scholarly journals If You Build It, Will They Come?: Getting the Word out About Gerontology Accreditation

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 43-43
Author(s):  
M Aaron Guest ◽  
Phillip Randall
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
International Programs ◽  
Prospective Students ◽  
Value Of Accreditation

Abstract The development of AGEC introduced a new facet to gerontological education: accreditation. The presence of such a new organization requires continuing marketing and education. Throughout its first three years, AGEC has continually worked to provide information and to differentiate between accreditation and credentialing for the broader community. Through informal and formal feedback processes, including focus groups and interviews, AGEC has refined its message and delivery. While schools and departments of Gerontology remain the decision-makers behind seeking accreditation, students have become one of the largest drivers and constituencies AGEC engages as they seek clarification on and the availability of accredited programs of Gerontology. Prospective students, many coming from the health sciences, see the value of accreditation. Furthermore, emerging and international programs see accreditation as an opportunity to engage the field. There is an opportunity to further refine the messages around accreditation and differentiate among the organizations active in gerontological education.

scholarly journals International, inter-university transferability of a student health surveillance system (SuSy) tool

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (Supplement_4) ◽  
Author(s):  
R Reintjes ◽  
M Holt ◽  
A Kalbus ◽  
S Powell
Keyword(s):  
University Students ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Health Behaviour ◽  
Surveillance System ◽  
Time Trends ◽  
Health Behaviours ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Health Surveillance ◽  
Student Health ◽  
Major Life

Abstract Introduction While university students are known to face major life transition challenges with the risk to engage in potentially undesirable health-related habits, there are very few attempts to monitor students’ health behaviour on a regular long-term basis. Even in cross-sectional designs, students from the field of Public Health and/or Health Sciences are rarely investigated. Here, a cross-university students’ health behaviour surveillance system is presented. Methods A students’ health and health behaviour surveillance system (SuSy) has been implemented in Hamburg University of Applied Sciences in 2014, collecting and analysing data of health sciences students twice a year since. After Manchester Metropolitan University joined the project and adapted SuSy to its specific context in 2016, data of both SuSy settings were compared using logistic regression models. In addition, focus groups were carried out in both universities in order to assess the perception and acceptance of the tool. Results After eight elicitations with total sample of 1366 responses, a decreasing trend of smoking and increasing trend of cannabis consumption can be observed among Hamburg students. In comparison, Manchester students tend to smoke significantly more (OR = 3.74, 95%CI 1.95-7.17), but consume less cannabis (OR = 0.51, 95%CI 0.14-0.9). Trends in physical activity and healthy food consumption complete the overview. Focus groups revealed that SuSy is perceived as an appealing, useful and recognisable tool among students from both universities. Discussion While being easily adapted in content and delivery, SuSy allows for the provision helpful, comparable information about students’ health behaviours as well as for the observation of time trends. These findings underline SuSy’s potential in promoting university students’ health. Key messages The student health surveillance system (SuSy) tool allows comparable information about students’ health behaviours as well as the observation of time trends. SuSy is perceived as an appealing, useful and recognisable tool among students from both universities.

scholarly journals EXPLORING THE CRITICAL CONTRIBUTIONS OF ARTS-BASED APPROACHES IN RURAL DEMENTIA CARE

2019 ◽  
Vol 3 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. S399-S399
Author(s):  
Rachel Herron
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Social Care ◽  
Small Town ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Dementia Care ◽  
Meaningful Participation ◽  
Health And Social Care ◽  
Rural Places ◽  
Individual Self

Abstract People living with dementia can experience significant barriers to meaningful participation in their communities, particularly in underserviced rural and small-town settings. Drawing on a multi-method pilot study employing observations, diaries, focus groups and interviews in rural Canada, we examine the potential of an innovative dance program developed by Baycrest Health Sciences and Canada’s National Ballet School, to transform the experiences of people living with dementia and the rural places in which they live. Our findings identify moments, processes, and places of transformation throughout the program including moments of individual self-expression; changing interactions with staff, volunteers, and carers; and changing relationships with home and community. We argue that art-based programs can challenge dominant assumptions about people living with dementia and contribute to the creation of more just health and social care in rural places. In doing so, we illustrate the value of critical arts-based approaches to aging in rural places.

scholarly journals Maritime Cyber Security: A Global Challenge Tackled through Distinct Regional Approaches

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (12) ◽  
pp. 1323
Author(s):  
Stavros Karamperidis ◽  
Chronis Kapalidis ◽  
Tim Watson
Keyword(s):  
Technology Adoption ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Cyber Security ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
International Maritime Organization ◽  
Transport Sector ◽  
Maritime Transport ◽  
Global Challenge

Maritime cyber security is an emerging issue that requires immediate attention, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Feedback received from global shipping professionals indicate that a common threat to the industry, such as cyber security, is dealt with differently among industry practitioners around the globe. Data collected from two targeted focus groups (one in Europe and the second in Asia, two leading groups in the maritime transport sector) demonstrated that, based on technology adoption maturity, cyber security is perceived differently between these groups. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted these differences. Our findings lead to useful intelligence that will inform key maritime decision makers, both in meeting the IMO requirements and preparing the organization to address cyber risks.

scholarly journals Becoming a dentist: faculty perceptions of student experiences with threshold concepts in a Canadian dental program

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. e102-110
Author(s):  
Jacqueline Green ◽  
Kari Rasmussen
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Curriculum Design ◽  
Faculty Perceptions ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Threshold Concepts ◽  
University Of Alberta ◽  
School Of Dentistry ◽  
Potential Threshold

Background: In each discipline, there are moments where students “get stuck” in their education and/or training and are often unable to move forward. These moments may be caused by threshold concepts as they represent a portal that students must cross in order to become successful in their chosen profession. This study investigated the threshold concepts from the instructors’ perspective that students must navigate as they transform from learners to dentists within a dental program.               Methods: Two focus groups with faculty members within the School of Dentistry, University of Alberta were completed in the fall of 2017. Focus groups explored the faculty’s perception of the students’ transition from learner to dentist, difficult moments in the program, and the students’ ability to navigate the program successfully.Results: A qualitative phenomenographic analysis of the faculty focus group transcripts identified four potential threshold concepts within the dental program: 1) dealing with the whole patient, 2) accountability, 3) that you may not know everything, and 4) problem solving and adapting during practice.Conclusion: This study demonstrates that there are concepts within a dental program that faculty believe students must navigate in order to transition from learner to dentist. These concepts may inform curriculum design as well as other disciplines in the health sciences.

scholarly journals The Portuguese Model of Home Respiratory Care: Healthcare Professionals’ Perspective

Healthcare ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. 1523
Author(s):  
Cátia Caneiras ◽  
Cristina Jácome ◽  
Daniela Oliveira ◽  
Emília Moreira ◽  
Cláudia Camila Dias ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Quality Of Healthcare ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Respiratory Care ◽  
Electronic Prescription ◽  
Education Access ◽  
Medical Electronic ◽  
Healthcare Model

Patients’ and carers’ views regarding the Portuguese model of home respiratory care were recently described, yet the complementary perspective of healthcare professionals (HCPs) is still to be investigated. Thus, this study explored HCPs experience in the management of patients needing home respiratory therapies (HRT), and their perspective about the Portuguese model. A phenomenological descriptive study, using focus groups, was carried out with 28 HCPs (median 42 y, 68% female) with distinct backgrounds (57% pulmonologists, 29% clinical physiologists, 7% physiotherapists, 7% nurses). Three focus groups were conducted in three regions of Portugal. Thematic analysis was performed by two independent researchers. HCPs have in general a positive view about the organization of the Portuguese model of home respiratory care, which was revealed in four major topics: Prescription (number of references, n = 171), Implementation and maintenance (n = 162), Carer involvement (n = 65) and Quality of healthcare (n = 247). Improvements needed were related to patients’ late referral, HRT prescription (usability of the medical electronic prescription system and renewals burden), patients’ education, access to hospital care team, lack of multidisciplinary work and articulation between hospital, primary and home care teams. This study describes the perspective of HCPs about the Portuguese model of home respiratory care and identifies specific points where improvements and reflections are needed. This knowledge may be useful to decision makers improve the current healthcare model.

scholarly journals Analysis of Real-World Experiences with the Ontario MedsCheck Program

2019 ◽  
Vol 72 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ashley Graham ◽  
William Bartle ◽  
Patti Madorin ◽  
Vincent Teo ◽  
Artemis Diamantouros
Keyword(s):  
Focus Groups ◽  
Prospective Cohort ◽  
Retrospective Cohort ◽  
Community Pharmacists ◽  
Health Sciences ◽  
Pharmacy Staff ◽  
Hospital Pharmacists ◽  
Sunnybrook Health ◽  
Pharmacy Technicians ◽  
Groupes De Discussion

ABSTRACTBackground: The Ontario MedsCheck program was introduced in April 2007, with enhancements to strengthen the program made in October 2016. Previous literature has characterized patients who received the service before the enhancements and described the experiences of community pharmacists and physicians, but the experiences of participants in the enhanced MedsCheck program and those of hospital pharmacists and pharmacy technicians have not been explored.Objectives: This study was designed to describe and compare the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients admitted to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC) who had received a MedsCheck before and after the program enhancements of 2016. The study also aimed to describe the experiences of patients, hospital pharmacists, and pharmacy technicians with the MedsCheck program.Methods: Chart reviews were completed to identify and characterize patients who had received a MedsCheck and were admitted to SHSC between March and May 2016 (retrospective cohort) and between March and May 2017 (prospective cohort). Patients were interviewed and focus groups were conducted with pharmacy staff to explore their experiences with the MedsCheck program. Results: MedsChecks had been performed for 321 (14.5%) of 2216 patients in the retrospective cohort and 172 (6.8%) of 2547 patients in the prospective cohort, an absolute decline of 7.7% after the 2016 enhancements. Patient characteristics were similar between the 2 cohorts. Patients’ experiences were varied, but because of low enrolment in the interview process (n = 3), it was difficult to identify and summarize common themes. The analysis of focus groups involving pharmacy staff (n = 27 participants) revealed that the benefits of MedsChecks depended on quality and access, and also identified common barriers and oppor -tunities for future enhancements. Conclusions: Patient interviews revealed the features of the program that patients valued. Pharmacy staff identified several benefits and barriers encountered when using MedsChecks. These findings can guide clinicians in optimal application of the current MedsCheck program and can inform subsequent program revisions.RÉSUMÉContexte : En avril 2007, l’Ontario a introduit le programme MedsCheck assorti d’améliorations visant à renforcer le programme élaboré en octobre 2016. La documentation antérieure décrivait l’expérience des patients rece-vant le service ainsi que celle des pharmaciens et des médecins communau-taires avant les améliorations, mais les expériences des participants au programme MedsCheck amélioré ainsi que celles des techniciens en pharmacie et des pharmaciens d’hôpitaux n’avaient toutefois pas été étudiées.Objectifs : Cette étude a été conçue pour décrire et comparer les caractéristiques démographiques et cliniques des patients admis au Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre (SHSC) qui ont reçu un MedsCheck avant et après les améliorations apportées au programme de 2016. L’étude vise également à décrire les expériences qu’ont faites les patients, les pharmaciens d’hôpitaux et les techniciens en pharmacie avec le programme MedsCheck amélioré.Méthodes : Des examens de graphiques ont permis d’identifier et de caractériser les patients admis au SHSC entre mars et mai 2016 (cohorte rétrospective) et entre mars et mai 2017 (cohorte prospective), ayant reçu un MedsCheck. Les patients ont été interrogés et des groupes de discussion avec le personnel de pharmacie ont été organisés pour étudier les expériences qu’ils ont faites avec le programme MedsCheck. Résultats : Des MedsChecks ont été effectués auprès de 321 patients (14,5 %) sur les 2216 dans la cohorte rétrospective, et de 172 patients (6,8 %) sur les 2547 dans la cohorte prospective : une diminution de 7,7 % après les améliorations apportées en 2016. Les caractéristiques des patients étaient similaires dans les deux cohortes. Les expériences des patients étaient variées, mais la faible inscription au processus d’entretien (n = 3) n’a pas permis de déterminer et de résumer les thèmes communs. L’analyse des groupes de discussion comprenant des membres du personnel de pharmacie (n = 27 participants) a révélé que les avantages du programme MedsChecks dépendaient de la qualité de l’information fournie par le programme et de l’accès à cette information, et elle a aussi permis de cibler les obstacles courants et des possibilités d’améliorations futures.Conclusions : Les entretiens avec les patients ont révélé les caractéristiques du programme que les patients appréciaient. Le personnel de pharmacie a relevé plusieurs avantages et quelques obstacles liés à l’utilisation du programme MedsChecks. Ces résultats peuvent faciliter l’application optimale du programme MedsCheck actuel par les cliniciens et orienter les révisions ultérieures.

scholarly journals Recall to prison in Belgium: Back-end sentencing in search of reintegration

2020 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
pp. 6-25
Author(s):  
Kristel Beyens ◽  
Lars Breuls ◽  
Lana De Pelecijn ◽  
Marijke Roosen ◽  
Veerle Scheirs
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
The United States ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
European Countries ◽  
Early Release ◽  
Technical Violations ◽  
Front End ◽  
Decision Making Processes

In recent years, the United States and England and Wales have witnessed growing re-incarceration rates. This growth is not only due to the courts sending more people to prison (‘front-end sentencing’), but also due to an increasing number of revocations of early release measures, mainly following technical violations of licence conditions (so called ‘back-end sentencing’). However, it is unclear whether the same phenomenon exists in other (European) countries. Therefore, we empirically studied prison recall decision-making processes in Belgium by file analysis, complemented with focus groups with the decision makers involved in the recall process of prisoners with a sentence of more than three years. We found that the recall process in Belgium is embedded in a strong narrative of ‘giving chances’ and that all decision makers deploy a large amount of discretion, which they use to make deliberate decisions in an attempt to facilitate parolees’ reintegration process. Non-compliance with imposed conditions does not automatically lead to recall and even when a parolee is sent back to prison, recall is framed by the decision makers as a step in the reintegration process, not the end of it.

scholarly journals Communicating with Coastal Decision-Makers and Environmental Educators via Sea Level Rise Decision-Support Tools

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (03) ◽  
pp. A03 ◽  
Author(s):  
Denise DeLorme ◽  
Sonia Stephens ◽  
Scott Hagen ◽  
Matthew Bilskie
Keyword(s):  
Decision Support ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Sea Level Rise ◽  
Sea Level ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Decision Support Tools ◽  
Support Tools ◽  
Environmental Educators ◽  
Stakeholder Needs

Communicating about environmental risks requires understanding and addressing stakeholder needs, perspectives, and anticipated uses for communication products and decision-support tools. This paper demonstrates how long-term dialogue between scientists and stakeholders can be facilitated by repeated stakeholder focus groups. We describe a dialogic process for developing science-based decision-support tools as part of a larger sea level rise research project in the Gulf of Mexico. We demonstrate how focus groups can be used effectively in tool development, discuss how stakeholders plan to use tools for decision-making and broader public outreach, and describe features that stakeholders perceive would make products more usable.

scholarly journals Qallunaaliaqtut: Inuit Students’ Experiences of Postsecondary Education in the South

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thierry Rodon ◽  
Francis Lévesque ◽  
Sheena Kennedy Dalseg
Keyword(s):  
Secondary Education ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Postsecondary Education ◽  
University Education ◽  
Post Secondary Education ◽  
Prospective Students ◽  
The South ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Significant Barrier ◽  
Available Information

The purpose of this study was to learn from the experiences of post-secondary Inuit students from Canada. Through surveys, interviews, and focus groups, we realized that despite the challenges associated with pursuing post-secondary education in the South, most respondents perceived their experience to be positive. Lack of access to sufficient and equitable funding was perceived by respondents to be a significant barrier, as was the lack of readily available information for prospective students from Inuit Nunangat. We conclude with a brief discussion of possible actions for improving access to university education in Inuit Nunangat, notably that governments should not only focus on training and should develop programs that reflect Inuit students’ needs and aspirations.

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