Practice-based Knowledge Research Articles

Building an Engaged Himalayan Sustainability Science

The Himalayan region is facing a new crisis under climate change, rapid economic transformation, and escalating geopolitical tensions. A large body of Himalayan sciences has endeavored to understand this challenge but has failed to engage meaningfully with the local people and policymakers. I argue for a new engaged Himalayan sustainability science that not only understands and interprets the emerging challenges but also strengthens societal capability.

Smart operations planning in container terminals: integrating algorithms with our practical knowledge base

Smart operations planning in container terminals: integrating algorithms with our practical knowledge base

Virtual Music Therapy: Developing New Approaches to Service Delivery

As the global Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic transforms our society, music therapists must adapt service delivery models that ensure client safety. Given the prevalence of COVID-19 in our communities and lack of personal protective equipment in many settings, music therapists are faced with the need to shift delivery models in order to provide safe and relevant services. Telehealth is one solution to these current service delivery challenges. Music therapists possess a depth of practice-based knowledge and understanding of client populations, which enables them to develop virtual services, matching both the clinicians’ and clients’ technical capabilities. Developed during the initial wave of COVID-19 infections in the United States, this article describes the coauthors’ three-tiered scaffold model intended to support the program development and deployment of virtual music therapy (VMT) services. The model describes an approach to developing VMT services that directs the clinician’s goals of care in formats that are accessible, appropriate, and best meet the patient/client’s needs and abilities. The severity and lasting nature of this worldwide health crisis and its disruption of traditional service delivery models require clinicians and researchers to develop the most effective uses of VMT while considering its limits with regard to clinical populations and need areas.

Navigating a Middle Ground - Exploring Health Professionals' Experiences and Perceptions of Providing Rehabilitation in Outdoor Community Settings.

Contemporary practice has started to rethink use of outdoor and community environments for advancing comprehensive rehabilitation outcomes. The aim is to examine health professionals' experiences and perceptions of providing rehabilitation in outdoor community settings. The purpose is to use these experiences to generate practice-based knowledge in using the outdoors as a means to guide community-based rehabilitation. The Interpretive Description methodology was accompanied by social practice theory. Fieldwork was conducted utilizing participant observation, photovoice, and focus-group interviews. Included were 27 health professionals. The analysis revealed how "naturalistic learning opportunities" offered health professionals strategies to empower activity and participation levels and yet invoked "rehabilitation setting tensions." A continuum was engaged in the theme "navigating a middle ground," representing an integrated environment approach; rehabilitation in conventional indoor and outdoor community settings. Development of a sustainable concept for outdoor community-based rehabilitation involves strengthening health professionals' competencies and skills for providing outdoor and community work.

Dysphagia screening using an allied health assistant delegation model: service considerations for implementation

Purpose Three facilities, involved in introducing a model of Allied Health Assistant (AHA) delegated dysphagia screening, examined barriers and facilitators to service implementation. Materials and Methods The 3 facilities varied in size, services and location. AHAs (n = 4) and speech-language therapists (SLTs; n = 4) directly involved in implementation at each site completed semi-structured interviews exploring the implementation experience. Analysis was guided by the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research (CFIR). Results There was differential implementation across the sites. Facilitators to implementation fell within the CFIR Innovation Characteristic domain, with the “relative advantage” of the model and “design, quality and packaging” of the training and implementation resources being key facilitators. Barriers related to the Innovation Characteristic domain, regarding the tool’s “adaptability” in terms of screening tools selected and the implementation environment. Issues with the Inner Setting domain, specifically the “structural characteristics,” the “compatibility” of the model and the “relative priority” of the model’s implementation within other organizational priorities were also barriers. Conclusions Although the service model was perceived to have relative advantage, compatibility with local work-flow priorities and service needs must be thoroughly considered if AHA delegated dysphagia screening is to be beneficial as a service model to address increasing dysphagia referral demands. IMPLICATIONS FOR REHABILITATION Dysphagia is a disabling condition which may result in medical, social and operational complications. The demands of screening, assessing, managing and providing rehabilitation for dysphagia are increasing, therefore alternative models of service delivery including delegation are increasingly being considered and implemented. This study provides evidence regarding the context and facilitators of successful AHA dysphagia screening model implementation. This evidence contributes to a growing knowledge base of delegation practices for the management of staffing resources and building of capacity for rehabilitation service delivery.

Learning, development and the early childhood curriculum: A critical discourse analysis of the Early Years Foundation Stage in England

This article focuses on the national policy framework for early childhood education (birth to 5 years) in England – the Early Years Foundation Stage, specifically the use of child development theories as the underpinning knowledge base for practice. The aim is to understand what constructions of learning and development are foregrounded in policy, and their implications for curriculum, pedagogy and assessment. Critical Discourse Analysis methods are used to expose learning and development as messy constructs, and to propose three arguments. First, the evidence base for the Early Years Foundation Stage relies on selective appropriation of child development theories, and findings from government-funded research. These sustain normative discourses, reflecting a Piagetian ontology of ‘development leads learning’, through which children become ‘knowable’ and ‘measurable’. Second, the Early Years Foundation Stage shifts from developmental processes to learning outcomes as the basis for constructing curriculum, assessment of children’s outcomes and school readiness. Third, the Early Years Foundation Stage constitutes a discursive regime, which influences how practitioners must fulfil performance criteria that serve multiple purposes of assessing outcomes, evaluating standards and defining ‘quality’. From a critical perspective, this analysis questions the efficacy of the Early Years Foundation Stage in addressing the problems of equity and inclusion in diverse societies. The Early Years Foundation Stage exemplifies the policy technologies that can be discerned in international contexts, through which specific forms of curriculum coherence and control are produced. An alternative ‘learning leading development’ onto-epistemology is proposed, which offers potential for challenging the (il)logic of the Early Years Foundation Stage.

Training Future Speech–Language Pathologists for Work in End-of-Life and Palliative Care

Speech–language pathologists often lack preparation for palliative care practice and this lack of training can lead to poor outcomes for patients. Lack of training can additionally lead to burnout and compassion fatigue in clinicians. Careful implementation of training is necessary to increase the knowledge base for palliative practice and careful attention must also be paid to the emotional component of end-of-life care. The history and current practice of palliative care education across health care disciplines are examined. Finally, a pilot study evaluating a course module on palliative and end-of-life care for speech–language pathologist graduate students is presented. Results from the pilot indicate that students improved both their knowledge and comfort related to issues of end-of-life care topics. In addition, students responded positively to the opportunity to learn about the topic and the instructional strategies used within the course module.

Suitability of accounting education to current market

Purpose of the research: This study evaluates the perception of academicians teaching accounting in the universities of Karnataka state, India in the context of the suitability of accounting education for current market demand. It also assesses the level of suitability of accounting education to the current market need prevailing in the universities of Karnataka state. Methodology: This empirical-conceptual study was conducted based on both primary and secondary data. To analyse the data, accounting education quality index was developed. One-sample t-statistics was used for statistical analysis. Findings: Our results showed that average suitability of accounting education prevailing in the universities of Karnataka state to current market need was 43 percent. Further universities and academicians are needed to upgrade the accounting education system to this direction to build the strong practical knowledge base to the accounting graduates. Implications: The outcome of the results of this research will become an input to universities to take necessary steps for inclusion of AI applications, XBRL, and GRI SRs aspects in the accounting curriculum in the context of accounting and auditing of business and financial information makes the accounting graduates more employable. Originality/Value: This research will add the value to the existing literature in the field of accounting education. Meanwhile, it stresses the need for advancing accounting education in Indian context.

Introducing participatory action research to vocational fashion education: theories, practices, and implications

ABSTRACT This paper revisits the philosophical trajectory and practices in fashion education. It examines to what extent participatory action research (PAR) can contribute to the advancement of vocational education by emancipating practice-based skills and knowledge co-created by students, faculty members, and market practitioners. While the fashion market is dynamically reshaping today’s fashion pedagogy by imparting new skills and abilities to students, this investigation aims to highlight the limitations of the Bauhaus tradition as a top-down approach aimed at continually producing work-ready graduates for junior positions. Drawing upon the findings yielded by our experimental project fashionthnography.com, the analyses presented in this paper elucidate to what extent PAR can meet the intended goal of equipping the students with a higher level of working capabilities and creativity, as well as greater cultural appreciation. This study contributes to the expansion of vocational education and training, as its findings indicate that we need to embrace practice-based knowledge co-creation for long-term success in both industry and academia.

Assessment of the impact of EHR heterogeneity for clinical research through a case study of silent brain infarction

BackgroundThe rapid adoption of electronic health records (EHRs) holds great promise for advancing medicine through practice-based knowledge discovery. However, the validity of EHR-based clinical research is questionable due to poor research reproducibility caused by the heterogeneity and complexity of healthcare institutions and EHR systems, the cross-disciplinary nature of the research team, and the lack of standard processes and best practices for conducting EHR-based clinical research.MethodWe developed a data abstraction framework to standardize the process for multi-site EHR-based clinical studies aiming to enhance research reproducibility. The framework was implemented for a multi-site EHR-based research project, the ESPRESSO project, with the goal to identify individuals with silent brain infarctions (SBI) at Tufts Medical Center (TMC) and Mayo Clinic. The heterogeneity of healthcare institutions, EHR systems, documentation, and process variation in case identification was assessed quantitatively and qualitatively.ResultWe discovered a significant variation in the patient populations, neuroimaging reporting, EHR systems, and abstraction processes across the two sites. The prevalence of SBI for patients over age 50 for TMC and Mayo is 7.4 and 12.5% respectively. There is a variation regarding neuroimaging reporting where TMC are lengthy, standardized and descriptive while Mayo’s reports are short and definitive with more textual variations. Furthermore, differences in the EHR system, technology infrastructure, and data collection process were identified.ConclusionThe implementation of the framework identified the institutional and process variations and the heterogeneity of EHRs across the sites participating in the case study. The experiment demonstrates the necessity to have a standardized process for data abstraction when conducting EHR-based clinical studies.

Drowning ‘Truths’: Contrasting experiential-experts’ perceptions with official-experts drowning reports on Australia's hazardous coasts

Drawing on the experiential fishers' accounts, this figure shows how experiential-experts knowledge can be used to expand the application of the sandy beach safety principles to the context of rock fishing (i.e., how risk is known). It maps out experiential-experts’ drowning typology (green), official-experts drowning types (blue) and the importance of collective framings of risk (yellow) that reflect the safety principles of ‘how to avoid and respond to risk’. This includes contributing to the growing body of coastal risk literature that highlights the risk of bystander (i.e., collective) rescues, which, in this context, appears to be encouraging submerged, inexperienced fishers to regain access to the shore platforms. • How rock fishers enter the sea is unknown in the majority of drownings. • Inexperience is framed as a chief contributor to how fishers enter the sea and drown. • Fishers' perceptions reflect practice-based knowledge rather than physical risks. • Fishers demonstrate that safe fishing practice is contingent on not entering the sea. • Fishing with experts in situ might help inexperienced fishers learn how to avoid risk.

Hospitality Students’ Acquisition of Knowledge and Skills through a Virtual Field Trip Experience

ABSTRACT This study examines hospitality management students’ expectations and acquisition of knowledge and skills through the use of a Virtual Field Trip (VFT) platform. In total 135 students in Australia responded to pre- and post- open-ended questionnaires. The pre-questionnaire sought students’ expectations of knowledge and skill acquisition, whereas the post-questionnaire sought their perceptions of actual acquisition of knowledge and skill after engagement with the VFT. The empirical material was thematically analyzed using the textual analysis program Leximancer, facilitating an iterative process moving between codes and participants’ responses. Concept maps were generated thus visualizing thematic relationships. Findings reveal VFT provides a technology-enhanced solution to practice-based knowledge and employability skill acquisition that is successful in supporting assessment tasks and enhancing learning outcomes. Students also reported improvements in their knowledge about the functioning of hotels and an increase in their abilities to operationalize food and beverage systems after using the VFT. Hence, VFT can be an effective technological learning tool for the acquisition of knowledge and skills in hospitality and other fields.

Examining Practice Frameworks – Mapping out the Gains

Most systems of child welfare promote some form of practice framework or practice approach, with inspectorates reinforcing the need for such. Yet the extent to which practice frameworks are sufficiently embedded and therefore driving good and improving practice is not clear or well understood. Practice frameworks can help social workers be more confident with articulating the core purpose of their work and help them to explain how they do it. Social workers and organisational leadership can then better articulate the core purpose, focus and offer of social work in social care settings along with encouraging a deepening practice knowledge and value base. In this paper, we explain practice frameworks and based on the available evidence synthesize the core elements to five core domains; we then present a conceptual and underpinning model (KcVETS), an underpinning practice framework that accommodates and promotes a range of values, standards and foundations for social work, and one that can help to drive and reinforce good and improving practice.

Suicidal behaviours and moderator support in online health communities: protocol for a scoping review

IntroductionSuicidal ideation and suicidal behaviours are common yet complex mental health presentations that can pose significant challenges for health professionals. The inability to accurately predict the individuals who may move...

Thyroid disorders in subfertility and early pregnancy.

Disorders of thyroid function are common in pregnancy and have implications for foetal and maternal health. Thyroid autoimmunity, as evidenced by the presence of elevated levels of anti-thyroid antibodies (anti-TPO and anti-Tg antibodies) is associated with an increased risk of miscarriage, though the mechanism remains poorly understood. There has been considerable focus on the implications and optimal management of pregnant women with thyroid disease, especially those undergoing assisted reproduction. Pregnancy results in significant changes in thyroid physiology and these need to be understood by clinicians involved in the care of pregnant women. Guidelines for the use of thyroxine and target thyroid function tests have been produced by international bodies but it is recognised that these predominantly reflect expert opinion rather than established evidence-based practice. Importantly a number of key clinical trials have been performed to aid understanding, particularly of the consequences of hypothyroidism for mother and baby, and the effectiveness of thyroid hormone use in autoimmune and subclinical hypothyroidism. This review summarises the current knowledge base and guidance for practice relating to thyroid disorders in pregnancy and subfertility.

What Are You? Multiracial Identity Development

Race is a social construct, allowing humans to categorize and organize themselves and others based on physical appearance. In the U.S., the dominant population has historically used these categories to oppress and marginalize people of color. Nevertheless, in the post-Civil Rights era, it has become more common for couples of different races to have children. In the 2000 U.S. Census, individuals were able to identify as multiracial for the first time, and over 6 million people did so. By the 2010 U.S. Census, this number had increased to 9 million people. The increase of biracial or multiracial people in the U.S. has important implications for social work practice at the micro, mezzo, and macro levels. How multiracial people come to understand themselves, how society views people who are multiracial, and the effect on social policy are all different areas that could affect social work practice. This study explored the experience of multiracial university students, a subsection of the larger population of multiracial people in the U.S. This was an action research study regarding the development of racial identity in a group of university students who are multiracial, as well as the development of advocacy strategies to encourage awareness of multiracial people in the larger university community. Seven university students in a mid-sized, western state university participated in this study and completed a Photo Voice project to raise awareness of the multiracial student population at the university. This study seeks to expand the knowledge base of multiracial identity development and inform social work practice with this population.

Teacher Autonomy Support in Physical Education Classes as a Predictor of Motivation and Concentration in Mexican Students.

There is a strong belief that physical education can affect an individual’s physical activity, healthy habits, and behaviors through pleasant, positive, and significant exercise experiences, a practical knowledge base, and comprehensive teaching strategies. However, a crucial cognitive aspect for the effective and significant learning of the activities offered in the educational environment is the concentration of students. This study aims to test a hypothetical model based on self-determination theory to assess the degree of support prediction provided by the teacher for student autonomy in the various types of motivation and on student concentration in physical education classes in high schools within the Mexican context and test invariance across gender groups. This study included 859 students between 11 and 16 years from different high schools in the city of San Nicolás de los Garza, Nuevo León (México). The Learning Climate Questionnaire, the Perceived Locus of Causality, and the Concentration scale adapted to physical education and translated into Mexican Spanish were used. Results showed good internal consistency for all instruments. Both the measurement model and the structural equation modeling showed satisfactory adjustment indexes. The results revealed that the autonomy support positively predicted autonomous motivation, controlled motivation to a lesser extent, and amotivation negatively. Furthermore, the students’ concentration was highly and positively predicted by autonomous motivation, by controlled motivation to a lesser extent, and by amotivation negatively. The model predicted 39% of variance of autonomous motivation with large effect size (ƒ2 = 0.64), 2% of controlled motivation with small effect size (ƒ2 = 0.02), 8% of amotivation with small effect size (ƒ2 = 0.09), and 49% of concentration with large effect size (ƒ2 = 0.96). Finally, the invariance analysis revealed that the model fit was invariant across gender groups. The results of this study emphasize how important it is for teachers to adopt an interpersonal style of autonomy support to generate a motivational climate that influences the concentration of students. This could contribute to the achievement of the purposes and educational objectives of the physical education class, which, in turn, might be conducive to students adopting healthy lifestyles in adolescence and beyond.

Evaluation for learning and improvement at the right time: an example from the field.

Evaluation expertise to assist with identifying improvements, sourcing relevant literature and facilitating learning from project implementation is not routinely available or accessible to not-for-profit organisations. The right information, at the right time and in an appropriate format, is not routinely available to program managers. Program management team members who were implementing The Fred Hollows Foundation's Indigenous Australia Program's Trachoma Elimination Program required information about what was working well and what required improvement. This article describes a way of working where the program management team and an external evaluation consultancy collaboratively designed and implemented an utilisation-focused evaluation, informed by a developmental evaluation approach. Additionally, principles of knowledge translation were embedded in this process, thereby supporting the evaluation to translate knowledge into practice. The lessons learned were that combining external information and practice-based knowledge with local knowledge and experience is invaluable; it is useful to incorporate evaluative information from inception and for the duration of a program; a collaborative working relationship can result in higher quality information being produced and it is important to communicate findings to different audiences in different formats.

Pruned, policed and privatised: the knowledge base for children and families social work in England and Wales in 2019

The focus of this chapter is on the knowledge base for social work practice with children and families and its relationship to current social work policy development in England and Wales for the foreseeable future. It is argued that over the last ten years, the nature of the knowledge base for children and family social work, including the way it is generated, accessed and applied, has been increasingly subject to politically initiated change. This article argues that over the previous ten years of ‘austerity’, knowledge for social work has been purposely, and increasingly, ‘weaponised’ as a component of the same political system which introduced and now sustains neo-liberalism and austerity. Deliberate decisions have been taken by government in order to initiate- through a variety of inter-linked and mutually reinforcing strategies- the reframing and repackaging of the role of knowledge in social work practice with children and families. Following a review of current approaches to understanding social work knowledge, the article identifies five key inter-linked projects , which have been established by the Conservative government . It argues that these are intended to deliver a far-reaching political colonisation of the existing knowledge base for social work, which should be resisted by all social work stakeholders.

Forskningscirkler som praksisnær forskning

The article discusses the interrelation of practice-based knowledge and research-based knowledge in research circles where practitioners and researchers interact. It analyses the competence development of the practitioners as part of the interplay. The results show that the practitioners develop and implement practice-based knowledge. The teachers are keen on obtaining research-based knowledge. The practitioners use the research-based knowledge as a conceptual framework and use the theoretical concepts to describe practice. However, only in few situations the practitioners apply research-based theoretical knowledge to explain their actions.