“I’m sure that there is something healing in the writing process”

The University of Southern Denmark has introduced a mandatory course in Narrative Medicine into the curriculum of undergraduate medical students. It is part of a trajectory called ‘Human First’, which aims to improve the students’ empathic abilities by teaching them narrative competencies to draw on in their future clinical encounters as medical doctors. Although, theoretical accounts seem to make a strong case for the utility and value of educational interventions, such as courses in narrative medicine or medical humanities, there has been a lack of empirical studies providing evidence to support such accounts – especially those focusing on the long-term effects and impact on patient care. Our systematic literature search and review of empirical studies regarding the effects of teaching close reading of fictional texts and creative writing to medical and health care students, tentatively confirmed previous indications of positive effects. Larger, multi-site and more rigorous studies that assess the long-term impacts of these educational interventions and adjust for local variations are, however, still in short supply. Finally, we present critical reflections on whether empathy and similar phenomena are at all measurable and discuss the possibility of meaningfully evaluating the utility of curricular interventions such as narrative medicine courses.

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‘Human First’: Teaching close reading and creative writing to medical students

Tidsskrift for Forskning i Sygdom og Samfund ◽

10.7146/tfss.v16i31.116961 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (31) ◽

Author(s):

Sif Stewart-Ferrer ◽

Anders Juul Rasmussen

Keyword(s):

Medical Students ◽

Creative Writing ◽

Empirical Studies ◽

Narrative Medicine ◽

Educational Interventions ◽

Close Reading ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Short Supply ◽

Positive Effects

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Long-Term Development of Urban Agriculture: Resilience and Sustainability of Farmers Facing the Covid-19 Pandemic in Japan

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su13084316 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 13 (8) ◽

pp. 4316

Author(s):

Shingo Yoshida ◽

Hironori Yagi

Keyword(s):

Urban Agriculture ◽

Food Systems ◽

Direct Marketing ◽

Farming System ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Short Term ◽

Short Supply ◽

Using Data ◽

Urban People

The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic has forced global food systems to face unprecedented uncertain shocks even in terms of human health. Urban agriculture is expected to be more resilient because of its short supply chain for urban people and diversified farming activities. However, the short-and long-term effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on urban farms remain unclear. This study aims to reveal the conditions for farm resilience to the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020 and the relationship between short-term farm resilience and long-term farm development using data from a survey of 74 farms located in Tokyo. The results are as follows. First, more than half of the sample farms increased their farm sales during this period. This resilience can be called the “persistence” approach. Second, short-term farm resilience and other sustainable farm activities contributed to improving farmers’ intentions for long-term farm development and farmland preservation. Third, the most important resilience attributes were the direct marketing, entrepreneurship, and social networks of farmers. We discussed the necessity of building farmers’ transformative capabilities for a more resilient urban farming system. These results imply that support to enhance the short-term resilience of urban farms is worth more than the short-term profit of the farms.

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CAN FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT REDUCE UNEMPLOYMENT IN HOME COUNTRIES? ANALYSIS FOR ASEAN COUNTRY

Maqdis : Jurnal Kajian Ekonomi Islam ◽

10.15548/maqdis.v4i2.253 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 4 (2) ◽

pp. 143

Author(s):

ELSA WIDIA ◽

ENDRIZAL RIDWAN ◽

FAJRI MUHARJA

Keyword(s):

Empirical Studies ◽

Direct Foreign Investment ◽

Annual Data ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Correction Model ◽

Vector Error Correction ◽

Vector Error ◽

Long Run ◽

Asean Country

Direct Foreign Investment (FDI) has been considered as one of the important strategies in long-term economic development. FDI is seen not only as a capital transfer but also has an important effect on increasing the host economy. FDI then became popular in many countries, so it was interesting to analyze the effects produced, both positive and negative. This research focuses on countries in the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) with the aim of conducting empirical studies on opportunities for employment creation by FDI. However, due to limited data in several countries, this study only involved Indonesia, Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. The type of data used in this study is annual data covering from 1980-2017. Using estimation Vector Error Correction Model (VECM) allows to see short-term and long-term effects. The test results prove that the influence between variables is more visible in the long run

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Duration of untreated psychosis as predictor of long-term outcome in schizophrenia: systematic review and meta-analysis

The British Journal of Psychiatry ◽

10.1192/bjp.bp.113.127753 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 205 (2) ◽

pp. 88-94 ◽

Cited By ~ 278

Author(s):

Matti Penttilä ◽

Erika Jääskeläinen ◽

Noora Hirvonen ◽

Matti Isohanni ◽

Jouko Miettunen

Keyword(s):

Negative Symptoms ◽

Meta Analysis ◽

Hospital Treatment ◽

Duration Of Untreated Psychosis ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Term Outcome ◽

Long Term Outcome ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Early Intervention In Psychosis

BackgroundDuration of untreated psychosis (DUP) is one of the few potentially modifiable predictors of outcomes of schizophrenia. Long DUP as a predictor of poor short-term outcome has been addressed in previous meta-analyses, but the long-term effects of DUP remain unclear.AimsTo analyse the associations between DUP and long-term outcomes of schizophrenia.MethodA systematic literature search was performed using seven electronic databases and manual searches. Random effects weighted meta-analysis with correlation coefficients was used to pool the results.ResultsWe identified 3493 unique publications, from which 33 samples met our predefined selection criteria. Long DUP correlated statistically significantly with poor general symptomatic outcome, more severe positive and negative symptoms, lesser likelihood of remission and poor social functioning and global outcome (correlations 0.13–0.18). Long DUP was not associated with employment, quality of life or hospital treatment.ConclusionsThe small but mostly consistent correlation between long DUP and poor outcome indicates that early intervention in psychosis may have at least subtle positive effects on the long-term course of illness.

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Empirical studies of effects of EDC on reproductive physiology (particularly in females)

Proceedings of the British Society of Animal Science ◽

10.1017/s175275620000613x ◽

2001 ◽

Vol 2001 ◽

pp. 231-231

Author(s):

H M Picton

Keyword(s):

Empirical Studies ◽

Reproductive Function ◽

Endocrine Disrupting Compounds ◽

Female Offspring ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Endocrine Disrupting ◽

Ovarian Morphology ◽

Wildlife Populations ◽

Male Reproductive Health

Over recent years increasing evidence suggests that xeno-oestrogens including alkylphenols, such as nonylphenol and octlyphenol (OP), may represent a threat to the health and reproductive function of humans, domestic animals and wildlife populations. To date most attention has focused on the effect of these endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs) on male reproductive health. In contrast, hardly any attention has been paid to the potential adverse effects that these compounds may exert in females, where the end points are easier to measure than in males, and where oestrogen modulated diseases such as breast cancer, are of such importance to humans. This is also despite evidence from a number of species, including humans, that exposure in utero to the potent synthetic oestrogen diethylstilbestrol (DES) has profound and long-term effects on ovarian morphology, folliculogenesis, fertility, and pregnancy outcome of female offspring.

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Food for People in Place: Reimagining Resilient Food Systems for Economic Recovery

Sustainability ◽

10.3390/su12229369 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 12 (22) ◽

pp. 9369

Author(s):

Kelly Dombroski ◽

Gradon Diprose ◽

Emma Sharp ◽

Rebekah Graham ◽

Louise Lee ◽

...

Keyword(s):

New Zealand ◽

Food Systems ◽

Food System ◽

Central Government ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Community Based ◽

Short Supply ◽

Aotearoa New Zealand ◽

Essential Services

The COVID-19 pandemic and associated response have brought food security into sharp focus for many New Zealanders. The requirement to “shelter in place” for eight weeks nationwide, with only “essential services” operating, affected all parts of the New Zealand food system. The nationwide full lockdown highlighted existing inequities and created new challenges to food access, availability, affordability, distribution, transportation, and waste management. While Aotearoa New Zealand is a food producer, there remains uncertainty surrounding the future of local food systems, particularly as the long-term effects of the pandemic emerge. In this article we draw on interviews with food rescue groups, urban farms, community organisations, supermarket management, and local and central government staff to highlight the diverse, rapid, community-based responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. Our findings reveal shifts at both the local scale, where existing relationships and short supply chains have been leveraged quickly, and national scale, where funding has been mobilised towards a different food strategy. We use these findings to re-imagine where and how responsibility might be taken up differently to enhance resilience and care in diverse food systems in New Zealand.

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Verification of Ingroup Identity as a Longitudinal Mediator between Intergroup Contact and Outgroup Evaluation

The Spanish Journal of Psychology ◽

10.1017/sjp.2013.66 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 16 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Angel Gómez ◽

Anja Eller ◽

Alexandra Vázquez

Keyword(s):

High School Students ◽

Intergroup Contact ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

School Students ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Group Members ◽

Ingroup Identity ◽

Continue Work

AbstractAlmost six decades of research have consistently demonstrated that intergroup contact is one of the most powerful ways of improving intergroup attitudes. At least two important limitations, however, still compel researchers to continue work in this area: the issue of long-term effects of contact, and the processes underlying such effects. This report makes a theoretical and empirical contribution with regard to these two aspects introducing a new mediator of the effects of contact: verification of qualities of typical ingroup members that may or may not characterize individual group members (e.g. verification of ingroup identities). One hundred and forty-two high school students participated in a two-wave longitudinal study with 12 weeks’ lag in Spain. Cross-sectional and longitudinal mediational analyses using multiple imputation data showed that intergroup contact improves general outgroup evaluation through increasing verification of ingroup identities. This research demonstrates the relevance of considering verification of ingroup identity as a mediator for the positive effects of intergroup contact.

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Ileal transposition in rats influenced glucose metabolism and HSP70 levels

Open Life Sciences ◽

10.1515/biol-2015-0029 ◽

2015 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Dominika Stygar ◽

Tomasz Sawczyn ◽

Bronisława Skrzep-Poloczek ◽

Iwona Karcz-Socha ◽

Bogdan Doleżych ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Glucose Metabolism ◽

Glycogen Synthase ◽

Glycolytic Enzyme ◽

Diabetes Remission ◽

Distal Ileum ◽

Zucker Rats ◽

Ileal Transposition ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Positive Effects

AbstractObjective: Ileal transposition procedure (IT), in combination with sleeve gastrectomy, is widely used to induce diabetes remission and to control related metabolic abnormalities. A transposition of a long segment of distal ileum in obese Zucker rats improved glucose tolerance 6 months after IT. The premise of our study was to to examine the long - term effects of ileum transposition on the liver glycolytic enzymes content in a euglycemic group of operated Zucker rats. Methods: Twenty male Zucker rats underwent either the transposition of 50% distal ileum or a sham surgery. Six months after surgery, liver tissue concentrations of glycogen synthase kinase alpha (GSK-3α), glucose 6-phosphatase (G6PC), glycogen phosphorylase (PYGM) and phosphofructokinase (PFK) and HSP70 were assessed by immunoenzymatic methods. Results: HSP70 values were significantly higher in the IT group compared to SHAM. G6PC liver concentrations in the IT group were almost 1.45-fold lower than in the SHAM operated rats. Statistical analyses (F-test) showed HSP70 levels were significantly related to caveolin-1and SHAM group. Conclusions: Lowered glycolytic enzyme concentrations assessed in the liver suggest positive effects on glucose metabolism in long-term observations.

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Impact of soil scarification on reindeer pastures

Rangifer ◽

10.7557/2.10.3.837 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 10 (3) ◽

pp. 99 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Olof Eriksson ◽

Tuomo Raunistola

Keyword(s):

Standard Procedure ◽

Plant Cover ◽

Point Of View ◽

Ground Vegetation ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Surface Moisture ◽

Positive Effects ◽

Soil Scarification ◽

Soil Temperatures

During recent years, soil scarification has become a standard procedure for improving seed beds after logging. Around 57 000 ha were treated, primarily through harrowing and ploughing, in the counties of Vâsterbotten and Norbotten during 1985. The positive effects of scarification, from a forestry point of view, are improved access to plant nutrients, raised soil temperatures and reduces surface moisture. The aim of the present study was to describe long-term changes in the ground vegetation following scarification. Harrowing affects 45-55% of the plant cover while ploughing affects 65-90%. 10 years after ploughing and harrowing about 20% of the surface is still without vegetation. Real long-term effects remain in dispute. It has been claimed that ploughing, at least, may lead to irreversible changes.

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A Systematic Review of Educational Interventions and Their Impact on Empathy and Compassion of Undergraduate Medical Students

Frontiers in Medicine ◽

10.3389/fmed.2021.758377 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 8 ◽

Author(s):

Prianna Menezes ◽

Salman Y. Guraya ◽

Shaista Salman Guraya

Keyword(s):

Systematic Review ◽

Medical Students ◽

Well Being ◽

Educational Interventions ◽

Patient Centered Care ◽

Technology Enhanced Learning ◽

Long Term Effects ◽

Undergraduate Medical Students ◽

Patient Centered ◽

Centered Care

Introduction: A compassionate and patient-centered care leads to improved clinical outcomes. Promoting empathy and compassion of medical students is a forerunner of their well-being, emotional stability, and a patient-centered care. However, there is slender evidence about best educational interventions that can inculcate empathy and compassion skills. Our objective was to conduct a systematic review of research evaluating the associations between spectrum, effectiveness, frequency of teaching modalities and their outcomes on compassion and empathy to highlight best practices.Methods: We searched the Web of Science, PubMed, Scopus, and EBSCO Host on 22nd July 2020. We adapted our search strategy from a previously published systematic review on education for compassion and empathy. Selected studies were required to have used unique educational interventions for promoting empathy and compassion of medical students. The research questions were based on Participants (medical students), Intervention (empathy and/or compassion related teaching), Comparison, and Outcome.Results: We analyzed 24 articles from the initial yield of 2,861. Twenty-two were quantitative studies with a mean of 12.8 on MERSQI. Twelve were randomized controlled trials while 5 measured outcomes with single group pre- and post-tests. There was no association found between duration, frequency and complexity of an educational intervention and its effectiveness. Twenty used multimodality curricula, and of those 18 reported statistically significant positive improvement in empathy, while 3 of 4 single modality were effective. Only three studies looked for long-term effects of educational interventions. Fourteen studies evaluated Kirkpatrick's level one (self-reported knowledge), 2 level three (behavior), and 6 level four (patient outcomes). We identified six major educational constructs of teaching empathy and compassion; communication, mindfulness, early clinical exposure, technology-enhanced learning, comics and arts and culture.Discussion: Our review couldn't identify a standard teaching construct in place and highlighted that different teaching tools carry similar impact in promoting compassion and empathy and a sustainable program rather than a single training activity is essential.

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