A Reinterpretation of Hindu Spirituality for Addressing Environmental Problems

Global environmental change is a serious threat to our existence and requires immediate actions from every dimension of our efforts. The cultural pathway has much potential to address environmental problems because it is expected to promote environment-friendly behavior in people. However, its implementation on the ground requires a wise coordination of the cultural and scientific ways of thinking. Hinduism has great potential to embrace environment-friendly behavior due to its receptivity to change and tendency of adopting and theologizing new developments. However, due to the presence of a wide gap between theoretical philosophy and actual practices, the potential of environmental sensibility, inherent in Hindu spirituality, could not be harnessed. Here, I reinterpret the key concepts of Hinduism in the light of modern scientific wisdom for their synchronization with current challenges. I identify some solutions for promoting environment-friendly practices in Hinduism through the coordination of science and culture.

Implementation of clinical practice changes in the PICU: a qualitative study using and refining the iPARIHS framework

Background Like in many settings, implementation of evidence-based practices often fall short in pediatric intensive care units (PICU). Very few prior studies have applied implementation science frameworks to understand how best to improve practices in this unique environment. We used the relatively new integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (iPARIHS) framework to assess practice improvement in the PICU and to explore the utility of the framework itself for that purpose. Methods We used the iPARIHS framework to guide development of a semi-structured interview tool to examine barriers, facilitators, and the process of change in the PICU. A framework approach to qualitative analysis, developed around iPARIHS constructs and subconstructs, helped identify patterns and themes in provider interviews. We assessed the utility of iPARIHS to inform PICU practice change. Results Fifty multi-professional providers working in 8 U.S. PICUs completed interviews. iPARIHS constructs shaped the development of a process model for change that consisted of phases that include planning, a decision to adopt change, implementation and facilitation, and sustainability; the PICU environment shaped each phase. Large, complex multi-professional teams, and high-stakes work at near-capacity impaired receptivity to change. While the unit leaders made decisions to pursue change, providers’ willingness to accept change was based on the evidence for the change, and provider’s experiences, beliefs, and capacity to integrate change into a demanding workflow. Limited analytic structures and resources frustrated attempts to monitor changes’ impacts. Variable provider engagement, time allocated to work on changes, and limited collaboration impacted facilitation. iPARIHS constructs were useful in exploring implementation; however, we identified inter-relation of subconstructs, unique concepts not captured by the framework, and a need for subconstructs to further describe facilitation. Conclusions The PICU environment significantly shaped the implementation. The described process model for implementation may be useful to guide efforts to integrate changes and select implementation strategies. iPARIHS was adequate to identify barriers and facilitators of change; however, further elaboration of subconstructs for facilitation would be helpful to operationalize the framework. Trial registration Not applicable, as no health care intervention was performed.

Implementation of clinical practice changes in the PICU: a qualitative study using and refining the iPARIHS framework

Background: Like in many settings, implementation of evidence-based practices often fall short in Pediatric Intensive Care Units (PICU). Very few prior studies have applied implementation science frameworks to understand how best to improve practices in this unique environment. We used the relatively new integrated Promoting Action on Research Implementation in Health Services (iPARIHS) framework to assess practice improvement in the PICU, and to explore the utility of the framework itself for that purpose.Methods: We used the iPARIHS framework to guide development of a semi-structured interview tool to examine barriers, facilitators, and the process of change in the PICU. A framework approach to qualitative analysis, developed around iPARIHS constructs and subconstructs, helped identify patterns and themes in provider interviews. We assessed the utility of iPARIHS to inform PICU practice change. Results: Fifty multi-professional providers working in 8 U.S. PICUs completed interviews. iPARIHS constructs shaped development of a process model for change that consisted of phases that include planning, a decision to adopt change, implementation and facilitation, and sustainability; the PICU environment shaped each phase. Large, complex multi-professional teams, and high-stakes work at near-capacity impaired receptivity to change. While unit leaders made decisions to pursue change, providers’ willingness to accept change was based on the evidence for the change, and provider’s experiences, beliefs, and capacity to integrate change into a demanding workflow. Limited analytic structures and resources frustrated attempts to monitor changes’ impacts. Variable provider engagement, time allocated to work on changes, and limited collaboration impacted facilitation. iPARIHS constructs were useful in exploring implementation, however we identified inter-relation of subconstructs, unique concepts not captured by the framework, and a need for subconstructs to further describe facilitation. Conclusions: The PICU environment significantly shaped implementation. The described process model for implementation may be useful to guide efforts to integrate changes and select implementation strategies. iPARIHS was adequate to identify barriers and facilitators of change, however further elaboration of subconstructs for facilitation would be helpful to operationalize the framework. Trial registration: not applicable, as no health care intervention was performed.

Findings in Search of a Controversy and in Need of More Data

Based on their quantitative survey of democracy protests from 1989 to 2011, Dawn Brancati and Adrian Lucardi conclude that diffusion of such protests is the exception, not the rule; that domestic factors rather than international diffusion are key in determining if diffusion occurs and that their findings call into serious question the received wisdom about democratic diffusion. We have several problems with their analysis. First, no serious scholar of diffusion has claimed that the diffusion of subversive innovations supporting democracy is common or frequent, given the difficulties involved. Their conclusion that such diffusion is not common thus echoes, rather than challenges those of many scholars of diffusion. Second, their conclusion that domestic factors are primary in rejecting or sometimes supporting democratic change is also unsurprising. Virtually every empirical account and every theory of cross-national diffusion identify variation in domestic receptivity to change as a key element in determining if diffusion occurs, and its limits. Finally, we question the authors’ decision to limit their analysis of diffusion to protests. Innovative challenges to authoritarian rule have taken many additional forms, including roundtables and legal challenges, as well as voter registration and get out the vote drives, agreements among opposition parties, work by civil society organizations, and participation in transnational networks of democracy activists, in addition to protests. Democracy protests are in fact a small and perhaps unrepresentative part of challenges to authoritarian rule; they are likely the result of a series of innovative actions that are hard to quantify and hard to trace, and for this reason are missing from Brancatii and Lucardi’s analysis. Their analysis, therefore, does not challenge the accepted wisdom on diffusion, but, in fact, lends partial support to its conclusions, support that is limited by the kinds of data collected and the authors’ understanding of both innovation and diffusion.

Elementary Teachers' Math Instructional Practices, Receptivity to Change, Instructional Leadership, and Academic Optimism

This study sought to identify the relationships among elementary teachers' instructional practices in mathematics pre- and post-Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) implementation in relation to technological and pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), formative assessment, reflective practice, receptivity to change, academic optimism, and instructional leadership across age, years of experience, grade level taught, and college math credits taken in high and low needs schools. Teacher responses from low and high need schools across age, years of teaching experience, grade level taught, and college math credits taken were examined with the dimensions of mathematics instructional practices to see if any relationships exist among the variables. The implementation of CCLS mathematics had an influence on elementary-school teachers' instructional practices and attitudes in both high and low needs schools. Teacher academic optimism was reported as overall higher in high needs districts, whereas teachers in low needs districts reported an increase in instructional motivation practices after the implementation of CCLS mathematics.

Elementary Teachers' Math Instructional Practices, Receptivity to Change, Instructional Leadership, and Academic Optimism

This study sought to identify the relationships among elementary teachers' instructional practices in mathematics pre- and post-Common Core Learning Standards (CCLS) implementation in relation to technological and pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK), formative assessment, reflective practice, receptivity to change, academic optimism, and instructional leadership across age, years of experience, grade level taught, and college math credits taken in high and low needs schools. Teacher responses from low and high need schools across age, years of teaching experience, grade level taught, and college math credits taken were examined with the dimensions of mathematics instructional practices to see if any relationships exist among the variables. The implementation of CCLS mathematics had an influence on elementary-school teachers' instructional practices and attitudes in both high and low needs schools. Teacher academic optimism was reported as overall higher in high needs districts, whereas teachers in low needs districts reported an increase in instructional motivation practices after the implementation of CCLS mathematics.