Co-curricular Immersion as a Public-Private Capacity Building Activity.

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated the already increasing challenge of establishing immersive, co-curricular activities for engineering students, particularly for biomedical-related activities. In the current work, we outline a strategy for co-curricular learning that leverages a private-public partnership in which methods for capacity-building have enabled mutually beneficial outcomes for both organizations. A contemporary issue for many non-profits is identifying effective ways to build capacity for consistent service delivery while at the same time embracing the volunteer activities of students; a challenge is that the lifecycle of a university student is often not aligned (much shorter) with the needs of the non-profit. The public-private partnership simultaneously meets the service motivation of students with the needs of the host. This paper includes two case studies that illustrate the implementation of the methods for capacity-building and related outcomes.

SETT: A Framework for Capacity Building Partnerships.

A contemporary issue for many non-profits is identifying effective ways to build capacity for service delivery. Interdisciplinary processes take time to carry out; herein lies a challenge when working with a university in which the lifecycle of student activity is not aligned (much shorter) that of the project for the alternative education program. In the current work, we describe the pathway of a partnership that improves the ability of nonprofit staff to achieve their mission while simultaneously meeting the service motivation in an academic setting. This paper describes the "pathway" for a mutually beneficial collaborative relationship between a higher education institution and a non-profit serving students with moderate to severe disabilities for the development of Assistive Technology using the SETT Framework as well as the Stanford BioDesign process.

Serial casting for neuromuscular flatfoot and vertical talus in an adolescent with hereditary spastic paraplegia.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this report is to explore assessment and serial casting intervention for painful rigid flatfoot deformities with vertical talus in an adolescent girl with hereditary spastic paraplegia who was nonambulatory. SUMMARY OF KEY POINTS: The participant's right foot underwent 2 phases of casting with correction first toward hindfoot inversion and then dorsiflexion. Because of a vertical talus, her left foot required an intermediate casting toward plantar flexion, inversion, and forefoot adduction prior to casting toward dorsiflexion. STATEMENT OF CONCLUSIONS: The patient improved despite the underlying progressive neuromuscular disorder. Pain ameliorated and she returned to supported standing and transfers. Spasticity decreased bilaterally and the flexibility of her foot deformities improved to allow orthotic fabrication in subtalar neutral. Results were maintained at 12 and 16 months. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR CLINICAL PRACTICE: Individualized multiphase serial casting requires further investigation with patients such as those with hereditary spastic paraplegia.