Simple Visual Aid Research Articles

Pelatihan Siswa MI Dalam Menggunakan The Power of Bottle Cap Untuk Operasi Hitung

Class V mathematics learning includes addition and subtraction of integers. Especially for mathematics in elementary schools, mathematics is useful for equipping students with critical and creative attitudes. Mathematical concepts which are always abstract are presented with concrete and then semi-concrete things which then lead to the abstraction. Problems that arise in the integer system for class V students, especially at MI Al Hikmah Janti Jogoroto Jombang, are when students will perform arithmetic operations such as: 4 + (-7); -6 + 9; -3 – (-6); 2 – 7 and so on. The problems that arise in relation to these questions are how to provide explanations and how to instill the understanding of integer operations in a concrete way. The power of bottle cap is a simple visual aid that can be interesting, fun and inspire students in the learning process. The implementation stage of this service is to provide motivation and assistance in demonstrating the media. The result is training on the use of The power of bottle cap as a teaching aid to simplify arithmetic operations on integers. Students can understand the addition of integers quickly. The students were enthusiastic about using The power of bottle cap props and exploring the props with various types of questions.
 

How history trails and set size influence detection of hostile intentions

Previous research suggests people struggle to detect a series of movements that might imply hostile intentions of a vessel, yet this ability is crucial in many real world Naval scenarios. To investigate possible mechanisms for improving performance, participants engaged in a simple, simulated ship movement task. One of two hostile behaviors were present in one of the vessels: Shadowing—mirroring the participant’s vessel’s movements; and Hunting—closing in on the participant’s vessel. In the first experiment, history trails, showing the previous nine positions of each ship connected by a line, were introduced as a potential diagnostic aid. In a second experiment, the number of computer-controlled ships on the screen also varied. Smaller set size improved detection performance. History trails also consistently improved detection performance for both behaviors, although still falling well short of optimal, even with the smaller set size. These findings suggest that working memory plays a critical role in performance on this dynamic decision making task, and the constraints of working memory capacity can be decreased through a simple visual aid and an overall reduction in the number of objects being tracked. The implications for the detection of hostile intentions are discussed.

EP.TU.281Mind the Gap: Improving the Quality of Neurosurgical Discharge Summaries

Abstract Aims A discharge summary is a permanent record of a patient’s hospital visit and the primary means of handover between care providers. Studies show they often lack precision and omit important information. This may compromise quality and continuity of care yet they are frequently written by the most junior clinicians on a ward with little guidance or formal education on how to write one. The aim of this study was to develop some specific guidelines to improve the quality of discharge summaries in a busy neurosurgical unit. Methods A survey was designed to identify the challenges faced by junior medical staff in writing discharge summaries. The essential components of a good neurosurgical discharge summary were identified by group of senior neurosurgeons. Summaries were retrospectively audited against these components. We then designed a simple visual aid and placed it above computer stations in the junior doctors’ offices. Formal departmental teaching session followed. After three months we re-audited the discharge summaries retrospectively to measure any effect of our intervention. Results Half of the neurosurgical team rated summaries as below expectations. Challenges included poor ward round documentation and a lack of clear expectations regarding structure and essential components. After the intervention, ward round documentation and discharge summary quality improved dramatically. Conclusions Although various recommendations about writing good discharge summaries exist, they are generally vague and not specific to neurosurgical practice. The development of a simple specialty specific discharge summary guide can improve discharge summary quality and should be encouraged in all specialties.

Improving quality of care in less than 1 min: a prospective intervention study on postoperative handovers to the ICU/PACU

PurposeStandardisation of the postoperative handover process via checklists, trainings or procedural changes has shown to be effective in reducing information loss. The clinical friction of implementing these measures has received...

How Much Sugar is in My Drink? The Power of Visual Cues.

Despite widespread attempts to educate consumers about the dangers of sugar, as well as the advent of nutritional labeling, individuals still struggle to make educated decisions about the foods they eat, and/or to use the Nutrition Facts Panel. This study examined the effect of visual aids on judgments of sugar quantity in popular drinks, and choices. 261 volunteers at four different locations evaluated 11 common beverages. Key measures were estimates of sugar in the drinks, nutrition knowledge, and desire to consume them. In the experimental condition, participants viewed beverages along with test tubes filled with the total amount of sugar in each drink; the control condition had no sugar display. Both groups were encouraged to examine the Nutrition Facts Panel when making their evaluations. Correlational analyses revealed that consumers exposed to the visual aid overestimated sugar content and the length of time needed to exercise to burn off the calories; they also had lower intentions to consume any of the beverages. Individuals asserting to use the Nutrition Facts Panel (NFP) in general were also less likely to admit using it in this particular study (r = −2, p = 0.001). This study suggests that a simple visual aid intervention affected judgments and choices towards curtailing sugar intake. This has implications for labeling format implementation.

Assessment of Unintentional Duplicate Orders by Emergency Department Clinicians Before and After Implementation of a Visual Aid in the Electronic Health Record Ordering System

Electronic health records allow teams of clinicians to simultaneously care for patients, but an unintended consequence is the potential for duplicate orders of tests and medications. To determine whether a simple visual aid is associated with a reduction in duplicate ordering of tests and medications. This cohort study used an interrupted time series model to analyze 184 694 consecutive patients who visited the emergency department (ED) of an academic hospital with 55 000 ED visits annually. Patient visits occurred 1 year before and after each intervention, as follows: for laboratory orders, from August 13, 2012, to August 13, 2014; for medication orders, from February 3, 2013, to February 3, 2015; and for radiology orders, from December 12, 2013, to December 12, 2015. Data were analyzed from April to September 2019. If an order had previously been placed during the ED visit, a red highlight appeared around the checkbox of that order in the computerized provider order entry system. Number of unintentional duplicate laboratory, medication, and radiology orders. A total of 184 694 patients (mean [SD] age, 51.6 [20.8] years; age range, 0-113.0 years; 99 735 [54.0%] women) who visited the ED were analyzed over the 3 overlapping study periods. After deployment of a noninterruptive nudge in electronic health records, there was an associated 49% decrease in the rate of unintentional duplicate orders for laboratory tests (incidence rate ratio, 0.51; 95% CI, 0.45-0.59), from 4485 to 2731 orders, and an associated 40% decrease in unintentional duplicate orders of radiology tests (incidence rate ratio, 0.60; 95% CI, 0.44-0.82), from 956 to 782 orders. There was not a statistically significant change in unintentional duplicate orders of medications (incidence rate ratio, 1.17; 95% CI, 0.52-2.61), which increased from 225 to 287 orders. The nudge eliminated an estimated 17 936 clicks in our electronic health record. In this interrupted time series cohort study, passive visual cues that provided just-in-time decision support were associated with reductions in unintentional duplicate orders for laboratory and radiology tests but not in unintentional duplicate medication orders.

A novel patient-aimed visual tool to aid in decision making in oncology.

21 Background: With up to 15% of Medicare patients receiving chemotherapy during the last two weeks of life, improving specialist-patient communication is a priority. The Help-Hurt Tool (2015) is a very simple patient-language visual aid for decision-making. It consists of two scales, a blue one labeled “from 1 to 5 how much could this therapy help me” and a red one with the same statement ending in “…hurt me”. The tool is held by the specialist and shown to the patient while arrows are moved to a particular point below each scale. That way, two values are given to the patient for the degree of benefit and of harm respectively expected from an offered treatment. Each number corresponds to an outcome in patient-language (i.e. a ‘help’ score of 2 is “small chance of making me feel better...” and of 4: “big chance of making me live at least a year longer”. A ‘hurt’ score of 2 is “likely non-dangerous side effects” and of 5: “likely life threatening therapy”). Methods: Feasibility study in an oncology clinic at an urban area in New York. Adult cancer patients without dementia whose disease had progressed through a previous treatment and were being offered a new line of therapy were enrolled. Results: Thirty encounters were enrolled. The tool was successfully used in 29 of them (96.7%); one patient was confused and could not follow at all. In more than 70% of encounters patients stated that the tool helped them understand their disease and treatments (‘helpful’: 32.3%, ‘very helpful’: 38.7%), and in 90% of encounters patients stated wanting to be approached with a tool like this again. Importantly in 60% of encounters patients were able to recall either the Help or Hurt score, and in 33.3% of encounters both values were perfectly recalled by patients. In 83.3% of encounters oncologists declared that the tool had a positive effect (‘helpful’ (40%) or ‘very helpful’ (43.3%)) in their interactions with the patient. Conclusions: This first-of-its-kind tool is promising for enhancing communication between specialists and patients at the time a therapy is being offered. Future steps for this tool would include a randomized trial to explore if its use can further affect outcomes like use of chemotherapy in the last two weeks of life, earlier hospice enrollment and quality of life, among others.

Teaching the pharyngeal flap and sphincter pharyngoplasty: The sticky note method

ObjectiveTo demonstrate a cost-effective, quick, and easily reproducible three-dimensional sticky note model to enhance the understanding and conceptualization of the geometry and steps of the pharyngeal flap and sphincter pharyngoplasty. MethodsThe method involves making specified incisions and rearrangements of readily available components, including disposable clear plastic cups, yellow and pink sticky notes, and white paper. Once assembly is complete, further incisions and remodeling are performed to simulate a pharyngeal flap or sphincter pharyngoplasty. ResultsThe cost of the materials to make one model was $0.94. Average construction time was less than 10min. ConclusionThis three-dimensional model is an efficient, interactive, and simple visual aid to teach surgical trainees the geometry and steps of the pharyngeal flap and sphincter pharyngoplasty.

An aspheric intraocular telescope for age-related macular degeneration patients.

We have designed an intraocular telescope for the posterior chamber of the human eye of patients with age related macular degeneration. The basic design is composed of two decentered high optical power lenses ( + 66D and -66D) inducing a 3° prismatic effect to project a magnified central field of view into a healthier location off the central fovea. Aspheric surfaces were used to ensure a compromise between good optical quality and high tolerance to the final axial position of both lenses after surgery. With this particular design, the telescope affords an extended range of depth of focus, high tolerance to different axial lengths of the eye and robustness against typical values of astigmatism and higher order aberrations. The final design has been manufactured in a foldable material and is compact enough to facilitate surgical implantation. This telescope is a simple but promising intraocular visual aid for AMD patients.

Visualising and modelling changes in categorical variables in longitudinal studies

BackgroundGraphical techniques can provide visually compelling insights into complex data patterns. In this paper we present a type of lasagne plot showing changes in categorical variables for participants measured at regular intervals over time and propose statistical models to estimate distributions of marginal and transitional probabilities.MethodsThe plot uses stacked bars to show the distribution of categorical variables at each time interval, with different colours to depict different categories and changes in colours showing trajectories of participants over time. The models are based on nominal logistic regression which is appropriate for both ordinal and nominal categorical variables. To illustrate the plots and models we analyse data on smoking status, body mass index (BMI) and physical activity level from a longitudinal study on women’s health. To estimate marginal distributions we fit survey wave as an explanatory variable whereas for transitional distributions we fit status of participants (e.g. smoking status) at previous surveys.ResultsFor the illustrative data the marginal models showed BMI increasing, physical activity decreasing and smoking decreasing linearly over time at the population level. The plots and transition models showed smoking status to be highly predictable for individuals whereas BMI was only moderately predictable and physical activity was virtually unpredictable. Most of the predictive power was obtained from participant status at the previous survey. Predicted probabilities from the models mostly agreed with observed probabilities indicating adequate goodness-of-fit.ConclusionsThe proposed form of lasagne plot provides a simple visual aid to show transitions in categorical variables over time in longitudinal studies. The suggested models complement the plot and allow formal testing and estimation of marginal and transitional distributions. These simple tools can provide valuable insights into categorical data on individuals measured at regular intervals over time.

A loop diagram pedagogy: seeing the unseen in the forward market efficiency hypothesis

Purpose – In an introductory finance course, business school students often report difficulty in dealing with several variables and regression equations in testing the forward market efficiency and its relevant hypotheses: forward rate unbiasedness, rational expectations, risk neutrality and homogeneous expectations. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Although each of these hypotheses may be relatively easy to understand one by one, it is harder to see their linkages. Thus, the author develops the loop diagram for supplementing traditional instruction methods. Findings – The author finds that a significant majority of students prefer the loop diagram approach. Furthermore, students using loop diagram display more understanding of the forward market efficiency than those with access to a conventional instruction. Originality/value – The loop diagram provides students a simple visual aid for formulating a complete set of regressions and enables them to analyze a richer set of relationships between several hypotheses than what they typically see in finance textbooks.

Chromosomal aberrations as biomarker of exposure to malathion in agriculture workers

To demonstrate a cost-effective, quick, and easily reproducible three-dimensional sticky note model to enhance the understanding and conceptualization of the geometry and steps of the pharyngeal flap and sphincter pharyngoplasty.The method involves making specified incisions and rearrangements of readily available components, including disposable clear plastic cups, yellow and pink sticky notes, and white paper. Once assembly is complete, further incisions and remodeling are performed to simulate a pharyngeal flap or sphincter pharyngoplasty.The cost of the materials to make one model was $0.94. Average construction time was less than 10 min.This three-dimensional model is an efficient, interactive, and simple visual aid to teach surgical trainees the geometry and steps of the pharyngeal flap and sphincter pharyngoplasty.

An endoscopist-blinded, randomized, controlled trial of a simple visual aid to improve bowel preparation for screening colonoscopy

The effect of patient education on bowel preparation for colonoscopy has not been well studied. An improvement in patient understanding of the rationale for bowel preparation before colonoscopy might enhance adherence to the prescribed bowel regimen and improve bowel preparation quality. To measure the effect of a simple educational intervention on the quality of bowel preparation during colonoscopy. Prospective, single-center, endoscopist-blinded, randomized, controlled trial. Tertiary-care center. This study involved outpatients directly referred for screening colonoscopy. Inclusion of a visual aid depicting both clean and dirty colons in addition to standard written colonoscopy instructions. The primary outcome was the quality of the bowel preparation according to the Boston Bowel Preparation Scale (BBPS). Secondary outcomes included the need for repeat colonoscopy because of inadequate bowel preparation, insertion and withdrawal time, polyps detected, and patient tolerance of bowel preparation and colonoscopy. We analyzed 492 patients given a visual aid and 477 controls. The percentage of colonoscopies with a BBPS score≥5 was similar in both groups (91% visual aid vs 89% control, P=.43). The odds ratio for having a BBPS≥5 in the visual aid group was 1.24 (95% CI, 0.83-1.87) compared with controls. Other secondary outcomes were similar between groups. Single-center study. A simple card with photographs and text explaining the rationale for bowel preparation did not change the quality of bowel preparation in patients directly referred for screening colonoscopy. Future educational studies may need to include more interactive or intensive methods. ( NCT00643682.).

Expected Utility Illustrated: A Graphical Analysis of Gambles with More than Two Possible Outcomes

The author presents a simple geometric method to graphically illustrate the expected utility from a gamble with more than two possible outcomes. This geometric result gives economics students a simple visual aid for studying expected utility theory and enables them to analyze a richer set of decision problems under uncertainty compared to what they typically see in an intermediate-level microeconomics course.

Stroke Quick Score: a visual aid in scoring neurologic deficits for acute stroke with National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale

The 15-item National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale is depicted here as a single diagram with major categories of deficits placed into 3 separate functional groups with 7 points assigned to each, in addition to 4 points for motor deficits in each of 4 extremities. This simple composite visual aid, known as the Stroke Quick Score, may help in training stroke team members in the use of the National Institutes of Health Stroke Scale.

A Single-Blinded, Randomized, Controlled Trial Using a Simple Visual Aid to Improve Bowel Preparation Prior to Screening Colonoscopy

A Single-Blinded, Randomized, Controlled Trial Using a Simple Visual Aid to Improve Bowel Preparation Prior to Screening Colonoscopy

Technical Notes and Tips: Describing the ‘Dog Ear’ – A Novel Method

An elliptical skin excision can cause corners of redundant skin to rise at the apices known as ‘standing cones’ or ‘dog ears’. We describe a simple visual aid to illustrate this, which we find effective in our discussion of complications when taking pre-operative consent. Abduction of the thumb using the gap between the index finger and the thumb to represent the outline of the ellipse corner, followed by adduction as the excision margins close, raises the skin of the dorsum of the first web space like a dog ear, which is presented to the patient (Figs 1 and ​and22). Figure 1 Outline of hand simulating wound to be closed. Figure 2 The wound is closed and the ‘dog ear’ appears.

Use of a novel visual analogy to facilitate patient understanding of the goals of hormonal therapy

Objective: Recent media coverage has heightened patient’s fears of hormone-based therapy. The goal of this study was to create a simple visual aid to improve patient adherence through education of treatment goals as well as possible side effects.

The depression severity assessment dilemma.

MODERN PEDIATRIC PSYCHOPHARMACOLOGY faces a number of theoretical and practical challenges. Controversy about overor underdiagnosing conditions, difficulty demonstrating medication efficacy for antidepressants, and tension between categorical and dimensional approaches are all part of the current debate. Discussion of these issues can be difficult as researchers, clinicians, and the lay public often hold strong opinions based on personal experience or belief. We have used a visual aid to elucidate how and why these issues have surfaced at this time in pediatric psychopharmacology. It is simple enough for lay persons but also capable of teaching more sophisticated audiences about these important issues. To illustrate the usefulness of this simple visual aid, we review diagnostic issues common in clinical treatment trials in childhood depression. Figure 1 includes a small curve representing the category of children with significant depressive symptoms that is pharmacologically responsive (categorical approach). Diagnostic convention suggests “depression is depression,’’ but there are probably types of major depressive disorder that are more pharmacologically responsive than others. It is not just a matter of severity but rather a matter of the kind and characteristics of the specific depressive symptoms. Clearly, the more severe the depressive disorder the more we might think about pharmacologic responsiveness, but certain other features of depression such as endogenous or melancholic symptoms are also more clearly associated with pharmacologic responsiveness. The distribution of this curve suggests there is a range of severity within this group. Figure 2 includes a larger curve as well as the smaller curve from Fig. 1. The larger curve represents the distribution of depressive symptoms in all children (dimensional approach). The right tail of the small curve and the right tail of the large curve overlap, suggesting some congruence between categorical and dimensional definitions of depression at the more severe end of the distributions. Figure 3 includes the line for the diagnostic threshold (cases are to the right of the line) that existed 20–25 years ago when very little depression was diagnosed and treated with medication. During this era the field was more psychodynamically focused, and experts thought that depression, as it occurs in adults, could not occur in children because they were developmentally too immature to have such depressions. Figure 4 describes the diagnostic threshold when investigators first began to ask children about the presence of depressive symptoms. Puig-Antich and colleagues were the first to document that if you ask children about their depressive symptoms they will tell you about them. Once children were diagnosed with depression, it was only a matter of time before they were treated with medication similar to adults. Early clinical reports suggested that children’s depressive symptoms could improve on medication. With the success of this strategy (i.e., good assessment and treatment of depressive symptoms), it was natural that clinicians would try to extend the benefit of depression treatment to all children who could potentially benefit from medication. In an effort to help those children with significant but milder depression (the small curve in Fig. 1), clinicians did more exhaustive evaluations and unwittingly moved the diagnostic threshold fur-

An aspect of health education for parents with special needs—a case report

SUMMARYThis project came about as a result of my work with a family with learning difficulties. The solution to some of their problems and special needs was a simple but effective visual aid. The aid was used to monitor the feeding of a premature, ‘small for dates’ baby following discharge from hospital. The mother was unable to read, write, tell the time, or count the number of ounces taken over a 24 hour period. The baby was failing to gain weight and it was necessary to teach the mother the feeding requirements and to determine how much milk was being taken at each feed. Liaison between the many professionals was assisted by the introduction of a communication card. The aid has been adopted to promote health education in four district health authorities.