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The efficacy of mobile health interventions used to manage acute or chronic pain: A systematic review
No full textChronic pain is a significant health issue that affects approximately 50 million adults in the United States. Traditional interventions are not always an effective treatment strategy for pain control. However, the wide adoption of smartphones and the rapid growth of health information technologies over the past decade have created opportunities to use mobile health (mHealth) applications (apps) for pain tracking andselfmanagement. In this PRISMAcompliant systematic review, we assessed the current U.S.based research on painrelated mHealth apps to describe the app components and determine the efficacy of these interventions for persons with acute or chronic pain. We conducted a comprehensive search of five databases based on methodological guidelines from the Joanna Briggs Institute. We included articles reporting original data on mHealth interventions with pain intensity as a primary or secondary outcome and excluded articles that utilized multimoda linterventions. Of the original 4959 articles, only five studies met the eligibility criteria. Most of the interventions included feasibility or pilot studies, and all studies were published between 2015 and 2018. Two of the five studies used visual analog scales. Only two of the studies reported statistically significant pain intensity outcomes, and considerable heterogeneity between the studies limited our ability to generalize findings or conduct a metaanalysis. Research investigating the components and efficacy of painrelated mHealth apps as interventions is an emerging field. To better understand the potential clinical benefits of mHealth apps designed to manage pain, further research is needed
Becoming and Belonging: The Effect of the Lessons of Grace and Courtesy on Peer Reverence in a Montessori Primary Environment
Get PDFThe purpose of this action research project is to determine the effect of the lessons of Grace and Courtesy on children\u27s peer reverence in a Montessori primary (ages 3-6) environment. This research study was conducted at a private Montessori School in a midwestern suburb. The four-week study was completed in a Primary Montessori environment with 13 children, ranging in age from three to six years old. During the study, data was collected on behaviors related to peer reverence and the lessons Grace and Courtesy. Data was also collected on the collective attitude, as observed and reflected on, by the adult. Data from the study showed that the use of the lessons of Grace and Courtesy correlated to the decrease in number of undesired behaviors and increase in number of desired behaviors related to peer reverence. Further study could include the effect of lessons of Grace and Courtesy on conflict resolution; the effect of the lessons of Grace and Courtesy on social skills; the effect of daily repetition of the same lesson of Grace and Courtesy; the use of cards to follow-up on the lessons of Grace and Courtesy; and the use of the lessons of Grace and Courtesy outside a Montessori environment
The Impact of Vigorous Physical Activity on Preschool and Kindergarten Children’s On-Task Behavior and Focus
Get PDFThis study aims to investigate the impact of daily moderate to vigorous physical activity on preschool and kindergarten-aged children’s on-task behavior and focus. The research took place over four weeks in a Montessori early childhood classroom with 15 children aged three to six. Each day, children participated in 12-15 minutes of physical activity, including running, jumping and marching, vigorous enough for them breathe hard. The researcher used both quantitative and qualitative data tools to examine effects on ability to focus and to be on-task during the following two hours. The increased movement had a positive impact on the children’s transition to the next activity and on the rate of children being on task for up to two hours. Continued research is needed to determine effectiveness on focus
Enhancing Prenatal Education
Get PDFThe American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) recommends delivering ongoing, timely, and relevant prenatal education in order to achieve high-quality care (ACOG, 2017). As the impact of the COVID-19 global pandemic continues to threaten the health and well-being of the population, organizations nationwide are beckoned to consider strategies on how to safely address care needs while limiting clinic encounters. Creation of a standardized, patient-centered pathway through the use of an online platform is an alternative format for providing guidance and support to expectant families. Narrowing the content complexities encompassing an entire pregnancy, project focus centralizes on enhancement of first trimester prenatal education through the use of video and evaluating patient satisfaction towards this mode. A total of 20 female patients in their first trimester participated in this quality improvement project by responding to a paper survey. Results demonstrate patients are satisfied with video as a mode to deliver prenatal education and consider it an effective method to achieve learning outcomes. Evaluating patient satisfaction towards the first trimester video can assist in developing future educational agendas that strive to better meet learner needs while achieving positive health outcomes. Evolving to an online education platform where trimester specific videos can be viewed will provide service, equity, convenience, and access to obstetric patients. While the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 epidemic demanded attention and evaluation towards traditional care standards, it also provided an opportunity to re-imagine innovative approaches to promote health amongst communities nationwide. Adoption of the first trimester prenatal video as an integrative approach to deliver patient education will not only meet the needs of the region but also be a cost-effective, sustainable option for future practice
A community-academic partnership for program assessment of a pediatric post-surgical rehabilitation program: The case of the Plaster House in Tanzania
No full textContext: The Plaster House in Arusha, Tanzania provides rehabilitative care for infants and children following orthopedic, plastic, neurological, or general surgeries. The rehabilitation center, established in 2008, wanted to create an evaluation plan. Few rehabilitative care assessment tools are appropriate to programs serving populations in low-income countries. Methods: The Plaster House partnered with an interdisciplinary faculty team (7 disciplines) from St. Catherine University in St. Paul, MN, USA. Through a 14-month iterative process, the team created an assets map, logic model and evaluation plan, and piloted assessment tools to track patient progress. An ecological framework guided the design of tools to define change at the individual, interpersonal, family and community levels. Results: For The Plaster House Team, the assets mapping process engaged the whole staff from project director and clinical team to gardeners, cooks, and housemothers. The naming of assets and reflections on social, behavioral and physical changes observed in the children enhanced collective efficacy of the program’s population impact. The evaluation plan strengthened their ability to communicate with donors and systematically track program changes. The academic team learned to hear, “That’s not going to work here” and move forward to co-create culturally and contextually appropriate tools. Conclusion and discussion: There are few assessment tools to measure individual, family and community change outcomes after surgery and rehabilitation for children in resource-limited settings. The final logic model and assessment tools could be adapted by programs internationally. The interprofessional community-academic partnership enhanced the quality and utility of the final products
Tibetan American Women Leaders: Constructing their own cultural paradigms for leadership
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Tibetan women as household leaders are not a new notion; however, in the public form, Tibetan women leaders are a recent concept. This study explores Tibetan American women leaders and how they navigate and experience their held leadership positions. The significance of the findings lies in Tibetan American women leaders\u27 passion for leadership, which in this study was described as serving the Tibetan communities where they live. There is solid evidence that Tibetan cultural gender expectations and stereotypical views about Tibetan women have tremendously impeded and will impede those still climbing to the top. What is apparent is Tibetan American women leaders are creating new social constructs and identities. They construct their identities at the intersection of leadership, American culture, and Tibetan cultural gender roles/expectations. Though this construction is not yet fully formed in a collective way, the experiences and leadership of the participants in this study are working to create this construction through their individual efforts. I interviewed six Tibetan American women from California, Massachusetts, Washington DC, and Minnesota who self-identified as leaders and held formal leadership positions. Organically, many study subjects focused their leadership experience leading within the Tibetan American community through various vantage points. The study identified participants navigating between two dominant cultures, Tibetan and American, and how socially constructed institutions impacted their identity as Tibetan American women leaders
Proximity and Preparation: The Keys to Engagement in Secondary Montessori Literature Seminars
Get PDFDr. Maria Montessori’s philosophy defines education as an aid to life. Given the appropriate prepared environment, young people will construct themselves and become strong, resilient, holistic humans, willing to share their gifts to benefit the common good. The developmental needs at each phase, articulated by Montessori’s Four Planes of Development serves as an essential guide to the teaching and learning. This research looks at the effects of two developmentally appropriate interventions on engagement within peer-led literature seminars in a secondary Montessori classroom. The first intervention included a low stakes way to increase proximity or a way to create a sense of ease and security at the beginning of each class such as a quick question, activity, or sharing of a quote. The second intervention aimed at preparation to help students feel more confident in participating. During the week between each seminar, students were given short lessons on literature analysis and context for the novel. Triangulated quantitative and qualitative data reveal a positive effect of student engagement due to the presence of the two interventions within the seminars. Results of the research will inform how future literature groups are conducted and will potentially benefit other secondary Montessori programs
Impacts of Early Childhood Professional Development on Educator Practice and Subsequent Student Experience in the Outdoor Environment
Get PDFThe purpose of this project was to study the impact of professional development on early childhood educator practice and its subsequent effects on toddlers’ experiences with Risky Play in the outdoor environment. The setting of this project was a toddler classroom within a Montessori school in Missouri. The population for this action research study was three adult assistant guides with varying levels of experience with Montessori and early childhood education and 10 students in a Montessori toddler classroom between the ages of 17 and 32 months. The intervention consisted of a professional development workshop related to Montessori philosophy and benefits of outdoor Risky Play paired with daily reflective journaling. Data collection included my observations, participant journals, interviews, and an attitude scale. As a result of the study, adult participants intervened with children’s play less often and in more constructive ways, and children had more positive experiences in the outdoor environment. In response to this study, future actions include implementing a classroom culture of continued coaching and reflection