An Ecological Approach to Evaluating Collaborative Practice in NSF Sponsored Partnership Projects: The SPARC Model

From co-authored publications to sponsored projects involving multiple partner institutions, collaborative practice is an expected part of work in the academy. As evaluators of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Alliances for Graduate Education and the Professoriate (AGEP) grant awarded to four university partners in a large southern state, the authors recognized the increasing value of collaborative practice in the design, implementation, evaluation, and dissemination of findings in the partnership over time. When planning a program among partnering institutions, stakeholders may underestimate the need for, and value of, collaborative practice in facilitating partnership functioning. This method paper outlines an evaluative model to increase the use of collaborative practice in funded academic partnership programs. The model highlights collaborative practice across multiple stakeholder groups in the academic ecology: Sponsors of funded programs (S), Program partners and participants (P), Assessment and evaluation professionals (A), academic researchers (R), and the national and global Community (C). The SPARC model emphasizes evidence-based benefits of collaborative practice across multiple outcome domains. Tools and frameworks for evaluating collaborative practice take a view of optimizing partnership operational performance in achieving stated goals. Collaborative practice can also be an integral element of program activities that support the academic success and scholarly productivity, psychosocial adjustment, and physical and psychological well-being of stakeholders participating in the program. Given the goal of our alliance to promote diversification of the professoriate, the model highlights the use of collaborative practice in supporting stakeholders from groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields across these outcome domains. Using data from a mixed-methods program evaluation of our AGEP alliance over 4 years, the authors provide concrete examples of collaborative practice and their measurement. Results discuss important themes regarding collaborative practice that emerged in each stakeholder group. Authors operationalize the SPARC model with a checklist to assist program stakeholders in designing for and assessing collaborative practice in support of project goals in funded academic partnership projects, emphasizing the contributions of collaborative practice in promoting diversification of the professoriate.

Territorial and Gender Differences in the Home Care of Family Members with Dementia

The increasing prevalence of dementia is threatening the capacity of health and social service systems to provide long-term care support at the territorial level. In both rural and urban areas, specific family members (gendered care) are responsible for the daily care of their relatives. The aim of this work is to explore gender and territorial implications in the provision of in-home care by family members. To this end, family caregivers in Navarre, Spain, were administered the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS-SR) and a semi-structured interview. The results show the good psychosocial adjustment of caregivers of relatives with dementia but the negative impacts of caregiving in the domestic, relational, and psychological domains. Moreover, the feminization of psychological distress was found to predominate in rural areas since mainly women are responsible for instrumental and care tasks, while men seek other complementary forms of support. Place of residence (rural vs. urban) was found to exert a strong effect on the respondents’ conception, life experience, and provision of care. Consequently, territorial and gender differences in coping with and adjusting to care require the design of contextualized actions adapted to caregivers’ needs.

Mindfulness-Based Interventions in Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder

Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) is the most prevalent neurodevelopmental disorder in children and adolescents. It is marked with deficits in behavioral symptoms of hyperactivity/impulsivity along with cognitive deficits in the domain of attention, self-regulation, and executive function. Mindfulness-Based Interventions (MBI) have come up as an intervention of choice for various psychological disorders such as anxiety disorder, depression, substance abuse, and eating disorder. Mindfulness at its core is paying non-judgmental attention to the present moment. Despite the robust evidence for both of the treatment modalities available, the cognitive symptoms of ADHD still progress towards adulthood affect the individual's achievement and overall psychosocial adjustment. A number of recent studies have found preliminary evidence about the effectiveness of MBI as an adjunct treatment in ADHD. The chapter will discuss the evidence-based interventions that incorporate mindfulness.

Evaluating the Relationship Between Emotion Regulation and Pain Self-efficacy with Psychosocial Adjustment in Athletes with Chronic Pain Considering the Mediating Role of Mental Fatigue

Background: Pain is a pervasive and disabling barrier for the injured athlete threatening his/her ability to participate in sporting events and professional goals. However, psychological factors in the treatment process of chronic diseases are an important factor in involving the patient in treatment and making treatment decisions. Objectives: This research aimed to investigate the relationship between emotion regulation and pain self-efficacy with psychosocial adjustment in athletes with chronic pain, considering the mediating role of mental fatigue. Methods: The statistical population of this descriptive correlational study was all athletes with chronic pain referred to the Iranian Sports Medicine Federation. Using the convenience sampling method, a total of 200 injured athletes were selected as the sample size. For data collection, Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS), Pain Self-Efficacy Questionnaire (PSEQ), Pain Fatigue Scale (PFS), and Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ-short) were used. Descriptive statistics, correlation matrix, and path analysis (structural model) were used to analyze data. Also, SPSS (v21) and AMOS (v23) software were used to analyze the data. Results: According to the results, pain self-efficacy (β = 0.18), adaptive emotion regulation (β = 0.27), and mental fatigue (β = -0.19) had a direct positive and significant impact on psychosocial adjustment. Also, the direct effect of pain self-efficacy (β = -0.19), maladaptive emotion regulation (β = 0.17), and adaptive emotion regulation (β = -0.12) on mental fatigue was significant. In addition, the indirect effect of pain self-efficacy and maladaptive emotions on psychosocial adjustment via mental fatigue was significant. Conclusions: Mental fatigue plays a good mediating role between pain self-efficacy and emotion regulation with psychosocial adjustment of athletes with chronic pain.