Series Of Workshops Research Articles

ASSESSMENT OF AGE AND DEMENTIA FRIENDLINESS OF OTTAWA COMMUNITIES AS PERCEIVED BY PERSONS WITH DEMENTIA AND CARE PARTNERS

Abstract In Canada there are over 500,000 persons living with dementia with prevalence estimates reaching as high as 912,000 by the year 2030. Given that age is the strongest known predictor of dementia and the fact that our population is ageing, there is an urgent need to create communities that promote older adults (including those living with dementia) reaching their maximum potential and feeling welcomed and included while ageing in place. The aim of our study was to determine the utility of a tool developed using a citizen science approach with persons living with dementia and their care partners to determine how they perceive the age- and dementia-friendliness of their neighbourhoods (where they live, work, conduct business and socialise). Ten participants were recruited for a pilot study which took place over a six-week period. The project designed and tested an audit tool, accessed via a smart phone/tablet, that allowed data to be collected quickly and in real time. This audit tool also allowed participants to upload quantitative and qualitative responses (including photos of locations being audited). Participants were trained to become citizen scientists in a series of workshops where they also collaborated with researchers to develop the audit tool. During the data collection period, citizen scientists audited locations/spaces that they visited during their day and submitted their responses using the app. Our findings present a case for increased inclusion of older adults, including those living with dementia, in research and intervention programs that target the promotion of age- and dementia-friendly communities.

Lessons learnt from developing support services for systematic and scoping reviews in a regional university library

At Federation University Australia, the number of queries received by the library about conducting scoping and systematic reviews from academics and Higher Degree by Research students has increased. In response, Liaison Librarians developed an online subject guide and ran a series of webinars. The webinars were then adapted to a series of longer workshops with more hands-on activities. Currently, an online open textbook with interactive elements is being written to allow people to work through content at their own pace. A further series of activity based digital workshops in an online flipped classroom model is being planned, along with other initiatives such as a Community of Practice. To be successful, this project required librarians to develop their own digital skills and knowledge, as well as the participants’. The digital content and workshops have increased equity for participants as they can access it no matter their location or other commitments. Cross-campus collaboration has increased and the library is continuing to evolve and adapt to meet the needs of academics and students.

Intervention for school anxiety and absenteeism in children (ISAAC): Co-designing a brief parent-focused intervention for emotionally-based school avoidance.

Emotionally-based school avoidance (EBSA) is an important driver of persistent school absenteeism and may have worsened in the context of COVID-19. This paper describes the development of a brief parent-focused psychosocial intervention with the goal to address the lack of accessible early interventions for EBSA. The developmental process used a person-based approach with two phases. In Phase 1, qualitative data were collected about intervention preferences and priorities from N = 10 parents and N = 7 practitioners in a series of co-design workshops. Phase 2 refined an intervention blueprint based on iterative consultations with N = 4 parents and N = 3 practitioners. Framework analysis was used to organise findings around key intervention parameters, including relevant mechanisms, content, and delivery methods needed to provide effective, acceptable and feasible support for families affected by EBSA. The resulting blueprint incorporates three online modules to be delivered over three weeks with each module consisting of psychoeducational videos, self-completed learning tasks and a corresponding coaching session. Respective module content includes: (i) self-care strategies to increase parent wellbeing and self-efficacy; (ii) parenting strategies to change behavioural patterns that maintain child distress and avoidance of school; and (iii) strategic communication strategies to increase the quality of home-school relationships. The blueprint has been developed into a full prototype for a forthcoming feasibility study.

A NOVEL NATIONAL FAMILY CAREGIVER ADVOCACY TRAINING PROGRAM: LESSONS LEARNED

Abstract The 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers recommended 24 legislative or policy changes to improve the national caregiving landscape. With basic training, unpaid family caregivers (CG) can be powerful stakeholder advocates to drive policy change. In collaboration with national caregiver advocacy organizations, the University of Pittsburgh National Rehabilitation Research and Training Center on Family Support hosted a Family Caregiver Advocacy Program (FCAP) with the educational objectives of increasing CG motivation, self-efficacy for, and participation in policy advocacy. FCAP is a series of virtual workshops for family caregivers on caregiving-related policies, how laws are written and passed, how caregiver advocates can inform the policy-making process, how to contact and meet with legislators, and how to tell their story to advocate for change. Caregivers (n=68) enrolled in the inaugural FCAP workshops participated over a 3-month period to develop and implement group-selected advocacy products. FCAP participants ranged from 20-29 to 70+ years old, were primarily women (88%) caring for individuals who are aging (65%), have a physical disability (41%), have an intellectual / developmental disability (27%), and / or have a mental illness (27%). This presentation will report on the CG products and outcomes and plans for future iterations of FCAP based on lessons learned.

EMPOWERING BETTER END-OF-LIFE DEMENTIA CARE (EMBED-CARE): A DIGITAL CLINICAL DECISION SUPPORT FRAMEWORK

Abstract People with dementia experience a variety of unmet palliative care needs. There is a need to empower people with dementia, family carers and professionals, to be able to better assess and monitor needs, and manage symptoms. We aimed to co-design and evaluate acceptability, feasibility and implementation of an integrated model of palliative dementia care to support holistic assessment, decision making and management of needs for those living in community and residential care (EMBED-Care Framework).We used a co-design approach, using framework analysis to synthesize data from evidence reviews, routine data, and cohort study, we presented findings to a series of co-design workshops, to produce the Framework. The Framework consists of a holistic assessment; priority setting; and decision support using clinical decision support tools, delivered on an app. The holistic assessment identifies areas of concern and identify priorities of care, through a process of shared decision making. Each concern is linked to a decision support tool to support decision making and to address priorities. App alerts and reminders communicate concerns among teams and carers. We are testing the Framework in a 6-month feasibility study with two residential homes and two community settings in England. We are collecting outcomes including decisional conflict, satisfaction with care, and unmet needs. We are interviewing all users to explore acceptability and implementation. We will present development of the EMBED-Care Framework and preliminary findings from our feasibility study, focusing on the acceptability and lessons for implementation which can be applied to the wider dementia community and similar interventions.

DEVELOPING A HEALTH INEQUALITY/INEQUITY CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK TO SUPPORT EVIDENCE SYNTHESIS STUDIES

Abstract This study aimed to develop a conceptual framework to guide people conducting evidence syntheses, to enable them to visualise links, and intersectionality between various factors that affect health inequality or inequity. Currently, there is no clarity or guidance on how health inequality or inequity should be defined or considered in evidence synthesis, despite recent improvement in reporting standards. In addition, current guides are limited in their ability to provide a roadmap for reviewers that enables them to visualise the links and intersectionality between various factors that affect health inequality or inequity. A series of consensus development workshops were conducted in Spring 2023. Experts in evidence synthesis and health inequality or inequity participated. The workshops were based on methods used previously by researchers developing clinical guidelines. Workshop discussions were centred on (1) important issues/barriers that prevent researchers from having a consensus definition for health inequality or inequity, and (2) how researchers could consider intersectionality of factors affecting health inequality or inequity? Thematic analysis of workshop data and a prioritisation workshop informed the development of a novel conceptual framework. This will be presented and address in particular, ideas around the accumulation of advantage and disadvantage across the life course alongside other dimensions of health and health inequality or inequity.

CORTICAL CONTROL OF MOBILITY: MOVING TOWARD CLINICAL OUTCOMES AND INTERVENTIONS

Abstract A three-year series of pre-conference workshops at GSA a decade ago brought together leading scientists in the multidisciplinary field of brain, aging, and mobility. Since then, the field has advanced the understanding of motor control as a predominantly subcortical phenomenon to the attentional and cortical control of mobility and has extended the view of cognitive and motor functions as distinct to there being shared causes of cognitive and mobility declines. Emerging studies are further elucidating mechanisms of motor control (Holtzer, Baillargeon), demonstrating relations with important clinical outcomes, including dementia (Tian) and community mobility (Rosso), and exploring novel interventions on clinical and neurophysiological outcomes (Kahya), as demonstrated by the series of talks in this symposium. Roee Holtzer assesses prefrontal cortex efficiency over repeated trials of attention-demanding dual-task walking in older adults with and without multiple sclerosis. Emma Baillargeon explores the heterogeneity of prefrontal responses to walking among older adults and describes the relation of prefrontal response with performance metrics. Qu Tian demonstrates trajectories of gait variability measures over time predict future dementia risk. Andrea Rosso investigates prefrontal activation as a biomarker of gait automaticity and its relation to community mobility. Finally, Melike Kahya demonstrates brain stimulation through transcranial direct current stimulation as a potential intervention to improve standing balance during cognitively challenging tasks and examines the mechanisms of its action through dual-task cost and electroencephalograph (EEG) recordings. Together, these studies will provide an overview of the current understanding of cortical control of mobility and its implications for clinical outcomes and interventions.

A collaborative model for faculty development: Helping faculty develop inclusive teaching practices

Inclusive pedagogy, an intentional approach to creating learning environments that meet the instructional needs of diverse student populations, is critically important and a moral imperative in contemporary higher education. Among the biggest challenges for creating faculty development programming to address the development and use of inclusive pedagogy are the lack of financial resources to support the effort and a lack of centralized institutional staff expertise and resources to inform and support such efforts. This case study gives a model for an institutional collaboration that incorporates experts from a variety of offices to deliver a series of inclusive teaching workshops and incentivizes faculty and instructors by awarding a certificate. We describe the administrative processes for establishing this collaboration and the process of assessing the program, and we review the results after one year of the program’s existence.

Meanings of community: Educational developers experience care, satisfying contributions, and belonging in a collaboration across institutions

We share insights from a mixed methods study to describe the experience of educational developers participating in a community of practice (CoP). This CoP consisted of 19 leaders at eight institutions, serving collectively as facilitators of a hybrid, across-institutional, seven-week workshop series on course design for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars. From results of a survey examining the functional and sustaining features of the community, we illustrate that members experience the community aspect of our CoP primarily as a sense of satisfaction/personal fulfillment and, to an extent, in the effectiveness/productiveness of collaborations between members. Members of our CoP experience several community-related benefits specific to their across-institution collaborations. We demonstrate the importance of members’ sense of belonging, overall professional development, and well-being for sustaining our CoP.

Small and Medium Enterprise Management Training to Increase Local Economic Productivity in Kadungora Garut

Management training activities for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Kadungora, Garut, West Java, are an important initiative in accelerating local economic growth through strengthening business management capacity. This training is designed to overcome the challenges faced by SMEs, including limitations in management, marketing and access to capital. With a significant SME population in Kadungora, this training is a catalyst for increasing productivity and local economic independence. The main objective of this training program is to improve participants' managerial abilities, optimize marketing strategies, and strengthen access to financing sources. Through a series of workshops, seminars, case studies, as well as mentoring and consultation sessions, this training offers practical and applicable insights. The resource persons involved are practitioners and experts in their fields, providing a holistic and integrated approach. The expected impact of this training includes increasing operational efficiency, local economic growth, and increasing the independence of business actors. Thus, this program not only contributes to improving the performance of SMEs in Kadungora but also encourages sustainable and inclusive regional economic growth. In conclusion, management training for SMEs in Kadungora is a strategic step in encouraging local economic prosperity. By combining theory and practice, this program prepares SMEs to face dynamic market challenges, while taking advantage of existing opportunities for the growth and development of their businesses.

Aesthetic surprises and considerations when researching marine science education with art

IntroductionWhy was the study undertaken? What was the research question, the tested hypothesis or the purpose of the research? The research question is: What are the implications of disciplinary aesthetics when marine science meets art in educational research? Children in schools from Victoria, Australia were engaged in a series of marine science fieldtrips, workshops and lessons based on the Great Southern Reef, a temperate marine environment of Australia. They created drawings based on provocations, to depict their knowledge of marine species, before and after these education experiences.MethodsWhen, where, and how was the study done? What materials were used or who was included in the study groups (patients, etc.)? This paper shares the mixed methodology used by focusing on the qualitative methods used, that arose out of a need to understand the role of aesthetics in this research project. This paper documents the analysis of data that included children’s drawings and dialogue between researchers and children from interviews. We discuss insights into the role of aesthetics that were revealed in the visual and narrative data from perspectives of children’s learning and how the researchers were able to understand this. These findings are discussed considering the teaching intentions and procedures used, the importance of this multimodal approach to research that revealed aesthetics of science, visual art and language in education.ResultsWhat answer was found to the research question; what did the study find? Was the tested hypothesis true? The research reveals the important role drawing has when trying to understand the students’ varying degrees of understanding marine science education. Variables include: their prior experience with marine environments, students’ drawing abilities, stylistic elements (that can render an image ‘confident’ or ‘sketchy’), compositional devices and use of perspective that their drawings depict (looking at a pier from underwater or through snorkel goggles). It also includes interpretations and explanations of their drawings and other uses of language such as the use of written labels to reinforce or clarify parts of their drawings.DiscussionWhat might the answer imply and why does it matter? How does it fit in with what other researchers have found? What are the perspectives for future research? This research reveals the important role of multi-modal approaches in science learning and the significant and dependent role of visual art and words, for students to communicate their learnt content knowledge. It highlights the aesthetic experiences that must be taken into consideration when teaching, learning and when understanding what has been learnt.

Public and patient involvement in the development of an internet-based guide for persistent somatic symptoms (GUIDE.PSS): A qualitative study on the needs of those affected.

Persistent somatic symptoms (PSS) frequently remain under-treated in health care settings. Evidence-based services that lead affected individuals to early guideline-based care are currently missing. This study aimed to identify the needs of those affected concerning an internet-based guide. The second aim was to evaluate public and patient involvement (PPI). Participants experiencing PSS for at least 6 months were recruited via hospitals, psychotherapeutic practices and self-help organizations. Qualitative data were gathered via ideation discussions and prioritization tasks. Thematic analysis was conducted to gain insight on the needs of people with lived experiences. PPI was quantitatively evaluated with the Public and Patient Engagement Evaluation Tool. A total of 12 individuals participated (eight females, ages 22-66 years, duration of symptoms 1-43 years). Participants wanted to feel more supported, validated, in control and engaged with managing their health. Content-related preferences included education, self-help, social support and contact addresses. The majority of participants (>90%) experienced their involvement as worthwhile. To the best of our knowledge, this is one of the first studies describing PPI in intervention development for PSS. The involvement was perceived as a valuable contribution to the development process. Adults with lived experiences were involved at the level of collaboration through the establishment of a participatory research team (PRT) and at the level of consultation through a workshop series, including one of the coauthors. They were involved in developing and validating intervention material and checking data interpretation.

A Framework for Assessing the Climate Impacts of Research and Innovation Projects and Programmes

Public spending on research and innovation (R&I) to tackle grand societal challenges, such as climate change, is increasing. Consequently, research funding organisations face an ever-growing demand to demonstrate the social return of their investments. However, tools and frameworks that facilitate the description and assessment of the climate impacts of R&I activities are largely lacking. The present paper addresses this gap by conducting a comparative case analysis of corporate R&I projects co-funded by a thematically open R&I funding programme with the aim of identifying the key impact pathways. Data for the cases were collected through document analysis and video interviews. The results show that assessments of the climate impacts of R&I need to take into account the expected change in technology maturity and the impacts that are caused up- and downstream in a company’s value chain. The results serve as a basis for the development of a framework for the ex-ante assessment of climate impacts of public R&I programmes. A series of workshops with research funders, companies, and evaluation experts helped refine and validate the framework and ensure its real-world applicability. The framework provides proposal writers and evaluators with a pragmatic and easy-to-use orientation tool for describing and assessing the climate impacts of a planned R&I activity during the proposal evaluation stage. It therefore supports a more systematic and systemic assessment of R&I impacts that can help funding organisations better address the challenges of climate change.

Key Challenges for In Vitro Testing of Tobacco Products for Regulatory Applications: Recommendations for the In Vitro Mouse Lymphoma Assay.

The Institute for In Vitro Sciences (IIVS) is sponsoring a series of workshops to develop recommendations for optimal scientific and technical approaches for conducting in vitro assays to assess potential toxicity within and across traditional tobacco and various tobacco and nicotine next-generation products (NGPs), including Heated Tobacco Products (HTPs) and Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems (ENDS). This report was developed by a working group composed of attendees of the seventh IIVS workshop, 'Approaches and recommendations for conducting the mouse lymphoma gene mutation assay (MLA) and introduction to in vitro disease models', which was held virtually on 21-23 June 2022. This publication provides a background overview of the MLA, and includes the description of assay conduct and data interpretation, key challenges and recommended best practices for evaluating tobacco and nicotine products, with a focus on the evaluation of NGPs, and a summary of how the assay has been used to evaluate and compare tobacco and nicotine products.

A training program for obstetrics point-of-care ultrasound to 514 rural healthcare providers in Kenya

BackgroundUltrasound is a crucial and effective diagnostic tool in medicine. Recent advancements in technology have led to increased use of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS). Access to ultrasound equipment and training programs in low-and middle-income countries (LMICs) is limited. Despite the World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations for universal antenatal ultrasounds, POCUS for reproductive health applications has not been widely used in LMICs. We describe here the feasibility of implementation of a training of obstetrics point-of-care ultrasound (OB POCUS) for high-risk conditions in rural public healthcare facilities in Kenya with partnership from Butterfly Network, Global Ultrasound Institute, and Kenyatta University.MethodsAs part of the initiation of a large-scale implementation study of OB POCUS, clinician trainees were recruited from rural Kenyan hospitals for participation in a series of five-day POCUS workshops held between September and December 2022. Trainers provided brief didactic lessons followed by hands-on training with live models and at regional clinical sites for 5 OB POCUS applications. Instructor-observed assessment of students’ scanning and image interpretation occurred over the training period. Assessment of knowledge and confidence was performed via an online pre-test and post-test as well as Objective Structured Clinical Examination (OSCE) was administered at course completion.ResultsFive hundred and fourteen mid-level Health Care Providers (HCPs) in Kenya were trained over a three-month period through in-person didactic sessions, bedside instruction, and clinical practice over a 5-day period with a trainer: trainee ratio of approximately 1:5. Out of the 514 trained HCPs, 468 were from 8 rural counties with poor maternal and neonatal outcomes, while the remaining 46 were from nearby facilities. OB POCUS topics covered included: malpresentation, multiple gestation, fetal cardiac activity, abnormalities of the placenta and amniotic fluid volume. There was marked improvement in the post training test scores compared to the pretest scores.ConclusionOur implementation description serves as a guide for successful rapid dissemination of OB POCUS training for mid-level providers. Our experience demonstrates the feasibility of a short intensive POCUS training to rapidly establish specific POCUS skills in efforts to rapidly scale POCUS access and services. There is a widespread need for expanding access to ultrasound in pregnancy through accessible OB POCUS training programs. An implementation study is currently underway to assess the patient and systems-level impact of the training.

An Integration of Business Processes and Information Management for Improving the Efficiency and Reliability of Infrastructure

The construction industry has increasingly adopted digital construction processes and technologies, fueled in part by governmental mandates aimed at modernizing construction workflows. While these advancements promise efficiency across different phases of a project, the efficacy of the digitally generated information often remains contingent on its alignment with the specific information exchange requirements of individual organizations. Current efforts to establish interoperable data schemas have made strides, yet challenges persist, particularly when tailoring information to meet the unique needs of organizations responsible for the operation and management of built assets. This paper dissects the outcomes of standard digital construction processes applied to a linear infrastructure project, highlighting observed shortcomings such as information overload and the difficulty of adapting the information for asset management needs. Building upon these findings, this paper introduces a framework aimed at streamlining the production of essential project information. This framework was developed through a series of expert workshops and subsequently tested on a separate infrastructure project, offering insights into its potential benefits and limitations.

Shit! Towards an experimental multiple-perspective approach to human-microbiome relations

ABSTRACTFor HCI to move beyond human exceptionalism requires embracing more-than-humans, humans as parts of ecosystems, as multispecies assemblages and events. In short, decentering the human. Yet, human experience sits at the center of HCI. We report from Shit!, an experimental research inquiry into the relationship between people suffering intestinal dysbiosis and their gut microbiome. We discuss a series of Shitty workshops and the method’s suitability for fostering multiple-perspectives on human-microbiome relations. We reflect on the possibilities and challenges of conducting intimate, more-than-human design inquiries through workshops: carefully curated tasks undertaken collaboratively, in social settings, with facilitation. Our contribution is threefold: (1) we trace the lineage of workshops in HCI and Participatory Design; (2) we highlight and problematize human-microbiome relationships in sensitive participatory health-care contexts; (3) we deepen understanding of how workshops – as method – may be rearticulated in more-than-human design processes. We propose future directions in the work to extend and supplement the efficacy of the workshop with self-experimentation kits. Rather than developing design research methods anew, we argue the necessity of inquiring into and experimenting with the workshop as an established design method in HCI to prompt a re-articulation of situated knowledges and allow multiple voices, perspectives, and species to flourish.

Teaching interdisciplinary courses on responsible conduct in the life sciences — implications for biorisk assessments of GMOs

Genetic engineering is a powerful set of methods used in basic research, biomedicine, and biotechnology. In the molecular biology laboratory, there are established standards in biosafety to protect humans and the environment from unwanted consequences of genetic engineering although internationally agreed, legally binding biosafety standards have not been developed yet. The World Health Organisation as one international actor provides a “Laboratory Biosafety Manual” outlining key biosafety standards and a “Guidance framework for the responsible use of the life sciences” to foster biorisk assessment strategies which could be implemented by national research institutions [1, 2]. Practitioners in both the life sciences and in biotechnology should be trained in comprehensive biorisk assessments which would also further strengthen the implementation of the international agreement on banning biological weapons [3]. Recently, we reported about lessons learned from conducting two iterations of an international interdisciplinary online workshop on responsible conduct in the life sciences [4]. Here, we provide insights from the third workshop and the impact of the lessons learned from this long-standing workshop series on the own work in the molecular biology laboratories of the organisers in respect to biorisk assessments and science communication.

P94: Co-design of a theory-based implementation plan for a digital holistic assessment and decision support framework for people with dementia in care homes

Background:Despite positive findings around the use of eHealth in dementia care, evidence for its efficacy is insufficient to ensure its adoption into routine care. Early involvement of end-users in the design of an implementation plan is a key strategy for promoting translation of findings into practice.Objective:This study aimed to identify the requirements for use of an eHealth intervention to support assessment and decision making for use with people with dementia in care homes, and co-design strategies for its implementation.Methods:A qualitative co-design method was applied through a series of workshops. Participants included family carers of people with dementia, and health and social care practitioners with direct experience of working with people with dementia. The workshops focused on identifying requirements for use and co-developing implementation strategies in response to factors identified to influence implementation. A deductive thematic analytic approach was taken, guided by the key concepts of the Normalisation Process Theory.Results:Three workshops were conducted from July’21-November’21, attended by 39 participants. Three overarching phases of requirements were identified: 1) incentivising adoption of eHealth; 2) enabling operation of an eHealth intervention; 3) sustaining use of eHealth. Initial adoption requires promotion of the interventions benefits to engage stakeholders, and its alignment with national recommendations for good quality dementia care. Operationalising eHealth involves ensuring its compatibility with current care home processes and technology, provision of sufficient training and support from ‘champions’. To sustain its use, ongoing monitoring of the implementation plan and provision of feedback to allow stakeholders to appraise its effects is required.Conclusions:Implementing eHealth across a complex system of care homes is a multifaceted process. Using the key requirements identified in the workshops, we have developed a multi-strategy plan centered around three phases of implementation, to promote uptake of eHealth to support assessment and decision making for people with dementia in care homes. This is strengthened through collaborating with end-users to increases its value, credibility and real-world relevance. The theoretically informed strategies target mechanisms previously demonstrated to shape the implementation process and outcomes, ready for testing in care homes.

A Transition to Practice Curriculum for Anesthesiology Fellows.

Graduate medical education trainees must be well-versed in practice management principles and how the application of this knowledge affects their patient care. The lack of exposure of anesthesiology trainees to practice management topics remains an ongoing concern nationally. Given similar feedback regarding education on practice management and financial literacy topics across all of our department's fellowship specialties, a novel pilot curriculum comprising a virtual lecture and workshop series was delivered to anesthesiology fellows throughout the academic years 2020 to 2023. Lecture topics included (1) personal finance and contract negotiation, (2) interview preparation and well-being, (3) conflict management, and (4) diversity and inclusion lectures.