A structured diary to promote reflection and active learning.
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Computer Literacy↗
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Results for “Literacy Programs”
Explore indexed PubMed citations for clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health research. Read source abstracts and follow each citation to its original PubMed record.
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Text generation from Taiwanese Sign Language using a PST-based language model for augmentative communication.
This paper proposes a novel approach to the generation of Chinese sentences from ill-formed Taiwanese Sign Language (TSL) for people with hearing impairments. First, a sign icon-based virtual keyboard is constructed to provide a visualized interface to retrieve sign icons from a sign database. A proposed language model (LM), based on a predictive sentence template (PST) tree, integrates a statistical variable n-gram LM and linguistic constraints to deal with the translation problem from ill-formed sign sequences to grammatical written sentences. The PST tree trained by a corpus collected from the deaf schools was used to model the correspondence between signed and written Chinese. In addition, a set of phrase formation rules, based on trigger pair category, was derived for sentence pattern expansion. These approaches improved the efficiency of text generation and the accuracy of word prediction and, therefore, improved the input rate. For the assessment of practical communication aids, a reading-comprehension training program with ten profoundly deaf students was undertaken in a deaf school in Tainan, Taiwan. Evaluation results show that the literacy aptitude test and subjective satisfactory level are significantly improved.
Adolescent↗
Assessment of the experience in the production of messages and programmes for rural communication systems: the case of the Wonsuom Project in Ghana.
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Africa↗
Barriers for dissemination of a national health care data network. A list of recommendations for better dissemination.
Establishment of a Danish Nation-wide Health Care Data Network for exchange of health care related information using standardised EDIFACT messages is agreed between the Danish Government, the Hospital Owners and the GPs organisations. The aim is, within year 2000 in the MedCom project, to reach a level of 66% of all messages between the secondary and primary health sector must be send electronically using EDIFACT. There are many barriers for reaching this goal, and to reveal this barriers an investigation was done, and a list of recommendations are set up. The investigation was based upon literature, interviews and most important a questionnaire among 200 GPs and specialists all over the country. After 6 months where the recommendations have been handled there is seen an increase in communicated messages on 40%, and from January 1999 more than 1.1 mill messages are exchanged each month.
Communication Barriers↗
Managing the low-socioeconomic-status prostate cancer patient.
Management of patients with low socioeconomic status and/or low literacy who have prostate cancer presents a challenge to healthcare professionals. Improving treatment outcomes for these men requires specific educational programs to provide a better understanding of prostate cancer including careful posttreatment follow-up to ensure they have recovered well, that the cancer is not progressing and that complications are not proving troublesome. Practice nurses and health educators/navigators can play an important role in achieving these objectives. Education and knowledgeable advice can lead to earlier diagnosis of prostate cancer, improved patient participation in the treatment decision-making process and effective management of posttreatment complications.
Decision Making↗
Participation in programs designed to improve employment outcomes for persons with psychiatric disabilities: evidence from the New York WORKS demonstration project.
The New York WORKS demonstration project was designed to improve employment outcomes for persons with psychiatric disabilities receiving Supplemental Security Income (SSI) disability payments. This article shows how the individual characteristics of participants were related to outcomes at each stage of the multistage recruitment process used in the project and how those characteristics contributed to enrollment. The findings are important to program administrators who are interested in ensuring that SSI recipients receive equal access to employment-related services and who want to improve recruitment strategies for future demonstration projects. The New York WORKS recruitment process used administrative records from the Social Security Administration (SSA) to identify the population of over 68,000 SSI recipients with a diagnosis of a psychiatric disability in Erie County and New York City. Staff involved in the project documented the results of each stage of the recruitment process. The New York WORKS project included four stages: (1) the provision of information (sending a letter and information packet); (2) demonstrated awareness of the project (response to a letter containing an overview of the project); (3) expression of interest (indication of interest in the project, using a postmarked form returned to New York WORKS project staff); and (4) participation (actual enrollment in the program). The project staff members were also able to identify data from administrative records that described the characteristics of the population, including age, sex, type of psychiatric diagnosis, the number of months that the person collected benefits before the recruitment process, employment experience before the recruitment process, and annual earnings in the year before the recruitment process. The data on outcomes at each stage of the recruitment process and the characteristics of SSI recipients were analyzed using an empirical method recently suggested by Heckman and Smith. The analysis identified the relationship between the characteristics of SSI recipients and the outcomes at each stage of the recruitment process and demonstrated how those characteristics contributed to the overall likelihood of enrollment. Demographic characteristics, information about diagnosis, and characteristics related to work history had different effects on outcomes at different stages of the recruitment process. For example, younger SSI recipients were less likely to reply to the information letter but more likely to express an interest in the project and more likely to enroll, given that interest. This result suggests that there may be an information barrier for the younger group of SSI recipients during the early recruitment stages. There were also interesting differences by psychiatric diagnosis and by recent employment experience at each stage of the process. Most notably, persons with anxiety disorders were less likely to express an interest in the project and less likely to enroll in the project if they expressed an interest. This finding suggests that project administrators may need to examine more effective methods to accommodate persons with an anxiety disorder at the enrollment stage of the recruitment process. Persons with relatively low earnings in the year before the project were more likely to respond, to express interest in the project, and to enroll than were those with no earnings and those with relatively high earnings. This finding suggests that the recruitment strategy used by the New York WORKS project is more effective at enrolling a subset of the population that has some demonstrated work capacity and that, of those with a demonstrated work capacity, New York WORKS is enrolling those who are likely to have the most to gain from the project. This finding has implications for the development of sample designs for other demonstration projects, in particular the SSA-proposed mental health treatment study. A number of strategies may lead to improvements in future evaluations of participation in SSA projects and programs. For example, the New York WORKS data did not contain information for all SSI recipients on race, education, or literacy. These factors have been shown to be important in the Job Training Partnership Act literature and are likely to play a role in participation. The inclusion of these data in future evaluations may provide important information on participation in SSA projects. Another useful strategy for future evaluations includes the identification of random samples of those who choose not to enroll at different stages in the process and the collection of information on the reason for the decision. These additional data may help project administrators to gain a clearer description of the reasons for differences in outcome that occur at each stage of the process, assess the overall performance of the recruitment process, and improve the recruitment processes used in future projects.
Adult↗
An analysis of health services coverage of a primary health centre in West Bengal.
Seven hundred rural families from different religious, economic, educational and occupational groups residing at different distances from the service health centre (PHC) were interviewed to study its service coverage and service bottlenecks. Acceptability, contact and effectiveness coverage, were respectively 64.8, 19.2 and 13.8 percent in case of medical care; 71.8, 28.3 and 27.2 percent in Maternal and Child Health Care Services; 45.7, 18.2 and 17.3 percent in case of Family Welfare Planning Services; and 64.4, 55.7 and 55.7 percent in immunization services. The higher income group utilized the services least 4.1 percent, compared to lower income group (17.7 percent). Utilization of the PHC services significantly declined with distance from the health centre. Less than 1/5th of the families (19.2 percent) utilized the medicare. Bottlenecks in service utilization were distance from PHC, and caste, education and income.
Adult↗
Literacy of women attending family planning clinics in Virginia and reading levels of brochures on HIV prevention.
A study estimating the extent to which the reading level of HIV educational brochures matches the reading ability (measured by educational attainment) of women attending public family planning clinics in Virginia shows that the mean reading level of the brochures sampled is grade 9.9. The educational attainment of 18% of Virginia family planning clients falls below this level. The mean reading level of brochures targeted to adolescents (grade 8.3) and the mean reading level of those targeted to minority women (grade 9.1) are significantly lower than the mean for all sampled brochures. Use of the targeted brochures would improve access to information on HIV prevention for 16% of adolescents and 6% of minority women who attend family planning clinics in Virginia.
Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome↗
Information literacy-what it is about? Literature review of the concept and the context.
OBJECTIVES: The use of IT in health care has merged advanced knowledge and skills for health care professionals. Former studies indicate that basic skills in computer use are no more than comprehensive competencies to manage electronically stored information in health care. The purpose of this paper is to review the literature focusing on the concept information literacy in the field of health, nursing and medical informatics. The target is to find out how information literacy is defined, in what kind of context it is presented and who are the focus of interest. METHODS: An automated literature search was performed on-line to Medline and by using the EndNote Bibliographic Software. All together the number of papers analyzed was 97 or 78% of the total literature search result. RESULTS: The survey indicates that the concept information literacy does not exist as such in the literature, but it can be found as a synonym to 'computer literacy' or even more obscure concepts such as 'informatics awareness' or 'computer experience'. The definitions of these concepts varied considerably. A variety of descriptions of educational programs were also found, none were based on the IMIA recommendations. CONCLUSIONS: In international cooperation such as that of IMIA WG1, a wide range of efforts still needs to be carried out to compile educational programmes in health informatics to enhance knowledge and skills in computer use among health care professionals.
Computer Literacy↗
ECG Wave-Maven: a self-assessment program for students and clinicians.
Proficiency in the interpretation of electrocardiograms (ECGs) is an essential skill for medical students, house officers, and attending physicians. However, resources to develop and upgrade the necessary high level of "ECG literacy" are limited. A small number of centers have attempted to address this challenge by developing "ECG of the week" internet sites. These resources are difficult to maintain and update, and many of them quickly become stagnant. We present "ECG Wave-Maven," an innovative web-based tutorial that overcomes these obstacles via a direct link to the hospital's extensive and increasing clinical ECG repository. By interfacing our educational tool to live data, we can greatly decrease the time and effort required from the time a practitioner notes an interesting case to its inclusion in the program. Users can opt to encounter the test cases sequentially or randomly, or by reviewing a list of questions or diagnoses, making this not just a quiz, but a basic educational reference. This tool may be useful in meeting the challenge of reducing serious medical errors related to ECG misinterpretation.
Boston↗
Maternal death in the booked and unbooked patients: University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital experience.
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Africa↗
Phonological awareness intervention and the acquisition of literacy skills in children from deprived social backgrounds.
PURPOSE: This study examined the effect of phonological awareness intervention that focused on syllable and rhyme awareness on the acquisition of literacy and the development of phonological awareness skills 2 years post intervention. The longitudinal study compared two groups of children from deprived socioeconomic backgrounds in the United Kingdom. One group received a program of phonological awareness intervention and one did not. METHOD: Ninety-nine children received a 9-week program of phonological awareness intervention in the summer term of their final preschool year. These children were then assessed on measures of phonological awareness and language in the first term of their first year at school (M age = 4;7 [years; months]) and again 2 years later (M age = 6;8) on measures of phonological awareness and literacy. One year earlier, a control group of 114 children from the same schools were also assessed at these two points in their schooling on the same measures. This group did not receive any phonological awareness intervention. RESULTS: At the second assessment, the group of children who received phonological awareness intervention performed better than those children who received no intervention (control group) on rhyme awareness and nonword spelling. Surprisingly, however, the control group performed better than the children who had received intervention on the phoneme segmentation task. CONCLUSION: The phonological awareness intervention that was implemented, which focused on enhancing syllable and rhyme awareness, had little effect on later literacy development and may have interfered with the acquisition of phoneme awareness. Implications for intervention with children from deprived socioeconomic backgrounds are discussed in the context of current research.
Awareness↗
A media literacy nutrition education curriculum for head start parents about the effects of television advertising on their children's food requests.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether a media literacy nutrition education curriculum about the effects of television advertising on children's food choices influenced the behavior, attitudes, and knowledge of Head Start parents. SUBJECTS: Participants were a convenience sample of 35 parents from Head Start programs. DESIGN: This study used a pretest-posttest, comparison condition-intervention condition design. INTERVENTION: The 35 parents participated in both a four-week food safety curriculum (to serve as an educational placebo, comparison condition) that was followed immediately by a four-week media literacy nutrition education curriculum (intervention condition). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Evaluation measures included parents' understanding of the persuasive techniques of commercials; ability to distinguish between truths and claims in advertising; and outcome expectations, values, self-efficacy, and behaviors in relation to talking about television advertisements with children while co-viewing or in response to purchase requests in the grocery store. STATISTICAL ANALYSES: Paired t tests, analysis of covariance, and chi(2) analyses were used. RESULTS: The media literacy nutrition education intervention curriculum had significant effects in terms of Head Start parents' understanding television advertising (P<.001), attitudes about television advertisements (P<.001), outcome expectations (P<.05), values (P<.01), self-efficacy (P<.001), and TV mediation behaviors (P<.001), and understanding of, and ability to read, food labels (P<.001). CONCLUSIONS/APPLICATIONS: Results suggest that a media literacy nutrition education curriculum can be easily conducted by dietitians. Dietitians can modify the curriculum to teach parents how to critically analyze many other forms of media (supermarket magazines, brochures, newspapers, Web sites) that sell nutrition misinformation to the public.
Adult↗
A comparison of the use of adaptive microswitches by students with cerebral palsy.
This paper describes systematic procedures used to assess, train, and compare the use of adaptive microswitches for microcomputers used by adolescents with cerebral palsy. A comparison is made of three students with cerebral palsy using microswitches to increase their production rates as part of a vocational training program. Future uses of adaptive microswitches in vocational and educational training programs are also considered.
Adolescent↗
Teen Peer Outreach-Street Work Project: HIV prevention education for runaway and homeless youth.
Each year, there are approximately 2 million homeless and runaway youths in the United States. On any given night, there are 1,000 homeless youngsters living on the streets of San Diego, CA. Homeless young people are commonly involved in one or more of the following activities that place them at risk for HIV infection--unprotected sexual intercourse, needle-sharing in the use of injectable drugs, sex with someone who injects drugs. The Teen Peer Outreach-Street Work Project trains teen peer educators to work in three existing San Diego youth service programs with street outreach staff members to provide HIV prevention education and referral services to San Diego's homeless youth. Selected teens from the target population also participate in street-based case management that provides skill development to bring about behavioral and attitudinal changes. An HIV outreach program cannot stand alone and is most successful if it is integrated with services that meet the basic needs of its clients. In the three participating youth service programs of the Teen Peer Outreach-Street Work Project, food, clothes, and shelter information are provided. There are shelters in two of the three programs that become places where HIV educational messages, delivered on the street, can be reinforced. Immediate and concrete assistance can be offered to homeless youth. Low literacy among the target population presents a significant obstacle to adequate and appropriate HIV prevention education for homeless youth. Currently, education materials that specifically target homeless youth do not exit. The outreach street project is being expanded to develop materials for homeless youth with low literacy levels. Teen peers will be used to facilitate structured focus groups composed of members of the target population. Focus groups will be used in concept development, product development, and evaluation of draft products.Because the project is unique.in San Diego, it addresses an unmet need, reaching a population often missed by traditional HIV education efforts.
Adolescent↗
Women's perceptions and social barriers determine compliance to cervical screening: results from a population based study in India.
BACKGROUND: Success of cervical screening initiatives depends on high participation of the target population, which in turn is determined by the women's perceptions, health orientation and other socio-cultural issues. The present study identifies the immediate social and cultural barriers that prevent women to attend cervical screening facilities. METHODS: Women non-compliant to a community-based cervical screening program were identified. From them 500 were randomly selected for interview using a structured questionnaire that was designed on the basis of feedbacks received from several focused group discussions. Questionnaire listed 24 possible reasons for non-compliance. The women were asked to select the most pertinent reason(s) for her non-attendance or to reveal if they had any reason other than the listed ones. RESULTS: A total of 469 non-compliant women were interviewed. They had significantly lower literacy rate compared to the compliant women (OR=2.25; 95% CI: 1.23-4.13). Nearly half of the interviewed women responded that they themselves opted to stay away from the program. Most common reasons cited for non-attendance in this group were reluctance to go for medical test in the absence of any symptoms and apprehension to have a test that detects cancer. Second major group of responders comprised of women who were willing, yet could not attend due to various hurdles. Most common hurdles were inability to leave household chores, pre-occupation with family problems and lack of approval from husbands. CONCLUSIONS: Modification of health behavior through education and social empowerment of women are essential for a population based cervical screening program to succeed in India.
Adult↗
Health literacy and numeracy.
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Communication↗
Outcomes of a cardiovascular nutrition counseling program in African-Americans with elevated blood pressure or cholesterol level.
OBJECTIVE: To evaluate a cardiovascular nutrition education package designed for African-American adults with a wide range of literacy skills. DESIGN: Comparison of a self-help group and a full-instruction group; each group received nutrition counseling and clinical monitoring every 4 months. SUBJECTS: Three hundred thirty African-American adults, aged 40 to 70 years, with elevated cholesterol level or high blood pressure were randomly assigned to the self-help or full-instruction group; 255 completed the 12-month follow-up. INTERVENTIONS: Counseling to reduce intake of dietary fat, cholesterol, and sodium was based on Cardiovascular Dietary Education System (CARDES) materials, which included food-picture cards, a nutrition guide (self-help and full-instruction group), a video and audiotape series, and 4 classes (full-instruction group only). MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Changes in lipid levels and blood pressure after 12 months. STATISTICAL ANALYSES PERFORMED: Primary analyses consisted of repeated-measures analysis of variance to examine effects of time and randomization group on outcomes. RESULTS: Total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol level decreased by 7% to 8% in the self-help and full-instruction groups of men and women (P < .01). The ratio of total cholesterol to high-density lipoprotein cholesterol (HDL-C) decreased in both groups of women and in the men in the full-instruction group (P < .01). In full-instruction and self-help participants with elevated blood pressure at baseline, systolic blood pressure decreased by 7 to 11 mm Hg and diastolic blood pressure decreased by 4 to 7 mm Hg (P < .01). Outcomes did not differ by literacy scores but were positively related to the reported initial frequency of using CARDES materials. APPLICATIONS/CONCLUSIONS: These results suggest that periodic nutrition counseling based on CARDES materials used for home study can enhance management of lipid levels and blood pressure in African-American outpatients.
Adult↗