Lessons learned about post-secondary institution tobacco policy change by Tobacco-Free Generation Campus Initiative Grantees, 2018–2020

Abstract We measure the impact introducing a of 10% co-payment component on hospitalisation costs for Palestine refugees from Lebanon in public and private hospitals. This ex-post analysis provides a detailed insight on the direction and magnitude of the policy impact in terms of demand and supply for healthcare. The data was collected by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East and include episode level information from all public, private and Red Crescent Hospitals in Lebanon, between April 2016 and October 2017. This is a complete population episode level dataset with information from before and after the policy change. We use multinomial logit, negative binomial and linear models to estimate the policy impact on demand by type of hospital, average length of stay and treatment costs for the patient and the provider. After the new policy was implemented patients were 18% more likely to choose a (free-of-charge) PRCS hospital for secondary care, instead of a Private or Public hospital, where the co-payment was introduced. This impact was stronger for episodes with longer stays, which are also the more severe and more expensive cases. Average length of stay decreased in general for all hospitals and we could not find a statistically significant impact on costs for the provider nor the patient. We find evidence that the introduction of co-payments is hospital costs led to a shift in demand, but it is not clear to what extent the hospitals receiving this demand shift were prepared for having more patients than before, also because these are typically of less quality then the others. Regarding costs, there is no evidence that the provider managed to contain costs with the new policy, as the demand adapted to the changes. Our findings provide important information on hospitalisation expenses and the consequences of a policy change from a lessons learned perspective that should be taken into account for future policy decision making. Key messages We show that in a context of poverty, the introduction of payment for specific hospital types can be efficient for shifting demand, but has doubtable impact on costs containment for the provider. The co-payment policy can have a negative impact on patients' health since after its implementation demand increased at free-of-charge hospitals, which typically have less resources to treat patients.

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Epidemiology of childhood tuberculosis after ceasing universal Bacillus Calmette–Guérin vaccination

Scientific Reports ◽

10.1038/s41598-021-95294-y ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Sayori Kobayashi ◽

Takashi Yoshiyama ◽

Kazuhiro Uchimura ◽

Yuko Hamaguchi ◽

Seiya Kato

Keyword(s):

Policy Change ◽

Vaccine Coverage ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Public Health Authority ◽

Bacillus Calmette Guerin ◽

Notification Rate ◽

Bcg Vaccination ◽

The Past ◽

Childhood Tb ◽

Selective Vaccination

AbstractUniversal Bacillus Calmette–Guérin (BCG) vaccination is recommended in countries with high tuberculosis (TB) burden. Nevertheless, several countries have ceased universal BCG vaccination over the past 40 years, with scarce comparative epidemiological analyses regarding childhood TB after the policy change. We analysed data on childhood TB in countries that ceased universal BCG vaccination. Data sources included national/international databases, published papers, annual TB reports, and public health authority websites. Childhood TB notification rate increased in one of seven countries with available data. Pulmonary TB and TB lymphadenitis were the main causes of increasing childhood cases, while changes in severe forms of TB cases were minor. Maintaining high vaccine coverage for the target group was a common challenge after shifting selective vaccination. In some countries showing no increase in childhood TB after a BCG policy change, the majority of childhood TB cases were patients from abroad or those with overseas parents; these countries had changed immigration policies during the same period. Heterogeneity in childhood TB epidemiology was observed after ceasing universal BCG vaccination; several factors might obscure the influence of vaccination policy change. Lessons learned from these countries may aid in the development of better BCG vaccination strategies.

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Risk and protective factors for anxiety impacting academic performance in post-secondary students

Canadian Journal of Higher Education ◽

10.47678/cjhe.v50i2.188715 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 50 (2) ◽

pp. 71-88

Author(s):

Konrad T. Lisnyj ◽

Regan Russell ◽

Andrew Papadopoulos

Keyword(s):

Academic Performance ◽

Academic Success ◽

Protective Factors ◽

Secondary Students ◽

Protective Factor ◽

Risk And Protective Factors ◽

Survey Study ◽

Post Secondary ◽

Post Secondary Institution ◽

Significant Factors

This survey study measured the association between risk and protective factors of anxiety and its implications on the academic performance of 1,053 students at a four-year, public post-secondary institution in southwestern Ontario. Logistic regression analyses revealed 13 significant variables at the univariable level, while the multivariable model yielded seven significant factors. Students who felt hopeless significantly increased their odds of reporting anxiety adversely affecting their academic performance, while being able to manage daily responsibilities was the only protective factor against anxiety impacting students’ educational attainment. By planning, designing, and implementing proactive programs focusing on thesepredictor variables, such interventions can equip students against the debilitative influence of anxiety on their academic success.

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Physical health status of music students in a post-secondary institution: A cross-sectional study

Work ◽

10.3233/wor-213621 ◽

2021 ◽

pp. 1-10

Author(s):

Allen Ying-Lun Chang ◽

Hannah Boone ◽

Phil Gold

Keyword(s):

Physical Health ◽

Cross Sectional Study ◽

Music Students ◽

Professional Musicians ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Post Secondary ◽

Physical Injuries ◽

Post Secondary Institution ◽

Mcgill University ◽

Sectional Analysis

BACKGROUND: Musicians’ health is an essential field of healthcare that is specifically tailored to the needs of musicians, which encompasses multiple facets of health. OBJECTIVE: The research seeks to determine the prevalence of physical injuries in music students and musicians, and to identify possible causes. METHODS: A previously unvalidated 42-item survey was distributed to music students, non-music students, and professional musicians. The questions addressed demographics, physical health, mental health, medication use, and interest in musicians’ health. The study was conducted from Fall semester 2017 to Winter semester 2019 at McGill University, with analysis completed in August 2019. RESULTS: A total of 585 complete responses were obtained. Music students (35%) had higher prevalence of physical injuries than non-music students (18%), and professional musicians had the highest prevalence (56%). Multiple factors dictate the prevalence of physical injuries among musicians, including gender, age, program of enrollment, and instrument of choice. Of note, daily duration of practice was not one of these factors. CONCLUSIONS: Several factors were identified through this cross-sectional analysis to be associated with musicians’ physical injuries. These findings can serve as a foundation through which physicians and post-secondary institutions may implement changes to better enhance the physical health of musicians. It also cast doubts on previous assumptions associated with physical injury of musicians.

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Learners’ Technological Acceptance of VR Content Development: A Sequential 3-Part Use Case Study of Diverse Post-Secondary Students

International Journal of Semantic Computing ◽

10.1142/s1793351x19400154 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 13 (03) ◽

pp. 343-366 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Vinh T. Nguyen ◽

Rebecca Hite ◽

Tommy Dang

Keyword(s):

Secondary Students ◽

Undergraduate Students ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Ease Of Use ◽

Use Case ◽

Web Based ◽

Post Secondary ◽

Content Development ◽

Short Period ◽

Post Secondary Students

Web-based virtual reality (VR) development tools are in ubiquitous use by software developers, and now, university (undergraduate) students, to move beyond using, to creating new and energizing VR content. Web-based VR (WebVR), among other libraries and frameworks, have risen as a low-cost platform for users to create rich and intuitive VR content and applications. However, the success of WebVR as an instructional tool relies on post-secondary students technological acceptance (TA), the intersectionality of a user’s perceived utility (PU) and perceived ease of use (PEOU, or convenience) with said technological tool. Yet, there is a dearth of exploratory studies of students’ experiences with the AR/VR development technologies to infer their TA. To ascertain the viability of WebVR tools for software engineering undergraduates in the classroom, this paper presents a 3-case contextual investigation of 38 undergraduate students tasked with creating VR content. In each use case, students were provided increasing freedom in their VR content development parameters. Results indicated that students demonstrated elements of technological acceptance in their selection of webVR and other platforms, and not only successfully creating rich and robust VR content (PU), but also executing these projects in a short period (PEOU). Other positive externalities observed were students exhibitions of soft skills (e.g. creativity, critical thinking) and different modes of demonstrating coding knowledge, which suggest further study. Discussed are the lessons learned from the WebVR and VR/AR interventions and recommendations for WebVR instruction. This work may be helpful for both learners and teachers using VR/AR in selecting, designing, and developing coursework materials, tools, and libraries.

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Lessons Learned from the Development of Open Educational Resources at Post-Secondary Level in the Field of Environmental Modelling: An Exploratory Study

Education Sciences ◽

10.3390/educsci9020103 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 9 (2) ◽

pp. 103 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Quazi K. Hassan ◽

Khan R. Rahaman ◽

Kazi Z. Sumon ◽

Ashraf Dewan

Keyword(s):

Lessons Learned ◽

Open Educational Resources ◽

Educational Resources ◽

Environmental Modelling ◽

Post Secondary ◽

Creative Commons ◽

Student Ratings Of Instruction ◽

University Of Calgary ◽

The University ◽

The Impact

Open educational resources (OER) have become increasingly popular in recent times. Here, the aim was to synthesise the lessons learned through the development of OER materials for a university-level course called “environmental modelling”. Consequently, the topics of discussion included: (i) how to choose an appropriate creative commons license; (ii) ways of incorporating materials from other sources, such as publicly available sources, other open access materials, and an author’s own published materials if not published under a creative commons license; (iii) the impact of the developed OER in the field of environmental modelling; and (iv) the challenges in developing OER material. Upon developing the materials, we observed the following: (i) students enrolled in the course did not purchase textbooks; (ii) our OER materials ranked as one of the most accessed (i.e., number 7) materials according to the usage data that summed the number of file downloads and item views from PRISM (i.e., the hosting platform maintained by the University of Calgary); (iii) the students learned relatively better as per the data acquired by the University of Calgary’s universal student ratings of instruction (USRI) instrument; and (iv) other universities expressed interest in adopting the materials.

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Post-Secondary Institution Level and Control: Effect on Women’s Proportion of Entrepreneurship Degrees

Entrepreneurship Education and Pedagogy ◽

10.1177/2515127420960432 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 251512742096043

Author(s):

Desarae Mueller-Fichepain ◽

Cheryl McConnell ◽

Myles P. Gartland

Keyword(s):

Postsecondary Education ◽

Repeated Measures ◽

High Growth ◽

Growth Potential ◽

Control Effect ◽

Post Secondary ◽

Gender Biases ◽

Post Secondary Institution ◽

Human And Social Capital ◽

And Control

This study examines the influence U.S. college/university level (2-year/4-year) and control (public/private) have on the female-awarded proportion of their entrepreneurship degrees and certificates (EDCs). It also examines trends over a decade, 2006-2016. Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) data on U.S. institutions awarding Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) 52.07 (Entrepreneurship and Small Business degrees/certificates) in 2006, 2011, and/or 2016 is analyzed using ANOVA/ANCOVA/repeated measures methods. Surprisingly, even with the growing focus on female entrepreneurship, results did not show significant increases in the female-awarded proportion of EDCs over the ten years. Closer examination of 2016 data shows 2-year public institutions confer a significantly larger percentage of their EDCs to women compared to both 4-year public and private institutions providing evidence that institution level and control influence the proportion and suggesting that 4-year institutions may still be gendered in terms of entrepreneurship. Entrepreneurship education has been empirically shown to augment entrepreneurial human and social capital, which is of key importance in entrepreneurship, particularly high-growth potential female businesses. For this reason, these results have important implications for post-secondary institution leaders and entrepreneurship educators, and serves as a call to action to pro-actively assess their environments and curriculum for potential gender biases. Suggestions provided.

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Declining Enrolment Sparks Certificate Review: Lessons Learned

Canadian Journal of University Continuing Education ◽

10.21225/d5ww38 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 23 (2) ◽

Author(s):

Susan Hutton

Keyword(s):

Resource Management ◽

Human Resource Management ◽

Continuing Education ◽

Human Resource ◽

Review Process ◽

Resource Constraints ◽

Lessons Learned ◽

Post Secondary ◽

University Of Calgary ◽

The University

The design of the Human Resource Management Certificate at the University of Calgary was the culmination of a two-year review process. Although the issue of declining enrolment initiated the review, many other issues became apparent. The process of informal and formal investigations that were undertaken are outlined, as are the actions taken. The challenges of resource constraints, collaborative investigation, the climate of competition in post-secondary institutions, and issues of credit transferability are highlighted along with the lessons learned. The process and results may benefit other continuing education programmers.

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