Information needs of United Kingdom primary care clinicians

BACKGROUND: The scope of primary care makes knowledge management in this context very challenging, especially as access to information increases and the role of primary care within the NHS expands. OBJECTIVES: This paper reviews the literature on the information needs of primary care clinicians to enable evidence-based decision making. Drawing on the literature, and using a specific example of a clinical informaticist service, some lessons are drawn on the role of information professionals in facilitating evidence-based health care. METHODS: Literature review. Case study of clinical informaticist service. CONCLUSIONS: There are numerous barriers to clinicians engaging with evidence-based practice. However, providing evidence-based information to clinicians' questions in a user-friendly format has the potential to facilitate changes in practice. The successful implementation of information services requires attention to both academic and service dimensions, fostering closer working relationships between clinicians and information professionals.     

Prevention and Intervention in Beginning Reading: Two Complex Systems

This paper addresses two sets of organizing principles to guide prevention and intervention in beginning reading: (a) the complexity in our alphabetic writing system, and (b) the complexity in our schools. The first set is related to instructional design, while the second set is related to a schoolwide model. Prevention and intervention efforts in beginning reading for students with learning disabilities must attend to 2 systems, our complex alphabetic writing system and our equally complex schools. In this article, we present 2 sets of organizing principles to guide prevention and intervention in beginning reading drawn from the substantial body of converging research evidence accumulated over the past 40 years. The first set consists of 6 instructional design principles focused on teaching reading in our alphabetic writing system. These principles include big ideas, mediated scaffolding, conspicuous strategies, strategic integration, primed background knowledge, and judicious review. The second set includes organizational principles designed to anchor effective reading practices at the school‐building level. These principles are structured around 3 interrelated areas: (1) the schoolwide establishment of long‐term reading goals and intermediate performance benchmarks, (2) the early identification and frequent monitoring of students experiencing reading difficulties, and (3) the development of coordinated and differentiated instructional interventions for the full range of learners.     

The demographic profile of nursing students in Queensland: A comparison between higher education and hospital recruits

This study compares the demographic characteristics of 142 nursing students in hospital programs and 365 nursing students in higher education programs in Queensland. Data were collected on a questionnaire distributed to students during lecture times by a contact person in each institution. No significant difference was found in the gender and age of entry variable. Males from Catholic schools and enrolled nurses were more likely to enter higher education programs than hospital programs. There was no significant difference in the geographic location of the school attended by students between the two institutional sub-groups which suggests that the national transfer of nurse education to higher education institutions will not be a disadvantage to country students.     

Personal and clinical exercise-related attitudes and behaviors of freshmen U.S. medical students

To determine personal and clinical exercise-related attitudes and behaviors of freshmen U.S. medical students, we surveyed 1,906 entering freshman medical students (response rate = 87%; average age = 24 years) in 17 U.S. medical schools. Students reported a median of 45 min/day of exercise, 80 min/week each of mild and moderate exercise, and 100 min/week of strenuous exercise. Nearly all students (97.6%) engaged in some moderate or vigorous exercise in a typical week. Sixty-four percent complied with U.S. Department of Health and Human Services exercise recommendations. Most freshmen (79%) believed it would be highly relevant to their future practices to counsel patients about exercise; predictors included intention to provide primary care, excellent health, prevention emphasis by their personal physician, and performing more strenuous exercise.     

A 5-star system for rating the quality of information based on DISCERN

Objective: To develop an explicit scheme for calculating a 5‐star quality rating for consumer health information, and to test if there is good agreement be tween this and the final DISCERN quality question. Design: A sample of 15 consumers and health professionals rated 26 health information leaflets covering a broad range of conditions and treatments using two new 5‐star‐rating schemes and the existing DISCERN final quality rating. Each scheme is based on the 15 DISCERN criteria, but the 5‐star schemes provide more explicit methods for summarizing overall quality. The level of agreement between the three different rating systems was compared using Kappa scores with quadratic weights. Participants were also asked to complete a brief questionnaire that was designed to elicit their views on using a visual summary of the quality of health information. Results: The level of agreement between each 5‐star‐rating system and the existing DISCERN quality rating question was high (kappa = 0.86, 95% CI 0.83–0.89 in both instances). Seventy‐seven per cent of the sample preferred the second star‐rating scheme, and 80% reported they would use such a scheme. Conclusion: Assigning a single quality score using an explicit scoring scheme (represented by stars) based on answers to the DISCERN questionnaire is a reliable and valid way of rating consumer health information.     

Learning to Teach Science: The Curriculum of Student Teaching in Hiroshima "Attached" Schools

Journal of Science Teacher Education -     

Clinical appraisal of spelling ability and its relationship to phonemic awareness (blending,segmenting, elision,and reversal), phonological memory,and reading in reading disabled,ADHD, and normal children

Seventy-eight 8-to-12-year-old children (34 ReadingDisabled; 31 Attention-Deficit-Hyperactivity-Disordered; and 13diagnosed normal controls) were given a battery oftests including cognitive, linguistic, academic,phonemic awareness, and memory tests. As part of theacademic battery an 8-point spelling rating scale wasdeveloped (Rating Scale) that resulted in threedifferent scores which reliably discriminated amongthe three groups. Relationships between phonemicawareness, phonological memory, reading and spellingwere explored. Zero-order and second-ordercorrelations were completed with indications thatphonemic awareness tasks (elision, blending, reversal,and segmenting) and phonological memory (WISC-IIIDigit Span) are significantly correlated with readingdecoding and spelling measures with slightly highercorrelations with the Rating Scale. Regressionanalyses resulted in a large proportion of thevariance on reading and spelling tasks accounted forby phonemic awareness (particularly elision andreversal) and phonological memory. The ReadingDisabled group was found to produce more errors thatwere phonetically inaccurate than the other twogroups. The demand of spelling ten ``error' wordsbeyond the RD students' achievement level appeared toelicit greater weaknesses in their phonologicalrecoding abilities than in those of the ADHD ornormally achieving students.