Retooling the Health Care Workforce in the Era of the Affordable Care Act: An Evaluation of an Advanced Certificate Program in Integrated Primary and Behavioral Health Care

The Affordable Care Act aims to increase affordable coverage, reduce overall costs, and improve health outcomes. To achieve these aims, new knowledge and skills must be built within the existing workforce. The purpose of this article is to examine the behavioral and organizational changes brought about by an educational program that aimed to retool the healthcare workforce for the implementation of integrated primary and behavioral healthcare models, with an added emphasis on prevention. Sixty-three participants of an Advanced Certificate Program completed 1 or more evidence-informed learning modules centered on integrated primary and behavioral health care. The vast majority of students who completed each of the 5 modules of the program reported acquiring new knowledge and skills. Student satisfaction of the program met or exceeded overall expectations. In addition, program participation has resulted in not only students’ intentions to change workplace practices but also actual implementation of workplace changes related to integrated care models. The Advanced Certificate Program appears to be a promising platform for service providers to align their knowledge and skills with the premises of current healthcare reform.     

Imitation and Variation: Reflections on toddlers' strategies for learning

The process of learning for young children is primarily a question of learning in the present and being able to utilize that which is learned in totally new settings or situations in the future. In this article we will illustrate how learning is a question of developing an understanding of, or creating ways of experiencing, aspects or phenomena of the surrounding world. Imitation is an important ingress into learning for young children. Additionally, variation provides insight into the cognitive world of very young children. Both imitation and variation are interwoven in the strategies for learning used by children. Two observations and analyses are presented. In the first observation a toddler attempts to master a skill and in the second observation a group of children are playing on a slide.     

Impact of the excise tax on firm R&D and performance in the medical device industry: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act

This article examines how the excise tax affects firms’ R&D investment, performance, and market strategy in the US medical device industry. The Affordable Care Act imposed a 2.3% excise tax on medical devices beginning in January 2013, and thus this study compares the medical device firms with other high-tech firms before and after the tax incidence. Using COMPUSTAT data from 2006 to 2015, the author finds that the excise tax reduced R&D investment, sales revenue, gross margins, and earnings for medical device firms. In addition, the excise tax increased their global market sales intensity, global market diversification, and customer diversification in the US domestic market.     

The flourishing of care in a multidisciplinary Faculty Learning Community

In a multidisciplinary Faculty Learning Community focussed on exploring threshold concepts and bottlenecks in learning, care emerged as an unanticipated dimension to our work, transforming the ways we view teaching, learning, our disciplines, and educational development. In this piece, we reflect on the types of care that emerged and consider implications for educational development.     

Care and phronesis in teaching and coaching: dealing with personality disorder

My aim in this article is to contribute to the discussion about how teachers and coaches come to act in appropriate ways given the complex nature of both practices. I focus on two specific dispositions or qualities from the philosophical literature, namely the virtue of care and the Aristotelian concept of phronesis (or practical wisdom), which have been put forward as possible explanations. I argue that care and phronesis are fundamental qualities for both good teachers and coaches. Talk of care and phronesis in the literature is welcome, but these concepts are themselves complex. Care and phronesis, like other virtues are context-specific, difficult to acquire (or teach) and their particular expression depends on a host of complex factors, not least one's character and personal and professional experience. I illustrate my argument with reference to a former professional football player who exhibited symptoms of personality disorder from an early age and who presented challenges to his teachers and coaches through his disruptive behaviour.     

丹麦解决失学青年教育与就业问题的经验及其启示

失学青年是劳动市场中的弱势群体,他们在就业和教育方面会有一些特殊的困难。本文从主观定位及操作层面介绍了丹麦在解决失学青年就业与教育问题方面的做法,并分析了其对我国的启示。     

Teaching practices that re-engage early school leavers in further education: an Australian study

Re-engaging young adults who have ‘dropped out’ of school is an important and challenging task for educators. The purpose of this study was to explore the teaching practices that encourage young people to re-engage in further learning. Through interviews with teachers and students, the study identified five major interrelated teaching strategies that were effective in re-engaging young adults in education. These strategies were: strong concern for student welfare; positive teacher–student relationships; relevant course content; a mastery-based approach to learning; and an overarching goal of building students’ confidence in their ability, and more generally, in themselves. Together, these strategies address the behavioural, emotional and cognitive components of student engagement.     

Strengths and limitations of the Education,Health and Care plan process from a range of professional and family perspectives

The introduction of a new Special Educational Needs and Disability (SEND) Code of Practice in 2015 marked one of the most significant reforms to the SEND statutory assessment process in England since its introduction over 30 years ago. This article presents the findings of a small‐scale study that aimed to identify the extent to which the reforms have successfully addressed some of the shortcomings of the former Statementing process. Interviews, questionnaires and a focus group were used to gain the perspectives of parents, young people and professionals from education, health and social care services in two local authorities in the English Midlands. The research found that the new Education, Health and Care (EHC) assessment and planning process has been effective in some areas, particularly in achieving greater parental involvement and a more person‐centred approach. However, important issues remain unresolved. The data suggest that greater consistency in interpreting and applying legislation, and in individual professional practices, are still needed to fully achieve the intentions of the new system. Some recommendations for practitioners are proposed.     

舒缓的本真——谈周作人散文与儿童文学之契合

周作人散文创作中饱含着自然天性与人文关怀,文本的美、趣、真、实的特点,使作品释放出温情、平素、积极、志趣的人生态度,体现了作者对生活的原始本底的追索,这正与儿童文学的本质相契合。