scholarly journals Addressing the needs of diverse distributed students

2013 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rena Shimoni ◽  
Gail Barrington ◽  
Russ Wilde ◽  
Scott Henwood
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Service Delivery ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Distributed Learning ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Secondary Administrators ◽  
Research Activities ◽  
Distributed Service

Two interrelated studies were undertaken to assist Alberta post-secondary institutions with meeting challenges associated with providing services to diverse distributed students that are of similar quality to services provided to traditional classroom students. The first study identified and assessed best practices in distributed learning; the second refined the focus to students who were identified as members of diverse sub-groups. Research activities for the studies included: a comprehensive literature review of best practice in distributed service delivery; an online survey for students enrolled in distributed learning through eight colleges and technical institutes; staff and student focus groups; and interviews with students, front-line staff, senior post-secondary administrators, and representatives from provincial government and community organizations. Findings highlight impressions and experiences in relation to best practice criteria for service delivery in distributed learning, along with “best practices behind the best practices” that facilitate the adoption and improvement of distributed service delivery.

Speech-Language Pathologists' Perceptions of Their Preparation and Confidence for Providing Dysphagia Services

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (6) ◽  
pp. 1666-1682
Author(s):  
Lena G. Caesar ◽  
Merertu Kitila
Keyword(s):  
Service Delivery ◽  
Graduate School ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The United States ◽  
Academic Preparation ◽  
Speech Language Pathologists ◽  
Confidence Levels ◽  
Graduate School Preparation ◽  
Graduate Preparation ◽  
Significant Relationships

Purpose The purpose of this study was to investigate the perceptions of speech-language pathologists (SLPs) regarding their academic preparation and current confidence levels for providing dysphagia services, and the relationship between their perceptions of graduate school preparation and their current levels of confidence. Method This study utilized an online survey to gather information from 374 American Speech-Language-Hearing Association–certified SLPs who currently provide dysphagia services in the United States. Surveys were primarily distributed through American Speech-Language-Hearing Association Special Interest Group forums and Facebook groups. The anonymous survey gathered information regarding SLPs' perceptions of academic preparation and current confidence levels for providing dysphagia services in 11 knowledge and skill areas. Results Findings indicated that more than half of respondents did not feel prepared following their graduate academic training in five of the 11 knowledge and skill areas related to dysphagia service delivery. However, about half of respondents indicated they were currently confident about their ability to provide services in eight of the 11 knowledge and skill areas. Findings also indicated that their current confidence levels to provide dysphagia services were significantly higher than their perceptions of preparation immediately following graduate school. However, no significant relationships were found between respondents' self-reported current confidence levels and their perceptions of the adequacy of their academic preparation. Conclusions Despite SLPs' low perceptions of the adequacy of their graduate preparation for providing dysphagia services in specific knowledge and skill areas immediately following graduation, they reported high confidence levels with respect to their actual service delivery. Implications of these findings are discussed.

scholarly journals Fluctuating Asymmetry and Developmental Instability, a Guide to Best Practice

Symmetry ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 9
Author(s):  
John H. Graham
Keyword(s):  
Measurement Error ◽  
Best Practices ◽  
Environmental Stress ◽  
Fluctuating Asymmetry ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Developmental Instability ◽  
The Past ◽  
Size Scaling ◽  
Research Designs

Best practices in studies of developmental instability, as measured by fluctuating asymmetry, have developed over the past 60 years. Unfortunately, they are haphazardly applied in many of the papers submitted for review. Most often, research designs suffer from lack of randomization, inadequate replication, poor attention to size scaling, lack of attention to measurement error, and unrecognized mixtures of additive and multiplicative errors. Here, I summarize a set of best practices, especially in studies that examine the effects of environmental stress on fluctuating asymmetry.

scholarly journals Delivery of the National Child Measurement Programme in England

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Martin Čadek ◽  
Stuart W. Flint ◽  
Ralph Tench
Keyword(s):  
Public Health ◽  
Local Government ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
The Other ◽  
Service Availability ◽  
Healthy Weight ◽  
Weight Category ◽  
Convenience Sampling

Abstract Objective: The National Child Measurement Programme (NCMP) is a mandatory initiative delivered in England to children in reception and year 6. To date, no research has explored the methods used to deliver the NCMP by Local Government Authorities (LGA) across England. Design: An online survey was administered between February 2018 and May 2018 to explore the delivery of the NCMP across the 152 LGAs in England and disseminated using non-probability convenience sampling. Setting: LGAs received an anonymous link to the survey. Participants: A total of 92 LGAs participated in the survey. Results: Most LGAs who responded provide result feedback (86%), a proactive follow-up (71%) and referrals to services (80%). Additionally, 65% of the authorities tailor Public Health England specimen result letters to suit their needs, and 84% provide attachments alongside. Out of 71% of LGAs who provide proactive follow-up, 19 (29%) provide the proactive follow-up only to upper weight categories, and only 4 (6 %) include Healthy Weight category with other categories in proactive follow-up. Regarding the service availability for children, out of 80% of LGAs who indicated that services are available, 32 (43%) targeted solely upper weight categories while the other 42 (57%) offered services across all weight categories. Finally, most LGAs (88%) commission providers to manage various parts of the NCMP. Conclusions: The results show that LGAs in England localise the NCMP. Further guidance regarding standards of best practice would help LGAs to find the most suitable localisation out of various options that exist across other LGAs.

scholarly journals Training for policy capacity: A practitioner’s reflection on an in-house intervention for civil servants, students, and post-secondary graduates in Canada

2021 ◽  
pp. 014473942110194
Author(s):  
Bobby Thomas Cameron
Keyword(s):  
Prince Edward Island ◽  
Provincial Government ◽  
Civil Servants ◽  
Mentorship Program ◽  
Post Secondary ◽  
Policy Capacity ◽  
Public Servant ◽  
Capacity Theory ◽  
Integrated Policy ◽  
Recent Graduates

A substantial amount of scholarly work focuses on conceptualizing, theorizing and studying the policy capacity of governments. Yet, guidance for practitioners on developing policy capacity training programs is lacking. In this article, I reflect on my experience as a public servant in the provincial government of Prince Edward Island where I designed and implemented the Policy Capacity Development and Mentorship Program for civil servants, recent graduates and students. In this article, I offer a descriptive overview of the framework and logic of the program and discuss how I integrated policy capacity theory. This article may serve other practitioners who seek to implement similar programs in their respective organizations and provides a base for future interventions. The article also offers thoughts on practitioner-led collaboration with academics and recommendations for those who would like to establish similar programs in their organizations.

Abstract 218: Expanding a Learning Collaborative Model in Chicago to Improve Door to Needle for Stroke Thrombolysis: Raising the Bar

2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (suppl_3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shyam Prabhakaran ◽  
Renee M Sednew ◽  
Kathleen O’Neill
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Performance Improvement ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Learning Collaborative ◽  
Collaborative Model ◽  
Stroke Registry ◽  
Chicago Area ◽  
Regional Collaboration ◽  
Content Expert ◽  
And Performance

Background: There remains significant opportunities to reduce door-to-needle (DTN) times for stroke despite regional and national efforts. In Chicago, Quality Enhancement for the Speedy Thrombolysis for Stroke (QUESTS) was a one year learning collaborative (LC) which aimed to reduce DTN times at 15 Chicago Primary Stroke Centers. Identification of barriers and sharing of best practices resulted in achieving DTN < 60 minutes within the first quarter of the 2013 initiative and has sustained progress to date. Aligned with Target: Stroke goals, QUESTS 2.0, funded for the 2016 calendar year, invited 9 additional metropolitan Chicago area hospitals to collaborate and further reduce DTN times to a goal < 45 minutes in 50% of eligible patients. Methods: All 24 hospitals participate in the Get With The Guidelines (GWTG) Stroke registry and benchmark group to track DTN performance improvement in 2016. Hospitals implement American Heart Association’s Target Stroke program and share best practices uniquely implemented at sites to reduce DTN times. The LC included a quality and performance improvement leader, a stroke content expert, site visits and quarterly meetings and learning sessions, and reporting of experiences and data. Results: In 2015, the year prior to QUESTS 2.0, the proportion of patients treated with tPA within 45 minutes of hospital arrival increased from 21.6% in Q1 to 31.4% in Q2. During the 2016 funded year, this proportion changed from 31.6% in Q1 to 48.3% in Q2. Conclusions: Using a learning collaborative model to implement strategies to reduce DTN times among 24 Chicago area hospitals continues to impact times. Regional collaboration, data sharing, and best practice sharing should be a model for rapid and sustainable system-wide quality improvement.

scholarly journals Are Best Practices Really Best? A Review of the Best Practices Literature in Library and Information Studies

2013 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jackie Druery ◽  
Nancy McCormack ◽  
Sharon Murphy
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Science Literature ◽  
Common Definition ◽  
Library And Information Studies ◽  
Information Studies ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Definition Of

Objective - The term “best practice” appears often in library and information science literature, yet, despite the frequency with which the term is used, there is little discussion about what is meant by the term and how one can reliably identify a best practice. Methods – This paper reviews 113 articles that identify and discuss best practices, in order to determine how “best practices” are distinguished from other practices, and whether these determinations are made on the basis of consistent and reliable evidence. The review also takes into account definitions of the term to discover if a common definition is used amongst authors. Results – The “evidence” upon which papers on “best practices” are based falls into one of the following six categories: 1) opinion (n=18, 15%), 2) literature reviews (n=13, 12%), 3) practices in the library in which the author works (n=19, 17%), 4) formal and informal qualitative and quantitative approaches (n=16, 14%), 5) a combination of the aforementioned (i.e., combined approaches) (n=34, 30%), and 6) “other” sources or approaches which are largely one of a kind (n=13, 12%). There is no widely shared or common definition of “best practices” amongst the authors of these papers, and most papers (n=94, 83%) fail to define the term at all. The number of papers was, for the most part, split evenly amongst the six categories indicating that writers on the subject are basing “best practices” assertions on a wide variety of sources and evidence. Conclusions – Library and information science literature on “best practices” is rarely based on rigorous empirical methods of research and therefore is generally unreliable. There is, in addition, no widely held understanding of what is meant by the use of the term.

scholarly journals Assessing fitness to drive after stroke

2018 ◽  
Vol 46 (2) ◽  
pp. 106-129
Author(s):  
Aisling Helen Stack ◽  
Orla Duggan ◽  
Tadhg Stapleton
Keyword(s):  
Occupational Therapy ◽  
Clinical Guidelines ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Occupational Therapists ◽  
Fitness To Drive ◽  
Therapy Evaluation ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Evaluation Practices ◽  
Education Training

Purpose The assessment of fitness to drive after stroke is an emerging area of occupational therapy practice in Ireland. Despite this, little is known about occupational therapists’ evaluation practices, and there are no internationally agreed clinical guidelines to inform best practice. The purpose of this paper is to investigate occupational therapy evaluation practices for fitness to drive after stroke in Ireland. Design/methodology/approach This is a cross-sectional study design targeting occupational therapists working with people after stroke using an online survey. Summary and descriptive statistics were used to analyse the returned surveys. Findings In total, 47 occupational therapists participated. Off-road driving assessment was completed by 68 per cent of respondents. Functional assessment and non-driving-specific assessments were most widely used and perceived to be the most useful in informing the off-road assessment. A total of 89 per cent referred clients for on-road assessments; however, some referred without first completing an off-road assessment. The therapists who completed formal post graduate education/training in driving assessment reported greater confidence and competence in their skills and ability to assess fitness to drive. A vast majority of participants agreed that clinical guidelines regarding best practice in this area would be beneficial. Research limitations/implications A majority of occupational therapists are assessing fitness to drive after stroke in Ireland with non-driving-specific assessments and functional observations; however, there are many gaps and wide variations between services. Education/training in evaluating fitness to drive after stroke is recommended. The development of clinical guidelines to inform practice would facilitate a consistent approach nationally. Originality/value This is the first study completed in Ireland to investigate occupational therapy evaluation practices for fitness to drive after stroke.

scholarly journals The Intertwining Impact of Intraorganizational and Routine Networks on Routine Replication Dynamics: An Agent-Based Model

Complexity ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 2018 ◽  
pp. 1-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dehua Gao ◽  
Flaminio Squazzoni ◽  
Xiuquan Deng
Keyword(s):  
Best Practices ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Network Effects ◽  
Fitness Landscape ◽  
Optimal Combination ◽  
Landscape Model ◽  
Agent Based ◽  
Adaptive Changes ◽  
Absorptive Capacities ◽  
Geographically Distributed

Organizational routines are means through which organizations can reutilize best practices and so their replication, i.e., duplicating beneficial routines across context, is a key value-creating strategy. However, it is difficult to map network effects on routine replication. Here, we investigated routine replicating dynamics considering two types of network contexts, namely, (1) connections between different (geographically distributed) units in a decentralized organization and (2) the coupling relation between routines, i.e., a bundle of different routines involved in each unit. By considering routine replication as one kind of template-based activities between different units, we examined interrelations between routines with a NK-based fitness landscape model. Our results show that when there is an appropriate level of absorptive capacities (i.e., when organizations are capable of identifying and acquiring externally generated knowledge), there is an optimal combination of these two types of networks, which is beneficial to routine replicating practices and organization adaptation. Furthermore, we also found that intraorganizational variations, including template-duplicating errors and innovative activities, are instrumental to enhance adaptive changes. Our findings suggest measures to control and manage best practice diffusion across organizations.

scholarly journals Health Needs of Trans and Gender Diverse Adults in Australia: A Qualitative Analysis of a National Community Survey

2019 ◽  
Vol 16 (24) ◽  
pp. 5088 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sav Zwickl ◽  
Alex Wong ◽  
Ingrid Bretherton ◽  
Max Rainier ◽  
Daria Chetcuti ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Services ◽  
Best Practice ◽  
Online Survey ◽  
Healthcare Professionals ◽  
Research Priorities ◽  
Health Service Delivery ◽  
Free Text ◽  
Healthcare Needs ◽  
Gender Diverse ◽  
And Gender

There is an increasing demand for trans and gender diverse (TGD) health services worldwide. Given the unique and diverse healthcare needs of the TGD community, best practice TGD health services should be community-led. We aimed to understand the healthcare needs of a broad group of TGD Australians, how health professionals could better support TGD people, and gain an understanding of TGD-related research priorities. An anonymous online survey received 928 eligible responses from TGD Australian adults. This paper focuses on three questions out of that survey that allowed for free-text responses. The data were qualitatively coded, and overarching themes were identified for each question. Better training for healthcare professionals and more accessible transgender healthcare were the most commonly reported healthcare needs of participants. Findings highlight a pressing need for better training for healthcare professionals in transgender healthcare. In order to meet the demand for TGD health services, more gender services are needed, and in time, mainstreaming health services in primary care will likely improve accessibility. Evaluation of training strategies and further research into optimal models of TGD care are needed; however, until further data is available, views of the TGD community should guide research priorities and the TGD health service delivery.

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