Education Commons^™

Implementation Of A Biometric Screening Program And Wellness Coaching Program In A Hospital Employee Wellness Center, Carl Gastanes

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Background: Wellness programs are an emerging priority among organizations concerned about employee wellness and productivity. Data from Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJMC) revealed that in 2019 there were 1,690 employee visits to the ER due to chronic diseases; 30% were classified as ER sick visit and 40% of employees who visited the ER had no primary care provider. Many companies use biometric screening and health risk assessment to measure the health of their employees. The purpose of this improvement project was to implement a biometric screening program (BSP) that included wellness coaching to improve the health outcomes of LIJMC …

Building An Infrastructure For Down Syndrome Care, Kate E. Martin

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

People with intellectual disabilities experience greater obstacles in attaining their full health potential. The most common identifiable cause of intellectual disability is Down syndrome. Established in September 2021, the Down Syndrome Program at The Kirk Kerkorian School of Medicine at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV) aims to meet the healthcare needs of members of the Southern Nevada community with Down syndrome and their families. However, there is currently no infrastructure in place in Southern Nevada to provide Down syndrome care, or clinical services dedicated to individuals with the condition. This work discusses options that were explored to develop …

Exploring The Impact Of Stress On Healthcare Student Competency: A Cognitive Model For Self-Regulating Performance During High-Stakes Scenarios, Michael J. Teachey

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

Stress and anxiety are part of healthcare and are experienced not only by patients but also by clinicians. This work explores an issue prevalent in healthcare education, outlining the detrimental effects of stress-induced anxiety on student performance during practical assessments. Included in this paper are the research and investigative details that elaborate on the process taken towards resolving the issue. Research conducted in the fields of education, law, and medicine is used to explore how these areas address stress with regard to performance. Through the various processes of research and engagement, this action research project uncovers the underlying issue of …

A Competence-Based Online Learning Video And In-Situ Simulation To Improve Perioperative Anesthesia Nurse Practitioner Self-Efficacy In Responding To Anesthesia Emergencies, Sara Durgerian

Doctor of Nursing Practice Scholarly Projects

Background: Nurse Practitioners (NPs) are broadly educated to the population-based role in which they practice. Further education in subspecialties is essential as more NPs are working autonomously in highly specialized care areas.

Problem: In the Department of Anesthesia at a large urban hospital, perioperative anesthesia NPs lack formal training in the subspecialty of anesthesia, which contributed to a lack of self-efficacy when responding to anesthesia emergencies.

Methods: An asynchronous multimodal brief instructional video accompanied by an in-situ simulation of an anesthesia emergency was developed to increase knowledge and confidence in perioperative anesthesia nurse practitioner response to anesthesia emergencies.

Results: A …

Exploring Student Engagement With A Nanotechnology Module For Middle School Developed Using The Model Of Educational Reconstruction, Martyna Laszcz

Graduate Masters Theses

Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (NST) is a booming multi-disciplinary field, with significant implications towards scientific and technological innovation. The growing reach of NST has created a demand for a skilled and scientifically literate workforce. However, NST is typically inaccessible outside of specialized contexts. Therefore, there is a need for bringing NST into the K-12 classroom.

In this study, we explored the use of technology-based NST modules to introduce middle and high school students to the field, wherein students unpacked an NST tool, the atomic force microscope (AFM), to learn about basic NST-related science concepts. The module created for this study was …

Food And Health: Promoting The Importance Of Maintaining A Healthy Diet To Minimize Disease In Individuals At Greatest Risk, Nadjia Edwards

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

Diets high in calories, saturated fats, sodium, and added sugars can lead to adverse health events such as; heart disease, diabetes, obesity, high blood pressure, stroke, osteoporosis, and certain cancers. Maintaining a healthy diet can help decrease this potential, but those experiencing food insecurity remain at risk as they may have challenges accessing and affording healthier items. Quality may be sacrificed for quantity leading to the purchasing of food that increases these health risks. Initiatives have been developed to address these obstacles, but aren’t widely utilized. This underuse can be due to a lack of emphasis on the importance of …

A Shift In Reality: Virtual And Augmented Systems In Higher And Medical Education, Brian Meyer

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Virtual and augmented technologies provide a seamless solution for merging traditional, theoretical learning with practical application in context. Unlike traditional teaching pedagogies, in which lessons are restricted in terms of the use of additional apparatus, pedagogies that involve the use of virtual and augmented reality technologies enable educators to build upon taught concepts to demonstrate the application of those concepts in practice, and allow educators to generate multiple atypical scenarios in order to build competence in practical fields of endeavour. In medical education, virtual and augmented reality tools provide an especially important opportunity for preparation before treating patients in actual …

Using Data-Enabled Performance Feedback And Guidance To Assist Employment Consultants In Their Work With Job Seekers: An Experimental Study, John Butterworth, Alberto Migliore, Kelly Nye-Lengerman, Oliver Lyons, Amy Gunty, Jill Eastman, Paul Foos

All Institute for Community Inclusion Publications

BACKGROUND:The success of job seekers with disabilities in achieving their employment goals depends in large part on the quality of employment supports that they receive from employment consultants. OBJECTIVE:To test the effectiveness of data-enabled performance feedback to assist employment consultants in implementing standards of effective employment supports. METHODS:A total of 187 employment consultants in 30 states were randomly assigned to intervention or control groups. The intervention group received data-enabled performance feedback and guidance for 12 months, whereas the control group continued with business as usual. Both groups completed baseline and quarterly surveys throughout the intervention. RESULTS:One year after baseline, the …

Radiologic Technology Advanced Placement, Stacy Gosselin

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

The radiologic technology field is rapidly changing. Its technologists and students need to be prepared for these alterations. All students and technologists must pass the national board exam administered by the American registry of Radiologic Technologist. This exam assesses the participant in patient care, image acquisition, radiation safety and imaging procedures. The performance problem identified is the increased amount of radiologic technologists and radiologic technology students either failing the registry due to being unprepared, or due to insufficient continuing education credits. Many of these technologists have been out of the classroom for 20 years, seemed adapted to their own imaging …

Resilience Training For Va Primary Care Providers, Elizabeth A. Recupero

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Physician burnout syndrome is epidemic within the U.S. healthcare system. Burnout is defined by three main criteria: emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and a low sense of personal accomplishment, and its prevalence is highest among primary care providers. The VA’s All Employee Survey (AES) demonstrates that more than 50% of physicians working for the VA Healthcare System exhibit at least one of these symptoms. The literature discusses that this syndrome can be improved by increasing physician resilience. This capstone project first analyzed the need for resiliency training among VA primary care providers. After the needs analysis, an online training that encompassed mindfulness …

A Preliminary Examination Of Adaptive Case Studies In Nursing Pathophysiology, Julie F. Hinkle, Patsy Moskal

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Case studies are a valuable instructional tool frequently used in nursing to allow students to analyze clinical problems based on real-world scenarios. This study examines the use of the Realizeit adaptive platform to create case study scenarios for pathophysiology, a course required in the undergraduate nursing curriculum. The data gathered as students progressed through the adaptive content--time on task, number of times cases accessed, and scores on each case--provided valuable information on student behavior and engagement with the three case studies. Results of this preliminary study indicate that adaptive case studies are promising for pathophysiology and system analytics confirmed that …

Meshing Employment Services, John Kramer, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston, Nicole Jorwic, Nancy Mercer, Jill Pierce, Kevin Walker

ThinkWork! Publications

Working with vocational rehab, DDS, and community agencies to secure community employment with the supports you need for success!

Use Of Lightboard Video Technology To Address Medical Dosimetry Concepts: Field Notes, Julia Vandermolen, Kristen Vu, Justin Melick

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Focusing on Lightboard video technology to create online videos as a resource for Medical Dosimetry students, this field note shares perspectives and student voices on Lightboard videos that can be useful in understanding the concepts pertaining to Medical Dosimetry such as brachytherapy equations. Through the study, the instructors wanted to know students’ perceptions of how video use increased their interest and understanding of brachytherapy equations. A SurveyMonkey questionnaire collected responses from eight students and revealed that these students perceived the use of Lightboard videos provided a solid learning platform to master the concept of brachytherapy prior to performing the homework. …

Teaching For Epidemiological Literacy: Description, Prescription, And Critical Thinking, Peter J. Taylor

Working Papers on Science in a Changing World

This working paper describes contrasting ideas for a sequence of topics as presented to students in a graduate course on epidemiological literacy. The premise of the pedagogical approach is that researchers develop their epidemiological thinking and practice over time through interactions with other researchers who have a variety of in-practice commitments, such as to kinds of cases and methods of analysis, and not simply to a philosophical framework for explanation. In descriptively teasing out what epidemiologists do in practice through a topic-by-topic presentation, I am prescriptively encouraging discussants to draw purposefully from across the range of topics and contrasting …

Nursing Advising Using A Mooc: A Case Study, Sandra G. Nadelson, Louis S. Nadelson, Morgan Scadden, Lesa Minnick, Heather Thomas

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Advanced technology has moved online courses from being available to exclusively to elite students to literally being open to the general public. The proliferation of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) has led to expanding public access to a wide range of information including careers in health care fields. Our group developed a MOOC to assist people from around the world who are interested in pursuing a career in nursing get the information they need to be successful in the nursing program and in the profession of nursing. In this article, we describe course content, who the students were who enrolled …

Data Note: Comparing Vr Outcomes For Individuals With And Without Intellectual Disabilities Who Receive Postsecondary Education Services, John Shepard, Frank A. Smith, Thinkwork! At The Institute For Community Inclusion At Umass Boston

Data Note Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

This Data Note explores the provision of postsecondary education services to vocational rehabilitation customers with and without intellectual disabilities who exited the VR system in FY2014.

Discovering Behavioral Intervention: A Parent’S Interactive Guide To Aba, Richard Fleming, Carol Curtin, Cheryl A. Gray, Charles D. Hamad

Current Issues in Emerging eLearning

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) affect one in 110 children in the U.S. Parents of children with ASD need clear and accurate information to communicate with professionals as they seek appropriate services, including applied behavior analysis (ABA) based intervention. Behavioral professionals can assist parents in this endeavor by recommending resources, including online courses. This paper describes the development and evaluation of an online course on ABA for parents of children with ASD. Parents completing a summative field test (N=21) made significant gains in knowledge and reported high levels of satisfaction. Implications include the potential for enhanced parent-professional collaboration in treatment decision-making.

Massachusetts Hospital School Program Evaluation Enhancing Transition To The Community, Russell Schutt

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Throughout the years, MHS has responded to the changing medical needs of children and young adults in MA and continues to be a model program nationally. Currently, MHS educates approximately 87 students from 58 MA communities. Since 2003, about 10-17 students have graduated each year. At age 22, young adults with disabilities transition from students to emergent adults living in the community. Students graduating from the Massachusetts Hospital School (MHS) are faced with opportunities and choices with respect to how and where they will live, work, study, socialize and receive ongoing medical care. In order to understand how well current …

International Epidemics: Interdisciplinary Thinking And Global Citizenship, Rajini Srikanth, Louise Penner

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Honors College aims to serve as a crucible for curricular innovation by enriching and deepening classroom study with on-the-ground learning. The symposium is a year-long course, with the winter session field trip giving students a two-week immersion in the details of HIV/AIDS health care delivery in one province of South Africa. Upon return, students volunteer at health centers or nonprofits exploring related topics, while continuing to study the complexity of South Africa’s history and its attitudes and approaches toward HIV/AIDS at the medical, cultural, economic, and social levels.

Community Health Nursing Service Learning, Joyce K. Edmonds, Diane Coste

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Through the Service Learning Course, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, RN-BS Online Program, Senior Level Course, Community Health for RN’s and NU 461, 6 credits Student Body Registered Nurses (70-105 each semester) throughout the state seeking to obtain a Bachelor in Science of Nursing. The Institute of Medicine, Future of Nursing Report recommends increasing the proportion of nurses with a baccalaureate degree to 80% by 2020. Instructional Aim Students obtain a better understanding of public health and nursing theory and practice as they further develop their professional and civic identities through meaningful service to their communities. Service Learning Requirement …

Health Careers Opportunity Program, Kunthary Thai-Johnson

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

Located on the University of Massachusetts Boston campus, the Health Careers Opportunity Program (HCOP) is an educational program funded through the federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA). The mission of the program is to create a “pipeline” that starts at the middle and high schools in Boston, continues through the undergraduate programs at Tufts University and UMass Boston, and culminates in the graduate-level public health and/or medical programs at Tufts University School of Medicine or other medical schools.

Honduras: Local, Regional And Global Partnerships To Improve Health In Olancho, Lisa Kennedy Sheldon, Hasan Bailey, Carlo Najera, Mary Roy

Office of Community Partnerships Posters

The Honduran Mission Team-New Hampshire (HMT-NH) in partnership with the Olancho Aid Foundation (OAF), works in the Olancho department to improve the health and education of the Honduran people. The HMT-NH 2012 Healthcare Team included UMass Boston faculty and a nursing student working with American and Honduran doctors and nurses to provide culturally-appropriate healthcare and collect data about the needs of the Honduran people in Olancho.

The Role Of Situated Learning In Experiential Education: An Ethnographic Study Of The Knowledge-Construction Process Of Pharmacy Students During Their Clinical Rotations, Paul Difrancesco

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore learning through the social construction of new knowledge by pharmacy students engaged in experiential learning. Academic leaders and practitioners are responding to calls for the redesign of experiential education that will better prepare future pharmacists for practice. This has broad implications for educational programs and health care delivery.

Situated learning theory served as the theoretical framework for this study. The previous research of Lave and Wenger (1991); Bailey, Hughes, and Moore (2004); and others guided this research. Situated learning theory informed the research questions, which focused on understanding how students constructed knowledge …

Building A Learning Community For Dental Hygiene Faculty, Nancy Baccari

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

Have you ever felt isolated in your work environment that left you feeling perplexed and stuck only to find out that colleagues felt the same way you did but had no idea to work around it? Through this practioner’s narrative, I journey through my struggle of teacher isolation to my action plan to make it better. Finding a way to identify my feelings, strengths and weaknesses and move towards change to improve my own work environment describes my experience in the Critical and Creative Thinking (CCT) graduate program. This new awareness changed the way I see myself as a leader …

Report On The Chelsea School Nursing Program, Edward J. Collins, Jr. Center For Public Management, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Edward J. Collins Center for Public Management Publications

At the request of the Chelsea Public Schools, the Collins Center conducted an analysis of the school health services delivery system. The research included: (1) Review of City and School documents, (2) Interviews and on‐site visits, (3) Review of related research, and (4) Conversations with other experts. Like most urban school systems, Chelsea is facing the challenges of increased educational, social, and health care needs of its students and dwindling financial resources. Despite this, it was clear that the nurses and staff care deeply about their work and the children they serve. An innovative and cooperative network within each school …

Research To Practice: Vocational Rehabilitation Services Received By Youth With Autism: Are They Associated With An Employment Outcome?, Jaime Lugas, Jaimie Ciulla Timmons, Frank A. Smith

Research to Practice Series, Institute for Community Inclusion

While youth with autism represent a small percentage of all vocational rehabilitation (VR) closures, the number who closed out of VR more than tripled between 2003 and 2008 (see Institute for Community Inclusion Data Note 26). As increasing numbers of youth with autism are accessing VR services, it is important to understand how they are using these services and the relationship of these services to outcomes and costs.

Chapter Four: Parenting An Emerging Adult - 101, Varda Konstam

Varda Konstam

Parents of emerging adults are exploring terra incognito. It’s not that there are no rules; it’s that the rules are obsolete. They no longer fit today’s realities. For reasons we’ve discussed (and for others that we will discuss), it’s just not as easy for emerging adults today to jump into the river of adulthood as it was for previous generations. That means parents are likely to remain active parents for longer than ever before. And most of us are pretty clueless about how to make it work. Anxiety is inevitable given the lack of guidance and certainty. However, we can …

Athletics & Recreation Master Plan Sub‐Committee Final Report, Charlie Titus, Terry Condon, Chris Fitzgerald, Ken Mcbryde, Robert Burgess, Shaun Curry, Laurie Milliken, Chris Sweeney, Pavel Braude, Ryan Norton, Jack Looney, Susan Wolfson, Jain Ruvidich‐Higgins

Campus Master Planning Publications

In 2000 the Athletics & Recreation Department at UMass Boston Implemented a five year strategic plan that would more realistically align sports sponsorship with available financial and facility resources. We reduced the number of sports sponsored from 20 to 14 maintaining 7 sports for women and 7 sports for men. The only sports maintained without a facility were Men’s baseball and Cross Country Track. We eliminated football, swimming and indoor & outdoor track and field for men and women.

Since 2005 The Athletics & Recreation Department has been focused on University wide transition and planning efforts. In that period we …

Counting On Care Work: Human Infrastructure In Massachusetts, Randy Albelda, Mignon Duffy, Nancy Folbre

Center for Social Policy Publications

In Massachusetts, as in every other place in the world, all children need to be cared for and educated, everybody has physical and mental health needs that require attention, and some individuals need assistance with the daily tasks of life because of illness, age, or disability. The labor of meeting these needs – which we call care work – is a complex activity that has profound implications for personal, social and economic well-being. Care work is not just a cornerstone of our economy – it is a rock-bottom foundation. Care work provides the basis for our human infrastructure, and we …

The Frank J. Manning Certificate In Gerontology Alumni Survey: 21 Years Of Service To Elders, Nina M. Silverstein, Jenai Murtha, Donna Sullivan, May Jawad

Gerontology Institute Publications

The Certificate Program in Gerontology at the University of Massachusetts Boston, a large urban university, was established in 1979 as part of an Administration on Aging (AoA) grant to develop and expand services to the elderly citizens of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 1984, a line item was added to the state budget by the legislature and governor establishing the Gerontology Institute at the University of Massachusetts Boston and ensuring the continuation of training, research, and policy and advocacy work on behalf of and with Massachusetts’ elders (O’Brien, 1996). Upon Frank J. Manning’s death in 1986, the program was renamed …