Are residential care homes really bad for children? Voices of alumni of residential child and youth care in Trinidad and Tobago

Social workers have advocated closing large youth care institutions and moving to adoption, foster care and group homes. However, these approaches have proven to be costly and often disruptive of children’s lives. This study of 24 alumni of orphanages and large group homes in Trinidad and Tobago shows that the children experienced stability and happiness, with siblings kept together and almost universal secondary school graduation. Problems occurred in the transition from the homes to the community. With attention to gender in discharge policies, large group care may be beneficial and cost effective, especially for low-resource developing countries.

Engagement and Attainment: The Longer-Run Effects of Ethnic Studies

Increased interest in anti-racist education has motivated the rapidly growing but politically contentious adoption of ethnic-studies (ES) courses in U.S. public schools. A long-standing rationale for ES courses is that their emphasis on culturally relevant and critically engaged content (e.g., social justice, anti-racism, stereotypes, contemporary social movements) has potent effects on student engagement and outcomes. However, the quantitative evidence supporting this claim is limited. In this pre- registered, regression-discontinuity study, we examine the longer-run impact of a grade-9 ES course offered in the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD). Our key confirmatory finding is that assignment to this course significantly increased the probability of high-school graduation among students near the grade-GPA threshold (i.e., 2.0 GPA in grade 8) used for assigning students to the course. Our exploratory analyses also indicate that this assignment increased measures of engagement throughout high school (e.g., attendance) as well as the probability of postsecondary matriculation.

The Coming Out Experiences of Gifted, LGBTQ Students: When, to Whom, and Why Not?

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the coming out experiences of gifted LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and questioning or queer) alumni from a residential gifted high school. First, we found that gifted LGBTQ alumni ( N = 106) realized their sexual orientation/gender identity around 16.6 years old, which is similar to the general population. The year of high school graduation did not correlate with the age of initial realizations, or when they shared. On average, when the participants did share, they waited 2.1 years to share with friends and 3.4 years to share with family. Furthermore, they felt more comfortable sharing within the residential gifted high school than in their home schools. In general, LGBTQ alumni felt more autonomous, competent, and connected to the residential school. Finally, participants reported many barriers to coming out, including both internal struggles (e.g., uncertain themselves) and social fears (e.g., fear of alienation or harassment). These findings can provide guidance for school personnel as they develop effective, support systems.

PHYSIOLOGICAL JAUNDICE OF FIRST BREAST MILK (COLOSTRUM) IN HOSPITAL AIRLANGGA UNIVERSITY

ABSTRACTBackground: 60-70% of newborns have jaundice and can potentially become pathological jaundice. The effects of jaundice are often incurable, can cause disability to mental retardation. Jaundice is one of the causes of neonatal death. Jaundice accounts for 6% of neonatal deaths. Breastfeeding especially colostrum is often associated as one of the factors that can influence the occurrence of jaundice in newborns. Method: This type of research is descriptive quantitative. The population is all newborns at Airlangga University Hospital, Surabaya. The study was conducted from October to November 2019. Non-random sampling technique with total sampling. Results: There were 159 newborns in RSUA from October to November 2019. 14 newborns were not found in medical records, 10 were not given the first breast milk. Of the 135 research samples given the first ASI 18 samples or 13.33% who experienced physiological jaundice. 94.44% of the total sample of 18 who experienced physiological jaundice were babies born to mothers aged 21-35 years. 66.67% of babies with jaundice are infants with mothers as housewives. 61.11% of babies with high school graduation, 72.22% were born by cesarean section, 72.22% were born with a history of clear membranes, and 61.11% were born by primiparous mothers. Conclusion: Newborns were given first breast milk (Colostrum), 85.2% did not experience jaundice, 13.3% experienced physiological jaundice and 1.5% pathological jaundice. Jaundice can occur due to many factors; maternal, neonatal and perinatal factors.

Ethnic studies increases longer-run academic engagement and attainment

Increased interest in anti-racist education has motivated the rapidly growing but politically contentious adoption of ethnic studies (ES) courses in US public schools. A long-standing rationale for ES courses is that their emphasis on culturally relevant and critically engaged content (e.g., social justice, anti-racism, stereotypes, contemporary social movements) has potent effects on student engagement and outcomes. However, the quantitative evidence supporting this claim is limited. In this preregistered regression-discontinuity study, we examine the longer-run impact of a grade 9 ES course offered in the San Francisco Unified School District. Our key confirmatory finding is that assignment to this course significantly increased the probability of high school graduation among students near the grade 8 2.0 grade point average (GPA) threshold used for assigning students to the course. Our exploratory analyses also indicate that assignment increased measures of engagement throughout high school (e.g., attendance) as well as the probability of postsecondary matriculation.

Cataract prevalence following a nationwide policy to shorten wait time for cataract surgery

Background: Cataract is an age-related eye disease. Visual impairment from cataract can be restored by cataract surgery. In 2004 the Canadian federal government invested in a multibillion dollar wait time strategy to shorten the wait time for cataract surgery, a government-insured health service in all Canadian jurisdictions. We assessed if this nationwide policy reduced the number of Canadians waiting for cataract surgery as more individuals with cataract were free of cataract following the rapidly conducted surgery. Methods: In this cross-sectional study we analyzed data from randomly selected individuals aged greater than or equal to 45 years responding to the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) in 2000/2001, 2003, 2005, and the CCHS Healthy Aging in 2008/2009. Information on cataract was obtained from self-reported questionnaire. The age- and sex-standardized prevalence of cataract was calculated for comparisons. Results: Cataract was reported by 0.93 million Canadians in 2000/2001, 0.99 million in 2003, 1.10 million in 2005, and 1.34 million in 2008/2009. This corresponds to an age- and sex-standardized prevalence of 8.9% in 2000/2001, 9.0% in 2003, 9.5% in 2005, and 10.2% (P <0.05) in 2008/2009. The increase in age- and sex-standardized prevalence was greater in individuals without secondary school graduation than those with secondary school graduation or higher (4.3% versus 1.3%, P < 0.05) and was seen in all Canadian provinces. The largest increase was documented in a province (Saskatchewan, from 9.8% in 2000/2001 to 12.6% in 2008/2009, P < 0.05) with the longest median wait times for cataract surgery (118 days in 2008) and the lowest number of ophthalmologists per 100,000 population (1.96 versus 3.35 national average). Conclusions: The age- and sex-standardized prevalence of cataract increased 4-5 years after the multibillion-dollar wait time strategy was launched in 2004. A lower threshold to diagnose cataract may be one potential reason for this finding. Further research is needed to understand the true reasons for the increase. How to cite this article: Yang G, El-Defrawy S, Trope GE, Buys YM, Liu SY, Jin YP. Cataract prevalence following a nationwide policy to shorten wait time for cataract surgery. Med Hypothesis Discov Innov Ophthalmol. 2021 Summer; 10(2): 86-94. https://doi.org/10.51329/mehdiophthal1426