Journal of Allied Health最新文献

The late David Foster Wallace wrote The Pale King, a fictional novel about tax collectors in the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). It was published posthumously on Tax Day following his suicide in 2008. In it, he claims that the Latin expression in the above subheading is the motto for the IRS where it means, "He is the one doing a difficult, unpopular job," but no such actual motto exists for that government entity. Instead, another interpretation of the saying might be "Anyway, someone has to do it," which conveniently sums up the kinds of responsibilities undertaken by a journal editor.

Allied health professionals are key in collaborative practice in healthcare settings. To better inform allied health student preparation for collaborative practice, this research illuminated the nature of allied health collaborative practice capability. Literature and perceptions of allied health students and academics were examined using a philosophical hermeneutic approach. A literature text set was constructed from a range of health and health education related fields. An experiential text was constructed from two sources; focus groups with students and semi-structured interviews with academics. Through this research we identified a plurality of capabilities that coalesce to become allied health collaborative practice capability. These dimensions and capabilities are: contextual (adaptability, responsiveness and persistence), social (friendliness, openness and reciprocity), and individual (professional expertise, willingness and flexibility). Capabilities illuminated in this research included skills and qualities. The plurality and coalescence of capabilities identified in this research highlight the complex nature of collaborative practice capability. A challenge remains to bring the more tacit qualities and how they interact into focus so that they receive meaningful attention to inform practice development and education.

Objective: The main goal of this study was to assess physicians' and nurse practitioners' (NPs) perception of the title change from physician assistant (PA) to physician associate.

Methods: Hospital medicine physicians and NPs were surveyed via a REDCap survey that was created by the researcher. Participants were recruited via emails that were sent to Northwell Health providers as part of a convenience sampling. Statistical analysis using a one-way ANOVA was performed to compare the effect of professional credentials on perception and support for the title change.

Results: There were a total of 103 participants, with a response rate for NPs of 22% and physicians of 27%. Analysis revealed that 73% of physicians and NPs surveyed did not think that PAs changing their title to physician associate would affect their perceptions of PAs.

Conclusion: There are some reservations about the title change, but overall PAs changing their title to physician associate will not affect the perception of PAs by their peers/colleagues at Northwell Health.

Purpose: University students generally, and Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students specifically, experience stress that may threaten their well-being and academic performance with implications after graduation. Universities can benefit from implementing strategies to help students develop stress management skills. An essential first step is identifying modifiable psychological variables that allow students to cope positively with stress. Psychological flexibility may represent one such variable. However, the predictive relationship between psychological flexibility and stress in DPT students is unknown. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether psychological flexibility is a predictor of lower perceived stress and which psychological flexibility dimension is the most significant predictor of lower perceived stress in DPT students.

Methods: Study participants (n = 66) included DPT students from four campuses within one university system. Participants completed an online survey that included demographic questions, the 10-item Perceived Stress Scale, and the Comprehensive Assessment of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy processes.

Results: Higher levels of psychological flexibility predicted lower levels of perceived stress. The openness to experience dimension of psychological flexibility was the most significant predictor of lower perceived stress.

Conclusion: Results suggest that interventions to improve psychological flexibility, specifically openness to experience, may help programs minimize perceived stress in DPT students.

Beginning in 2018, Mater Health was enacting its next stage of strategic planning focusing on services designed around consumers and strengthening technology to improve access to care and information for delivering better outcomes. Telehealth was part of the strategy. Allied health services sought to meet future community needs by increasing the number of its offsite or virtual services without the need for expensive infrastructure. Our aim was to reinforce allied health professional capability in telehealth, as part of sustainable allied health telehealth delivery. We used a Model for Improvement that included use of the Plan, Do, Study, Act cycles, incorporating a community of practice and evaluation framework with strategies such as appreciative inquiry designed to enhance communication and understanding among team members. Telehealth has proven of great value to health services and consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. Scaling up of telehealth during the pandemic resulted in recognition of multiple factors needing to be addressed for telehealth to be sustainable. Our work provides insights into staff and consumer perspectives of TH, forming a basis for future telehealth research.

Purpose/background: The development of professionalism among healthcare students is challenging because these skills are complex concepts rather than technical skills. The purposes of this systematic review were to investigate: 1) the teaching methods used to promote the development of professionalism and 2) the effectiveness of the teaching methods found.

Methods: We searched healthcare and educational databases. Of 4,371 articles identified, we included 54. The variables of interest included teaching methods and professionalism outcomes in physical therapy, medicine, occupational therapy, nursing, dentistry, and pharmacy education. Two reviewers independently screened each title, abstract, and full-text article to determine if inclusion and exclusion criteria were met.

Results: The quality appraisal of the studies was performed using the Mixed Methods Appraisal Tool. We identified 12 teaching methods. The 3 most used teaching methods were self-assessment/reflection, group discus-sion, and lecture. The teaching methods were frequently used in combination. An assessment of study outcomes showed overall, 89% of the studies resulted in positive changes in professional behaviors or attitudes.

Conclusions: Teaching methods promoting the development of professional behaviors and attitudes in healthcare students commonly use a combination of methods. This systematic review offers healthcare educators evidence-based options for facilitating growth of professional behaviors and attitudes in students.

Entrance testing has been found to predict passing on professional licensure examinations in various allied health fields. Physical therapy (PT) programs do not consistently use an entrance test for assessment of an applicant's prerequisite competence. The purpose of this study was to assess whether a correlation existed between a prerequisite entrance test and academic success measured by grade point average (GPA) in first-semester PT students. A 140-question entrance test assessing prerequisite knowledge was administered prior to matriculation to two consecutive cohorts at a medium-sized PT program in the southwestern United States. GPA was collected following completion of the first didactic semester. Inferential statistics were used including the Pearson product moment correlational coefficient (r) and a regression model. 108 students completed the entrance test and one semester of coursework. The entrance test scores ranged from 58.33-100, with a mean score of 79.71. There was a significant medium correlation between the two variables (r=0.423, p<0.001), and the exam and age contributed to the regression model. Entrance tests may provide programs with a more content-specific evaluation of graduate school readiness while providing administrators and faculty information regarding didactic areas of concern with which students may struggle.

Background: Students with disabilities benefit from a team-based approach to support their needs. Individuals from occupational therapy (OT), physical therapy (PT), and speech-language pathology (SLP) partnered to form an interprofessional (IP) workgroup to address the topic of student-centered collaborative goal writing in the context of school-based practice.

Method: This IP workgroup engaged in a collaborative process centered around a shared goal which integrated reflection and discussion sur¬rounding barriers to teaming, collaborative goal writing, and summarizing best practices from the healthcare and special education literature. This process required development of a shared goal, common language, and collaboration across professions and organizations.

Results: The workgroup process created a consensus document, the Joint Statement on Interprofessional Collaborative Goals in School-Based Practice, to provide guidance for school-based practitioners to support student success. Following inter-organizational expert review, the statement was endorsed by three professional organizations and disseminated to practitioners via their respective organizational websites.

Conclusions: This paper outlines the innovative process used by an interprofessional, inter-organizational workgroup to develop and disseminate a consensus document outlining practical guidelines for interprofessional teams working in the educational setting. Additionally, this workgroup created associated professional development materials and presented them to OTs, PTs, and SLPs at a national level.

Aims: Previous research during novel disease outbreaks shows mental health amongst frontline healthcare workers to be of concern. Currently, there are limited data regarding mental health of rehabilitation professionals working through the COVID-19 pandemic in the acute care setting. This research examines the impact on mental health amongst rehabilitation professionals working in the acute care setting during the COVID-19 pandemic to better understand what administrative policies can be implemented to support workers.

Methods: The study administered a 22-question online survey to 221 occupational therapists, physical therapists, and speech-language pathologists working in acute care/hospital settings. Data collection occurred over 30 days in late 2021. Data were analyzed using chi-squared analysis and t-test of means to identify significant differences between demographic variables and reported emotional health outcomes.

Results: Those of higher age reported higher frequencies of depression and anxiety symptoms and fatigue (p >0.05). Professionals with higher COVID-19 contact hours had higher emotional distress and suicidal thoughts (p >0.05). Compared to certified occupational therapy assistants and physical therapy assistants, evaluating therapists had significantly higher reports of lifestyle impacts (p >0.05).

Conclusion: These finding serve as considerations for management decisions for rehabilitation professionals during future disease outbreaks. Targeted support must be shown to employees of older age and evaluating therapists. This shows that administrators must consider implementing more equal spread of patient contact to avoid serious impacts.

Background: As the education of more health professional students continues to evolve, it is crucial to consider how these students are taught about the social determinants of health (SDOH). While these concepts are regular language within the field of public health, they are new within most health professions education programs. Thus, faculty may be grappling with how to teach SDOH concepts to their students.

Methods: Using theatre as a guide, scenarios were developed to expose health professions students to the SDOH.

Results: Guided process in the development of theatrical scenarios to support the teaching of SDOH to health professions students.

Conclusion: The use of theatrical scenarios presents one way that may prove to be effective in teaching the concepts of the SDOH to health professions students. The guided process discussed may make it easier for faculty to reproduce similar scenarios that better expose health professions students to the concepts of the SDOH.