Skilled Women Research Articles

Women's Health and Contraceptive Practices of Army Physician Assistants.

Women's roles continue to increase within the U.S. Army. Medical readiness contributes to individual readiness and supports the Army's warfighting mission. Army physician assistants are often the first-line medical providers for Soldiers and their practices, including women's health practices, should support optimal Soldier readiness. Our objective was to survey Army physician assistants' knowledge and practices related to female reproductive health care. This was a descriptive survey-based study of Army physician assistants conducted from February to June 2017. This study was an addendum to a prior study examining women's health care knowledge and skills among physicians serving as general medical officers. Surveys were distributed via e-mail. The survey was anonymous and included 22 questions describing provider knowledge and practices in the areas of family planning and women's health screening. Out of 198 distributed surveys, 100 (51%) were returned. Most respondents were male (67%), 75% practiced in a troop-based medical clinic, and 73% had current or past practice experience in a military operational/deployed environment. The majority of respondents indicated that they provide family planning services to their reproductive-aged female patients. Combined hormonal contraceptives and depo-medroxyprogesterone had the highest percentage of respondents who reported comfort discussing the method. The highest percentage of respondents indicated discomfort discussing the copper intrauterine device and emergency contraception. Only 10, 17, and 33% of respondents were trained to place the copper intrauterine device, levonorgestrel intrauterine device, and etonogestrel contraceptive implant, respectively. Most respondents offered cervical cancer (74%) and chlamydia (91%) screening to their female patients. Most study respondents practiced in a troop-based primary care clinic and most reported experience as a deployed health care providers. Although most respondents indicated comfort discussing combined hormonal contraception and depo medroxyprogesterone, fewer reported comfort discussing long-acting reversible and emergency contraception. Only a minority of respondents reported prior training to place the copper or levonorgestrel intrauterine device or contraceptive implant and, of those trained, most had not placed a device for which they were trained in the preceding 12 months. Chlamydia and cervical cancer screening were offered by most respondents but was not universally offered among the respondents. These findings are consistent with our previous study evaluating women's health knowledge among general medical officers and highlight a need for improved training in the field of women's health for physician assistants serving the active duty population.

ДЖЕРЕЛА ОСОБОВОГО ПОХОДЖЕННЯ У ВИСВІТЛЕННІ СФЕРИ ПОВСЯКДЕННОСТІ ТА ЕМОЦІЙНИХ ПЕРЕЖИВАНЬ ЖІНОК ПІД ЧАС ПЕРШОЇ СВІТОВОЇ ВІЙНИ

The letters of the period of the Great War have remained a significant source of Ukrainian history of the 20 th century. The World War I posed new challenges, aggravated the old problems, and prominently identified the disadvantages of social life. The epistolary significance of the mentioned period is found in the author’s specific vision of the world and reflection of the direct perception of the historical events and phenomena. Tending to understand the significance of the Great War, as contemporaries called it, together with the desire to leave reliable evidence of the tragic events to future generations, has encouraged scholars to study memories, letters, diaries, and arrange the documents of that time. O. Melnychuk, L. Varavko, Y. Zin'ko, O. Kravchuk, V. Kosakivsky, and V. Rud’ addressed this extremely important topic in their researches. The works of the authors mentioned above relate precisely to the male vision of the Great War, which gives researchers the opportunity to recreate the features of the era more faithfully and fully through the reflection of the details of everyday life and the realities of masculine lifestyle, to show and feel the way of life of the male society under conditions of war to a certain extent. The presented study deals with unpublished women's letters written to the centennial Roman Sushko. They testify the life of civilian women and their engagement in fighting had become a severe test not only for the whole society, but also for the weaker sex. Women viewed their participation in military operations as a patriotic duty and expansion of women's skills and practices, rather than as a violation of gender roles. Shifting of the emphasis on the history of women's war experience, studying of women's models of memory of the war, and state policy regarding the women's front-line past, the analysis of the features of women's military psychology and women's behavior in sources of personal origin has appeared to be the richest material giving a more complete picture of life and survival within the frames of evaluation and interpretation of participants of the turbulent years of 1914-1918.

Expanding Efficiency: Women's Communication in Engineering

ABSTRACTAs engineering fields strive to be more inclusive of women, focusing on perceptions of women's work is vital to understanding how women can succeed and the limitations they may face. One area in need of more attention is the connection between communication and women's experiences in engineering. This article examines the gendered nature of writing labor in engineering, focusing on case studies of three women who were able to use writing effectively, yet how communication emerged as a gendered form of labor subject to gendered perceptions. While these women's communication skills led to professional success, their association with writing echoes a historical division, where writing is viewed as less valuable than technical knowledge. This division has the potential to disadvantage women who are asked to take on more writing-related tasks. In addition, their writing and communication are subject to gendered perceptions of being ‘chatty’ or blunt rather than effective or efficient. Articulating these perceptions and attitudes can lead to a breakdown of the binary between writing and technical labor as well as appropriately valuing the contributions women make in engineering through writing.

Perspectives of female medical faculty in Ethiopia on a leadership fellowship program.

ObjectivesThis study aims to evaluate a leadership fellowship program through perspectives of Ethiopian women medical faculty participants. MethodsAn intensive two-week leadership development fellowship was designed for women faculty from Ethiopian medical schools and conducted from 2011-2015 at the University of Wisconsin-School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, Wisconsin. Nine Ethiopian women working in early- or mid-level academic positions were selected. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the fellows. Transcripts were reviewed through qualitative analysis to assess the perceived impact of the training on their careers. Three male academic leaders were interviewed to solicit feedback on the program. ResultsEight of 9 fellows were interviewed. Themes describing the benefits of the fellowship included: increased awareness of gender inequities; enhanced motivation for career advancement; increased personal confidence; and improved leadership skills. Fellows provided suggestions for future training and scaling up efforts to promote gender equity. Male leaders described the benefits of men promoting gender equity within academic health centers. ConclusionsThis paper provides evidence that targeted brief training programs can enhance women’s motivation and skills to become effective leaders in academic medicine in Ethiopia. Promoting gender equity in academic medicine is an important strategy to address health workforce shortages and to provide professional role models for female students in the health professions.

How Does Couple and Relationship Education Affect Relationship Hope? An Intervention‐Process Study with Lower Income Couples

ObjectiveTo explore whether changes in positive interaction skills as a result of participation in couple and relationship education (CRE) are associated with changes in relationship hope.BackgroundRecent CRE work has focused more on its effectiveness for disadvantaged couples, with the early evidence mixed. Increasing the effectiveness of CRE for disadvantaged couples will require more evidence of how it works, not just whether it works.MethodIn this study, 182 lower income couples participated in a 30‐hour psychoeducational intervention, Family Expectations (FE), in Oklahoma City. Participants completed measures of positive interaction skills and relationship hope, a seldom‐studied construct in CRE research, before and shortly after the program.ResultsAt pretest, there was significant variation in relationship hope among FE participants. Latent growth curve models revealed changes in positive interaction skills were associated with higher levels of partners' relationship hope at the end of the program, although the effect of men's skills changes on their partners' hope was 3 to 4 times stronger than for women's skills changes on their partners' hope. Additional latent growth curve models found that nearly 70% of participants reported positive changes in skills and that participants entering the program with the lowest levels of hope experienced the greatest changes in positive interaction skills.ConclusionWe conclude that relationship hope is a legitimate target outcome in CRE and is influenced by improvement in positive interaction skills, consistent with social learning theory. Also, those entering CRE with low levels of hope improve interaction skills most, and men's growth produces larger gains for the couple relationship than women's growth.ImplicationsDistressed individuals and couples should be particularly encouraged to attend CRE programs, and program developers should make sure that their curricula and pedagogic processes are well aligned with men's interests and learning styles.

Scientific Skills and Concept Learning by Rural Women for Personal and National Development

This paper examined scientific skills and concept learning by rural women for personal and national development. The research design employed was a quasi-experimental one-group pretest and posttest design. A non-formal science programme package to enhance and empower the rural women's knowledge and skills in their daily activities (nutrition, sanitation, health, agriculture, and water use) was designed and validated by three experts from the Science Education Department of a University. The reliability coefficient was 0.80 and the programme was taught for six weeks to the rural women in order to determine its effect on the rural women's skills and knowledge in the five variables considered. The results showed that there was appreciable improvement on their skills and knowledge in health, water use, nutrition, sanitation, and agriculture. This supports the study of Nnachi (2008) who was of the opinion that training and practice increased rural women's skills. Based on these findings the researchers recommended that rural women should be empowered by science education for maximum productivity, self and national development.

The effects of women's education on maternal health: Evidence from Peru

This article examines the causal effect of women's education on maternal health in Peru, a country where maternal mortality has declined by more than 70% in the last two and a half decades. To isolate the effects of education, the author employs an instrumented regression discontinuity that takes advantage of an exogenous source of variation—an amendment to compulsory schooling laws in 1993. The results indicate that extending women's years of schooling reduced the probability of several maternal health complications at last pregnancy/birth, sometimes by as much as 29%. Underlying these effects, increasing women's education is found to decrease the probability of short birth intervals and unwanted pregnancies (which may result in unsafe abortions) and to increase antenatal healthcare use, potentially owing to changes in women's cognitive skills, economic resources, and autonomy. These findings underscore the influential role of education in reducing maternal morbidity and highlight the contributions of women's education to population health and health transitions.

The Sorting of Female Careers after First Birth: A Competing Risks Analysis of Maternity Leave Duration

AbstractA number of contributions have found evidence that motherhood is a critical life event for women's employment careers. This study presents a detailed analysis for the duration of maternity leave in which young mothers can make a transition into different types of employment, unemployment as well as the next birth. We provide a comprehensive picture of the sorting mechanisms that lead to the differentiation of women's employment careers after birth. Our empirical evidence is derived from large‐linked administrative individual labour market data from Germany for a period of three decades. We obtain unprecedented insights into how women's skills, the quality of the previous job match, firm level characteristics, labour market conditions and leave legislation are related to the length of maternity duration. Expansionary leave policies, e.g. are found to be a key factor for the rising share of women who have their second child out of inactivity.

Pelvic floor muscle training for the prevention of urinary incontinence in antenatal and postnatal women: a best practice implementation project.

Pregnancy and vaginal delivery may cause urinary incontinence (UI) in some women, which can impact on their quality of life. Pelvic floor muscles training (PFMT) is a safe and effective intervention for preventing UI associated with pregnancy. The aim of this evidence-implementation project was to promote PFMT to prevent UI among antenatal and postnatal women in an obstetric and gynecological hospital in China. A clinical audit was undertaken using the Joanna Briggs Institute Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System tool. Six audit criteria that represent best practice recommendations for PFMT were used. A baseline audit was conducted followed by the implementation of multiple strategies and finalized with a follow-up audit to determine change in practice. Results from pre- and post-implementation audits indicated that compliance rates for Criterion 1 (nurse education), Criterion 2 (information providing), Criterion 3 (needs and precautions identifying), Criterion 4 (assessment of pelvic floor function and referral suggestion) reached 100% in the follow-up audit. The compliance rate for Criteria 5 (women education) and Criteria 6 (follow-up providing) attained 90 and 63%, respectively, in the follow-up audit. The project was successful in improving women's knowledge and skills around UI and PFMT. A variety of strategies, such as an effective education program, simple and clear instruments, multiple educational materials can facilitate implementation of evidence in clinical practice. Future plans for continuous improvements in practice and outcomes should be discussed. Further audits will need to be carried out to monitor practice and effect change as required.

Pelvic floor muscle training for the prevention of urinary incontinence in antenatal and postnatal women: a best practice implementation project.

Pregnancy and vaginal delivery may cause urinary incontinence (UI) in some women, which can impact on their quality of life. Pelvic floor muscles training (PFMT) is a safe and effective intervention for preventing UI associated with pregnancy.The aim of this evidence-implementation project was to promote PFMT to prevent UI among antenatal and postnatal women in an obstetric and gynecological hospital in China.A clinical audit was undertaken using the Joanna Briggs Institute Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System tool. Six audit criteria that represent best practice recommendations for PFMT were used. A baseline audit was conducted followed by the implementation of multiple strategies and finalized with a follow-up audit to determine change in practice.Results from pre- and post-implementation audits indicated that compliance rates for Criterion 1 (nurse education), Criterion 2 (information providing), Criterion 3 (needs and precautions identifying), Criterion 4 (assessment of pelvic floor function and referral suggestion) reached 100% in the follow-up audit. The compliance rate for Criteria 5 (women education) and Criteria 6 (follow-up providing) attained 90 and 63%, respectively, in the follow-up audit.The project was successful in improving women's knowledge and skills around UI and PFMT. A variety of strategies, such as an effective education program, simple and clear instruments, multiple educational materials can facilitate implementation of evidence in clinical practice. Future plans for continuous improvements in practice and outcomes should be discussed. Further audits will need to be carried out to monitor practice and effect change as required.

Pelvic floor muscle training for the prevention of urinary incontinence in antenatal and postnatal women

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY Background: Pregnancy and vaginal delivery may cause urinary incontinence (UI) in some women, which can impact on their quality of life. Pelvic floor muscles training (PFMT) is a safe and effective intervention for preventing UI associated with pregnancy. Objectives: The aim of this evidence-implementation project was to promote PFMT to prevent UI among antenatal and postnatal women in an obstetric and gynecological hospital in China. Methods: A clinical audit was undertaken using the Joanna Briggs Institute Practical Application of Clinical Evidence System tool. Six audit criteria that represent best practice recommendations for PFMT were used. A baseline audit was conducted followed by the implementation of multiple strategies and finalized with a follow-up audit to determine change in practice. Results: Results from pre- and post-implementation audits indicated that compliance rates for Criterion 1 (nurse education), Criterion 2 (information providing), Criterion 3 (needs and precautions identifying), Criterion 4 (assessment of pelvic floor function and referral suggestion) reached 100% in the follow-up audit. The compliance rate for Criteria 5 (women education) and Criteria 6 (follow-up providing) attained 90 and 63%, respectively, in the follow-up audit. Conclusion: The project was successful in improving women's knowledge and skills around UI and PFMT. A variety of strategies, such as an effective education program, simple and clear instruments, multiple educational materials can facilitate implementation of evidence in clinical practice. Future plans for continuous improvements in practice and outcomes should be discussed. Further audits will need to be carried out to monitor practice and effect change as required.

Mentoring for early-career women in health research: the HIGHER Women Consortium approach.

Attracting and retaining women in health research is crucial as it will maximize creativity and innovation as well as increase gender competency and expertise in the field. To help address the gender gap in the research for health field in Cameroon, some women research scientists formed the Higher Institute for Growth in HEalth Research for Women (HIGHER Women) consortium to support and encourage the growth of women research scientists through a training institute with a Mentor-Protégé Program (MPP). The consortium set up a MPP aiming at providing professional guidance to facilitate protégés' growth and emergence in health research. The consortium has conducted two workshops aiming at increasing the early-career women's skills needed to launch their career and focusing on proposal writing with the aim of producing a fundable project. Since 2015, the consortium has brought together approximately 100 women comprising of 80 protégés. The most significant outcome is in the protégés' feedback from their annual evaluations. The protégés are now more likely to submit abstracts and attend international conferences. Some grants have been obtained as a result of the working relationship with mentors. The HIGHER women consortium works to develop a pipeline of women leaders in health research by fostering growth and leadership culture through their MPP.

Vocational and business training to improve women's labour market outcomes in low‐ and middle‐income countries: a systematic review

Vocational and business training to improve women's labour market outcomes in low‐ and middle‐income countries: a systematic review

Self-efficacy and entrepreneur's capabilities: effects on the performance of Palestinian women-led firms

The purpose of the study was to investigate the individual factors influencing the performance of women ventures in Palestine, focusing on personal characteristics such as self-efficacy and women's entrepreneurial skills in terms of pinpointing opportunities, the ability to attract key resources and the ability to manage resources. We have tested our hypotheses on a sample of 160 women-led businesses in Palestine. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from the respondents. A hierarchal regression analysis was used for the results. Results suggest that personal characteristics and some entrepreneur's competencies influence business performance. It was also showed that the companies of women who have high self-efficacy and possess the ability to attract key resources perform better than those of women that do not have such traits and competencies.

Self-efficacy and entrepreneur's capabilities: effects on the performance of Palestinian women-led firms

The purpose of the study was to investigate the individual factors influencing the performance of women ventures in Palestine, focusing on personal characteristics such as self-efficacy and women's entrepreneurial skills in terms of pinpointing opportunities, the ability to attract key resources and the ability to manage resources. We have tested our hypotheses on a sample of 160 women-led businesses in Palestine. A structured questionnaire was used to collect the data from the respondents. A hierarchal regression analysis was used for the results. Results suggest that personal characteristics and some entrepreneur's competencies influence business performance. It was also showed that the companies of women who have high self-efficacy and possess the ability to attract key resources perform better than those of women that do not have such traits and competencies.

Feminist Standpoint and Question of Women Participation in Decision-Making, in Nepal

Feminist standpoint theory emerged in the 1970s. As a feminist critical theory it focuses on the relationship between the production of knowledge and practices of power. It can be considered as a blended form of Marxist feminist, critical theory and a range of social scientific disciplines. Feminist standpoint helps to understand and explain the world through marginalized, subordinated and oppressed women's point of view in the society considering them as knowledgeable. It is the process of mainstreaming their knowledge, skill and experiences. Feminist standpoint focuses on power relations, which is broadly cultivated on cultural values and assigned gender role. In this context, feminist standpoint could be a theoretical basis to mainstream women's knowledge, skill and experiences, instead of conventional way of thinking and doing things with taking into account the knowledge and experiences of dominant groups.

Women Skill Development and Make in India: Opportunities and Challenges

In India majority of women and men residing both in rural and urban areas are unskilled. However, more number of women residing in the rural areas is unskilled compared to men living in both rural and urban areas. And these unskilled women workers are working in the informal sector facing many problems including lack of skills. The studies reveal that more than 90 per cent of women workers are concentrated in the informal sector. However, the condition of women in the informal sector is miserable, most of time they have to work in extremely low wages and without any job security and social security benefits, apart from these working conditions also unsatisfactory. And for all these problem lack of skill among women is one of the main reasons. Hence, to empower women working in the informal sector and fulfill the dream of Make in India concept of our Hon. Prime Minister there is an urgent need to transform them as ‗skilled worker‘ through suitable programmes and policies. Against this background the paper is designed with the following objectives. 1. To discuss the importance of skill development for women in the informal sector in the wake of Make in India; 2.To discuss the hurdles of women in attaining skill; 3.To suggest suitable policy measures to improve employability of the women workers in the informal sector. The proposed study mainly is descriptive in nature. It solemnly based on secondary sources of data and information which is collected from the related sources as per need of the research. The study suggests that there is a need to further develop HRD and training policy from a gender perspective, with an understanding of local customs and traditions. Besides this, there is a need to make the skill development process accommodating and flexible to encourage women to enroll. The training may have to incorporate teaching of basic skills such as numeracy, problem solving, communication, learning to learn, and team work and,other deeply impacting skill such as behavioral skills, including building selfesteem, self-organizational and negotiating capacity for employment purpose.

The Model of Empowering The Women Victims of Merapi Eruption through Independent Business Literacy Education

This study was aimed at: (1) generating a guide model of the empowerment of women victims of Merapi eruption through independent businesses literacy education in permanent housing, Glagaharjo, Cangkringan Sleman, (2) improving the women's knowledge, skills and awareness of environmental management for sustainable and productive . The research method used was modi ied Borg and Gall research and development (R & D) model . This early stage research generated: (1) issues and potential environmental research, (2) instructional guides in print form and CD learning. The guide has been validated and the result was excellent, so it is feasible. The next stage of the research will be conducting trainings on waste management, fertilizer manufacture, business management and mentoring

Young Women Living with HIV: Outcomes from a Targeted Secondary Prevention Empowerment Pilot Trial.

Women account for 1 in 5 new HIV infections in the US, make up 24% of people living with HIV, and represent a quarter of AIDS diagnoses. Despite the need for continued prevention among young women living with HIV, there is very little in the literature on how best to reduce sexual risk and increase the health and well-being of young women living with HIV. This article explores the primary and secondary outcomes of a randomized controlled pilot trial of an intervention entitled Young Women Taking Charge and Growing Stronger. This behavioral intervention aimed to decrease sexual risk and empower young women living with HIV by enhancing young women's knowledge and skills pertaining to HIV risk reduction as well as to the factors that increase women's vulnerability, such as sexual inequality, gender, and power imbalances. Findings from this trial demonstrate that group-based behavioral interventions for young women living with HIV have promise to reduce the total number of sexual partners and reduce unprotected vaginal and anal intercourse. However, more work is needed to understand how best to address the challenges young women face in their day to day lives that impact their sexual risk as well as their overall health and access to care and treatment.

Affective and Motivational Factors Mediate the Relation between Math Skills and Use of Math in Everyday Life.

This study focused on the use of math in everyday life (the propensity to recognize and solve quantitative issues in real life situations). Data from a Dutch nation-wide research on math among adults (N = 521) were used to investigate the question whether math anxiety and perceived math competence mediated the relationship between math skills and use of math in everyday life, taken gender differences into account. Results showed that women reported higher math anxiety, lower perceived math competence, and lower use of math in everyday life, compared to men. Women's skills were estimated at a lower level than men's. For both women and men, higher skills were associated with higher perceived math competence, which in turn was associated with more use of math in everyday life. Only for women, math anxiety also mediated the relation between math skills and use of math in everyday life.