copyright © 2022 Wolters Kluwer Medknow Publications. All rights reserved.
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Introduction: Post COVID dyspnea is considered one of the most troublesome symptoms, even after the acute phase of COVID-19 disease. Few data are currently available describing features post-COVD dyspnea. Aims and objectives: To phenoype dyspnea in patients with post-COVID syndrome. Method(s): We enrolled 309 patients who suffered from COVID-19 disease. All patients were screened with a complete blood workup, body plethysmography, arterial blood gas analysis and 6 minute walking test (6MWT). Moreover, 80 patients underwent chest Computed Tomography (CT) according to their clinical status. Result(s): Half of the enrolled patients (51.8%) reported residual dyspnea, both at rest and during their daily activities. Among them, 56.7% of patients had also dyspnea as the first symptom at COVID-19 onset (p=0.04). Patients referring dyspnea showed a lower PaO2 (p=0.02) and an increased pre-post test BORG scale difference (p<0.0001), without significant desaturations (>=3%) during the 6MWT. We also found a decreased 6 minute walking distance in these patients (p=0.004), as well as a reduction in diffusing capacity (DLCO, p=0.0005). After performing a multivariate logistic regression, only DLCO resulted to be statistically significant (OR=0.97, p=0.03). Moreover, among our patients who performed chest CT, 76.2% of them were found to have residual abnormalities such as ground glass opacities (50%), lung scars (26.2%) and parenchymal consolidations (12.5%). Conclusion(s): DLCO reduction is the most influencing factor for the development of post-COVID dyspnea. Moreover, PaO2, 6MWT parameters and chest CT alterations can also increase the breathing discomfort in these patients.
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COVID-19, which has plagued the world since 2020, has brought changes in the order of human life globally, and ultimately has an impact on the psychological state of individuals, including teenagers. The aim of this study is to find the differences between students' gratitude score before and after the implementation of writing gratitude journal regularly. Participants on this study was 20 adolescents in Ambon City Maluku Indonesia, consists of 6 boys and 14 girls. The participants age was between 15-16 years old. Quantitative Method with experimental design used in this study. From the results, it was found that the significant value in the table paired samples correlations was 0.418, meaning that there are relationship between the results of the pre-test and post-test because the value was > sig. 0.05. Although the increase in the value of gratitude among adolescents in Ambon is not too large and increases their classification to be included in the criteria for groups that have sufficient gratitude scores, the important thing explained in implementing gratitude education actually lies in its aim to inspire students that it is important to be grateful in all circumstances. and it's not just about saying thank you or showing grateful behavior. This is an open access article under the CC BY-SA license.Copyright © 2022, Anka Publishers. All rights reserved.
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Introduction: The use of point of care ultrasound (POCUS) in the prehospital setting is well established (Air Medical Journal, 2018) and is an essential tool in critical care (Amaral et al., 2020). There are no universal guidelines that dictate the use of prehospital ultrasound, indications for use, education and credentialing requirements, quality assurance, or improvement (Amaral et al., 2020). Lack of timely US feedback can impact patient care by incorrect interpretation of images based on practice errors. Method(s): The proposed solution was to implement a robust QA/QI program consisting of a selected nurse or paramedic, that aligned with a regional manager, for a total of 6 individuals that received advanced training and education to perform peer reviews on POCUS images in a consistent and timely manner. Life Link III's education department designed online modules to peer review US images. This QI project utilized the conceptual framework of the Dreyfus Skill Acquisition Model modified by Patricia Benner and the Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle for implementation. The QI project was implemented at a nonprofit air medical service located in Minnesota. A pretest-posttest design and post-project survey were utilized. Challenges encountered during this project included the Covid19 pandemic creating delay in education/training program development and the inability to meet in person due to concerns of transmission with in-person exposure. Result(s): The results were analyzed using a paired t-test to assess for statistical improvement in identifying better quality image acquisition, an increase in accurate image interpretation, and a decrease in image review from submission. The results of the Wilcoxon test were significant based on an alpha value of 0.05 and a p-value of 0.38. This indicated that the differences between the pre-self-assessment survey and post-self-assessment survey were not likely due to random variation. The median of the pre-self-assessment survey was 6.8 with a standard deviation of 1.643 and was significantly lower than the median of a post-self-assessment survey of 10.40 with a standard deviation of 1.342, indicating there was significant learning of ultrasound reviewer responsibilities and expectations, the peer review process, peer reviewer leadership, communication, and feedback skills, and how to use the QA/QI peer review worksheet. Conclusion(s): With the establishment of the core group of peers trained to review POCUS images, there has been better quality image acquisition, an increase in accurate image interpretation, and less time from image submission to image review.Copyright © 2022
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Background: Medical genetics trainees are required to complete a 2-week biochemical laboratory rotation. During the COVID pandemic, laboratory resources, time, and space were limited. This led to pivoting of the learning environment. With the current stressors on the metabolic workforce, we next determined if there were ways to continue to optimize the learning while reducing the strain on the overstretched metabolic workforce. Method(s): Medical genetic residents, medical biochemical fellows, and laboratory genetic and genomic fellows joined a 2-week course. IRB determined this to be an Educational Quality Improvement Project and exempt from full IRB review. Trainees could complete the course without completing the pre/post quizzes to prevent any individual from feeling like they were forced to join this research project. Any trainee that did not complete both the pre and post test were removed from the data set. To off load the metabolic workforce, a Teacher's Assistant Position and dedicated administrative support position were established. In addition, early career lab-based and clinical professionals were invited to join the teaching in a mentee position, and quickly advanced to fully autonomous lecturers. Result(s): The senior metabolic faculty (clinical and lab-based) were initially committing about 16-24 h per 2-week course. With the implementation of a mentor program allowing the addition of a lab-based lecture and multiple clinic-based lectures (taught by senior fellows or early career faculty) led to a reduction to 5-6-hour commitment by the senior faculty members. In addition, this allowed fellows and early faculty members the opportunity to teach and increase their educational portfolio entries (used for promotion at this institution). In addition, we showed that the pre- and post-tests for the trainees showed improvement in content knowledge that was statistically significant (10.5/24a17.5/24, p < 0.001, n = 8 participants). This improvement is similar to the average 7.6-point improvement seen across a larger cohort evaluated in this same learning environment over the past several years (Pending publication). Conclusion(s): By creating a mentored-educator program (for fellow and early career faculty), we were able to reduce the workload of senior metabolic lecturers while maintaining the quality of education for the trainees. Specifically, the use of a Teacher's Assistant was highly regarded as a way to improve learning for the trainees.Copyright © 2023
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Introduction and Aim: Post-covid syndrome is the group of nonspecific symptoms which are seen among the patients who have been recovered from COVID-19 and that persist over 4 weeks. Symptoms involve fatigue, breathlessness, cough, cognitive disturbances, depression and anxiety, many organs related symptoms, and the prominent features involve shortness of breath and inability to return to baseline activity level. Studies show that Pneumonia which is associated with the COVID-19 infections can lead to long-standing damage to the alveoli in the lungs and as a result scar tissues may develop which in the future can lead to long-term breathing problems. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of osteopathic CV4 technique in post covid patients. Material(s) and Method(s): This is a pre-test and post-test experimental study conducted at Sri Sri University. In this study, 20 subjects both male and female, having mean age of 23.3 +/- 2.81 years were taken. After assessment of all inclusion and exclusion criteria, a brief history regarding COVID-19 and if present other respiratory disorders was taken. Following this, a 5 minutes window period was given to all participants before the collection of pre-test data. Result(s): When CV4 osteopathic technique was given to post-covid patients, there was a significant change in FVC, FEV1, PEF and pulse rate when compared to the pretest intervention data. However, the changes in oxygen saturation levels were not statistically significant. Conclusion(s): The results show that osteopathic CV4 technique alters the respiratory capacity in post covid patients.Copyright © 2023, Indian Association of Biomedical Scientists. All rights reserved.
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A preliminary evaluation of a multicomponent youth development program for siblings in foster care was conducted prior to and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Pretest posttest measures of youth well-being were collected from sixteen youth, caregivers, and caseworkers over a six-month period. Caregivers reported increased internalizing and externalizing behaviors, sibling relationship difficulties, prosocial behavior, and resilience during the study period. Youth reported reduced school engagement, increased resilience, and prosocial behavior. In-person sibling programming was associated with increased prosocial behavior. Virtual sibling programming was associated with lower hyperactivity, increased prosocial behavior, and increased emotional problems. Implications for research and practice are discussed.
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Objectives: Early investments in new diagnostic technologies that allow for rapid and decentralized testing were critical in reducing SARS-CoV-2's detrimental health and economic effects. This study evaluates public knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use COVID-19 self-testing kits. Methods: An online descriptive cross-sectional questionnaire was used in this study. The final study population included all contacted national and resident adults, age 18 and over, who were willing to engage in the study. The survey was divided according to participants' demographic information and 11 questions assessed the respondents' understanding of and willingness to use COVID-19 self-testing kits. The statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS version 24. Multivariate linear regression models were used to identify the factors influencing respondents' knowledge of and attitudes toward the acceptability of self-testing kits for COVID-19 and their willingness to use these kits. Key findings: A total of 876 respondents participated in the study and completed the whole questionnaire. The average knowledge score on the acceptability of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19 was 70.2%, with a 95% confidence interval (CI) [69.1%, 71.4%]. Participants who were postgraduate, female and vaccinated against COVID-19, as well as employees and older participants, were jointly highly associated with higher levels of knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Moreover, participants who had been infected with COVID-19, were vaccinated against COVID-19 or were female, employees, older, Western or Arabic were jointly highly associated with positive attitudes about the acceptability of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Conclusions: The majority of the respondents have acceptable levels of knowledge about, acceptance of and willingness to use self-testing kits for COVID-19. Nonetheless, future studies should consider the issues of pre- and post-test counselling, false negative results and the sale of unregulated testing kits. Additional information should be communicated so that people can make informed decisions and be protected from possible abuse of COVID-19 self-testing kits when they become available in pharmacies.