Themes Of Skills Research Articles

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health and Well‐Being: Implications for a Cognitive Behavioural Therapy Framework

ObjectiveIt has been acknowledged that the mental health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people has been “bedeviled” by the inappropriate application of non‐Indigenous models of mental health. To enhance Indigenous health and well‐being it is necessary for non‐Indigenous practitioners to find a culturally safe way to enter the negotiated space of cross‐cultural mental health. This will be facilitated through understanding both the points of similarity and divergence in perspectives of mental health across cultures. The current study aimed to explore urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander's understandings of mental health using a social emotional well‐being and cognitive behavioural framework.MethodA qualitative research project was conducted with a sample of 19 Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Data were collected via individual semi‐structured interviews and focus groups. Thematic analysis was conducted to identify themes within the data.ResultsQualitative: Four themes emerged as reflecting health and well‐being—coping skills, knowledge, social support, and connectedness. The theme of connectedness to country, family and kinship, cultural knowledge, and social networks emerged as reflecting a unique contribution to Indigenous health and well‐being. However, the themes of coping skills, knowledge, and social support shared cross‐cultural meaning. In particular, coping skills identified in the behavioural, emotional, and cognitive domains shared many cross‐culturally applicable avenues for intervention.ConclusionsTherapeutic interventions in these domains are already well established within cognitive behaviour therapies. Cross‐cultural understandings within these themes offer clinicians a culturally safe avenue for supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health and well‐being.

Learning Together 1: an educational model for training GPs, paediatricians: initial findings

Learning Together is primarily an educational intervention, where paediatric registrars [SpRs] and General Practice (GP) registrars [GPSTs] see children together in a primary care setting. Over a six month period in 2013/2014, 44 learning pairs were set up mainly in North East and Central London. Proof of concept for the model at scale was achieved. Reported learning demonstrated: clinical learning themes of new knowledge, skill and communication skills; and collaborative themes of ongoing collaboration, satisfaction with team working and change in attitudes. These themes were identified in both sets of trainees. The self-reported learning is backed up by the results of a retrospective notes review of four common conditions based on NICE guidelines; constipation, asthma, feverish illness and eczema (CAFE). Guidance adherence improved from 57% before the intervention in solo GP training consultations to 72% during the joint clinic intervention (p < 0.01). After the intervention when the GP registrars returned to normal consultations, guidance adherence was 77% compared to before the intervention (p < 0.01). In addition 99% of the parents, who handed in feedback forms or took part in interviews, reported a good experience of care, and 87% reported increased confidence to manage their children’s health following the consultation. A second, linked article examines the cost utility of Learning Together in its South London extension.

A Qualitative Study to Identify Skills and Competency Required for Hospital Managers.

IntroductionHospital managers aim to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of their institutions through leadership and guidance of medical personnel. Fulfilling these objectives requires a holistic approach to both the management of people and institutional prioritization. The aim of this study was to identify the skills and competencies that hospital managers must demonstrate in order to achieve their objectives.MethodsIn 2015, a regional, multi-center qualitative study was undertaken in Shiraz, Iran. Interviews and focus group discussions were conducted with university hospital managers, senior managers, faculty members, and post-graduate students, and the results were analyzed using the content analysis method by MAXQDA software.ResultsEight key skill themes (communication, experience, appreciation of institution logistics/infrastructure, management skills, motivation, systematic problem solving, ethics, and financial/legal awareness) were identified among the hospital managers. The common challenges that face hospital institutions include problems with hierarchical and organizational structure, excessive rules and regulations, lack of resources, poor post-graduate education, and overall management. Recurring themes with respect to how these could be addressed included changing the culture and belief structure of the hospital, restructuring the organizational hierarchy, and empowering the people.ConclusionIn our cohort, practical skills, such as communication and experience, were considered more important than theoretical skills for the effective management and administration of hospitals. Therefore, we suggest that practical, skill-based training should be emphasized for students of these disciplines so they will be better suited to deal with real world challenges. Further organizational improvements also can be attained by the active and constructive involvement of senior university managers.

Students4WebES Edited Project Report

Report on the Students for Webinar and Employability Skills (Students4webES) project run at Abingdon and Witney College between October 2012 and April 2013. The project was funded by the Jisc Advance FE and Skills Programme and aimed to develop employability skills for Level 3 FE students in relation to using video conferencing and webinars and assess whether this was a beneficial digital employability skill. Students were trained to use video conferencing and to run a webinar, with the aim of setting up and running between 7-15 short webinars with employers around the theme of ‘What does an employer want from an employee?” Additionally the project aimed to produce:A student centred guide to running a webinarRecordings of employer webinars (with full consent from employer) for use in future tutorials related to employabilityA student led conference, supported by the JISC RSC SE, on the theme of employability skills using video conferencing and webinars.

Skills for nursing practice: Development of clinical skills in pre-registration nurse education

Rapid changes during the past two decades have seen a growing challenge to prepare newly qualified nurses who are clinically competent and confident to meet the demands of contemporary healthcare. Recent publications emphasise the need to prioritise clinical skills in nurse education (DH 2012a, Francis, 2012). This discussion reports on a project scoping the clinical skills required within pre-registration nursing curricula and considers how this has influenced curriculum development at one Higher Education Institution in the UK.This paper reports on the project analysis of nursing and healthcare policy, identifying six core themes of skills relevant for nursing practice. Furthermore it explores the findings of a series of focus groups with nursing practitioners and managers identifying priorities for clinical skills in the pre-registration curriculum. These highlighted a broad range of skills required of newly qualified practitioners, which pose a challenge for integration within nurse education. How this challenge has been addressed through the incorporation of these skills themes throughout a new pre-registration curriculum is also examined.

What Parents Say About Their Child’s Surgeon

Reviews of patient and caregiver experience with health practitioners are increasingly important to consumers. Understanding physician qualities valued by patients and their families may facilitate more effective care and communication. To identify physician qualities and care dimensions valued by parents during their child's outpatient surgical care encounter. Mixed-methods analysis of comments from patient-satisfaction surveys. Outpatient pediatric otolaryngology and surgical specialty clinics in an urban tertiary care center. Parents of children seen in pediatric otolaryngology and surgical specialty clinics who completed the physician section of the patient satisfaction survey. Free-text comments written in the physician section of the survey. A total of 195 survey comments from visits to 18 surgical specialty clinics were analyzed; 64 comments (33%) were global in nature, of which 58 (90%) were positive; 25 of 195 comments (13%) discussed recommendation of care. Of the 131 comments (67%) with specific content, 79 (60%) were positive. Major themes were physician interpersonal style (n = 78, 45%), physician technical skills/knowledge/preparation (n = 82, 47%), and systems issues (n = 14, 8%). The most commonly noted interpersonal subthemes were inclusion/interaction with the child (20%) and empathy/concern for the patient's needs (29%). The most common skills themes related to whether the physician answered questions (16%) or explained treatment (23%). The most common negative subgroup was inadequate explanation of treatment (18%). The majority of comments related to systems were negative (13 of 14, 93%). Parents highly value physician interpersonal style and visit-specific skills (involving the child in discussion; showing empathy/concern for the patient/family; answering questions; explaining treatment). While most comments about surgeons were affirmative, clinical systems were more often negatively perceived. Attention to parent-reported experiences may help physicians improve communication and overall effectiveness of care provided.

Dating and Relationship Psychoeducational Group for Veterans with Spinal Cord Injury/Dysfunction: A Historical Account of an Initial Clinical Course

Numerous studies have examined sexual functioning among persons with paraplegia and quadriplegia. None have detailed a group skill model teaching social skills in the areas of dating and intimate relationships and little in the literature has focused on this important aspect of sexuality. A psychoeducational group for individuals with spinal cord injury/dysfunction (SCI/D) was developed to address social, dating, and relationship skills, as well as improve self-efficacy, confidence and quality of life. Seven male veterans with SCI/D, age 32–51, participated in a 12-week psychoeducational social skills training group that met weekly for 60 min. Sessions were structured to focus on one theme or set of skills, and homework was given at the end of each session. Participants answered pre and post questionnaires about their general well-being, self-esteem, depression, anxiety, and social skills in general and specific to dating and relationships. A 12-week follow-up session reviewed the constructs. All participants reported positive experiences in the group and improvement in targeted areas. A detailed outline of session topics, exercises and handouts are presented as well as pre and post feedback on functioning, knowledge and attitudes among group participants.

Cookie cutter cooperatives in the KwaZulu-Natal school nutrition programme

This article examines an initiative by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government to increase the income opportunities emerging from the school feeding programme. Since the inception of the programme, small medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) have been enlisted to provide schools with ingredients. However, in 2006 the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government replaced some SMMEs with women's cooperatives. By 2009, 12 of the original 42 cooperatives had collapsed, and some schools serviced by the cooperatives complained of unreliable delivery of ingredients. This article examines the interface between policy and implementation through a case study of four cooperatives in one district. Our data suggest that some cooperatives struggled to take root as a result of a variety of factors which we discuss under the themes of viability, membership and skills. The top-down creation of these cooperatives according to inflexible guidelines also resulted in significant problems.

Young children's divergent movement ability: a study revisited

The effectiveness of Mosston and Ashworth's [2008. Teaching physical education (1st online ed.). Retrieved September 10, 2010, from http://www.spectrumofteachingstyles.org/ebook] divergent discovery style of teaching on eight-year-old children's critical thinking was explored in this study. The participants (N = 58) were randomly assigned to a treatment group (divergent discovery, n = 29) or a control group (no instruction, n = 29). The same skill themes and movement concepts were taught to the learners in both groups (20 45-minute lessons). Three fundamental movement tasks were employed to measure divergent movement ability (DMA), an aspect of critical thinking, prior to and after instructional intervention. A 2 × 2 (group × gender) analysis of variance on the post-test scores showed that there was a significant difference between the two groups favouring the treatment group (p < 0.041) and no significant gender effect or interactive effect. A separate 2 × 2 (group × test) repeated measures analysis of variance showed a significant improvement of DMA for the treatment group (p < 0.001). The study supports certain tenets set forth by Mosston and Ashworth (2008) for the divergent discovery style.

Disease‐specific knowledge and clinical skills required by community‐based physiotherapists to co‐manage patients with rheumatoid arthritis

While strong evidence supports the role of physiotherapy in the co-management of patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA), it remains unclear what constitutes the essential disease-specific knowledge and clinical skills required by community-based physiotherapists to effectively and safely deliver recommended care. This study aimed to identify essential disease-specific knowledge and skills, link these with evidence from clinical guidelines, and broadly determine the professional development (PD) needs and confidence related to the management of RA among physiotherapists. An international Delphi panel of rheumatologists, physiotherapists, and consumers (n = 27) identified essential disease-specific knowledge and clinical skills over 3 rounds. Physiotherapy-relevant recommendations from high-quality, contemporary clinical guidelines were linked to Delphi responses. Finally, an e-survey of PD needs among registered physiotherapists (n = 285) was undertaken. Overarching themes identified by the Delphi panel across the RA disease stages included the need for excellent communication, the importance of a multidisciplinary team and early referral, adoption of chronic disease management principles, and disease monitoring. Of the essential Delphi themes, 86.7% aligned with clinical guideline recommendations. Up to 77.5% of physiotherapists reported not being confident in managing patients with RA. Across the range of essential knowledge and skills themes, 45.1-93.5% and 71.1-95.2% of respondents, respectively, indicated they would benefit from or definitely need PD. To effectively manage RA, community-based physiotherapists require excellent communication skills and disease-specific knowledge, including understanding the role of the multidisciplinary team and the principles of early referral, chronic disease management, and monitoring. Physiotherapists identified a need for PD to develop these skills.

The Department of Veterans Health Administration Office of Nursing Service, “Transforming Nursing in a National Healthcare System

The Department of Veterans Health Administration Office of Nursing Service has embarked on a multiyear transformational process, an example of which is the development of an organization-wide nursing handbook. The development of this handbook offered the opportunity to improve collaboration, redefine expectations and behavior, as well as prepare for the future of Nursing within the Veterans Health Administration. The lessons learned from this process have revolved around the themes of leadership skills for managing high-level change often in a virtual environment; constant collaboration; that the practice of nursing will continue to evolve on the basis of new evidence, technology, customer expectations, and resources; and that the process to accomplish this goal is powerful.

Unravelling the complexity of collective mental models: A method for developing and analysing scenarios in multi-organisational contexts

In multi-organisational contexts, scenario building has been used to engage stakeholders in a critical discussion on issues of mutual importance, and to gain their support with regards to possible future responses. A review of existing literature suggests that much has been written regarding the process of scenario development and the benefits of the process, but the detailed analysis of scenario building outcomes, which encompass a large number of issues and their complex interconnections, has not been made explicit for studying and enhancing understanding of a complex societal problem. This paper presents a systematic method for analysing such complex outcomes in order to facilitate reflective thinking on important issues within the wider context for policy development. The method was employed in a series of participative scenario development workshops, which yielded several causal maps around the theme of construction industry skills. A collective map merging the individual subject-specific causal maps was created to help provide a more holistic overview of the pertinent issues surrounding the construction skills debate. The analysis of this collective map promotes a better understanding of the issue in the wider context, the consequence of possible future events and actions, and of the pre-requisition required for certain events/desired outcomes to take place. The main benefit that could be derived from the method is the opportunity to help facilitate and encourage debate and discussion amongst key stakeholders regarding scenario theme, in this case skills improvement within construction. Due to its flexibility and adaptability, the method could potentially be applied to other areas requiring longer range planning and which contain multiple stakeholder perspectives.

Delivering London 2012: workforce diversity and skills

Workforce diversity was a significant feature of London's bid to host the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games. This paper describes how, based on a commitment to inspire change, the Olympic Delivery Authority incorporated and delivered priority themes of equality, inclusion, employment and skills. It explains how contractors increased the diversity of their workforces against industry norms and improved recruitment practices to become more inclusive. By focusing on employing and training people who were local, previously unemployed or traditionally under-represented in construction, contractors were able to have a positive impact on the economic and social regeneration of east London.

Developing a contemporary conceptualization for consumer sciences in higher education in the UK

AbstractConsumer sciences and consumer studies as a recent interdisciplinary degree area in higher education in the UK has had limited published research either on the subject heritage or its disciplinary identity. Since the major subject review was undertaken by the Council for National Academic Awards 17 years ago, the research investigation aimed to study how consumer studies and home economics had moved to consumer sciences and consumer studies. The research has therefore involved a survey over a 15‐year period of development and changes of institutions and degrees and a content analysis of programme outlines and national benchmarking to reveal changing trends in how the subject has been conceptualized. The comparison used data from 1992, 1999, 2003 and 2007 to map degree programme and institutional changes. External and internal political and economic factors influenced subject growth, decline and development. It was found that the number of degree programme titles had remained relatively stable, with still a balance between BA and BSc degrees but that this disguised many changes in institutions and degree titles.The content analysis of trends was undertaken, comparing 1992, 1999, 2003 and 2007. Subject benchmarking statements introduced in 2002, currently being revised in 2009, were compared with programme content themes in 2003 and 2007. The content analysis showed that the overall approach or principles, areas of study, context, perspectives and processes for degree programmes at the undergraduate level had developed noticeably over the last 15 years and had been clarified by benchmarking guidelines. Themes of behavioural change, consumer ethics, consumer services, skills and education, sustainability and well‐being had developed with applied contexts depending on programme orientation.A model has been proposed to illustrate the current conceptualization of the subject in the UK at degree level, and Chenoweth's definition of consumer sciences and consumer studies has been redefined for the UK. It is recommended that there should be more theoretical reflection on the interpretation and development of the subject.

No Child Misunderstood: Enhancing Early Childhood Teachers’ Multicultural Responsiveness to the Social Competence of Diverse Children

As a result of rapid demographic changes in our society, more children from diverse racial/cultural backgrounds join our early childhood classrooms. The majority of early childhood teachers, on the other hand, are middle-class and of European-decent. This paper provides early childhood teachers with both theoretical and practical understandings about multicultural responsiveness, in order to understand and promote social competence of young children from diverse backgrounds. To accomplish this end, readers will be guided to consider actual classroom based examples and questions throughout the paper. First, the concept of social competence will be revisited from sociocultural perspectives. Next, we discuss advocacy for social competence of diverse children through the main themes of multicultural awareness, knowledge, and skills. Finally, we recommend several strategies to support teachers’ professional growth and development for multicultural responsiveness.

Style, Skill and Modernity in the Zisha Pottery of China

In this article I present a reflection on the themes of personal style, skill and tradition, in a discussion of the making of zisha pottery—also known as Yixing pottery—produced in the Jiangsu Province of China. I ask why the notion of style, or fengge, is so important for artisans in the contemporary context. I show that it is not a contradiction for artisans to speak both of precision in techniques and of development of personal style. I also discuss how some innovations in techniques change the relation between skill and style, and argue that discourses on style in zisha ceramics must be understood in the context of competition in an economy of fame, and of wider discourses about the disappearance of “traditional” techniques.

Preparing Medical Students for Clerkships: A Descriptive Analysis of Transition Courses

Students have reported several challenging aspects of the transition to clerkships, such as applying clinical knowledge, learning experientially, using clinical skills, adjusting to clinical settings, and understanding roles. In an effort to address some of these challenges, a number of medical schools have added transition courses to their curricula, but little information about these courses has been published. The authors draw on findings from a study of the design and content of 30 transition courses offered in U.S. medical schools, to examine various approaches and provide a framework to guide the design of transition courses. Most courses (83%) were between one day and one week long. The authors identified three primary course themes: presentation of new information and skills, review and application of content covered in the preclerkship curriculum, and student well-being. All courses presented new information and skills, and more than half of the courses (53%) addressed all three themes. The most common curricular topics were technical/procedural skills, safety precautions, orientation to clinical settings, review of clinical skills, and stress management. Hands-on experience was the most frequently used instructional approach. Few courses had explicit goals and objectives, and evaluation of students was rare. Transition courses can address some of the needs and challenges associated with early clerkship experiences. These courses should explicitly target areas of need that are described in the literature as well as those identified within one's own institution. They should include clear objectives, learning activities tailored to the areas of need and objectives, and student and course evaluations.

Setting Standards in a Professional Higher Education Course: Defining the Concept of the Minimally Competent Student in Performance‐Based Assessment at the Level of Graduation from Medical School

AbstractIn this era of audit and accountability, there is an imperative to demonstrate and document that appropriate standards have been set in professional education. In medicine, stakeholders want assurance that graduates have attained the required level of competence to be awarded a provisional licence to practise.To investigate the results of a previous study, which revealed that different medical schools set significantly different pass marks for graduating examinations, we examined the descriptors for the minimally competent or ‘borderline’ students which the participants had produced. In this paper we analyse the differences in these descriptors.There was good agreement in the areas of knowledge and clinical skills proficiencies but much less consistency in the use of descriptors covering the themes of communication skills, interpersonal skills and professionalism. It may be that clinicians are not used to thinking about the ‘borderline’ area of clinical competence and have difficulty in translating this nebulous concept into a numerical score.

Dental Clinical Teaching: Perceptions of Students and Teachers

The objective of this study was to explore perceptions of dental student clinicians and clinical teachers about dental clinical teaching to provide primary data for dental researchers and educators. Student focus group data provided background for development of a questionnaire that explored three themes related to clinical teaching. Twenty-one teachers and forty-five student respondents completed the twenty-five-item questionnaire in 2003. In the theme of the teacher/student relationship, no statistically significant differences were seen between teacher and student group perceptions. In the theme of educational theory applied in dental clinical teaching, a statistically significant difference was seen between teacher and student groups in the value of preclinical instruction in senior clinical years and in the value of a clinical log book. In the theme of skills required for clinical dental practice, a statistically significant difference was seen between teacher and student groups in the value of a critical appreciation of evidence-based practice as one of the skills. The study overall indicates that the dental clinical learning environment supports close perceptual conformity between students and clinical teachers in regard to what each group considers to be "good practice" in clinical teaching. The findings of this study indicate that some techniques that have been advocated to enhance clinical learning, such as evidence-based teaching methods, require further investigation.

John’s story: Teaching Victorian Certificate of Education Outdoor and Environmental Studies

In 1998, the Board of Studies in Victoria, Australia announced the introduction of a new study called Outdoor and Environmental Education (OES). OES was to begin in 2001 and would replace the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) study Outdoor Education (OE) and Environmental Studies (ES). Since the inception of OES, there has been much debate in relevant education journals regarding the change, and in particular there have been frustrations shown by teachers in having to teach a more academically rigorous subject. My Masters degree research paper sought to answer two questions, firstly: What are some of the educational themes in the VCE study OES? And how do these themes differ from the old VCE study OE? Secondly, what types of pedagogical strategies are useful in delivering the VCE study OES? I employed narrative methodology in an attempt to provide meaning to my research questions and I have constructed a story based on a the personal experience of a teacher who has taught both the VCE OE and OES studies. John Geary, who teaches at Bendigo Senior Secondary College, agreed to be interviewed, and agreed to have his story used as part of my research. Furthermore, ‘John’s Story’ was to be (and has been) published in outdoor education journals in order for other teachers to understand some of the educational themes and pedagogical strategies of the study OES. The key findings of my research showed that the VCE study OES has shifted away from the VCE OE studys themes of risk, adventure, outdoor living and travel skills to educational themes of human nature relationships and their impact on nature. It also recommended three pedagogical strategies. These included, ensuring that classroom time before practicals are more academically focused, ensuring that practicals are lead by the teacher and not necessarily a tool for students to develop leadership skills, and the need to include a journal and journal writing on practical trips.