Can We Talk About Life Without Taking Death Into Account? Early Childhood Educators’ Self-Perceived Ability to Approach the Topic of Death With Children

2022 ◽  
pp. 003022282110577
Author(s):  
Iraklis Grigoropoulos

The current explorative cross-sectional study evaluated the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of early childhood educators towards death education and their self-perceived comfort to approach the topic of death in the classroom. All data were collected from June to July 2020. One hundred eight (108) early childhood educators participated in the study. The study was promoted through early childhood educators’ support groups and social networks. Demographic characteristics, an ad hoc questionnaire, and the Greek version of the Death Attitude Profile-R questionnaire were used to assess the educators’ comfort and attitudes. Results showed that participants’ self-perceived ability to approach the topic of death in the classroom was affected by gender and personal attitudes towards death (specifically death avoidance and fear of death). Overall, this study emphasized early childhood educators’ role in extreme situations which their students may face as death.

2018 ◽  
Vol 25 (3) ◽  
pp. 659-674 ◽  
Author(s):  
Miha Marinsek ◽  
Marjeta Kovac

This cross-sectional study was designed to identify Slovenian early childhood educators’ beliefs concerning the importance of the competencies required to carry out physical education (PE), to identify which of those competencies early childhood educators might lack and to identify which competencies should be developed in the process of continuous professional development. For this purpose, a self-administered questionnaire was designed to examine belief statements regarding a wide scope of PE competencies among 183 early childhood educators. The participants evaluated the importance of individual competencies and reported their current and desired levels of competencies using a four-level scale. The results showed that early childhood educators believe that competencies to teach PE are an important part of early childhood education and that they need to improve in such competencies to carry out PE above the existing level. In particular, early childhood educators would like to improve in knowledge, skills and abilities that will enable them to implement PE efficiently and effectively to change children’s health-related behaviours. We suggest that the gap between the self-reported beliefs about the current level of PE competencies and the desired level of PE competencies is vital for policy-makers, who aim to create unitary early childhood education and care systems in which similar qualifications and competencies among early childhood educators are needed. It seems that a lack of policy, curriculum development and educators’ expertise in PE contributes to the considerable variation in the understanding of the educational role of early childhood educators within PE.


2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul Owono Etoundi ◽  
Junette Arlette Metogo Mbengono ◽  
Ferdinand Ndom Ntock ◽  
Joel Noutakdie Tochie ◽  
Dominique Christelle Anaba Ndom ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
Patience B. Tetteh-Quarcoo ◽  
Nicholas T. K. D. Dayie ◽  
Kevin Kofi Adutwum-Ofosu ◽  
John Ahenkorah ◽  
Emmanuel Afutu ◽  
...  

Background: Malaria is still endemic in sub-Saharan Africa, with a high disease burden. Misconceptions about malaria contribute to poor attitudes and practices, further increasing the burden in endemic countries. Studies have examined the knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of malaria among different populations. However, there seems to be no available literature reporting on the perspectives of day and night market traders. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report on malaria KAP with a focus on day and night market traders. Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study involving day and night market traders in 10 selected markets within the Greater Accra Region of Ghana was carried out. Data were collected from consenting respondents using a structured questionnaire. Results: Of the 760 respondents (33.3% (n = 253) night and 66.7% (n = 507) day traders) interviewed, there was no significant difference between the day and night market traders in terms of malaria KAP. Although the market traders had an overall moderate knowledge (54.0% of the day traders and 56.5% of the night traders), misconceptions about malaria (especially that it could be caused by exposure to the sun) still existed among the traders. Moreover, the majority of the traders who demonstrated high knowledge (43.98%, n = 250) did not always take laboratory tests to confirm their suspicion, indicating poor attitude. Furthermore, the market traders’ choice of drug for malaria treatment (p = 0.001) and preferred malaria treatment type (orthodox or herbal) (p = 0.005) were significantly associated with their knowledge level. Conclusions: Despite the observation that no significant difference in KAP exists between day and night market traders, appropriate health education programs and interventions still need to be directed at misconceptions, poor attitudes, and poor practices revealed by this study. This will ultimately help in the prevention and control of malaria in Ghana, and globally.


Author(s):  
Sebastián Videla ◽  
Aurema Otero ◽  
Sara Martí ◽  
M. Ángeles Domínguez ◽  
Nuria Fabrellas ◽  
...  

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic started in December 2019 and still is a major global health challenge. Lockdown measures and social distancing sparked a global shift towards online learning, which deeply impacted universities’ daily life, and the University of Barcelona (UB) was not an exception. Accordingly, we aimed to determine the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic at the UB. To that end, we performed a cross-sectional study on a sample of 2784 UB members (n = 52,529). Participants answered a brief, ad hoc, online epidemiological questionnaire and provided a nasal swab for reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) SARS-CoV-2 analysis and a venous blood sample for SARS-CoV-2 IgG antibody assay. Total prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection (positive RT-PCR or positive IgG) was 14.9% (95%CI 13.3 to 17.0%). Forty-four participants (1.6%, 95%CI: 1.2–2.1%) were positive for SARS-CoV-2 RT-PCR. IgG against SARS-CoV-2 was observed in 12.8% (95%CI: 11.6–14.1%) of participants. Overall, while waiting for population vaccination and/or increased herd immunity, we should concentrate on identifying and isolating new cases and their contacts.


Livestock ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 274-281
Author(s):  
Katharine Baxter-Smith ◽  
Robert Simpson

There is increased industry focus on optimised welfare, productivity and antibiotic usage in cattle youngstock, however, little is known about UK farmers' attitudes and practices in rearing calves. In this cross-sectional study, 479 farmers were surveyed online about their cattle youngstock rearing approach and outcomes. Represented were 174 dairy farmers, 255 beef suckler farmers and 50 calf rearers. Farmers showed awareness of good youngstock rearing practices such as colostrum management and housing facilities. Morbidity and mortality from diarrhoea (82%, 48%) and bovine respiratory disease (BRD) (68%, 48%) were high on farms surveyed but farmers did not frequently consult their veterinary surgeon regarding these diseases. Farmers surveyed were not always aware of the efficacy of preventative methods such as vaccination, and frequently used antibiotic treatments (27% for diarrhoea and 40% for BRD) but not diagnostics when animals had disease. Veterinary surgeons could use these insights to better understand farmers' motivations and priorities, to make communication more efficient and align goals.


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