<p> Assistive technology may delay cognitively impaired elders&rsquo; need for long-term institutionalization, and the promote independence. Its use is on the rise, yet the gap between the needs of the cognitive impaired elderly and what developers of the assistive technologies design, manufacture, and implement, remains to be filled. Using Inayatullah&rsquo;s 6-pillar approach, as the guide to the future of assistive technology, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how assistive technologies may fulfill the daily functional needs of the cognitively impaired elderly with Alzheimer&rsquo;s or other dementia by 2037. Data were collected from a focus group of 10 seniors at a senior center in a large mid-Atlantic city, as well as survey data from with 5 family members of the cognitively impaired elderly and 16 technology developers from an engineering society. These data were coded according to the thematic content analysis and causal layered analysis. The future triangle analysis served as a second layer of analysis. Findings indicated that the most desirable outcome for 2037 is that of the &ldquo;happy retiree,&rdquo; characterized by flourishing cultural and financial opportunities, and the least desirable is that of the &ldquo;struggling pensioner&rdquo; characterized by monetary gains of the social elite at the expense of the poor and working class. The most expected outcome, though, is the &ldquo;caring robot&rdquo; that is characterized by the use of technology and artificial intelligence to promote equitable social and health care benefits to aging citizens. Positive social change may be achieved through recommendations to state, local, and national policy makers that support the improvement in the elders' well-being, the delay of hospitalization, and greater support for the duties of family members, and greater caretaker independence.</p><p>

<p> Posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a serious issue for post-deployment United States Marine Corps (USMC) veterans, especially because PTSD can increase the risk of suicide. Marines are screened post-deployment, yet little is known about Marine veterans&rsquo; perceptions of the PTSD screening process. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore USMC male veterans&rsquo; perceptions of the Post- Deployment Health Reassessment (PDHRA). The social cognitive theory constructs of a triadic relationship among person, environment, and behavior were the framework for understanding this population&rsquo;s perceptions of the PDHRA and potential stigma. Two research questions focused on how people, culture, and behavior affect Marines perception of the PDHRA and PTSD attached stigma. Interviews were conducted with 10 Marine veterans&rsquo; participants and transcribed interview responses were input into NVivo 11 software to retain a reliable database and Colaizzi&rsquo;s strategy to identify emerging themes. Key findings revealed potential positive social change to military chaplains and veterans&rsquo; health service providers. This knowledge might inform about the perceptions of Marines through informed understanding and may help develop an updated evaluation tool. Future researchers might focus on the forthcoming answers and treatment of PTSD and the attached stigma among Marines by alleviating repercussions for Marines&rsquo; answers on the PDHRA. An understanding of the study&rsquo;s findings may elicit strategies for health care administrators to expound on the PDHRA and provide educational programs to assist in future screening environments and processes through Marines perspectives.</p><p>

<p> Academic advising has been found to be an important component in satisfaction and retention among online and distance students. This quantitative study examined the perceptions of both online and allied health students in an allied health program regarding academic advising methods. These perceptions were then examined to determine if there was a relationship to the students&rsquo; overall satisfaction and retention. To determine student perceptions, a convenience sample of both online and face-to-face students from two allied health programs in Louisiana was used. The students were given the Academic Advising Inventory (AAI), which was used to evaluate their perceptions regarding academic advising. </p><p> The review of the literature found that there are two primary models of academic advising: prescriptive and developmental. The literature indicated that different types of students prefer different advising models (Belchier, 1999; Gravel, 2012; Jeschke, Johnson, &amp; Williams, 2001; Kelley &amp; Lynch, 1991; LaPadula, 2003; Luna &amp; Medina, 2007). There are limited findings, however, regarding the preferences of online students. Further, there is no literature describing the preferences of online students in an allied health program. </p><p> This research study investigated student preferences regarding advising in an allied health program. This research study also investigated whether those preferences regarding advising had any effects on the overall satisfaction and persistence of students within an allied health program. Finally, this research study investigated if there were significant differences between the type of advising received between online and face-to-face students in the two programs. </p><p> Based on the data analysis, it was first found that students who experienced developmental advising had higher satisfaction than students who had prescriptive advising. Second, students who experienced developmental advising were more likely to persist in the allied health program than students who had received prescriptive advising. Third, students who experienced advising closely matched to their preferred advising style were more likely to be satisfied than students who experienced a wide gap between actual and preferred academic advising. Finally, it was found that face-to-face students were much more likely to receive developmental advising than online students in the same allied health program.</p><p>

<p> Effective in 2011, The Department of Justice implemented a change to the direct threat standard, which is part of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act. This change removed the threat of harm to self from the direct threat standard and potentially limits the actions that colleges can take when working with and responding to students who threaten self-harm. This study sought to determine how this change influenced the work of behavior intervention teams when responding to community college students who threaten self-harm. Higher numbers of students are arriving on college campuses with significant mental health challenges, especially community colleges that typically have open enrollment policies and attract at-risk students. Many behavior intervention teams were formed in the aftermath of the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University shootings in April 2007, some through state mandates, and others as best practices. This multiple-case study gathered information from community college behavior intervention teams regarding these changes, as well as their current procedures when responding to this student population. The intent of this research study was to provide guidance and contribute to best practices among community colleges, when responding to and intervening with students threatening self-harm.</p><p>

This Covering Document offers a narrative addressing the contributory contexts, thematic coherences, and original contribution to knowledge made by the body of work presented for this award. It discusses the place and importance of critical enquiry concerning childhood and children’s lives in the curricula of Education Studies and cognate disciplinary fields. The body of work comprises eight formal outputs from nearly a decade of writing and publication that, in turn, draw on a longer career as teacher and academic. Its trajectory leads to the proposition that the declaration of The Anthropocene encourages us to reconsider and recast Enlightenment modernity and particularly those constructions of human nature and the natural world that inform commonplace thinking about children and their childhoods which, in turn, justify many of the practices, language and time-space organisation structuring educational institutions. The Anthropocene offers a framework within which to understand the historical provenance of the ideological condition identified as ‘Modern childhood’ and to reflect on its emerging implications for children’s lives in times of technological change, intercultural encounter, globalization and climate change. The Covering Document identifies recurrent topical themes in the body of work and offers a rationale for the historical, spatial, and social modes of analysis that are threaded through it. It also offers reflections on the way that the published material addresses its audience as pedagogically mediated content knowledge. The Covering Document asserts that The Anthropocenic proposition revitalises the place of the New Social Studies of Childhood within Education Studies, thereby offering a coherent and relevant direction for further growth that encourages us all to ‘take a wider look around’.

<p>In recent years, online learning has become a recognized method for delivering educational content in numerous institutions of higher education. Despite the prevalence of this new method of education and training, few studies have been performed regarding online learning in the field of dental education. This research describes and analyzes faculty perceptions in the Kuwait University-Faculty of Dentistry regarding online dental education. Out of sixty-six full-time faculty members thirty-three of them have responded to questionnaires regarding their perceptions. The data were analyzed for themes and patterns. There was a general positive perception toward online learning as a good tool to enhance dental education. When replying to questions about the challenges and obstructions of online learning, faculty members&rsquo; answers indicated that a lack of time and administrative support created barriers to teaching online learning courses. </p><p> Viewpoints of the faculty members were further analyzed by age, gender, education level, and teaching experiences. The results showed some variation in the levels of agreement toward online learning based on various components of identity. Females were slightly more positive about online teaching and learning. However, there were no noticeable differences between faculty members of different ages. The academic positions did correlate with perceptions: those who hold the highest academic position (professors) had the least favorable perceptions of online teaching. Further, participants who had 6 to 10 teaching experience years had a stronger positive attitude than those who had been teaching for fewer than 5 years or more than 16 years. </p><p> <i>Keywords</i>: online education, dental education, web-based learning, distance learning, e-learning, faculty perception. </p>

<p> A goal of schools is to provide students with practical nutritional information that will foster healthy lifelong behaviors. Unfortunately, students at one school were found to have difficulty grasping basic nutritional information and practical health-related skills. There remains an important gap in current literature regarding strategies to improve students' understanding of nutrition education material. The purpose of this study was to investigate the benefits of a 4-week nutrition intervention unit in the Foods I classes consisting of 82 male and female students in Grades 9-12. Constructivist teaching methods were implemented to provide students with both information and valuable skills, which might positively impact student health and student learning. A pre-experimental quantitative design was used for this study. The repeated-measures <i> t</i> test was used to compute differences in pre- and post-tests scores on the nutrition test, which indicated a 6.207 mean increase in student posttest scores. The 82 students also completed a Likert style survey, which indicated both a positive student result in perceiving a better understanding of nutrition knowledge, and a positive change in dietary choices due to constructivist teaching strategies used in the intervention. These results revealed the benefits of the nutrition intervention unit by the significant increase in students' nutrition knowledge and students' implementation of that knowledge in daily living. The results make an important contribution to the existing literature and can enhance social change initiatives through increasing students' knowledge of nutrition, providing them with life-based skills, and enhancing their quality of life.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast four age cohorts to determine: (a) if they have any preexisting knowledge about The Blue Zones Power 9 lessons for longevity, (b) if they are currently practicing any of the Power 9 lessons, and (c) to what extent they intend to adopt all or some of the Power 9 lessons in the future. The Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (DiClemente &amp; Prochaska, 1982) guided exploration of the respondents&rsquo; adoption of the Power 9 lessons. There were four significant findings in this study. Physical activity and stress relief had similar results in that both the youngest and oldest age cohorts&rsquo; expressed higher frequencies than the two middle age cohorts. Wine consumption and adoption/intention to adopt the Power 9 also had similar results, demonstrating that as age increased, so did the frequency of wine consumption and adoption/intention to adopt the Power 9.</p>

Thesis (D. Ed.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 221-243). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

<p> A severe and worsening nursing shortage exists in the United States. Increasing numbers of new graduate nurses are necessary to meet this demand. To address the concerns of increased nursing demand, leaders of nursing schools must ensure larger numbers of nursing students graduate. Prior to practicing as registered nurses in the United States, graduates of nursing schools must pass the National Council Licensure Examination for Registered Nurses (NCLEX-RN). Various companies, such as the Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI) and Kaplan have created NCLEX-RN predictor tests that report candidates&rsquo; chances of passing the NCLEX-RN. ATI created a test called the RN Comprehensive Predictor and Kaplan created an NCLEX-RN predictor examination called the Kaplan Readiness Test. Students with less than optimal scores on the predictor can remediate to improve their knowledge of nursing, critical thinking, and test-taking skills. The intent for the ATI RN Comprehensive Predictor and the Kaplan Readiness Test is to predict the probability of success on the NCLEX-RN. The focus of the quantitative study was the ability of the aforementioned examinations to predict both success and failure on the NCLEX-RN. The overall TEAS score did not have a significant relationship with NCLEX-RN results. However, the ATI TEAS Math score was significantly higher (<i>p</i> = .005) for students who passed the NCLEX-RN. Data analysis showed no significant relationship between the Kaplan NCLEX-RN Readiness Test and NCLEX-RN results (<i>p</i> > .05). A significant relationship between the ATI RN Comprehensive Predictor and the NCLEX-RN scores existed in both the total sample (<i>p</i> = .001) and the BSN subsample (<i> p</i> = .001). In the MSN student subsample, all 37 students passed the NCLEX on the first attempt.</p>