The Economic Burden and Determinant Factors of Parents/Caregivers of Children with Cerebral Palsy in Malaysia: A Mixed Methods Study

The economic burden is a major concern for parents/caregivers of children with cerebral palsy (CP). This study used the sequential explanatory mixed-method approach to explorethe economic burden on parents/caregivers with a CP child in Malaysia and the factors associated with the economic burden. The study period spanned April 2020 and December 2020. A total of 106 questionnaire respondents were selected for the quantitative part, and 15 were interviewed to obtain qualitative input. A retrospective costing analysis was conducted based on the cost data obtained from the questionnaire. The majority of the children were GrossMotor Function Classification System (GMFCS) Level 5 (71%), quadriplegic (63%), and aged >4 years (90%). The estimated annual median total economic burden on the parents/caregivers per child in 2020 was RM52,540.00 (~USD12,515.03), with indirect cost being the greatest cost (RM28,800.00, ~USD6860.16), followed by developmental cost (RM16,200.00, ~USD3858.84), direct healthcare cost (RM4540.00, ~USD1081.43) and direct non-healthcare cost (RM3000.00, ~USD714.60). The annual household income was identified as a significant determinant factor (p=0.019, 95% CI: 0.04, 0.40) of the economic burden. The participants’ responses during the in-depth interview in the qualitative part of the study supported the premise that socioeconomic factors play a substantial role in determining the total economic burden. Our findings may aid local policymakers when planning the greater provision of support to the affected families in the future, especially for the parents/caregivers of children with CP, who are facing socioeconomic challenges.

Principal’s Role in Supporting Teacher Collaborative Learning

Teacher collaborative learning remains one of the fundamental professional development methods that help teachers improve their professional skills and competencies. Consequently, responsible institutions as well as scholars and experts encourage and instruct teachers to partake in collaborative learning activities as much as possible. Nevertheless, teacher collaborative learning does not happen per se. Due to various factors and circumstances, teachers have to be counselled, encouraged, and supported for taking part in such activities. This responsibility and competence is usually entrusted to school principals. This research shows that principals play a major role in this process by fostering organizational learning, collaborative culture, creating a trustworthy environment, making structural arrangements, and securing infrastructural facilities. It also shows that collaborative learning in the research context takes place in a limited number of formats, mainly in the activities of professional communities and mentoring pairs, and principals have to apply various leadership approaches for protecting and advancing the collaborative climate in the schools they run. This article, which presents only one portion of a doctoral research, is based on the data collected from 518 teachers and eight principals of 24 schools in Kosovo. The sequential-explanatory mixed-method approach was utilized to collect the data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were employed to analyze the quantitative data and the qualitative ones were explored through the thematic analysis.

Evaluation of a Mobile Web Application for Assessment Feedback

This paper reports an evaluation of a mobile web application, “MyFeedBack”, that can deliver both feedback and marks on assignments to students from their lecturer. It enables them to use any device anywhere, any time to check on, and receive their feedback. It keeps the feedback private to the individual student. It enables and successfully fosters dialogue about the feedback between the students and the educator. Feedback and marks were already being delivered using the institution’s learning environment/management system “Moodle”. The study used a sequential explanatory mixed-method approach. Two hundred thirty-nine (239) participants were reported on their experiences of receiving feedback and divided among several groups: (a) feedback delivered in “Moodle”, (b) formative feedback in “MyFeedBack”, and (c) summative feedback in “MyFeedBack”. Overall, results showed a statistically significant more positive attitude towards “MyFeedBack” than “Moodle”, with the summative assessment subgroup being more positive than the formative subgroup. There was an unprecedented increase in communication and feedback dialogue between the lecturer and the students. Qualitative results enriched and complemented the findings. The paper provides guidelines for an enabling technology for assessment feedback. These offer insight into the extent to which any of the new apps and functionalities that have become available since this study might likely be favourably viewed by learners and help achieve the desired pedagogical outcomes. These include: (1) accessible using any device, making feedback accessible anywhere, anytime; (2) display feedback first (before the grade/mark); (3) enable personalisation of group feedback by the teacher; (4) provide privacy for each student; (5) facilitate dialogue and communication about the feedback; and (6) include a monitoring feature. Three goals already put forward in the literature—(1) making the feedback feel more personal, (2) getting a quicker turnround by making it easier for the teachers to achieve this, and (3) prompting more dialogue between the educators and students—are advanced by this study which shows how they can be supported by software, and that when they are achieved then users strongly approve them.

Effects of the Blended Family on Parenting Styles and Emotional Regulation among Tertiary Students

This research examines the blended family effects on parenting styles and emotional regulation among tertiary students through a sequential explanatory mixed-method design. Through quantitative data gathered, an interview was conducted to have a deeper sense of the information collected. A total of 113 respondents were purposively selected to answer the instruments and 10 of them were chosen to participate in an interview for the qualitative part of the study. It was revealed that most respondents have authoritarian parents and are emotionally adjusting. In addition, there is no significant relationship between parenting style and emotional regulation. Furthermore, there is no significant difference in parenting styles and emotional regulation when grouped according to profile such as age and duration. The results gathered were supported by sikolohiyang Pilipino (Filipino psychology) which discussed the maturity, culture, and values of Filipinos and their families. These data were used to construct a counseling program to help students with blended families adapt to the changes that they will encounter.

SCHOOL CLIMATE AND TEACHER JOB PERFORMANCE: EVIDENCE FROM SHAMA DISTRICT OF GHANA

<p>Although school climate is known to exert a potent sway on teachers’ overall effectiveness, little is known about it influence on teacher job performance in educational institutions in Ghana albeit no evidence from Shama District. In view of this lacuna in literature, this study employed Halpin and Croft’s (1963) dimensions of organizational climate as a theoretical lens to understand the influence of school climate on teacher job performance. The study utilized sequential explanatory mixed method design within the context of pragmatist paradigm. Census, proportionate stratified random and convenience sampling techniques was used to sample 585 respondents. Structured questionnaire and semi-structure interview were used to collect data which were analyzed using both descriptive and inferential statistics whereas thematic approach was employed in analyzing the qualitative data. The study revealed that open climate was dominant, followed by the autonomous, controlled, familiar, paternal and closed climates, and that generally job performance of teachers was rated as very good. Besides, the study indicated that school climate was a good predictor of teacher job performance. However, the study revealed that in order of magnitude, it was familiar climate that contributed most to teachers’ job performance, followed by open and controlled climates while the contribution of autonomous, paternal and closed climates were not significant. It was, therefore, recommended that headteachers and teachers should be conscious of the kind of interpersonal relationships that exist among them and be guided to strengthen the climate in their schools, especially the familiar, open and controlled climate traits since they contribute significantly to teacher job performance so as to realize educational goals and objectives.</p><p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/edu_01/0876/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>

Challenges associated with the delivery of development projects within the decentralised government system: views of selected stakeholders in the Shama District, Ghana

Decentralisation policy is important in ensuring effective delivery of development services at the local level. Governments across the globe utilize decentralised government system as a way of promoting people-centered development. Notwithstanding the value of decentralisation policy, governments struggle with the provision of development services at the local level. This suggests that more efforts need to be made to ensure the realisation of the dividends of decentralisation. However, this cannot be made without an awareness of the challenges local actors face in the delivery of development services. This paper examines the views of stakeholders on the challenges associated with the delivery of development projects within the Ghanaian decentralised government system using the Shama District as a case in order to proffer some measures to improve the situation in the country using the sequential-explanatory mixed method design. Data were collected using interview guide and interview schedule. The study revealed that stakeholder management, involvement of project managers, defining project goals, assigning roles and responsibilities to key officers, and monitoring and evaluation of projects were some of the measures the Assembly had put in place for the delivery of development projects in the district. However, communication was a serious challenge throughout the delivery of development projects in the district. The implications of the key findings for development communication have been highlighted in the study. As part of the recommendations of the study, the Assembly should put in place adequate measures to improve communication throughout the various stages of development service delivery in the district.

Gambling and the COVID-19 pandemic in the province of Quebec (Canada): protocol for a mixed-methods study

IntroductionThe COVID-19 pandemic has major collateral impacts on mental health. Gambling is among the major public health issues that seems to have been transformed by the pandemic. In the province of Quebec in Canada, gambling is an important leisure activity. About two out of three adults are in Quebec gamble. The objective of this study is to draw a portrait of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on gamblers and to learn more about their experiences during the pandemic in the province of Quebec.Method and analysisThis study has a sequential explanatory mixed-method design in two phases. The first phase is a cross-sectional online survey with Quebec residents who are 18 years of age or older and have gambled at least once in the previous 12 months. The second phase will be a qualitative study. Semistructured interviews will be conducted with gamblers, family members, addiction counsellors and state representatives selected through purposing sampling.Ethics and disseminationThis study is one of the first mixed-methods studies on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on gambling. This study will generate new scientific knowledge on a worrisome public health issue, that is, gambling, and provide a better understanding of the experiences and gambling behaviours of gamblers during the pandemic. This study is funded by the Ministry of Health and Social Services of the Government of Quebec and was approved on 27 October 2020 by the Scientific and Research Ethics Committee of the CIUSSS de l’Estrie-CHUS. This is a 2-year study that will be completed in June 2022.

MATERNAL CHARACTERISTICS AS PREDICTORS FOR STUNTING IN RURAL AGRICULTURAL HOUSEHOLDS IN INDONESIA

This study aimed to analyze the associations of maternal characteristics and nutritional status of primary caregivers with the occurrence of stunting in children aged 6 – 59 months from rural agricultural households in Indonesia. This study used a sequential explanatory mixed method design. It started with a cross-sectional survey, followed by a qualitative study to explore community perceptions related to findings from the quantitative analysis. The survey involved 200 mother and child dyads. multiple logistic regression was carried out with the dependent variable being the incidence of stunting in children, and maternal characteristics as independent variables. Data analysis showed that WDDS and the maternal length of education in years were significant predictors for the incidence of stunting in children. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for WDDS was 0.78 (95% CI 0.63 - 0.98), while for the length of education of mothers was 1.22 (95% CI 1.01 - 1.48). We also conducted a qualitative study to explore food distribution and utilization within the household. Qualitative data analysis showed that, except for pregnant mothers, “good food” was prioritized the least for mothers. The persistent barriers for utilization of quality and diverse food are access to such food rather than knowledge of what is considered “good food for health”. Increasing access and consumption of diverse foods for all mothers beyond pregnancies is an important factor for preventing stunting in Indonesian children from rural agricultural households.

The Issues of Applying Occupation-Based Intervention (OBI) Among Malaysian Occupational Therapists: A Mixed-Methods Study

Malaysian occupational therapists perceived occupation-based intervention (OBI) as the occupation as a means and an end. This study aimed to identify and explore perceived barriers to implementing OBI in Malaysia's diverse areas of occupational therapy practice context. A sequential explanatory mixed-method design with a cross-sectional survey and three focus group discussions (FGD) were performed sequentially. The results from the survey corresponded with the FGD findings, and new barriers emerged namely, occupational therapy personnels, bureaucratic system and economic challenge. These results may help in the discovery of solutions to enhance OBI implementation in Malaysia. Keywords: occupation-based intervention; barriers; area of occupational therapy practice; sequential explanatory mixed-method eISSN: 2398-4287© 2021. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians/Africans/Arabians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. DOI:

The Tale of Adolescent Girls’ Menstrual Challenges in Junior High Schools

The study explored menstrual challenges that female adolescents encountered while in school. The sequential explanatory mixed-method design was used, and both quantitative and qualitative methods were employed in analyzing the data. The study revealed that the girls were predisposed to intense and varied menstrual-related challenges, which affected quality education as they had difficulty concentrating in class coupled with social and emotional problems. The Guidance and Counseling Units in schools’ continuous organization of programs to sensitize and enlighten girls on how to manage menstrual-related challenges would help to avoid the shackles the monthly experience brings.