Do indicators influence communication in SEA? — Experience from the Chinese practice

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Gao, Jingjing, E-mail: jingjing@plan.aau.dk; Kørnøv, Lone, E-mail: lonek@plan.aau.dk; Christensen, Per, E-mail: pc@plan.aau.dk

Indicators have become one of the primary tools for Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) in the Chinese context, but what does this use of indicators mean for communication within the SEA processes? This article explores how the selection and use of indicators influence the communication between different stakeholders involved in SEA. The article provides a conceptual communication model covering directions and level of communication. Using this model on empirical findings from interviews with two specific SEA cases and from general experience collected through an online survey, the results suggest that indicators are used mainly in internal communication although a change ofmore » approach, with more external communication and stakeholder engagement, is taking place as a consequence of working with indicators in the SEA. However, the external communication mainly involves the experts and other relevant sectors (planning, energy, land use, forestry, etc.), the involvement of the public and NGOs is still not well implemented in Chinese SEA practice, and the direction of communication is mainly one-way channel of providing information rather than a two-way channel of dialogue and participation. Highlights: • Exploring indicators' influence on the communication in SEA with Chinese experience. • Providing a conceptual model covering directions and level of communication in SEA. • Empirical findings from two specific SEA cases and collected general experience. • The external communication mainly involves the experts and other sectors. • More one-way information provision than two-way dialogue and participation.« less

Automatic jargon identifier for scientists engaging with the public and science communication educators

PubMed Central

Chapnik, Noam; Yosef, Roy; Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet

2017-01-01

Scientists are required to communicate science and research not only to other experts in the field, but also to scientists and experts from other fields, as well as to the public and policymakers. One fundamental suggestion when communicating with non-experts is to avoid professional jargon. However, because they are trained to speak with highly specialized language, avoiding jargon is difficult for scientists, and there is no standard to guide scientists in adjusting their messages. In this research project, we present the development and validation of the data produced by an up-to-date, scientist-friendly program for identifying jargon in popular written texts, based on a corpus of over 90 million words published in the BBC site during the years 2012–2015. The validation of results by the jargon identifier, the De-jargonizer, involved three mini studies: (1) comparison and correlation with existing frequency word lists in the literature; (2) a comparison with previous research on spoken language jargon use in TED transcripts of non-science lectures, TED transcripts of science lectures and transcripts of academic science lectures; and (3) a test of 5,000 pairs of published research abstracts and lay reader summaries describing the same article from the journals PLOS Computational Biology and PLOS Genetics. Validation procedures showed that the data classification of the De-jargonizer significantly correlates with existing frequency word lists, replicates similar jargon differences in previous studies on scientific versus general lectures, and identifies significant differences in jargon use between abstracts and lay summaries. As expected, more jargon was found in the academic abstracts than lay summaries; however, the percentage of jargon in the lay summaries exceeded the amount recommended for the public to understand the text. Thus, the De-jargonizer can help scientists identify problematic jargon when communicating science to non-experts, and be implemented by science communication instructors when evaluating the effectiveness and jargon use of participants in science communication workshops and programs. PMID:28792945

Automatic jargon identifier for scientists engaging with the public and science communication educators.

PubMed

Rakedzon, Tzipora; Segev, Elad; Chapnik, Noam; Yosef, Roy; Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet

2017-01-01

Scientists are required to communicate science and research not only to other experts in the field, but also to scientists and experts from other fields, as well as to the public and policymakers. One fundamental suggestion when communicating with non-experts is to avoid professional jargon. However, because they are trained to speak with highly specialized language, avoiding jargon is difficult for scientists, and there is no standard to guide scientists in adjusting their messages. In this research project, we present the development and validation of the data produced by an up-to-date, scientist-friendly program for identifying jargon in popular written texts, based on a corpus of over 90 million words published in the BBC site during the years 2012-2015. The validation of results by the jargon identifier, the De-jargonizer, involved three mini studies: (1) comparison and correlation with existing frequency word lists in the literature; (2) a comparison with previous research on spoken language jargon use in TED transcripts of non-science lectures, TED transcripts of science lectures and transcripts of academic science lectures; and (3) a test of 5,000 pairs of published research abstracts and lay reader summaries describing the same article from the journals PLOS Computational Biology and PLOS Genetics. Validation procedures showed that the data classification of the De-jargonizer significantly correlates with existing frequency word lists, replicates similar jargon differences in previous studies on scientific versus general lectures, and identifies significant differences in jargon use between abstracts and lay summaries. As expected, more jargon was found in the academic abstracts than lay summaries; however, the percentage of jargon in the lay summaries exceeded the amount recommended for the public to understand the text. Thus, the De-jargonizer can help scientists identify problematic jargon when communicating science to non-experts, and be implemented by science communication instructors when evaluating the effectiveness and jargon use of participants in science communication workshops and programs.

Nurse Manager Engagement: Strategies to Enhance and Maintain Engagement.

PubMed

Conley, Karen A

2017-09-01

This study provided insight into the level of engagement of nurse managers (NMs) and strategies used to achieve and sustain engagement in acute care settings. Nurse managers have a significant role in staff satisfaction and unit outcomes and therefore need to be engaged in their work to influence others. Little is known about the level of individual NM engagement and strategies they use to remain engaged. A mixed methods approach was used to elicit information about NM engagement. This study used a sample of 47 NMs to measure their level of engagement, and for those achieving scores indicating high levels of engagement, interviews were conducted, and a content analysis was completed to identify themes. Results showed that there were significantly higher levels of NM engagement among those managers who had been practicing as nurse leaders for a longer period and also those who had advanced degrees. Qualitative review revealed the themes of expert communication, autonomy, and influence as the key factors driving NM engagement. The role of the nurse executive in NM engagement is significant in supporting educational advancement and retention, both of which proved to have an impact on the level of engagement.

Nurses' Experiences of Spiritual Communication with Seriously III Children.

PubMed

Ferrell, Betty; Wittenberg, Elaine; Battista, Vanessa; Walker, Gay

2016-11-01

The goal of this study was to explore nurse experiences in communication with children about spiritual topics in order to develop training in this area. Although spiritual care is essential in pediatric palliative care, few providers receive training about communication with ill children about spirituality. Researchers developed a brief survey to prompt nurses to reflect on pediatric palliative care experiences that included spiritual discussions. Nurses attending training courses voluntarily submitted stories. Qualitative data were thematically analyzed by members of the research team, consisting of two researchers with expertise in palliative care, spirituality, and communication and two expert pediatric palliative care clinicians. Nurses' spiritual conversations with children revealed that children question God and the reason for their illness, have a desire to talk about the afterlife as a way of understanding their limited lifespan, and to share descriptions of an afterlife, in these cases described as heaven. Nurses conveyed the importance of being present and engaging in spiritual communication with children. Communication training is needed and should prepare providers to respond to a child's spiritual questioning, assist parents when the child initiates discussion about the afterlife, and help parent and child understand the spiritual meaning of their illness. Chaplains serve as spiritual care experts and can help train nurses to screen for spiritual distress, have greater competence in spiritual communication, and to collaborate with chaplains in care. Quality palliative care is incomplete without attention to spiritual care.

Parents of children with eating disorders: developing theory-based health communication messages to promote caregiver well-being.

PubMed

Patel, Sheetal; Shafer, Autumn; Brown, Jane; Bulik, Cynthia; Zucker, Nancy

2014-01-01

Parents of children with eating disorders experience extreme emotional burden because of the intensity and duration of the recovery process. While parental involvement in a child's eating disorder treatment improves outcomes, parents often neglect their own well-being, which can impede their child's recovery. This study extends the research on caregivers and on health theory in practice by conducting formative research to develop a theory-based communication intervention encouraging parents to engage in adaptive coping and self-care behaviors. The Transactional Model of Stress and Coping and the Transtheoretical Model guided qualitative assessments of the determinants of parents' coping behaviors. Three focus groups with 19 parents of children with eating disorders and 19 semi-structured interviews with experts specializing in eating disorders were conducted. Findings indicate that parents and experts see parents' need for permission to take time for themselves as the main barrier to self-care. The main motivator for parents to engage in coping behaviors is awareness of a connection between self-care and their child's health outcomes. Participant evaluation of six potential messages for main themes and effectiveness revealed that theory-based elements, such as certain processes of change within the Transtheoretical Model, were important to changing health behavior.

Climate Information and Misinformation: Getting the Message Out

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Carr, M.; Rubenstein, M.; Brash, K.; Hernandez, T. E.; Anderson, R. F.; Fulton, M.; Kahn, B.

2010-12-01

While it is commonly accepted that improved science comprehension is a key element to informed decisions on the many societal issues that interface with science and technology, it is not always clear what that understanding should entail. Is it knowledge of a set of facts and their context, the ability to read scientific papers, familiarity with data sets and their strengths and limitations, the development of original research? Physical scientists continue to operate assuming the deficit model: that lack of societal engagement results from ignorance or lack of information. Yet, in the case of climate, an active community of citizen scientists is engaged in a parallel research activity that aims to audit the basic tenets of the field, thus illustrating that greater literacy does not necessarily lead to consensus. Communication experts have long noted the inadequacy of the deficit model, highlighting the importance of prior knowledge, interests, and values. Science communicators recommend direct public engagement using non-traditional tools and fora. Here we explore three modes of engaging the public on the theme of climate change skepticism: a report published by a major financial institution (following a deficit model, but targeting a highly educated non-science community), blogging (using the broad potential reach and ongoing engagement of the internet), and student discussion groups (taking a participatory 'community outreach' approach).

Engaging science communication that are time-saving for scientists using new online technology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lilja Bye, Bente

2016-04-01

Science communication is a time consuming and challenging task. Communicating scientific results comes on top of doing science itself and the administrative work the modern day scientists have to cope with. The competition on peoples time and attention is also fierce. In order to get peoples attention and interest, it is today often required that there is a two-way communication. The audience needs and wants to be engaged, even in real-time. The skills and times required to do that is normally not included in the university curricula. In this presentation we will look at new technologies that can help scientists overcome some of those skills and time challenges. The new online technologies that has been tested and developed in other societal areas, can be of great use for research and the important science communication. We will illustrate this through an example from biodiversity, wetlands and these fields use of Earth observations. Both the scientists themselves representing different fields of research and the general public are being engaged effectively and efficiently through specifically designed online events/seminars/workshops. The scientists are able to learn from each other while also engaging in live dialogues with the audience. A cooperation between the Group of Earth Observations and the Ramsar Convention of Wetlands will be used to illustrate the method. Within the global Earth observation community, where this example comes from, there is a great potential for efficient capacity building, targeting both experts, decision-makers and the general public. The method presented is demonstrating one way of tapping into that potential using new online technologies and it can easily be transferred to other fields of geoscience and science in general.

Scientists as communicators: A randomized experiment to assess public reactions to scientists' social media communication along the science-advocacy continuum

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kotcher, J.; Vraga, E.; Myers, T.; Stenhouse, N.; Roser-Renouf, C.; Maibach, E.

2014-12-01

The question of what type of role scientists, or experts more generally, should play in policy debates is a perennial point of discussion within the scientific community. It is often thought that communication containing some form of policy advocacy is likely to compromise the perceived credibility of the individual scientist engaged in such behavior, with the possibility that it may also harm the credibility of the scientific community more broadly. Rather than evaluating statements in a binary fashion as representing either pure objectivity or pure advocacy, one recent model proposes that public communication by scientists should instead be thought of as falling along a continuum based upon the extent of normative judgment implicit in a statement. This approach predicts that as the extent of normative judgment increases, it poses a relatively greater risk to a scientist's perceived credibility. Though such a model is conceptually useful, little empirical social science research has systematically explored how individuals form judgments about different types of advocacy to examine common assumptions about the relative risks associated with such behaviors. In this presentation, we will report results from a national online experiment (N=1200) that examines audience responses to fictional social media posts written by either a climate scientist or a television weathercaster. Following the above model, the posts represent differing degrees of advocacy defined by the extent of normative judgment implicit in each statement. In instances where a specific policy is advocated, we examine whether participants' reactions are shaped by the extent to which the policy mentioned is congruent with one's political ideology. We hope this study will serve as an exemplar of applied science communication research that can begin to help inform scientists and other experts about the potential implications of different communication options they may choose from in deciding how to engage with policy.

Using Web 2.0 for health promotion and social marketing efforts: lessons learned from Web 2.0 experts.

PubMed

Dooley, Jennifer Allyson; Jones, Sandra C; Iverson, Don

2014-01-01

Web 2.0 experts working in social marketing participated in qualitative in-depth interviews. The research aimed to document the current state of Web 2.0 practice. Perceived strengths (such as the viral nature of Web 2.0) and weaknesses (such as the time consuming effort it took to learn new Web 2.0 platforms) existed when using Web 2.0 platforms for campaigns. Lessons learned were identified--namely, suggestions for engaging in specific types of content creation strategies (such as plain language and transparent communication practices). Findings present originality and value to practitioners working in social marketing who want to effectively use Web 2.0.

The NSF-RCN Urban Heat Island Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Snyder, P. K.; Twine, T. E.; Hamilton, P.; Shepherd, M.; Stone, B., Jr.

2016-12-01

In much of the world cities are warming at twice the rate of outlying rural areas. The frequency of urban heat waves is projected to increase with climate change through the 21st century. Addressing the economic, environmental, and human costs of urban heat islands requires a better understanding of their behavior from many disciplinary perspectives. The goal of this four-year Urban Heat Island Network is to (1) bring together scientists studying the causes and impacts of urban warming, (2) advance multidisciplinary understanding of urban heat islands, (3) examine how they can be ameliorated through engineering and design practices, and (4) share these new insights with a wide array of stakeholders responsible for managing urban warming to reduce their health, economic, and environmental impacts. The NSF-RCN Urban Heat Island Network involves atmospheric scientists, engineers, architects, landscape designers, urban planners, public health experts, and education and outreach experts, who will share knowledge, evaluate research directions, and communicate knowledge and research recommendations to the larger research community as well as stakeholders engaged in developing strategies to adapt to and mitigate urban warming. The first Urban Climate Institute was held in Saint Paul, MN in July 2013 and focused on the characteristics of urban heat islands. Scientists engaged with local practitioners to improve communication pathways surrounding issues of understanding, adapting to, and mitigating urban warming. The second Urban Climate Institute was held in Atlanta, Georgia in July 2014 and focused on urban warming and public health. The third Urban Climate Institute was held in Athens, GA in July 2015 and focused on urban warming and the role of the built environment. Scientists and practitioners discussed strategies for mitigation and adaptation. The fourth Institute was held in Saint Paul, MN in July 2016 and focused on putting research to practice. Evaluation experts at the Science Museum of Minnesota have extensively evaluated the Institutes to inform other research coordination networks and to identify effective ways that researchers and practitioners can share knowledge and communicate more effectively.

Impact of Scientific Versus Emotional Wording of Patient Questions on Doctor-Patient Communication in an Internet Forum: A Randomized Controlled Experiment with Medical Students.

PubMed

Bientzle, Martina; Griewatz, Jan; Kimmerle, Joachim; Küppers, Julia; Cress, Ulrike; Lammerding-Koeppel, Maria

2015-11-25

Medical expert forums on the Internet play an increasing role in patient counseling. Therefore, it is important to understand how doctor-patient communication is influenced in such forums both by features of the patients or advice seekers, as expressed in their forum queries, and by characteristics of the medical experts involved. In this experimental study, we aimed to examine in what way (1) the particular wording of patient queries and (2) medical experts' therapeutic health concepts (for example, beliefs around adhering to a distinctly scientific understanding of diagnosis and treatment and a clear focus on evidence-based medicine) impact communication behavior of the medical experts in an Internet forum. Advanced medical students (in their ninth semester of medical training) were recruited as participants. Participation in the online forum was part of a communication training embedded in a gynecology course. We first measured their biomedical therapeutic health concept (hereinafter called "biomedical concept"). Then they participated in an online forum where they answered fictitious patient queries about mammography screening that either included scientific or emotional wording in a between-group design. We analyzed participants' replies with regard to the following dimensions: their use of scientific or emotional wording, the amount of communicated information, and their attempt to build a positive doctor-patient relationship. This study was carried out with 117 medical students (73 women, 41 men, 3 did not indicate their sex). We found evidence that both the wording of patient queries and the participants' biomedical concept influenced participants' response behavior. They answered emotional patient queries in a more emotional way (mean 0.92, SD 1.02) than scientific patient queries (mean 0.26, SD 0.55; t74=3.48, P<.001, d=0.81). We also found a significant interaction effect between participants' use of scientific or emotional wording and type of patient query (F2,74=10.29, P<.01, partial η(2)=0.12) indicating that participants used scientific wording independently of the type of patient query, whereas they used emotional wording particularly when replying to emotional patient queries. In addition, the more pronounced the medical experts' biomedical concept was, the more scientifically (adjusted β=.20; F1,75=2.95, P=.045) and the less emotionally (adjusted β=-.22; F1,74=3.66, P=.03) they replied to patient queries. Finally, we found that participants' biomedical concept predicted their engagement in relationship building (adjusted β=-.26): The more pronounced their biomedical concept was, the less they attempted to build a positive doctor-patient relationship (F1,74=5.39, P=.02). Communication training for medical experts could aim to address this issue of recognizing patients' communication styles and needs in certain situations in order to teach medical experts how to take those aspects adequately into account. In addition, communication training should also make medical experts aware of their individual therapeutic health concepts and the consequential implications in communication situations.

Personal Storytelling and Narrative as a Means for Climate Scientists to Engage and Inform Public Audiences - Illustrated by the Play '2071 - The World We'll Leave Our Grandchildren' Comissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London and the Deutsches Schauspielhaus, Hamburg

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rapley, C. G.

2015-12-01

In order to engage greater public interest in science it is necessary to move beyond the traditional academic "information deficit" mode of communication, with its emphasis on the delivery and explantion of 'facts'. This is especially the case for topics such as climate science, which have the potential to provoke strong conscious or unconscious emotional and ideological audience reactions. The use of personalised narrative and storytelling offers a means to draw in non-experts in a way that overcomes barriers of disinterest or prejudice. The talk will address the role of climate scientists in communicating within the public square, and will use the play '2071 - The World We'll Leave Our Grandchildren" as an example of how theatre can provide an effective means of communicating complex and provocative knowledge and understanding. The play was commissioned by the Royal Court Theatre, London and the Deutshes Schauspielhaus, Hamburg. It received positive reviews and sold out at the London venue.

Building an online community to promote communication and collaborative learning between health professionals and young people who self-harm: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Owens, Christabel; Sharkey, Siobhan; Smithson, Janet; Hewis, Elaine; Emmens, Tobit; Ford, Tamsin; Jones, Ray

2015-02-01

Online communities are known to break down barriers between supposed experts and non-experts and to promote collaborative learning and 'radical trust' among members. Young people who self-harm report difficulties in communicating with health professionals, and vice versa. We sought to bring these two groups together online to see how well they could communicate with each other about self-harm and its management, and whether they could agree on what constituted safe and relevant advice. We allocated 77 young people aged 16-25 with experience of self-harm and 18 recently/nearly qualified professionals in relevant health-care disciplines to three separate Internet discussion forums. The forums contained different proportions of professionals to young people (none; 25%; 50% respectively) to allow us to observe the effect of the professionals on online interaction. The young people were keen to share their lived experience of self-harm and its management with health professionals. They engaged in lively discussion and supported one another during emotional crises. Despite registering to take part, health professionals did not actively participate in the forums. Reported barriers included lack of confidence and concerns relating to workload, private-professional boundaries, role clarity, duty of care and accountability. In their absence, the young people built a vibrant lay community, supported by site moderators. Health professionals may not yet be ready to engage with young people who self-harm and to exchange knowledge and experience in an anonymous online setting. Further work is needed to understand and overcome their insecurities. © 2012 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Establishing a Virtual Community of Practice in Simulation: The Value of Social Media.

PubMed

Thoma, Brent; Brazil, Victoria; Spurr, Jesse; Palaganas, Janice; Eppich, Walter; Grant, Vincent; Cheng, Adam

2018-04-01

Professional development opportunities are not readily accessible for most simulation educators, who may only connect with simulation experts at periodic and costly conferences. Virtual communities of practice consist of individuals with a shared passion who communicate via virtual media to advance their own learning and that of others. A nascent virtual community of practice is developing online for healthcare simulation on social media platforms. Simulation educators should consider engaging on these platforms for their own benefit and to help develop healthcare simulation educators around the world. Herein, we describe this developing virtual community of practice and offer guidance to assist educators to engage, learn, and contribute to the growth of the community.

Experiences in Conducting Participatory Communication Research for HIV Prevention Globally: Translating Critical Dialog into Action through Action Media.

PubMed

Parker, Warren Martin; Becker-Benton, Antje

2016-01-01

Developing communication to support health and well-being of vulnerable communities requires a multifaceted understanding of local perspectives of contextual challenges and potentials for change. While participatory research enhances understanding, robust methodologies are necessary to translate emerging concepts into viable communication approaches. Communicators and change agents need to clarify pathways for change, barriers and enablers for change, as well as the role, orientation, and content of communication to support change. While various approaches to participatory action research with vulnerable communities have been developed, there is a dearth of methodologies that address the formulation of communication concepts that can be applied at scale. The Action Media methodology has been refined over a period of two decades, being applied to addressing HIV, related aspects such as gender-based violence, as well as broader issues, such as maternal and child health, sanitation, and malaria in Africa, The Caribbean, and Asia. The approach employs a sequence of interactive sessions involving communicator researchers and participants from one or more communities that face social or health challenges. Sessions focus on understanding audiences through their engagement with these challenges and leading to shaping of relevant communication concepts that can be linked to mobilization for change. The Action Media methodology contributes to processes of shared learning linked to addressing social and health challenges. This includes determining priorities, identifying barriers and facilitators for change, understanding processes of mobilizing knowledge in relation to context, determining appropriate communication approaches, and integrating indigenous language and cultural perspectives into communication concepts. Emerging communication strategies include support to systematic action and long-term mobilization. Communication to address public health concerns is typically developed through expert-led didactic approaches that, at best, engage audiences at the end of the development cycle through pretesting of communication concepts. Action Media provides an alternative approach that can be utilized to inform communication by integrating community perspectives at the outset. Notwithstanding the focused engagement with small group representative of health-vulnerable subpopulations, Action Media findings have informed large-scale communication interventions. The approach is directly linked to enabling ownership, critical thinking, and mobilization of knowledge for change.

Patient engagement in the process of planning and designing outpatient care improvements at the Veterans Administration Health-care System: findings from an online expert panel.

PubMed

Khodyakov, Dmitry; Stockdale, Susan E; Smith, Nina; Booth, Marika; Altman, Lisa; Rubenstein, Lisa V

2017-02-01

There is a strong interest in the Veterans Administration (VA) Health-care System in promoting patient engagement to improve patient care. We solicited expert opinion using an online expert panel system with a modified Delphi structure called ExpertLens ™ . Experts reviewed, rated and discussed eight scenarios, representing four patient engagement roles in designing and improving VA outpatient care (consultant, implementation advisor, equal stakeholder and lead stakeholder) and two VA levels (local and regional). Rating criteria included desirability, feasibility, patient ability, physician/staff acceptance and impact on patient-centredness and care quality. Data were analysed using the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method for determining consensus. Experts rated consulting with patients at the local level as the most desirable and feasible patient engagement approach. Engagement at the local level was considered more desirable than engagement at the regional level. Being an equal stakeholder at the local level received the highest ratings on the patient-centredness and health-care quality criteria. Our findings illustrate expert opinion about different approaches to patient engagement and highlight the benefits and challenges posed by each. Although experts rated local consultations with patients on an as-needed basis as most desirable and feasible, they rated being an equal stakeholder at the local level as having the highest potential impact on patient-centredness and care quality. This result highlights a perceived discrepancy between what is most desirable and what is potentially most effective, but suggests that routine local engagement of patients as equal stakeholders may be a desirable first step for promoting high-quality, patient-centred care. © 2016 The Authors. Health Expectations Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Communication Strategy of a successful Frack Campaign in the Netherlands

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hoogerduijn Strating, Eilard; Seinen, Chiel; Heeringa, Henk; Pestman, Bart

2016-04-01

In 2011, after several years without frack activities onshore in the Netherlands, a new conventional frack campaign was planned. In the interim, anti-shalegas sentiments had carried over from the US to Europe and various countries had announced a frack moratorium. The Netherlands was not amongst these yet, but it was recognized that starting a new conventional frack campaign could potentially result in a significant negative public sentiment and affect our License to Operate. A team of subsurface and communication experts drafted a communication strategy that was premised on the "Discuss > Decide > Deliver" philosophy, implying that a decision on the campaign-start would only be taken after the results of the engagements with key stakeholders indicated sufficient support. It was recognized that in order to start communication with stakeholders and the general public through engagements, infographics, websites etc., several minimum requirements had to be in place: 1] An explanation about why fracking is done and what it entails 2] An assessment and description of the risks (eg groundwater contamination, tremors) 3] A description of the REACH compliant chemicals used (composition & quantities). With the basic info in place, a staged engagement process was set up where key stakeholders at the national level were informed first, followed by those at regional level (including waterboards), followed by local stakeholders. Several "Go-No go" decision points were build in. Throughout it was agreed that a target date for the actual frack campaign was only to be set once local engagements were going to start. Several of the technical staff (eg subsurface and well engineers) received media and communication training to prep them for the engagements with external stakeholders and communities. Also several staff were identified that would be involved in the writing of Q&A's, external bulletins etc. Having technical staff involved in such communications helped build credibility and also exposed them first hand to the sentiments in society. The first conventional frack was executed in 2012. Since then, 3-4 conventional frack jobs have been executed per year, most recently in January 2016. In the meantime, however, the public resistance against fracking has grown in certain areas. Several NGO's and political parties that aspire to a much more rapid transition to a sustainable society actively encourage these sentiments. Late 2011 a formal moratorium on shalegas operations came in effect and more than 200 municipalities had declared a shalegas-free status or were very critical about such activities. In 2015 a more stringent risk assessment of conventional fracking has been made mandatory for permit applications. Our experience in this frack dossier (as well as other dossiers such as soil subsidence, induced seismicity, and water disposal) has shown that having a cadre of subsurface engineers that are capable of translating the often complex geoscientific issues into layman's terms, and are equipped to effectively and empathetically communicate is crucial. Also having access to experts (academically or otherwise) that are considered by all stakeholders to be independent is another key component.

Development of functional requirements for electronic health communication: preliminary results from the ELIN project.

PubMed

Christensen, Tom; Grimsmo, Anders

2005-01-01

User participation is important for developing a functional requirements specification for electronic communication. General practitioners and practising specialists, however, often work in small practices without the resources to develop and present their requirements. It was necessary to find a method that could engage practising doctors in order to promote their needs related to electronic communication. Qualitative research methods were used, starting a process to develop and study documents and collect data from meetings in project groups. Triangulation was used, in that the participants were organised into a panel of experts, a user group, a supplier group and an editorial committee. The panel of experts created a list of functional requirements for electronic communication in health care, consisting of 197 requirements, in addition to 67 requirements selected from an existing Norwegian standard for electronic patient records (EPRs). Elimination of paper copies sent in parallel with electronic messages, optimal workflow, a common electronic 'envelope' with directory services for units and end-users, and defined requirements for content with the possibility of decision support were the most important requirements. The results indicate that we have found a method of developing functional requirements which provides valid results both for practising doctors and for suppliers of EPR systems.

Building the Next Generation of Scientific Explorers through Active Engagement with STEM Experts and International Space Station Resources

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Graff, P. V.; Vanderbloemen, L.; Higgins, M.; Stefanov, W. L.; Rampe, E.

2015-01-01

Connecting students and teachers in classrooms with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experts provides an invaluable opportunity for all. These experts can share the benefits and utilization of resources from the International Space Station (ISS) while sharing and "translating" exciting science being conducted by professional scientists. Active engagement with these STEM experts involves students in the journey of science and exploration in an enthralling and understandable manner. This active engagement, connecting classrooms with scientific experts, helps inspire and build the next generation of scientific explorers in academia, private industry, and government.

`Let your data tell a story:' climate change experts and students navigating disciplinary argumentation in the classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Walsh, Elizabeth Mary; McGowan, Veronica Cassone

2017-01-01

Science education trends promote student engagement in authentic knowledge in practice to tackle personally consequential problems. This study explored how partnering scientists and students on a social media platform supported students' development of disciplinary practice knowledge through practice-based learning with experts during two pilot enactments of a project-based curriculum focusing on the ecological impacts of climate change. Through the online platform, scientists provided feedback on students' infographics, visual argumentation artifacts that use data to communicate about climate change science. We conceptualize the infographics and professional data sets as boundary objects that supported authentic argumentation practices across classroom and professional contexts, but found that student generated data was not robust enough to cross these boundaries. Analysis of the structure and content of the scientists' feedback revealed that when critiquing argumentation, scientists initiated engagement in multiple scientific practices, supporting a holistic rather than discrete model of practice-based learning. While traditional classroom inquiry has emphasized student experimentation, we found that engagement with existing professional data sets provided students with a platform for developing expertise in systemic scientific practices during argument construction. We further found that many students increased the complexity and improved the visual presentation of their arguments after feedback.

Model collaboration: university library system and rehabilitation research team to advance telepractice knowledge.

PubMed

Deliyannides, Timothy S; Gabler, Vanessa

2012-01-01

This Publisher's Report describes the collaboration between a university library system's scholarly communication and publishing office and a federally funded research team, the Rehabilitation Engineering Research Center (RERC) on Telerehabilitation. This novel interdisciplinary collaboration engages librarians, information technologists, publishing professionals, clinicians, policy experts, and engineers and has produced a new Open Access journal, International Journal of Telerehabilitation, and a developing, interactive web-based product dedicated to disseminating information about telerehabilitation. Readership statistics are presented for March 1, 2011 - February 29, 2012.

Public perceptions of geology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gibson, Hazel; Stewart, Iain; Anderson, Mark; Pahl, Sabine; Stokes, Alison

2014-05-01

Geological issues are increasingly intruding on the everyday lives of ordinary people. Whether it be onshore exploration and extraction of oil and gas, deep injection of water for geothermal power or underground storage of carbon dioxide and radioactive waste, many communities across Europe are being faced with potentially contested geological activity under their backyard. As well as being able to communicate the technical aspects of such work, geoscience professionals also need to appreciate that for most people the subsurface is an unfamiliar realm. In order to engage communities and individuals in effective dialogue about geological activities, an appreciation of what 'the public' already know and what they want to know is needed, but this is a subject that is in its infancy. In an attempt to provide insight into these key issues, this study examines the concerns the public have, relating to geology, by constructing 'Mental Models' of people's perceptions of the subsurface. General recommendations for public engagement strategies will be presented based on the results of selected case studies; specifically expert and non-expert mental models for communities in the south-west of England.

“Can It Read My Mind?” – What Do the Public and Experts Think of the Current (Mis)Uses of Neuroimaging?

PubMed Central

Wardlaw, Joanna M.; O'Connell, Garret; Shuler, Kirsten; DeWilde, Janet; Haley, Jane; Escobar, Oliver; Murray, Shaun; Rae, Robert; Jarvie, Donald; Sandercock, Peter; Schafer, Burkhard

2011-01-01

Emerging applications of neuroimaging outside medicine and science have received intense public exposure through the media. Media misrepresentations can create a gulf between public and scientific understanding of the capabilities of neuroimaging and raise false expectations. To determine the extent of this effect and determine public opinions on acceptable uses and the need for regulation, we designed an electronic survey to obtain anonymous opinions from as wide a range of members of the public and neuroimaging experts as possible. The surveys ran from 1st June to 30 September 2010, asked 10 and 21 questions, respectively, about uses of neuroimaging outside traditional medical diagnosis, data storage, science communication and potential methods of regulation. We analysed the responses using descriptive statistics; 660 individuals responded to the public and 303 individuals responded to the expert survey. We found evidence of public skepticism about the use of neuroimaging for applications such as lie detection or to determine consumer preferences and considerable disquiet about use by employers or government and about how their data would be stored and used. While also somewhat skeptical about new applications of neuroimaging, experts grossly underestimated how often neuroimaging had been used as evidence in court. Although both the public and the experts rated highly the importance of a better informed public in limiting the inappropriate uses to which neuroimaging might be put, opinions differed on the need for, and mechanism of, actual regulation. Neuroscientists recognized the risks of inaccurate reporting of neuroimaging capabilities in the media but showed little motivation to engage with the public. The present study also emphasizes the need for better frameworks for scientific engagement with media and public education. PMID:21991367

Engaging with Comparative Risk Appraisals: Public Views on Policy Priorities for Environmental Risk Governance.

PubMed

Rocks, Sophie A; Schubert, Iljana; Soane, Emma; Black, Edgar; Muckle, Rachel; Petts, Judith; Prpich, George; Pollard, Simon J

2017-09-01

Communicating the rationale for allocating resources to manage policy priorities and their risks is challenging. Here, we demonstrate that environmental risks have diverse attributes and locales in their effects that may drive disproportionate responses among citizens. When 2,065 survey participants deployed summary information and their own understanding to assess 12 policy-level environmental risks singularly, their assessment differed from a prior expert assessment. However, participants provided rankings similar to those of experts when these same 12 risks were considered as a group, allowing comparison between the different risks. Following this, when individuals were shown the prior expert assessment of this portfolio, they expressed a moderate level of confidence with the combined expert analysis. These are important findings for the comprehension of policy risks that may be subject to augmentation by climate change, their representation alongside other threats within national risk assessments, and interpretations of agency for public risk management by citizens and others. © 2017 The Authors Risk Analysis published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Risk Analysis.

Adapting the bioblitz to meet conservation needs.

PubMed

Parker, Sophie S; Pauly, Gregory B; Moore, James; Fraga, Naomi S; Knapp, John J; Principe, Zachary; Brown, Brian V; Randall, John M; Cohen, Brian S; Wake, Thomas A

2018-03-01

When conservation strategies require new, field-based information, practitioners must find the best ways to rapidly deliver high-quality survey data. To address this challenge, several rapid-assessment approaches have been developed since the early 1990s. These typically involve large areas, take many months to complete, and are not appropriate when conservation-relevant survey data are urgently needed for a specific locale. In contrast, bioblitzes are designed for quick collection of site-specific survey data. Although bioblitzes are commonly used to achieve educational or public-engagement goals, conservation practitioners are increasingly using a modified bioblitz approach to generate conservation-relevant data while simultaneously enhancing research capacity and building working partnerships focused on conservation concerns. We term these modified events expert bioblitzes. Several expert bioblitzes have taken place on lands of conservation concern in Southern California and have involved collaborative efforts of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, botanic gardens, museums, and universities. The results of expert bioblitzes directly informed on-the-ground conservation and decision-making; increased capacity for rapid deployment of expert bioblitzes in the future; and fostered collaboration and communication among taxonomically and institutionally diverse experts. As research and conservation funding becomes increasingly scarce, expert bioblitzes can play an increasingly important role in biodiversity conservation. © 2018 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

The NSF-RCN Urban Heat Island Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Twine, T. E.; Snyder, P. K.; Hamilton, P.; Shepherd, M.; Stone, B., Jr.

2015-12-01

In much of the world cities are warming at twice the rate of outlying rural areas. The frequency of urban heat waves is projected to increase with climate change through the 21st century. Addressing the economic, environmental, and human costs of urban heat islands requires a better understanding of their behavior from many disciplinary perspectives. The goal of this four-year Urban Heat Island Network is to (1) bring together scientists studying the causes and impacts of urban warming, (2) advance multidisciplinary understanding of urban heat islands, (3) examine how they can be ameliorated through engineering and design practices, and (4) share these new insights with a wide array of stakeholders responsible for managing urban warming to reduce their health, economic, and environmental impacts. The NSF-RCN Urban Heat Island Network involves atmospheric scientists, engineers, architects, landscape designers, urban planners, public health experts, and education and outreach experts, who will share knowledge, evaluate research directions, and communicate knowledge and research recommendations to the larger research community as well as stakeholders engaged in developing strategies to adapt to and mitigate urban warming. The first Urban Climate Institute was held in Saint Paul, MN in July 2013 and focused on the characteristics of urban heat islands. Scientists engaged with local practitioners to improve communication pathways surrounding issues of understanding, adapting to, and mitigating urban warming. The second Urban Climate Institute was held in Atlanta, Georgia in July 2014 and focused on urban warming and public health. The third Urban Climate Institute was held in Athens, GA in July 2015 and focused on urban warming and the role of the built environment. Scientists and practitioners discussed strategies for mitigation and adaptation. Evaluation experts at the Science Museum of Minnesota have extensively evaluated the Institutes to inform other research coordination networks and to identify effective ways that researchers and practitioners can share knowledge and communicate more effectively. A final Institute is planned for July of 2016 in Saint Paul, MN. This institute will focus on synthesizing findings from the first three workshops and discuss education and outreach efforts.

The role of communication in breast cancer screening: a qualitative study with Australian experts.

PubMed

Parker, Lisa M; Rychetnik, Lucie; Carter, Stacy M

2015-10-19

One well-accepted strategy for optimising outcomes in mammographic breast cancer screening is to improve communication with women about screening. It is not always clear, however, what it is that communication should be expected to achieve, and why or how this is so. We investigated Australian experts' opinions on breast screening communication. Our research questions were: 1 What are the views of Australian experts about communicating with consumers on breast screening? 2 How do experts reason about this topic? We used a qualitative methodology, interviewing 33 breast screening experts across Australia with recognisable influence in the Australian mammographic breast cancer screening setting. We used purposive and theoretical sampling to identify experts from different professional roles (including clinicians, program managers, policy makers, advocates and researchers) with a range of opinions about communication in breast screening. Experts discussed the topic of communication with consumers by focusing on two main questions: how strongly to guide consumers' breast cancer screening choices, and what to communicate about overdiagnosis. Each expert adopted one of three approaches to consumer communication depending on their views about these topics. We labelled these approaches: Be screened; Be screened and here's why; Screening is available please consider whether it's right for you. There was a similar level of support for all three approaches. Experts' reasoning was grounded in how they conceived of and prioritised their underlying values including: delivering benefits, avoiding harms, delivering more benefits than harms, respecting autonomy and transparency. There is disagreement between experts regarding communication with breast screening consumers. Our study provides some insights into this persisting lack of consensus, highlighting the different meanings that experts give to values, and different ways that values are prioritised. We suggest that explicit discussion about ethical values might help to focus thinking, clarify concepts and promote consensus in policy around communication with consumers. More specifically, we suggest that decision-makers who are considering policy on screening communication should begin with identifying and agreeing on the specific values to be prioritised and use this to guide them in establishing what the communication aims will be and which communication strategy will achieve those aims.

‘Research clinics’: online journal clubs between south and north for student mentoring

PubMed Central

Atkins, Salla; Varshney, Dinansha; Meragia, Elnta; Zwarenstein, Merrick; Diwan, Vishal

2016-01-01

Background Capacity development in health research is high on the agenda of many low- and middle-income countries. Objective The ARCADE projects, funded by the EU, have been working in Africa and Asia since 2011 in order to build postgraduate students’ health research capacity. In this short communication, we describe one initiative in these projects, that of research clinics – online journal clubs connecting southern and northern students and experts. Design We describe the implementation of these research clinics together with student and participant experiences. Results From 2012 to 2015, a total of seven journal clubs were presented by students and junior researchers on topics related to global health. Sessions were connected through web conferencing, connecting experts and students from different countries. Conclusions The research clinics succeeded in engaging young researchers across the globe and connecting them with global experts. The contacts and suggestions made were appreciated by students. This format has potential to contribute toward research capacity building in low- and middle-income countries. PMID:27725079

Ethical Implications of Seismic Risk Communication in Istanbul - Insights from a Transdisciplinary, Film-based Science Communication Workshop

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ickert, Johanna; Stewart, Iain S.

2016-04-01

For more than a decade, social science studies indicate that there is little or no correlation between the provision of scientific information about geohazards and risks and the adaptive changes in individual or community behaviour that would reduce risk. Bridging that gap to effectively convey hazard science 'the last mile' to those communities at risk raises a number of ethical issues about the role and responsibilities of geoscientists as communicators. Those issues emerge from a methodological shift away from the dominant interpretation of seismic risk communication as a transfer of scientific facts to "the public", towards more inclusive transdisciplinary communication strategies that incorporate peer-role models, adopt social network-based strategies and directly engage with communities in motivating preparedness actions. With this methodological shift comes ethical dilemmas. What are the target-groups that should be prioritised? What are the professional expectations and levels of personal engagement required of geo-communicators? How able and willing are geoscientists to include other forms of knowledge (e.g. from local communities or other disciplines)? What media formats can reconcile argumentative, informational "matters of fact" with sociocultural and psychological "matters of concern"? How should scientists react to political controversies related to risk mitigation and its communication? In the context of these ethical concerns, many geoscientist struggle to switch from conventional communication modes in which they are the technical 'experts' to more community-centered, participatory modes of public engagement. We examine this research question through a case study on seismic risk communication challenges in Istanbul, a megacity with one of the highest seismic vulnerabilities in the world. Currently, there are few formal mechanisms to facilitate interchange between academic geoscientists and the general public in Istanbul. In order to reduce the city's vulnerable building stock, the civic administration has initiated major seismic retrofitting and reconstruction projects. These projects have led to widespread civic unrest and social division, with inhabitants of urban transformation areas widely complaining that their views are neither represented in the procedures of the mitigation measures nor in the seismic risk communication that accompanies them. A growing lack of trust in risk mitigation measures adds to fatalistic attitudes to undermine individual and neighbourhood preparedness actions. It is in this contested, politicized arena of multi-stakeholder interests that geoscientists attempt to communicate Istanbul's acute seismic threat. Following a critical reflection on the geo-ethics of current science communication methods, we explore the potential of transdisciplinary film-based methods to provide alternative frameworks for communicating to and engaging with at-risk communities. We argue that such an approach offers novel opportunities to address key ethical concerns by bridging different communication cultures and promoting a greater reflexivity in science communication.

Differing levels of clinical evidence: exploring communication challenges in shared decision making. Introduction.

PubMed

Smith, Quentin W; Street, Richard L; Volk, Robert J; Fordis, Michael

2013-02-01

The near ubiquitous access to information is transforming the roles and relationships among clinical professionals, patients, and their care givers in nearly all aspects of healthcare. Informed patients engage their physicians in conversations about their conditions, options and the tradeoffs among diagnostic and therapeutic benefits and harms. The processes of care today increasingly and explicitly integrate exploration of patient values and preferences as patients and clinicians jointly engage in reaching decisions about care. The informed patient of today who can understand and use scientific information can participate as an equal partner with her clinician. Others with beliefs or educational, cultural, or literacy backgrounds that pose challenges to comprehending and applying evidence may face disenfranchisement. These barriers are significant enough, even in the face of certainty of evidence, that clinicians and investigators have given much thought to how best to engage all patients in decision making. However, barriers remain, as most decision making must occur in settings where uncertainty, if not considerable uncertainty, accompanies any statement of what we know. In September 2011, health care and health communication experts came together in Rockville, Maryland under the auspices of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) John M. Eisenberg Center for Clinical Decisions and Communications Science Annual Meeting to explore the challenges of differing levels of evidence in promoting shared decisions and to propose strategies for going forward in addressing these challenges. Eight scholarly papers emerged, and with this introductory article, comprise this special issue of Medical Care Research and Review.

Parents' online discussions about children's dental caries: A critical content analysis.

PubMed

Milne, Avery; Weijs, Cynthia A; Haines-Saah, Rebecca J; McLaren, Lindsay

2017-09-14

Through an analysis of postings to an online parenting forum, we aimed to explore the many ways in which parents orient to (i.e., take up, challenge, re-articulate) information about child dental health in the context of their online interactions. Our analysis is anchored in Nettleton's theoretical work on dental authority and power, which we apply in a digital context. We examined discussion threads from the public online forums on BabyCenter Canada. We identified relevant threads using the site search function and keywords related to dental health, with a focus on dental caries (tooth decay), related care behaviours (e.g., toothbrushing), and the controversial issue of fluoride. Following descriptive content coding, we applied a critical lens to unpack themes related to expert knowledge, gender and parenting online cultures. We analyzed 479 relevant threads. Our findings focus on two central themes: the tension between parents' views and those of dental health professionals; and, the gendered, cultural roles and expectations that position mothers as primarily responsible for the care of children's dental health. Though these themes are not new, our findings show that they persist in the digital context where social divisions (e.g., expert/non-expert) may be blurred. Our analysis of online discussions provides an opportunity to think critically about ways in which parents engage with public health, in digital contexts. Although some mothers express disconnect when communicating with dental professionals, they are very engaged and concerned with dental health issues for their children. A challenge for dental public health is to find ways to shift perspective towards recognizing that the target population is empowered and already engaged in discussions of research evidence and clinical encounters on their own terms, facilitated by an online context.

Measuring social communication behaviors as a treatment endpoint in individuals with autism spectrum disorder.

PubMed

Anagnostou, Evdokia; Jones, Nancy; Huerta, Marisela; Halladay, Alycia K; Wang, Paul; Scahill, Lawrence; Horrigan, Joseph P; Kasari, Connie; Lord, Cathy; Choi, Dennis; Sullivan, Katherine; Dawson, Geraldine

2015-07-01

Social communication impairments are a core deficit in autism spectrum disorder. Social communication deficit is also an early indicator of autism spectrum disorder and a factor in long-term outcomes. Thus, this symptom domain represents a critical treatment target. Identifying reliable and valid outcome measures for social communication across a range of treatment approaches is essential. Autism Speaks engaged a panel of experts to evaluate the readiness of available measures of social communication for use as outcome measures in clinical trials. The panel held monthly conference calls and two face-to-face meetings over 14 months. Key criteria used to evaluate measures included the relevance to the clinical target, coverage of the symptom domain, and psychometric properties (validity and reliability, as well as evidence of sensitivity to change). In all, 38 measures were evaluated and 6 measures were considered appropriate for use, with some limitations. This report discusses the relative strengths and weaknesses of existing social communication measures for use in clinical trials and identifies specific areas in need of further development. © The Author(s) 2014.

Style Guide: An Interdisciplinary Communication Tool to Support the Process of Generating Tailored Infographics From Electronic Health Data Using EnTICE3.

PubMed

Arcia, Adriana; Velez, Mark; Bakken, Suzanne

2015-01-01

In this case study we describe key features of the structured communication tool-a style guide-used to support interdisciplinary collaboration, and we propose the use of such a tool for research teams engaged in similar projects. We employ tailored infographics to present patient reported outcome data from a community health survey back, in a comprehensible and actionable manner, to the individuals who provided it. The style guide was developed to bridge the semantic gap between the domain and programming experts engaged in this effort. The style guide supports the communication of complex design specifications in a highly structured format that is nevertheless flexible enough to accommodate project growth. Unlike the typical corporate style guide that has a more narrative format, our style guide is innovative in its use of consistent fields across multiple, standalone entries. The process of populating the style guide prompted the designer toward greater design efficiency and led to consistent and specific instructions that met the framework architect's stated information needs. The guiding values in the creation of the style guide were consistency, clarity, and flexibility. It serves as a durable reference to the desired look and functionality of the final infographic product without dictating an implementation strategy. The style guide format can be adapted to meet the communication needs of other interdisciplinary teams facing a semantic gap.

Communication strategies to help reduce the prevalence of non-communicable diseases: Proceedings from the inaugural IFIC Foundation Global Diet and Physical Activity Communications Summit

PubMed Central

Fernstrom, Madelyn H; Reed, Kimberly A; Rahavi, Elizabeth B; Dooher, Carrie C

2012-01-01

Non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which include cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes, all of which are associated with the common risk factors of poor diet and insufficient physical activity, caused 63% of all deaths globally in 2008. The increasing discussion of global NCDs, including at the 2011 United Nations General Assembly High-level Meeting on the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases, and a request for multi-stakeholder engagement, prompted the International Food Information Council Foundation to sponsor the Global Diet and Physical Activity Communications Summit: “Insights to Motivate Healthful, Active Lifestyles” on September 19, 2011, in New York City. The Summit brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, representing 34 nations from governments; communication, health, nutrition, and fitness professions; civil society; nonprofits; academia; and the private sector. The Summit provided expert insights and best practices for the use of science-based, behavior-focused communications to motivate individuals to achieve healthful, active lifestyles, with the goal of reducing the prevalence of NCDs. Presented here are some of the highlights and key findings from the Summit. PMID:22537216

Scientists + Artists: An Introduction to Mutually Beneficial Partnerships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sparks, A.

2017-12-01

As world leaders, climate and energy scientists, and others examine our future climate, new ways of collaborating and communicating across different social sectors are becoming more crucial. What images and stories are evoked when you think about the future of the planet? Storytelling and images are basic tools for artists, and are increasingly recognized as critical tools for scientists, educators, and people interested in communicating science to broader public audiences. Science/arts collaborations have numerous benefits and can be challenging when partners have different lexicons for making sense of the world. This participatory session will explore the benefits and role of science/arts partnerships when communicating and engaging with stakeholders from varying backgrounds. Attendees will develop shared vocabulary and examine collaborative tools that can help both non-artists and non-scientists better communicate about climate change, energy policies, and other topics. For newcomers, this will be a 101 primer to community engagement and using the arts and/or collaborating with artists to reach broader audiences with your work. Experienced attendees will examine their own previous partnerships to reflect on the successes and learn from the challenges. Topics to be covered include: 1) understanding shared values between artists/scientists; 2) clarifying target audiences; and 3) identifying factors and components critical for healthy partnerships across sectors. Theater director and engagement strategist Ashley Sparks leads this interactive session and reflects on learnings from her partnership with the Energy Foundation, the Network for Energy, Water, and Health in Affordable Buildings, and the Natural Resources Defense Council. In partnership with engineers and technical experts she has been leading efforts to create a story bank focused on increasing energy efficiency in affordable multifamily housing.

Voluntarism, public engagement and the role of geoscience in radioactive waste management policy-making

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bilham, Nic

2014-05-01

In the UK, as elsewhere in Europe, there has been a move away from previous 'technocratic' approaches to radioactive waste management (RWM). Policy-makers have recognised that for any RWM programme to succeed, sustained engagement with stakeholders and the public is necessary, and any geological repository must be constructed and operated with the willing support of the community which hosts it. This has opened up RWM policy-making and implementation to a wider range of (often contested) expert inputs, ranging across natural and social sciences, engineering and even ethics. Geoscientists and other technical specialists have found themselves drawn into debates about how various types of expertise should be prioritised, and how they should be integrated with diverse public and stakeholder perspectives. They also have a vital role to play in communicating to the public the need for geological disposal of radioactive waste, and the various aspects of geoscience which will inform the process of implementing this, from identifying potential volunteer host communities, to finding a suitable site, developing the safety case, construction of a repository, emplacement of waste, closure and subsequent monitoring. High-quality geoscience, effectively communicated, will be essential to building and maintaining public confidence throughout the many decades such projects will take. Failure to communicate effectively the relevant geoscience and its central role in the UK's radioactive waste management programme arguably contributed to West Cumbria's January 2013 decision to withdraw from the site selection process, and may discourage other communities from coming forward in future. Across countries needing to deal with their radioactive waste, this unique challenge gives an unprecedented urgency to finding ways to engage and communicate effectively with the public about geoscience.

Communicating climate change and health in the media.

PubMed

Depoux, Anneliese; Hémono, Mathieu; Puig-Malet, Sophie; Pédron, Romain; Flahault, Antoine

2017-01-01

The translation of science from research to real-world change is a central goal of public health. Communication has an essential role to play in provoking a response to climate change. It must first raise awareness, make people feel involved and ultimately motivate them to take action. The goal of this research is to understand how the information related to this issue is being addressed and disseminated to different audiences-public citizens, politicians and key climate change stakeholders. Initial results show that the scientific voice struggles to globally highlight this issue to a general audience and that messages that address the topic do not meet the challenges, going from a dramatic framing to a basic adaptation framing. Communication experts can help inform scientists and policy makers on how to best share information about climate change in an engaging and motivating way. This study gives an insight about the key role of the media and communications in addressing themes relating to climate change and transmitting information to the public in order to take action.

The NSF-RCN Urban Heat Island Network

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Twine, T. E.; Snyder, P. K.; Hamilton, P.; Shepherd, M.; Stone, B., Jr.

2014-12-01

In much of the world cities are warming at twice the rate of outlying rural areas. The frequency of urban heat waves is projected to increase with climate change through the 21stcentury. Addressing the economic, environmental, and human costs of urban heat islands requires a better understanding of their behavior from many disciplinary perspectives. The goal of this four-year Urban Heat Island Network is to (1) bring together scientists studying the causes and impacts of urban warming, (2) advance multidisciplinary understanding of urban heat islands, (3) examine how they can be ameliorated through engineering and design practices, and (4) share these new insights with a wide array of stakeholders responsible for managing urban warming to reduce their health, economic, and environmental impacts. The Urban Heat Island Network involves atmospheric scientists, engineers, architects, landscape designers, urban planners, public health experts, and education and outreach experts, who will share knowledge, evaluate research directions, and communicate knowledge and research recommendations to the larger research community as well as stakeholders engaged in developing strategies to adapt to and mitigate urban warming. The first Urban Climate Institute was held in Saint Paul, Minnesota in July 2013 and focused on the characteristics of urban heat islands. Scientists engaged with local practitioners to improve communication pathways surrounding issues of understanding, adapting to, and mitigating urban warming. The second Urban Climate Institute was held in Atlanta, Georgia in July 2014 and focused on urban warming and public health. Scientists discussed the state of the science on urban modeling, heat adaptation, air pollution, and infectious disease. Practitioners informed participants on emergency response methods and protocols related to heat and other extreme weather events. Evaluation experts at the Science Museum of Minnesota have extensively evaluated both Institutes to improve future Institutes and to inform other research coordination networks. Two more Institutes are planned for 2015 and 2016 focusing on urban warming and the built environment, and education and outreach.

EarthCubed: Community Convergence and Communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ryan, J. C.; Black, R.; Davis, R.; Dick, C.; Lee, T.; Allison, M. L.

2015-12-01

What drives engagement across a diverse community with the common goal of creating a robust cyberinfrastructure for the geosciences? Which applications, social media venues and outreach mechanisms solicit the most valuable feedback? Of the dizzying toolkit available for community-building, which tools should receive time, attention and dedication? Finally, how does it all relate to better geoscience research? Research projects in the geosciences are rapidly becoming more interdisciplinary, requiring use of broader data-sets and a multitude of data-types in an effort to explain questions important to both the scientific community and the general public. Effective use of the data and tools available requires excellent community communication and engagement across disciplines, as well as a manner to easily obtain and access those data and tools. For over two years, the EarthCube project has sought to create the most active and engaged community possible, bringing together experts from all across the NSF GEO directorate and its many-faceted disciplines. Initial efforts focused on collecting insight and opinions at in-person "end-user workshops," and informal organization of interest groups and teams. Today, efforts feature an organizational structure with dedicated internal communication and outreach groups. The EarthCube Office has been largely responsible for coordination of these groups and the social media and Internet presence of the project to date, through the creation and curation of the EarthCube.org website, social media channels, live-streaming of meetings, and newsletters. Measures of the effectiveness of these efforts will be presented, to serve as potential reference and guidance for other projects seeking to grow their own communities. In addition, we will discuss how the Office's role in outreach and engagement has changed over the past year with the creation of the Engagement and Liaison Teams, and what it signifies for the Office's role in EarthCube's future.

Technology-assisted self-testing and management of oral anticoagulation therapy: a qualitative patient-focused study.

PubMed

Kuljis, Jasna; Money, Arthur G; Perry, Mark; Barnett, Julie; Young, Terry

2017-09-01

Oral anticoagulation therapy requires regular blood testing to ensure therapeutic levels are maintained and excessive bleeding/clotting is avoided. Technology-assisted self-testing and management is seen as one of the key areas in which quality of care can be improved whilst reducing costs. Nevertheless, levels of patient engagement in self-testing and management remain low. To date, little research emphasis has been placed on understanding the patients' perspectives for low engagement. The typical approach adopted by healthcare providers is to provide patient education programmes, with the expectation that individual patients will change their behaviour and adopt new self-care strategies. However, if levels of patient engagement are to be increased, healthcare providers must also develop a better understanding of how their clinical service provision is perceived by patients and make adaptations. To explore patient views, needs and expectations of an anticoagulation service and the self-testing and management services provided. Interviews were conducted with 17 patients who currently engage in international normalised ratio (INR) self-testing and management. Thematic coding and analysis were carried out on the interview transcripts. Four high-level themes emerged from interviews: (i) role of clinic, (ii) motivations for self-testing, (iii) managing INR and (iv) trust. The clinic was seen as adding value in terms of specifying testing frequency, dosage profiles and calibrating equipment. Prompt communication from clinic to patient was also valued, although more personalised/real-time communication would help avoid feelings of isolation. Patients felt more in control as self-tester/managers and often took decisions about treatment adjustments themselves. However, some also manipulated their own test results to avoid 'unnecessary' interventions. More personalised/real-time communication, pragmatic and collaborative patient-clinician partnerships and recognition of expert patient knowledge and expertise are needed if increased levels of engagement with self-testing and management service provision is to be realised. © 2016 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Youth Engagement through Science (YES!) - Engaging Underrepresented Minorities in Science through High School Internships at the National Museum of Natural History

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robertson, G.; Cruz, E.; Selvans, M. M.

2014-12-01

The Smithsonian's Youth Engagement through Science (YES!) program at the National Museum of Natural History gives young people from the Washington, D.C. area the opportunity to engage in science out of school through 16-week internships. We will present the program's successful strategies and lessons learned around recruiting and engaging young people from underserved communities, and maintaining relationships that help to support their pursuit of STEM and other career paths. The YES! program connects Smithsonian collections, experts, and training with local DC youth from communities traditionally underrepresented in science careers. YES! is now in its fifth year and has directly served 122 students; demographics of alumni are 67% female, and 51% Latino, 31% African-American, 7% Asian, 5% Caucasian and 6% other. The program immerses students in science research by giving them the opportunity to work side-by-side with scientists and staff from the Smithsonian's National Museum of Natural History, Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Gardens, and National Zoo. In addition to working on a research project, students have college preparatory courses, are trained in science communication, and apply their skills by interacting with the public on the exhibit floor.

Informing the implementation of evidence-informed decision making interventions using a social network analysis perspective; a mixed-methods study.

PubMed

Yousefi Nooraie, Reza; Lohfeld, Lynne; Marin, Alexandra; Hanneman, Robert; Dobbins, Maureen

2017-02-08

Workforce development is an important aspect of evidence-informed decision making (EIDM) interventions. The structure of formal and informal social networks can influence, and be influenced, by the implementation of EIDM interventions. In a mixed methods study we assessed the outcomes of a targeted training intervention to promote EIDM among the staff in three public health units in Ontario, Canada. This report focuses on the qualitative phase of the study in which key staff were interviewed about the process of engagement in the intervention, communications during the intervention, and social consequences. Senior managers identified staff to take part in the intervention. Engagement was a top-down process determined by the way organizational leaders promoted EIDM and the relevance of staff's jobs to EIDM. Communication among staff participating in the workshops and ongoing progress meetings was influential in overcoming personal and normative barriers to implementing EIDM, and promoted the formation of long-lasting social connections among staff. Organization-wide presentations and meetings facilitated the recognition of expertise that the trained staff gained, including their reputation as experts according to their peers in different divisions. Selective training and capacity development interventions can result in forming an elite versus ordinary pattern that facilitates the recognition of in-house qualified experts while also strengthening social status inequality. The role of leadership in public health units is pivotal in championing and overseeing the implementation process. Network analysis can guide and inform the design, process, and evaluation of the EIDM training interventions.

Using near-real-time monitoring data from Pu'u 'Ō'ō vent at Kīlauea Volcano for training and educational purposes

USGS Publications Warehouse

Teasdale, Rachel; Kraft, Katrien van der Hoeven; Poland, Michael P.

2015-01-01

Training non-scientists in the use of volcano-monitoring data is critical preparation in advance of a volcanic crisis, but it is currently unclear which methods are most effective for improving the content-knowledge of non-scientists to help bridge communications between volcano experts and non-experts. We measured knowledge gains for beginning-(introductory-level students) and novice-level learners (students with a basic understanding of geologic concepts) engaged in the Volcanoes Exploration Program: Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō (VEPP) “Monday Morning Meeting at the Hawaiian Volcano Observatory” classroom activity that incorporates authentic Global Positioning System (GPS), tilt, seismic, and webcam data from the Pu‘u ‘Ō‘ō eruptive vent on Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai‘i (NAGT website, 2010), as a means of exploring methods for effectively advancing non-expert understanding of volcano monitoring. Learner groups consisted of students in introductory and upper-division college geology courses at two different institutions. Changes in their content knowledge and confidence in the use of data were assessed before and after the activity using multiple-choice and open-ended questions. Learning assessments demonstrated that students who took part in the exercise increased their understanding of volcano-monitoring practices and implications, with beginners reaching a novice stage, and novices reaching an advanced level (akin to students who have completed an upper-division university volcanology class). Additionally, participants gained stronger confidence in their ability to understand the data. These findings indicate that training modules like the VEPP: Monday Morning Meeting classroom activity that are designed to prepare non-experts for responding to volcanic activity and interacting with volcano scientists should introduce real monitoring data prior to proceeding with role-paying scenarios that are commonly used in such courses. The learning gains from the combined approach will help improve effective communications between volcano experts and non-experts during times of crisis, thereby reducing the potential for confusion and misinterpretation of data.

Beyond Thin Ice: Co-Communicating the Many Arctics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Druckenmiller, M. L.; Francis, J. A.; Huntington, H.

2015-12-01

Science communication, typically defined as informing non-expert communities of societally relevant science, is persuaded by the magnitude and pace of scientific discoveries, as well as the urgency of societal issues wherein science may inform decisions. Perhaps nowhere is the connection between these facets stronger than in the marine and coastal Arctic where environmental change is driving advancements in our understanding of natural and socio-ecological systems while paving the way for a new assortment of arctic stakeholders, who generally lack adequate operational knowledge. As such, the Arctic provides opportunity to advance the role of science communication into a collaborative process of engagement and co-communication. To date, the communication of arctic change falls within four primary genres, each with particular audiences in mind. The New Arctic communicates an arctic of new stakeholders scampering to take advantage of unprecedented access. The Global Arctic conveys the Arctic's importance to the rest of the world, primarily as a regulator of lower-latitude climate and weather. The Intra-connected Arctic emphasizes the increasing awareness of the interplay between system components, such as between sea ice loss and marine food webs. The Transforming Arctic communicates the region's trajectory relative to the historical Arctic, acknowledging the impacts on indigenous peoples. The broad societal consensus on climate change in the Arctic as compared to other regions in the world underscores the opportunity for co-communication. Seizing this opportunity requires the science community's engagement with stakeholders and indigenous peoples to construct environmental change narratives that are meaningful to climate responses relative to non-ecological priorities (e.g., infrastructure, food availability, employment, or language). Co-communication fosters opportunities for new methods of and audiences for communication, the co-production of new interdisciplinary knowledge and cross-epistemological perspectives, and direct feedback to the science community regarding the societal implications of future research. Currently, the Study for Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH) is developing this necessary cadre of co-communicators of marine and coastal arctic change.

A "CASE" Study on Developing Science Communication and Outreach Skills of University Graduate Student Researchers in Alaska

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Tedesche, M. E.; Conner, L.

2015-12-01

Well rounded scientific researchers are not only experts in their field, but can also communicate their work to a multitude of various audiences, including the general public and undergraduate university students. Training in these areas should ideally start during graduate school, but many programs are not preparing students to effectively communicate their work. Here, we present results from the NSF-funded CASE (Changing Alaska Science Education) program, which was funded by NSF under the auspices of the GK-12 program. CASE placed science graduate students (fellows) in K-12 classrooms to teach alongside of K-12 teachers with the goal of enhancing communication and teaching skills among graduate students. CASE trained fellows in inquiry-based and experiential techniques and emphasized the integration of art, writing, and traditional Alaska Native knowledge in the classroom. Such techniques are especially effective in engaging students from underrepresented groups. As a result of participation, many CASE fellows have reported increased skills in communication and teaching, as well as in time management. These skills may prove directly applicable to higher education when teaching undergraduate students.

The Moral of the Tale: Stories, Trust, and Public Engagement with Clinical Ethics via Radio and Theatre.

PubMed

Bowman, Deborah

2017-03-01

Trust is frequently discussed with reference to the professional-patient relationship. However, trust is less explored in relation to the ways in which understanding of, and responses to, questions of ethics are discussed by both the "public" and "experts." Public engagement activity in healthcare ethics may invoke "trust" in analysing a moral question or problem but less frequently conceives of trust as integral to "public engagement" itself. This paper explores the relationship between trust and the ways in which questions of healthcare ethics are identified and negotiated by both "experts" and the public. Drawing on two examples from the author's "public engagement" work-a radio programme for the British Broadcasting Corporation and work with a playwright and theatre-the paper interrogates the ways in which "public engagement" is often characterized. The author argues that the common approach to public engagement in questions of ethics is unhelpfully constrained by a systemic disposition which continues to privilege the professional or expert voice at the expense of meaningful exchange and dialogue. By creating space for novel interactions between the "expert" and the "public," authentic engagement is achieved that enables not only the participants to flourish but also contributes to trust itself.

Informing Public Perceptions About Climate Change: A 'Mental Models' Approach.

PubMed

Wong-Parodi, Gabrielle; Bruine de Bruin, Wändi

2017-10-01

As the specter of climate change looms on the horizon, people will face complex decisions about whether to support climate change policies and how to cope with climate change impacts on their lives. Without some grasp of the relevant science, they may find it hard to make informed decisions. Climate experts therefore face the ethical need to effectively communicate to non-expert audiences. Unfortunately, climate experts may inadvertently violate the maxims of effective communication, which require sharing communications that are truthful, brief, relevant, clear, and tested for effectiveness. Here, we discuss the 'mental models' approach towards developing communications, which aims to help experts to meet the maxims of effective communications, and to better inform the judgments and decisions of non-expert audiences.

Public Engagement on Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Curry, J.

2011-12-01

Climate change communication is complicated by complexity of the scientific problem, multiple perspectives on the magnitude of the risk from climate change, often acrimonious disputes between scientists, high stakes policy options, and overall politicization of the issue. Efforts to increase science literacy as a route towards persuasion around the need for a policy like cap and trade have failed, because the difficulty that a scientist has in attempting to make sense of the social and political complexity is very similar to the complexity facing the general public as they try to make sense of climate science itself. In this talk I argue for a shift from scientists and their institutions as information disseminators to that of public engagement and enablers of public participation. The goal of engagement is not just to inform, but to enable, motivate and educate the public regarding the technical, political, and social dimensions of climate change. Engagement is a two-way process where experts and decision-makers seek input and learn from the public about preferences, needs, insights, and ideas relative to climate change impacts, vulnerabilities, solutions and policy options. Effective public engagement requires that scientists detach themselves from trying to control what the public does with the acquired knowledge and motivation. The goal should not be to "sell" the public on particular climate change solutions, since such advocacy threatens public trust in scientists and their institutions. Conduits for public engagement include the civic engagement approach in the context of community meetings, and perhaps more significantly, the blogosphere. Since 2006, I have been an active participant in the climate blogosphere, focused on engaging with people that are skeptical of AGW. A year ago, I started my own blog Climate Etc. at judithcurry.com. The demographic that I have focused my communication/engagement activities are the technically educated and scientifically literate public, many of whom have become increasingly skeptical of climate science the more they investigate the topic. Specific issues that this group has with climate science include concerns that science that cannot easily be separated from risk assessment and value judgments; concern that assessments (e.g. IPCC) have become a Maxwell's daemon for climate research; inadequate assessment of our ignorance of this complex scientific issue; elite scientists and scientific institutions losing credibility with the public; political exploitation of the public's lack of understanding; and concerns about the lack of public accountability of climate science and climate models that are being used as the basis for far reaching decisions and policies. Individuals in this group have the technical ability to understand and examine climate science arguments and are not prepared to cede judgment on this issue to the designated and self-proclaimed experts. This talk will describe my experiences in engaging with this group and what has been learned, both by myself and by participants in the discussion at Climate Etc.

Bothered by abstractness or engaged by cohesion? Experts' explanations enhance novices' deep-learning.

PubMed

Lachner, Andreas; Nückles, Matthias

2015-03-01

Experts' explanations have been shown to better enhance novices' transfer as compared with advanced students' explanations. Based on research on expertise and text comprehension, we investigated whether the abstractness or the cohesion of experts' and intermediates' explanations accounted for novices' learning. In Study 1, we showed that the superior cohesion of experts' explanations accounted for most of novices' transfer, whereas the degree of abstractness did not impact novices' transfer performance. In Study 2, we investigated novices' processing while learning with experts' and intermediates' explanations. We found that novices studying experts' explanations actively self-regulated their processing of the explanations, as they showed mainly deep-processing activities, whereas novices learning with intermediates' explanations were mainly engaged in shallow-processing activities by paraphrasing the explanations. Thus, we concluded that subject-matter expertise is a crucial prerequisite for instructors. Despite the abstract character of experts' explanations, their subject-matter expertise enables them to generate highly cohesive explanations that serve as a valuable scaffold for students' construction of flexible knowledge by engaging them in deep-level processing. PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2015 APA, all rights reserved.

Innovation contests to promote sexual health in China: a qualitative evaluation.

PubMed

Zhang, Wei; Schaffer, David; Tso, Lai Sze; Tang, Songyuan; Tang, Weiming; Huang, Shujie; Yang, Bin; Tucker, Joseph D

2017-01-14

Innovation contests call on non-experts to help solve problems. While these contests have been used extensively in the private sector to increase engagement between organizations and clients, there is little data on the role of innovation contests to promote health campaigns. We implemented an innovation contest in China to increase sexual health awareness among youth and evaluated community engagement in the contest. The sexual health image contest consisted of an open call for sexual health images, contest promotion activities, judging of entries, and celebrating contributions. Contest promotion activities included in-person and social media feedback, classroom didactics, and community-driven activities. We conducted 19 semi-structured interviews with a purposive sample to ensure a range of participant scores, experts and non-expert participants, submitters and non-submitters. Transcripts of each interview were coded with Atlas.ti and evaluated by three reviewers. We identified stages of community engagement in the contest which contributed to public health impact. Community engagement progressed across a continuum from passive, moderate, active, and finally strong engagement. Engagement was a dynamic process that appeared to have little relationship with formally submitting an image to the contest. Among non-expert participants, contest engagement increased knowledge, healthy attitudes, and empowered participants to share ideas about safe sex with others outside of the contest. Among experts who helped organize the contest, the process of implementing the contest fostered multi-sectoral collaboration and re-oriented public health leadership towards more patient-centered public health campaigns. The results of this study suggest that innovation contests may be a useful tool for public health promotion by enhancing community engagement and re-orienting health campaigns to make them more patient-centered.

Social media is a necessary component of surgery practice.

PubMed

Steele, Scott R; Arshad, Seyed; Bush, Ruth; Dasani, Serena; Cologne, Kyle; Bleier, Joshua I S; Raphaeli, Tal; Kelz, Rachel R

2015-09-01

Social media is a necessary component of the practice of surgery. Each surgeon must embrace the power and potential of social media and serve as a guide or content expert for patients and other health care providers to facilitate and share responsible use of the various media available. Social media facilitates rapid communication of information not only across providers but also between patients and providers. The power of social media has the potential to improve consultation and collaboration, facilitate patient education, and expand research efforts; moreover, by harnessing its potential, the appropriate use of many of the avenues of social media also can be used to disseminate campaigns to increase disease awareness and communicate new research findings and best-practice guidelines. Because its reach is so broad within as well as outside the censorship of medical experts, professional oversight and engagement is required to maximize responsible use. Staying consistent with our history of surgery, rich in innovation and technologic advancement, surgeons must get to the front of this evolving field and direct the path of social media as it applies to the practice of surgery rather than take a passive role. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Critical laboratory values in hemostasis: toward consensus.

PubMed

Lippi, Giuseppe; Adcock, Dorothy; Simundic, Ana-Maria; Tripodi, Armando; Favaloro, Emmanuel J

2017-09-01

The term "critical values" can be defined to entail laboratory test results that significantly lie outside the normal (reference) range and necessitate immediate reporting to safeguard patient health, as well as those displaying a highly and clinically significant variation compared to previous data. The identification and effective communication of "highly pathological" values has engaged the minds of many clinicians, health care and laboratory professionals for decades, since these activities are vital to good laboratory practice. This is especially true in hemostasis, where a timely and efficient communication of critical values strongly impacts patient management. Due to the heterogeneity of available data, this paper is hence aimed to analyze the state of the art and provide an expert opinion about the parameters, measurement units and alert limits pertaining to critical values in hemostasis, thus providing a basic document for future consultation that assists laboratory professionals and clinicians alike. KEY MESSAGES Critical values are laboratory test results significantly lying outside the normal (reference) range and necessitating immediate reporting to safeguard patient health. A broad heterogeneity exists about critical values in hemostasis worldwide. We provide here an expert opinion about the parameters, measurement units and alert limits pertaining to critical values in hemostasis.

Relating Student Recall to Expert and Novice Teachers' Instructional Communication: An Investigation Using Receiver Selectivity Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Webster, Collin A.

2010-01-01

Background: Research indicates expert and novice teachers communicate differently during instruction. However, these differences have yet to be investigated in relation to student learning. Receiver selectivity theory offers an interpretive framework for understanding how expert-novice communication differences might function to discriminate…

Childhood Asthma Disparities in Chicago: Developing Approaches to Health Inequities.

PubMed

Martin, Molly A; Kapheim, Melissa Gutierrez; Erwin, Kim; Ignoffo, Stacy; McMahon, Kate; OʼRourke, Amy; Gerald, Lynn B; Barrett, Meredith; Press, Valerie G; Darabi, Houshang; Krishnan, Jerry A

We conducted a needs assessment to develop an evidence-based, locally tailored asthma care implementation plan for high-risk children with asthma in Chicago. Our team of health policy experts, clinicians, researchers, and designers included extensive stakeholder engagement (N = 162) in a mixed-methods community needs assessment. Results showed the lines of communication and collaboration across sectors were weak; caregivers were the only consistent force and could not always manage this burden. A series of recommendations for interventions and how to implement and measure them were generated. Cooperative, multidisciplinary efforts grounded in the community can target wicked problems such as asthma.

Communication with U.S. federal decision makers : a primer with notes on the use of computer models as a means of communication.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Webb, Erik Karl; Tidwell, Vincent Carroll

2009-10-01

This document outlines ways to more effectively communicate with U.S. Federal decision makers by outlining the structure, authority, and motivations of various Federal groups, how to find the trusted advisors, and how to structure communication. All three branches of Federal governments have decision makers engaged in resolving major policy issues. The Legislative Branch (Congress) negotiates the authority and the resources that can be used by the Executive Branch. The Executive Branch has some latitude in implementation and prioritizing resources. The Judicial Branch resolves disputes. The goal of all decision makers is to choose and implement the option that best fitsmore » the needs and wants of the community. However, understanding the risk of technical, political and/or financial infeasibility and possible unintended consequences is extremely difficult. Primarily, decision makers are supported in their deliberations by trusted advisors who engage in the analysis of options as well as the day-to-day tasks associated with multi-party negotiations. In the best case, the trusted advisors use many sources of information to inform the process including the opinion of experts and if possible predictive analysis from which they can evaluate the projected consequences of their decisions. The paper covers the following: (1) Understanding Executive and Legislative decision makers - What can these decision makers do? (2) Finding the target audience - Who are the internal and external trusted advisors? (3) Packaging the message - How do we parse and integrate information, and how do we use computer simulation or models in policy communication?« less

Style Guide: An Interdisciplinary Communication Tool to Support the Process of Generating Tailored Infographics From Electronic Health Data Using EnTICE3

PubMed Central

Arcia, Adriana; Velez, Mark; Bakken, Suzanne

2015-01-01

Purpose: In this case study we describe key features of the structured communication tool—a style guide—used to support interdisciplinary collaboration, and we propose the use of such a tool for research teams engaged in similar projects. We employ tailored infographics to present patient reported outcome data from a community health survey back, in a comprehensible and actionable manner, to the individuals who provided it. The style guide was developed to bridge the semantic gap between the domain and programming experts engaged in this effort. Innovation: The style guide supports the communication of complex design specifications in a highly structured format that is nevertheless flexible enough to accommodate project growth. Unlike the typical corporate style guide that has a more narrative format, our style guide is innovative in its use of consistent fields across multiple, standalone entries. Credibility: The process of populating the style guide prompted the designer toward greater design efficiency and led to consistent and specific instructions that met the framework architect’s stated information needs. Discussion and Conclusion: The guiding values in the creation of the style guide were consistency, clarity, and flexibility. It serves as a durable reference to the desired look and functionality of the final infographic product without dictating an implementation strategy. The style guide format can be adapted to meet the communication needs of other interdisciplinary teams facing a semantic gap. PMID:25848634

Communicating airport noise emission data to the general public.

PubMed

Gasco, Luis; Asensio, Cesar; de Arcas, Guillermo

2017-05-15

Despite the efforts that the aviation industry has undertaken during the last few decades, noise annoyance remains high, partly because of the continuous transport demands of modern societies and partly because of changes in citizen expectations and their growing environmental concerns. Although modern aircraft are considerably quieter than their predecessors, the number of complaints has not decreased as much as expected. Therefore, the aeronautical sector has tried more sociological and/or psychological strategies to gain acceptance through awareness and community engagement. In this regard, noise communication to the public is crucial for managers and policy makers. Noise information is a difficult technical topic for non-experts, which is an issue that must first be addressed to take advantage of the new possibilities that have recently been opened by the internet and information and communication technologies. In this review paper, we have compiled the literature that shows the increasing importance of communicating noise information from aircraft and the variety of indicators used to communicate with the public. We also examined the methods of representing noise data, using visualization strategies, and new tools airports are currently using to address this communication problem. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Implementation of evidence-informed practice through central network actors; a case study of three public health units in Canada.

PubMed

Yousefi Nooraie, Reza; Marin, Alexandra; Hanneman, Robert; Lohfeld, Lynne; Dobbins, Maureen

2017-03-15

Workforce development is an important aspect of evidence-informed decision making (EIDM) interventions. The social position of individuals in formal and informal social networks, and the relevance of formal roles in relation to EIDM are important factors identifying key EIDM players in public health organizations. We assessed the role of central actors in information sharing networks in promoting the adoption of EIDM by the staff of three public health units in Canada, over a two-year period during which an organization-wide intervention was implemented. A multi-faceted and tailored intervention to train select staff applying research evidence in practice was implemented in three public health units in Canada from 2011 to 2013. Staff (n = 572) were asked to identify those in the health unit whom they turned to get help using research in practice, whom they considered as experts in EIDM, and friends. We developed multi-level linear regression models to predict the change in EIDM behavior scores predicted by being connected to peers who were central in networks and were engaged in the intervention. Only the group of highly engaged central actors who were connected to each other, and the staff who were not engaged in the intervention but were connected to highly engaged central actors significantly improved their EIDM behavior scores. Among the latter group, the staff who were also friends with their information sources showed a larger improvement in EIDM behavior. If engaged, central network actors use their formal and informal connections to promote EIDM. Central actors themselves are more likely to adopt EIDM if they communicate with each other. These social communications should be reinforced and supported through the implementation of training interventions as a means to promoting EIDM.

Principles for interactions with biopharmaceutical companies: the development of guidelines for patient advocacy organizations in the field of rare diseases.

PubMed

Stein, Susan; Bogard, Elizabeth; Boice, Nicole; Fernandez, Vivian; Field, Tessa; Gilstrap, Alan; Kahn, Susan R; Larkindale, Jane; Mathieson, Toni

2018-01-22

Rare diseases are a global public health concern, affecting an estimated 350 million individuals. Only 5% of approximately 7000 known rare diseases have a treatment, and only about half have a patient advocacy organization. Biopharmaceutical companies face complex challenges in developing treatments for rare diseases. Patient advocacy organizations may play a major role by positively influencing research and development, clinical trials, and regulations. Thus, collaboration among patient advocacy organizations and industry is essential to bring new therapeutics to patients. We identified an unmet need for guidelines on day-to-day decision-making by rare disease patient advocacy organizations when working with biopharmaceutical partners. We convened an Independent Expert Panel experienced in collaborations between patient advocacy organizations and biopharmaceutical companies (April 2017) to develop consensus guidelines for these relationships. The guidelines were based on an original version by the International Fibrodysplasia Ossificans Progressiva Association (IFOPA). The Expert Panel reviewed and broadened these to be applicable to all patient advocacy organizations. Comments on the draft Guidelines were provided first by Panel participants and subsequently by six independent experts from patient advocacy organizations and industry. The Panel comprised four experts from the rare disease community who lead patient advocacy organizations; three leaders who perform advocacy functions within biopharmaceutical companies; and two facilitators, both having leadership experience in rare diseases and industry. The finalized Guidelines consist of four main sections: Identification and Engagement With Companies, Patient Engagement and Patient Privacy, Financial Contributions, and Clinical Trial Communication and Support. The Guidelines address the daily considerations, choices, and consequences of patient advocacy organizations as they engage with biopharmaceutical companies, and offer recommendations for volunteer/paid leaders of the organizations on how to interact in a thoughtful, responsible, ethical way that engenders trust. These Guidelines recommend best practices and standards for interactions between patient advocacy organizations and industry that will ultimately have a positive effect on the development of novel treatments. Patient advocacy organizations will be provided free access to these Guidelines to help bring clarification to day-to-day decision-making around their interactions, and for use as a living document with the potential for regular revisions and updates.

Ethics of clinician communication in a changing communication landscape: guidance from professional societies.

PubMed

Gollust, Sarah E; Dwyer, Anne M

2013-12-01

Cancer experts engage in public communication whenever they promote their research or practice, respond to media inquiries, or use social media. In a changing communication landscape characterized by new technologies and heightened attention to cancer controversies, these activities may pose ethical challenges. This study was designed to evaluate existing resources to help clinicians navigate their public communication activities. We conducted a systematic, qualitative content analysis of codes of ethics, policy statements, and similar documents disseminated by professional medical and nursing societies for their members. We examined these documents for four types of content related to public communication: communication via traditional media; communication via social media; other communication to the public, policy, and legal spheres; and nonspecific language regarding public communication. We identified 46 documents from 23 professional societies for analysis. Five societies had language about traditional news media communication, five had guidance about social media, 11 had guidance about other communication domains, and 15 societies offered general language about public communication. The limited existing guidance focused on ethical issues related to patients (such as privacy violations) or clinicians (such as accuracy and professional boundaries), with less attention to population or policy impact of communication. Cancer-related professional societies might consider establishing more specific guidance for clinicians concerning their communication activities in light of changes to the communication landscape. Additional research is warranted to understand the extent to which clinicians face ethical challenges in public communication.

Using systems science to understand the determinants of inequities in healthy eating

PubMed Central

Pescud, Melanie; Malbon, Eleanor; Lee, Amanda; Carter, Robert; Greenfield, Joanne; Cobcroft, Megan; Potter, Jane; Rychetnik, Lucie; Meertens, Beth

2017-01-01

Introduction Systems thinking has emerged in recent years as a promising approach to understanding and acting on the prevention and amelioration of non-communicable disease. However, the evidence on inequities in non-communicable diseases and their risks factors, particularly diet, has not been examined from a systems perspective. We report on an approach to developing a system oriented policy actor perspective on the multiple causes of inequities in healthy eating. Methods Collaborative conceptual modelling workshops were held in 2015 with an expert group of representatives from government, non-government health organisations and academia in Australia. The expert group built a systems model using a system dynamics theoretical perspective. The model developed from individual mind maps to pair blended maps, before being finalised as a causal loop diagram. Results The work of the expert stakeholders generated a comprehensive causal loop diagram of the determinants of inequity in healthy eating (the HE2 Diagram). This complex dynamic system has seven sub-systems: (1) food supply and environment; (2) transport; (3) housing and the built environment; (4) employment; (5) social protection; (6) health literacy; and (7) food preferences. Discussion The HE2 causal loop diagram illustrates the complexity of determinants of inequities in healthy eating. This approach, both the process of construction and the final visualisation, can provide the basis for planning the prevention and amelioration of inequities in healthy eating that engages with multiple levels of causes and existing policies and programs. PMID:29190662

CLEAR: Communications Link Expert Assistance Resource

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hull, Larry G.; Hughes, Peter M.

1987-01-01

Communications Link Expert Assistance Resource (CLEAR) is a real time, fault diagnosis expert system for the Cosmic Background Explorer (COBE) Mission Operations Room (MOR). The CLEAR expert system is an operational prototype which assists the MOR operator/analyst by isolating and diagnosing faults in the spacecraft communication link with the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite (TDRS) during periods of realtime data acquisition. The mission domain, user requirements, hardware configuration, expert system concept, tool selection, development approach, and system design were discussed. Development approach and system implementation are emphasized. Also discussed are system architecture, tool selection, operation, and future plans.

Communicating risks and benefits about ethically controversial topics: the case of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells.

PubMed

Longstaff, Holly; McDonald, Michael; Bailey, Jennifer

2013-08-01

Many are supportive of approaches that incorporate lay citizens into policy making and risk management decisions. However, a great deal of learning must first take place about how citizen engagement for controversial topics is best accomplished. Online risk communication efforts are increasing in popularity but there is little empirical evidence accrued to demonstrate the effectiveness of such methods. The intention of our overall study is to create a powerful method for in-depth two-way communication with the public and expert communities about complex and sensitive issues at the heart of stem cell (SC) research. The fundamental objective is to raise awareness of SC science with lay citizens by fostering more holistic or "all things considered" ethical judgments. Our risk communication study demonstrates that lay citizens are both interested in, and capable of learning about, complex scientific issues provided the right tools are used to convey information and assess understanding. Our results show that it is worth the time and effort for SC researchers to continue posting podcasts and FAQ's about their work for non-expert communities to view. In addition, despite having increased our participants' risk perceptions about induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell research, almost all were very supportive of this type of research in Canada by the end of the survey. In other words, participants understood that this research did in fact pose some risks and learned a great deal about both the risks and benefits of iPS cell research, and still thought this research was worthwhile to pursue.

To Trust or Not to Trust? What Drives Public Trust in Science in Social Media Engagement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hwong, Y. L.; Oliver, C.; Van Kranendonk, M. J.

2017-12-01

The erosion of public trust in science is a serious concern today. This climate of distrust has real consequences, from the anti-vaccination movement to climate change denials. The age of social media promises opportunities for improved interactivity between scientists and the public, which experts hope will help improve public confidence in science. However, evidence linking social media engagement and public attitude towards science is scarce. Our study aimed to help fill this gap. We examined Twitter engagement and its impact on public trust in science, focusing on two related science issues: space science and climate change. Our datasets comprised of 10,000 randomly sampled tweets over a month's period in 2016. We used human annotation and machine learning to analyse the tweets. Results revealed the level of distrust was significantly higher in the climate change tweets. However, in the climate change network, people who engaged with science personalities trust science more than those who did not. This difference in trust levels was not present in the space science network. There the two clusters of people displayed similar levels of trust in science. Additionally, we used machine learning to predict the trust labels of tweets and conducted feature analysis to find the properties of trust-inspiring tweets. Our supervised learning algorithm was able to predict trust in science in our sample tweets with 84% accuracy. The strongest predictors of trust in science (as conveyed by tweets) were similarity, presence of URL and authenticity. Contrast this with the findings of our previous study investigating the features of highly engaging space science related social media messages, authenticity is the only feature that also inspires trust. This indicates that what works to promote engagement (e.g. `retweets', `Likes') does not necessarily build trust in science. Social media science communication is not as simple as `we engage, therefore they trust'. We suggest that social media science communication is more effective when scientists are aware of the nuances that characterise communications on virtual platforms. It may be that by being open, authentic and sensitive to the worldview of their audiences, scientists stand to get the most out of the opportunities offered by social media to improve public perception of science.

Engaging Students with Subject Matter Experts and Science Content Through Classroom Connection Webinars

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Graff, P. V.; Rampe, E.; Stefanov, W. L.; Vanderbloemen, L.; Higgins, M.

2015-01-01

Connecting students and teachers in classrooms with science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) experts provides an invaluable opportunity. Subject matter experts can share exciting science and science-related events as well as help to "translate" science being conducted by professionals. The Expedition Earth and Beyond (EEAB) Program, facilitated by the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Division at the NASA Johnson Space Center, has been providing virtual access to subject matter experts through classroom connection webinars for the last five years. Each year, the reach of these events has grown considerably, especially over the last nine months. These virtual connections not only help engage students with role models, but are also designed to help teachers address concepts and content standards they are required to teach. These events also enable scientists and subject matter experts to help "translate" current science in an engaging and understandable manner while actively involving classrooms in the journey of science and exploration.

What is the public's role in 'space' policymaking? Images of the public by practitioners of 'space' communication in the United Kingdom.

PubMed

Entradas, Marta

2016-07-01

Studies on experts' understanding of the public have mainly focused on the views of scientists. We add to the literature on constructions of the public by analyzing the views of decision-makers, professional science communicators and scientists involved in 'space' communication on the public and public participation in policy. Findings show that contextual situations and roles determine the way the public is conceptualised: the public is sophisticated and knowledgeable to participate in space activities/citizen science, but in matters of policy, a gullible image of the public is brought up. Despite the democratic talk on participation, practitioners delimited public involvement in policy in some way or other to protect their own power and decision-making capabilities. This conception of the public competes with the stated aims of scientific and political institutions for public engagement and the substantive value of public participation, leaving a limited role for the public in space policymaking. © The Author(s) 2015.

Effective Models for Scientists Engaging in Meaningful Education and Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noel-Storr, Jacob; Gurule, Isaiah; InsightSTEM Teacher-Scientist-Communicator-Learner Team

2017-01-01

We present a central paradigm, extending the model of "Teacher-Scientist" partnerships towards a new philosophy of "Scientist-Instructor-Learner-Communicator" Partnerships. In this paradigm modes of, and expertise in, communication, and the learners themselves, are held is as high status as the experts and teachers in the learning setting.We present three distinctive models that rest on this paradigm in different educational settings. First a model in which scientists and teachers work together with a communications-related specialist to design and develop new science exploration tools for the classroom, and gather feedback from learners. Secondly, we present a model which involves an ongoing joint professional development program helping scientists and teachers to be co-communicators of knowledge exploration to their specific audience of learners. And thirdly a model in which scientists remotely support classroom research based on online data, while the teachers and their students learn to become effective communicators of their genuine scientific results.This work was funded in part by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and by NASA awards NNX16AC68A and NNX16AJ21G. All opinions are those of the authors.

Effective Models for Scientists Engaging in Meaningful Education and Outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noel-Storr, Jacob; InsightSTEM SILC Partnership Team

2016-10-01

We present a central paradigm, extending the model of "Teacher-Scientist" partnerships towards a new philosophy of "Scientist-Instructor-Learner-Communicator" Partnerships. In this paradigm modes of, and expertise in, communication, and the learners themselves, are held is as high status as the experts and teachers in the learning setting.We present three distinctive models that rest on this paradigm in different educational settings. First a model in which scientists and teachers work together with a communications-related specialist to design and develop new science exploration tools for the classroom, and gather feedback from learners. Secondly, we present a model which involves an ongoing joint professional development program helping scientists and teachers to be co-communicators of knowledge exploration to their specific audience of learners. And thirdly a model in which scientists remotely support classroom research based on online data, while the teachers and their students learn to become effective communicators of their genuine scientific results.This work was funded in part by the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and by NASA awards NNX16AC68A and NNX16AJ21G. All opinions are those of the authors.

Communicating the Urgency and Challenge of Global Climate Change: Lessons Learned and New Strategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dilling, L.; Moser, S. C.

2004-12-01

Climate change can sometimes be characterized as a "creeping environmental problem"--it is complex and long-term, involves long system lags, lacks the immediacy of everyday experience and thus is hard to perceive, and feels overwhelming to most individuals. Climate change thus does not typically attain the status of an urgent concern, taking priority over other matters for individuals, organizations or in the policy arena. We review the major reasons behind this lack of urgency, and document the observed consequences of previous communication strategies, including lack of public understanding, indifference, confusion, fear and uncertainty. We find that certain emotional motivators such as fear and guilt, while oft-employed, do not actually result in improved recognition of the urgency of the issue, nor do they typically result in action. Rather, positive and engaging approaches may be more likely to achieve this goal. We propose seven strategies to improve the communication of climate change and its urgency: 1) Abide by basic communication rules and heed the warnings of communication experts; 2) Address the emotional and the temporal components of "urgency"; 3) Increase the persuasiveness of the message; 4) Use trusted messengers-broaden the circle; 5) Use opportunities well; 6) Tap into individual and cultural strengths and values; and 7) Unite and Conquer. The multi-faceted nature of the proposed strategies reflects the unique challenges of the climate change issue as well as the need to engage all levels and sectors of societies in the solution, from individuals, to businesses, to governments. These strategies and results emerged from a multi-disciplinary, academic/practitioner workshop on the topic held at NCAR in summer 2004.

Trusted Sources: The Role Scientific Societies Can Play in Improving Public Opinions on Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McEntee, C.; Cairns, A.; Buhrman, J.

2012-12-01

Public acceptance of the scientific consensus regarding climate change has eroded and misinformation designed to confuse the public is rapidly proliferating. Those issues, combined with an increase of politically motivated attacks on climate scientists and their research, have led to a place where ideology can trump scientific consensus as the foundation for developing policy solutions. The scientific community has been, thus far, unprepared to respond effectively to these developments. However, as a scientific society whose members engage in climate science research, and one whose organizational mission and vision are centered on the concepts of science for the benefit of humanity and ensuring a sustainable future, the American Geophysical Union can, and should, play an important role in reversing this trend. To that end, in 2011, AGU convened a Leadership Summit on Climate Science Communication, in which presidents, executive directors, and senior public policy staff from 17 scientific organizations engaged with experts in the social sciences regarding effective communication of climate science and with practitioners from agriculture, energy, and the military. The discussions focused on three key issues: the environment of climate science communication; public understanding of climate change; and the perspectives of consumers of climate science-based information who work with specific audiences. Participants diagnosed previous challenges and failings, enumerated the key constituencies that need to be effectively engaged, and identified the critical role played by cultural cognition—the influence of group values, particularly around equality and authority, individualism, and community; and the perceptions of risk. Since that meeting, AGU has consistently worked to identify and explore ways that it, and its members, and improve the effectiveness of their communication with the public about climate change. This presentation will focus on the insights AGU has gathered, as well as make the case for why this is an important role for scientific societies, such as AGU, to play.

Bonneville Power Administration Communication Alarm Processor expert system:

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Goeltz, R.; Purucker, S.; Tonn, B.

This report describes the Communications Alarm Processor (CAP), a prototype expert system developed for the Bonneville Power Administration by Oak Ridge National Laboratory. The system is designed to receive and diagnose alarms from Bonneville's Microwave Communications System (MCS). The prototype encompasses one of seven branches of the communications network and a subset of alarm systems and alarm types from each system. The expert system employs a backward chaining approach to diagnosing alarms. Alarms are fed into the expert system directly from the communication system via RS232 ports and sophisticated alarm filtering and mailbox software. Alarm diagnoses are presented to operatorsmore » for their review and concurrence before the diagnoses are archived. Statistical software is incorporated to allow analysis of archived data for report generation and maintenance studies. The delivered system resides on a Digital Equipment Corporation VAX 3200 workstation and utilizes Nexpert Object and SAS for the expert system and statistical analysis, respectively. 11 refs., 23 figs., 7 tabs.« less

Prioritizing Measures of Digital Patient Engagement: A Delphi Expert Panel Study

PubMed Central

2017-01-01

Background Establishing a validated scale of patient engagement through use of information technology (ie, digital patient engagement) is the first step to understanding its role in health and health care quality, outcomes, and efficient implementation by health care providers and systems. Objective The aim of this study was to develop and prioritize measures of digital patient engagement based on patients’ use of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)’s MyHealtheVet (MHV) portal, focusing on the MHV/Blue Button and Secure Messaging functions. Methods We aligned two models from the information systems and organizational behavior literatures to create a theory-based model of digital patient engagement. On the basis of this model, we conducted ten key informant interviews to identify potential measures from existing VA studies and consolidated the measures. We then conducted three rounds of modified Delphi rating by 12 national eHealth experts via Web-based surveys to prioritize the measures. Results All 12 experts completed the study’s three rounds of modified Delphi ratings, resulting in two sets of final candidate measures representing digital patient engagement for Secure Messaging (58 measures) and MHV/Blue Button (71 measures). These measure sets map to Donabedian’s three types of quality measures: (1) antecedents (eg, patient demographics); (2) processes (eg, a novel measure of Web-based care quality); and (3) outcomes (eg, patient engagement). Conclusions This national expert panel study using a modified Delphi technique prioritized candidate measures to assess digital patient engagement through patients’ use of VA’s My HealtheVet portal. The process yielded two robust measures sets prepared for future piloting and validation in surveys among Veterans. PMID:28550008

Prioritizing Measures of Digital Patient Engagement: A Delphi Expert Panel Study.

PubMed

Garvin, Lynn A; Simon, Steven R

2017-05-26

Establishing a validated scale of patient engagement through use of information technology (ie, digital patient engagement) is the first step to understanding its role in health and health care quality, outcomes, and efficient implementation by health care providers and systems. The aim of this study was to develop and prioritize measures of digital patient engagement based on patients' use of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)'s MyHealtheVet (MHV) portal, focusing on the MHV/Blue Button and Secure Messaging functions. We aligned two models from the information systems and organizational behavior literatures to create a theory-based model of digital patient engagement. On the basis of this model, we conducted ten key informant interviews to identify potential measures from existing VA studies and consolidated the measures. We then conducted three rounds of modified Delphi rating by 12 national eHealth experts via Web-based surveys to prioritize the measures. All 12 experts completed the study's three rounds of modified Delphi ratings, resulting in two sets of final candidate measures representing digital patient engagement for Secure Messaging (58 measures) and MHV/Blue Button (71 measures). These measure sets map to Donabedian's three types of quality measures: (1) antecedents (eg, patient demographics); (2) processes (eg, a novel measure of Web-based care quality); and (3) outcomes (eg, patient engagement). This national expert panel study using a modified Delphi technique prioritized candidate measures to assess digital patient engagement through patients' use of VA's My HealtheVet portal. The process yielded two robust measures sets prepared for future piloting and validation in surveys among Veterans. ©Lynn A Garvin, Steven R Simon. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 26.05.2017.

The evolution of social networks through the implementation of evidence-informed decision-making interventions: a longitudinal analysis of three public health units in Canada.

PubMed

Yousefi-Nooraie, Reza; Dobbins, Maureen; Marin, Alexandra; Hanneman, Robert; Lohfeld, Lynne

2015-12-03

We studied the evolution of information-seeking networks over a 2-year period during which an organization-wide intervention was implemented to promote evidence-informed decision-making (EIDM) in three public health units in Ontario, Canada. We tested whether engagement of staff in the intervention and their EIDM behavior were associated with being chosen as information source and how the trend of inter-divisional communications and the dominance of experts evolved over time. Local managers at each health unit selected a group of staff to get engage in Knowledge Broker-led workshops and development of evidence summaries to address local public health problems. The staff were invited to answer three online surveys (at baseline and two annual follow-ups) including name generator questions eliciting the list of the staff they would turn to for help integrating research evidence into practice. We used stochastic actor-oriented modeling to study the evolution of networks. We tested the effect of engagement in the intervention, EIDM behavior scores, organizational divisions, and structural dynamics of social networks on the tendency of staff to select information sources, and the change in its trend between year 1 and year 2 of follow-up. In all the three health units, and especially in the two units with higher levels of engagement in the intervention, the network evolved towards a more centralized structure, with an increasing significance of already central staff. The staff showed greater tendencies to seek information from peers with higher EIDM behavior scores. In the public health unit that had highest engagement and stronger leadership support, the engaged staff became more central. In all public health units, the engaged staff showed an increasing tendency towards forming clusters. The staff in the three public health units showed a tendency towards limiting their connections within their divisions. The longitudinal analysis provided us with a means to study the microstructural changes in public health units, clues to the sustainability of the implementation. The hierarchical transformation of networks towards experts and formation of clusters among staff who were engaged in the intervention show how implementing organizational interventions to promote EIDM may affect the knowledge flow and distribution in health care communities, which may lead to unanticipated consequences.

Protocols for Handling Messages Between Simulation Computers

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Balcerowski, John P.; Dunnam, Milton

2006-01-01

Practical Simulator Network (PSimNet) is a set of data-communication protocols designed especially for use in handling messages between computers that are engaging cooperatively in real-time or nearly-real-time training simulations. In a typical application, computers that provide individualized training at widely dispersed locations would communicate, by use of PSimNet, with a central host computer that would provide a common computational- simulation environment and common data. Originally intended for use in supporting interfaces between training computers and computers that simulate the responses of spacecraft scientific payloads, PSimNet could be especially well suited for a variety of other applications -- for example, group automobile-driver training in a classroom. Another potential application might lie in networking of automobile-diagnostic computers at repair facilities to a central computer that would compile the expertise of numerous technicians and engineers and act as an expert consulting technician.

Off the Shelf and Fueling the Public Discourse on America's Climate Choices

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ekwurzel, B.; Sideris, J.; Frumhoff, P.; Chung, C.

2010-12-01

To help ensure that the America’s Climate Choices (ACC) panel reports received constructive attention, The Union of Concerned Scientists and the National Academy of Sciences collaborated on a series of webinars to bring the findings of the reports to ca. 400 climate researchers, educators at academic and K-12 institutions, and experts from related fields. Panel chairs, report authors, and National Research Council study directors presented the findings and answered questions from participants across the nation. Attendees used the findings from ACC in their classrooms, community speaking engagements, and contact with policy makers. This presentation will provide a perspective on the scientific, policy and outreach strengths and challenges of the ACC reports - with a particular focus on opportunities to strengthen the communication of scientific assessments to key public and policymaker audiences in the distracted and complicated communications environment in which efforts to link robust assessments to decision-making now reside.

The Development of Expert Learners in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rahman, Saemah; Mahmud, Zuria; Yassin, Siti Fatimah Mohd; Amir, Ruslin; Ilias, Khadijah Wan

2010-01-01

The term "expert learner" refers to students who are actively engaged with the materials learned and take responsibility for their own learning. Literature reviews suggested the use of metacognitive approach to help develop students to become expert learners. Research on development of expert learners can be traced from movements that…

Human Expert Labeling Process (HELP): Towards a Reliable Higher-Order User State Labeling Process and Tool to Assess Student Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aslan, Sinem; Mete, Sinem Emine; Okur, Eda; Oktay, Ece; Alyuz, Nese; Genc, Utku Ergin; Stanhill, David; Esme, Asli Arslan

2017-01-01

In a series of longitudinal research studies, researchers at Intel Corporation in Turkey have been working towards an adaptive learning system automatically detecting student engagement as a higher-order user state in real-time. The labeled data necessary for supervised learning can be obtained through labeling conducted by human experts. Using…

It Takes Two–Skilled Recognition of Objects Engages Lateral Areas in Both Hemispheres

PubMed Central

Bilalić, Merim; Kiesel, Andrea; Pohl, Carsten; Erb, Michael; Grodd, Wolfgang

2011-01-01

Our object recognition abilities, a direct product of our experience with objects, are fine-tuned to perfection. Left temporal and lateral areas along the dorsal, action related stream, as well as left infero-temporal areas along the ventral, object related stream are engaged in object recognition. Here we show that expertise modulates the activity of dorsal areas in the recognition of man-made objects with clearly specified functions. Expert chess players were faster than chess novices in identifying chess objects and their functional relations. Experts' advantage was domain-specific as there were no differences between groups in a control task featuring geometrical shapes. The pattern of eye movements supported the notion that experts' extensive knowledge about domain objects and their functions enabled superior recognition even when experts were not directly fixating the objects of interest. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) related exclusively the areas along the dorsal stream to chess specific object recognition. Besides the commonly involved left temporal and parietal lateral brain areas, we found that only in experts homologous areas on the right hemisphere were also engaged in chess specific object recognition. Based on these results, we discuss whether skilled object recognition does not only involve a more efficient version of the processes found in non-skilled recognition, but also qualitatively different cognitive processes which engage additional brain areas. PMID:21283683

Evidence based communication for health promotion: Indian lessons of last decade.

PubMed

Suresh, K

2011-01-01

Good health promotion programs which help achieve public health goals are derived from using a mix of epidemiological and social and behavioral science research information. Social data informed by behavioral theories provides a lens of understanding how recommended behaviors are adopted by different individuals within the population over a period of time. In addition to social and epidemiological data, evidence based and scientifically planned and monitored strategic communication interventions have to be linked to available service components of the program. Communication is increasingly understood as an enabler of individual and social level change to achieve established developmental goals including health. Democratization movements and the advent of the internet have changed the environment around any program communication from top-down, expert-to-consumer (vertical) communication towards non-hierarchical, dialogue-based (horizontal) communication, through which the public increasingly questions recommendations of experts and public institutions on the basis of their own, often web based, research. The amount of information available has increased greatly, including scientifically valid data and evidence-based recommendations alongside poor quality data, personal opinions, and misinformation. Evidence-based approaches include engagement with and listening to stakeholders, and being transparent about decision making, and honest and open about uncertainty and risks. Decision and policy makers cannot assume what the public wants without undertaking social science and decision science research. The Global Polio Eradication Initiative and Integrated Disease Surveillance Projects (IDSP) in India haves shown that monitoring of public concerns needs to be continuous and responsive, and hand in hand with the monitoring of technical strategies and appropriate Information Technology support for, not only data transmission but also for videoconferencing and community involvement through toll free 24 × 7 call service with universal access. This article elucidates the vital role of Health Promotion, a research based communication process, in achieving developmental, particularly health goals. It underscores that communication is as much a science as an art, as much process as it is about outcomes. It advocates for increased linkages between epidemiological research and social science research in planning effective health promotion interventions with quality service delivery.

Fostering Civic Engagement in the Communication Research Methods Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Liu, Min

2011-01-01

Civic engagement has become an essential learning goal for institutions throughout higher education. Communication scholars employ various pedagogical tools to foster civic engagement. For instance, service learning has been shown to increase political and community engagement in courses such as family communication and public relations. Teachers…

Ten Tips for Talking to Townies: Observations on Risk Communication from the Multihazards Demonstration Project

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Porter, K. A.; Jones, L. M.

2010-12-01

The USGS’s Multihazards Demonstration Project (MHDP) seeks to demonstrate how hazard science can improve a community’s resiliency to natural hazards. To do so, it must accurately but clearly communicate scientific concepts and findings to a wide variety of nonscientist stakeholders, many of whom are technical experts in their field primarily interested in the implications of MHDP’s science for them, and relatively uninterested in the science per se. During the development and rollout of the MHDP scenarios we found several strategies of risk communication helpful. Use availability. Relate new ideas to events the audience personally observed. Avoid sensationalism, since even the appearance of an appeal to emotion seemed to undermine the credibility of the message among certain constituencies. Avoid probability. However tempted we are as scientists to emphasize the unknown, stakeholders preferred a single coherent story. We can accompany the coherent story with an acknowledgment of uncertainty and limited knowledge. Engage stakeholders in the science as early as possible. They can help ground, direct, and vet the science as it emerges, and help us avoid “spherical-cow” simplifications. Get to the point. Soundbites, despite negative connotations, promote conciseness. Emphasize consensus. While scientists are primarily interested in the boundaries of knowledge, the public is more interested in what is known, and acts more readily where there is no ambiguity. Confront misinformation. Science sometimes competes with pseudoscience for public mindspace. Where the goal is enhancing community resiliency, the competition becomes a battle. Temper talk with activities. We learn by doing, and some of us have no patience for lectures. Use engaging imagery. We found that modern media such as Youtube videos with high production quality and geospatial imagery that the public sees as cutting edge, captured people’s attention, even senior professionals and academics who know the difference between flash and substance. Defend in depth. Where there is risk there is a potential cost. Where there is cost there is resistance, sometimes from knowledgeable experts who are not swayed by degrees and affiliations.

Request for Travel Funds for Systems Radiation Biology Workshop

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Barcellos-Hoff, Mary Helen

The 3rd International Systems Radiation Biology Workshop brought together the major European, US and Japanese research programs on radiation risk as well as selected experts representing systems biological approaches to discuss how the new methodologies could be best exploited for low dose research. A significant part of the workshop was devoted to discussions organised as breakout group sessions. To facilitate discussions number of participants was limited to 60 persons. To achieve the goals of this symposium in this international conference, support from DOE is vital. Hence, this proposal requested support in the amount of $15,000 to cover the travel expensesmore » of international experts and radiation biology scientists from the United States. This supporting mechanism was clearly identified to the selected US participants as a conference support award from the DOE (See attached PDF). The workshop was an outstanding opportunity to strengthen interactions between leading experts in the emerging areas of radiation sciences, and will also provide opportunities for younger scientists to meet with experts and discuss their results. This workshop was designed to endorse active engagement in international collaboration. A major objective of this conference was to effectively communicate research results, in order to ensure that current thinking reflects sound science of radiation biology. Further, this international event addressed the use and success of scientific initiatives in radiation biology for policymakers, standard-setters, and the general public.« less

Reaching out to the hard to reach: using a science centre model to deliver public engagement with research.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gagen, M.; Allton, C.; Bryan, W. A.; O'Leary, M.

2017-12-01

Science communication is at an all-time high but public faith in expertise is low. However, within this climate of suspicion, research scientists remain a publicly trusted expert group. While there is both academic and public appetite for Public Engagement with Research (PER), there are barriers to reaching a wide range of publics. Attempts to connect the public with research often end up targeting the `already engaged'; the hard-to-reach remain just that. Engaging scientific curiosity in a wider demographic is crucial to promote scientific curiosity, itself known to profoundly counter the politically motivated reasoning that threatens informed debate around contemporary environmental issues. This requires the creation of opportunities for the public to engage with research in places in which they feel they belong. We report here on an 8 month pilot of a science centre model for PER. Oriel Science (www.orielscience.co.uk) is a research-led science exhibition in Swansea city centre delivering Swansea University's PER and run by academics and student ambassadors. Oriel Science (Oriel is Gallery in Welsh) received 16,000 visitors in 8 months, 40% of whom had no previous interaction with the university or its research and >40% of whom came from socio-economically deprived areas. We report on the public engagement leadership we enabled, working with 18 research groups over 8 months and our achievements in giving a broad range of publics the most direct access to participate in contemporary science.

Jumping over the hurdles to effectively communicate the Operational Earthquake Forecast

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McBride, S.; Wein, A. M.; Becker, J.; Potter, S.; Tilley, E. N.; Gerstenberger, M.; Orchiston, C.; Johnston, D. M.

2016-12-01

Probabilities, uncertainties, statistics, science, and threats are notoriously difficult topics to communicate with members of the public. The Operational Earthquake Forecast (OEF) is designed to provide an understanding of potential numbers and sizes of earthquakes and the communication of it must address all of those challenges. Furthermore, there are other barriers to effective communication of the OEF. These barriers include the erosion of trust in scientists and experts, oversaturation of messages, fear and threat messages magnified by the sensalisation of the media, fractured media environments and online echo chambers. Given the complexities and challenges of the OEF, how can we overcome barriers to effective communication? Crisis and risk communication research can inform the development of communication strategies to increase the public understanding and use of the OEF, when applied to the opportunities and challenges of practice. We explore ongoing research regarding how the OEF can be more effectively communicated - including the channels, tools and message composition to engage with a variety of publics. We also draw on past experience and a study of OEF communication during the Canterbury Earthquake Sequence (CES). We demonstrate how research and experience has guided OEF communications during subsequent events in New Zealand, including the M5.7 Valentine's Day earthquake in 2016 (CES), M6.0 Wilberforce earthquake in 2015, and the Cook Strait/Lake Grassmere earthquakes in 2013. We identify the successes and lessons learned of the practical communication of the OEF. Finally, we present future projects and directions in the communication of OEF, informed by both practice and research.

AAAS Communicating Science Program: Reflections on Evaluation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Braha, J.

2015-12-01

The AAAS Center for Public Engagement (Center) with science builds capacity for scientists to engage public audiences by fostering collaboration among natural or physical scientists, communication researchers, and public engagement practitioners. The recently launched Leshner Leadership Institute empowers cohorts of mid-career scientists to lead public engagement by supporting their networks of scientists, researchers, and practitioners. The Center works closely with social scientists whose research addresses science communication and public engagement with science to ensure that the Communicating Science training program builds on empirical evidence to inform best practices. Researchers ( Besley, Dudo, & Storkdieck 2015) have helped Center staff and an external evaluator develop pan instrument that measures progress towards goals that are suggested by the researcher, including internal efficacy (increasing scientists' communication skills and confidence in their ability to engage with the public) and external efficacy (scientists' confidence in engagement methods). Evaluation results from one year of the Communicating Science program suggest that the model of training yields positive results that support scientists in the area that should lead to greater engagement. This talk will explore the model for training, which provides a context for strategic communication, as well as the practical factors, such as time, access to public engagement practitioners, and technical skill, that seems to contribute to increased willingness to engage with public audiences. The evaluation program results suggest willingness by training participants to engage directly or to take preliminary steps towards engagement. In the evaluation results, 38% of trained scientists reported time as a barrier to engagement; 35% reported concern that engagement would distract from their work as a barrier. AAAS works to improve practitioner-researcher-scientist networks to overcome such barriers.

Research, practice, and policy partnerships in pan-Canadian coalitions for cancer and chronic disease prevention.

PubMed

Manafò, Elizabeth; Petermann, Lisa; Lobb, Rebecca; Keen, Deb; Kerner, Jon

2011-01-01

To describe the development stages of the Coalitions Linking Action and Science for Prevention (CLASP) initiative of the Canadian Partnership Against Cancer to support research, practice, and policy coalitions focused on cancer and chronic disease prevention in Canada. Coalitions Linking Action and Science for Prevention was implemented in 3 stages. This article describes Stage 1 that consisted of an online concept-mapping consultation process, 3 topic specific networking and consultation workshops, and 3 context-specific networking, coalition development, and planning meetings. These were all completed using a participatory engagement approach to encourage knowledge exchange across jurisdictions and sectors in Canada. Toronto, Ontario; Calgary, Alberta; Montreal, Québec; and Ottawa, Ontario. More than 500 researchers, practitioners, and policy specialists were invited to take part in the first stage activities. (1) Participant-identified high-priority opportunities for strategic collaboration; (2) Cross-jurisdictional and cross-sector representation; and (3) Participant feedback on the CLASP processes and activities. Participants from Stage 1 activities were distributed across all provinces/territories; 3 jurisdictional levels; and research, practice, and policy sectors. Ninety priority opportunities for strategic collaboration were identified across all 3 workshops. Participants provided detailed feedback about transparency of the RFP (Request for Proposals) application process, support needed to level the playing field for potential applicants, and valuable suggestions for the adjudication process. Coalitions Linking Action and Science for Prevention engaged hundreds of research, practice, and policy experts across Canada focusing social-behavioral, clinical, and environmental and occupational opportunities for cancer and chronic disease prevention. Given the extent of expert and jurisdictional engagement, the substantial Partnership investment in a participatory engagement approach to RFP development and potential applicant response suggests that efforts to link cancer and chronic disease prevention efforts across jurisdictions and through research, practice, and policy collaboration may require this type of a priori investment in networking, communication, coordination, and collaboration.

Impact of postgraduate training on communication skills teaching: a controlled study.

PubMed

Junod Perron, Noelle; Nendaz, Mathieu; Louis-Simonet, Martine; Sommer, Johanna; Gut, Anne; Cerutti, Bernard; van der Vleuten, Cees P; Dolmans, Diana

2014-04-14

Observation of performance followed by feedback is the key to good teaching of communication skills in clinical practice. The fact that it occurs rarely is probably due to clinical supervisors' perceived lack of competence to identify communication skills and give effective feedback. We evaluated the impact of a faculty development programme on communication skills teaching on clinical supervisors' ability to identify residents' good and poor communication skills and to discuss them interactively during feedback. We conducted a pre-post controlled study in which clinical supervisors took part to a faculty development program on teaching communication skills in clinical practice. Outcome measures were the number and type of residents' communication skills identified by supervisors in three videotaped simulated resident-patient encounters and the number and type of communication skills discussed interactively with residents during three feedback sessions. 48 clinical supervisors (28 intervention group; 20 control group) participated. After the intervention, the number and type of communication skills identified did not differ between both groups. There was substantial heterogeneity in the number and type of communication skills identified. However, trained participants engaged in interactive discussions with residents on a significantly higher number of communication items (effect sizes 0.53 to 1.77); communication skills items discussed interactively included both structural and patient-centered elements that were considered important to be observed by expert teachers. The faculty development programme did not increase the number of communication skills recognised by supervisors but was effective in increasing the number of communication issues discussed interactively in feedback sessions. Further research should explore the respective impact of accurate identification of communication skills and effective teaching skills on achieving more effective communication skills teaching in clinical practice.

Impact of postgraduate training on communication skills teaching: a controlled study

PubMed Central

2014-01-01

Background Observation of performance followed by feedback is the key to good teaching of communication skills in clinical practice. The fact that it occurs rarely is probably due to clinical supervisors’ perceived lack of competence to identify communication skills and give effective feedback. We evaluated the impact of a faculty development programme on communication skills teaching on clinical supervisors’ ability to identify residents’ good and poor communication skills and to discuss them interactively during feedback. Methods We conducted a pre-post controlled study in which clinical supervisors took part to a faculty development program on teaching communication skills in clinical practice. Outcome measures were the number and type of residents’ communication skills identified by supervisors in three videotaped simulated resident-patient encounters and the number and type of communication skills discussed interactively with residents during three feedback sessions. Results 48 clinical supervisors (28 intervention group; 20 control group) participated. After the intervention, the number and type of communication skills identified did not differ between both groups. There was substantial heterogeneity in the number and type of communication skills identified. However, trained participants engaged in interactive discussions with residents on a significantly higher number of communication items (effect sizes 0.53 to 1.77); communication skills items discussed interactively included both structural and patient-centered elements that were considered important to be observed by expert teachers. Conclusions The faculty development programme did not increase the number of communication skills recognised by supervisors but was effective in increasing the number of communication issues discussed interactively in feedback sessions. Further research should explore the respective impact of accurate identification of communication skills and effective teaching skills on achieving more effective communication skills teaching in clinical practice. PMID:24731477

The impact of expert- and peer feedback on communication skills of undergraduate dental students - a single-blinded, randomized, controlled clinical trial.

PubMed

Krause, Felix; Schmalz, Gerhard; Haak, Rainer; Rockenbauch, Katrin

2017-12-01

To evaluate the effect of peer- and expert feedback on communication skills of undergraduate dental students. All students of the first clinical treatment course (n=46) were randomly assigned into two groups. For three times a medical-dental interview/consultation of each student with a real patient was videotaped. After every consultation the videos were assessed either by a person experienced in communication (expert group) or by a fellow student (peer group), giving the students feedback regarding their chairside performed communication skills. Before and after the feedback-interventions all students conducted an interview with simulated patients, which was rated using a validated global rating and analyzed statistically. Global ratings mean scores after feedback-intervention were significantly improved (p<0.05). Thereby, no significant differences in the overall assessment could be observed between expert and peer feedback (p>0.05). During this study students improved their communication skills in dentist-patient interactions. The communication experience of the feedback provider seems not to have any impact on the communication skills in undergraduate dental students. The clinical courses in dentistry offer the opportunity to implement peer-feedback interventions in real treatment situation as part of communication training to longitudinally improve communication skills. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Pharmacy 2.0: a scoping review of social media use in pharmacy.

PubMed

Grindrod, Kelly; Forgione, Andrea; Tsuyuki, Ross T; Gavura, Scott; Giustini, Dean

2014-01-01

New "social" information and communication technologies such as social media and smartphones are allowing non-experts to access, interpret and generate medical information for their own care and the care of others. Pharmacists may also benefit from increased connectivity, but first there needs to be an understanding of how pharmacists engage with social media. A scoping review methodology was used to describe pharmacist and pharmacy student participation in social media networks and to describe the gaps in research. Three themes that emerged from reviewing social media use in pharmacy education were student engagement, boundaries and e-professionalism. For pharmacists, the themes of liability and professional use were prominent. Few pharmacy leadership organizations are providing guidance on social media but that appears to be changing. As the control of medical knowledge shifts from health professionals to the larger social community, pharmacists need to be present. Social media use and training in undergraduate programs is promising but experienced pharmacists also need to join the conversation. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

System-level planning, coordination, and communication: care of the critically ill and injured during pandemics and disasters: CHEST consensus statement.

PubMed

Dichter, Jeffrey R; Kanter, Robert K; Dries, David; Luyckx, Valerie; Lim, Matthew L; Wilgis, John; Anderson, Michael R; Sarani, Babak; Hupert, Nathaniel; Mutter, Ryan; Devereaux, Asha V; Christian, Michael D; Kissoon, Niranjan

2014-10-01

System-level planning involves uniting hospitals and health systems, local/regional government agencies, emergency medical services, and other health-care entities involved in coordinating and enabling care in a major disaster. We reviewed the literature and sought expert opinions concerning system-level planning and engagement for mass critical care due to disasters or pandemics and offer suggestions for system-planning, coordination, communication, and response. The suggestions in this chapter are important for all of those involved in a pandemic or disaster with multiple critically ill or injured patients, including front-line clinicians, hospital administrators, and public health or government officials. The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) consensus statement development process was followed in developing suggestions. Task Force members met in person to develop nine key questions believed to be most relevant for system-planning, coordination, and communication. A systematic literature review was then performed for relevant articles and documents, reports, and other publications reported since 1993. No studies of sufficient quality were identified upon which to make evidence-based recommendations. Therefore, the panel developed expert opinion-based suggestions using a modified Delphi process. Suggestions were developed and grouped according to the following thematic elements: (1) national government support of health-care coalitions/regional health authorities (HC/RHAs), (2) teamwork within HC/RHAs, (3) system-level communication, (4) system-level surge capacity and capability, (5) pediatric patients and special populations, (6) HC/RHAs and networks, (7) models of advanced regional care systems, and (8) the use of simulation for preparedness and planning. System-level planning is essential to provide care for large numbers of critically ill patients because of disaster or pandemic. It also entails a departure from the routine, independent system and involves all levels from health-care institutions to regional health authorities. National government support is critical, as are robust communication systems and advanced planning supported by realistic exercises.

System-Level Planning, Coordination, and Communication

PubMed Central

Kanter, Robert K.; Dries, David; Luyckx, Valerie; Lim, Matthew L.; Wilgis, John; Anderson, Michael R.; Sarani, Babak; Hupert, Nathaniel; Mutter, Ryan; Devereaux, Asha V.; Christian, Michael D.; Kissoon, Niranjan; Christian, Michael D.; Devereaux, Asha V.; Dichter, Jeffrey R.; Kissoon, Niranjan; Rubinson, Lewis; Amundson, Dennis; Anderson, Michael R.; Balk, Robert; Barfield, Wanda D.; Bartz, Martha; Benditt, Josh; Beninati, William; Berkowitz, Kenneth A.; Daugherty Biddison, Lee; Braner, Dana; Branson, Richard D; Burkle, Frederick M.; Cairns, Bruce A.; Carr, Brendan G.; Courtney, Brooke; DeDecker, Lisa D.; De Jong, Marla J.; Dominguez-Cherit, Guillermo; Dries, David; Einav, Sharon; Erstad, Brian L.; Etienne, Mill; Fagbuyi, Daniel B.; Fang, Ray; Feldman, Henry; Garzon, Hernando; Geiling, James; Gomersall, Charles D.; Grissom, Colin K.; Hanfling, Dan; Hick, John L.; Hodge, James G.; Hupert, Nathaniel; Ingbar, David; Kanter, Robert K.; King, Mary A.; Kuhnley, Robert N.; Lawler, James; Leung, Sharon; Levy, Deborah A.; Lim, Matthew L.; Livinski, Alicia; Luyckx, Valerie; Marcozzi, David; Medina, Justine; Miramontes, David A.; Mutter, Ryan; Niven, Alexander S.; Penn, Matthew S.; Pepe, Paul E.; Powell, Tia; Prezant, David; Reed, Mary Jane; Rich, Preston; Rodriquez, Dario; Roxland, Beth E.; Sarani, Babak; Shah, Umair A.; Skippen, Peter; Sprung, Charles L.; Subbarao, Italo; Talmor, Daniel; Toner, Eric S.; Tosh, Pritish K.; Upperman, Jeffrey S.; Uyeki, Timothy M.; Weireter, Leonard J.; West, T. Eoin; Wilgis, John; Ornelas, Joe; McBride, Deborah; Reid, David; Baez, Amado; Baldisseri, Marie; Blumenstock, James S.; Cooper, Art; Ellender, Tim; Helminiak, Clare; Jimenez, Edgar; Krug, Steve; Lamana, Joe; Masur, Henry; Mathivha, L. Rudo; Osterholm, Michael T.; Reynolds, H. Neal; Sandrock, Christian; Sprecher, Armand; Tillyard, Andrew; White, Douglas; Wise, Robert; Yeskey, Kevin

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: System-level planning involves uniting hospitals and health systems, local/regional government agencies, emergency medical services, and other health-care entities involved in coordinating and enabling care in a major disaster. We reviewed the literature and sought expert opinions concerning system-level planning and engagement for mass critical care due to disasters or pandemics and offer suggestions for system-planning, coordination, communication, and response. The suggestions in this chapter are important for all of those involved in a pandemic or disaster with multiple critically ill or injured patients, including front-line clinicians, hospital administrators, and public health or government officials. METHODS: The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) consensus statement development process was followed in developing suggestions. Task Force members met in person to develop nine key questions believed to be most relevant for system-planning, coordination, and communication. A systematic literature review was then performed for relevant articles and documents, reports, and other publications reported since 1993. No studies of sufficient quality were identified upon which to make evidence-based recommendations. Therefore, the panel developed expert opinion-based suggestions using a modified Delphi process. RESULTS: Suggestions were developed and grouped according to the following thematic elements: (1) national government support of health-care coalitions/regional health authorities (HC/RHAs), (2) teamwork within HC/RHAs, (3) system-level communication, (4) system-level surge capacity and capability, (5) pediatric patients and special populations, (6) HC/RHAs and networks, (7) models of advanced regional care systems, and (8) the use of simulation for preparedness and planning. CONCLUSIONS: System-level planning is essential to provide care for large numbers of critically ill patients because of disaster or pandemic. It also entails a departure from the routine, independent system and involves all levels from health-care institutions to regional health authorities. National government support is critical, as are robust communication systems and advanced planning supported by realistic exercises. PMID:25144713

Microbiologists’ Public Engagement Views and Behaviors †

PubMed Central

Besley, John; Kahlor, Lee Ann; Koh, Hyeseung; Copple, Jacob; Yuan, Shupei

2018-01-01

In this study, we present results from an extensive survey of US-based microbiologists (adults) to explore these scientists’ perceptions and behaviors related to communicating their research. Specifically, we explored the frequency with which microbiologists engage in public communication, how they evaluate their public communication experiences, and the factors associated with their willingness to engage in face-to-face and online public communication in the future. Data from a multi-wave online survey suggest that microbiologists (N = 903) are somewhat frequent communicators who derive great value from their outreach efforts. The results further suggest that social and psychological drivers of future intentions to engage with the public are consistent with the Theory of Planned Behavior (TPB). Specifically, microbiologists with more positive attitudes toward engagement were more willing to partake in direct and online communication activities. Similarly, microbiologists who believe they possess communication skills are more willing than their less efficacious colleagues to do either type of outreach. Our results also indicate that more-senior and more-active researchers are more willing to participate in direct and online engagement. Implications for communication training are discussed. PMID:29904524

The Potential of Computer-Based Expert Systems for Special Educators in Rural Settings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parry, James D.; Ferrara, Joseph M.

Knowledge-based expert computer systems are addressing issues relevant to all special educators, but are particularly relevant in rural settings where human experts are less available because of distance and cost. An expert system is an application of artificial intelligence (AI) that typically engages the user in a dialogue resembling the…

Communicating Experience and Ideas to the General Public

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Illingworth, S. M.; Clark, E.; Allen, G.; Muller, J.; Leather, K.; Percival, C.; Morgan, W.; O'Meara, S.; Young, D. E.; Booth, A.; Simpson, E.; Lloyd, G.; Bannan, T.; Muller, C. L.; Graves, R. R.

2013-12-01

According to Niels Bohr, as scientists: 'Our task is to communicate experience and ideas to others', but this communication should not be limited to fellow peers and experts. By communicating our research to the general public we not only better inform the tax payer where their money is being spent, but we are also able to educate and inspire a whole new generation of scientists. This process of communication is very much a two-way street; by presenting our work to people outside of our usual spheres of contemporaries, we expose ourselves to alternative thoughts and insights that can inspire us, as scientists, to take another look at our research from angles that we had never before considered. This work presents the results and experiences from a number of scientific communication case studies across the UK, in which researchers from the field of atmospheric science engaged and interacted with members of the general public. These include the design and implementation of an outreach activity for several hundred high school students; the process of running a successful podcast (http://thebarometer.podbean.com); hosting and participating in science events for thousands of members of the general public (e.g. http://www.manchestersciencefestival.com and http://sse.royalsociety.org/2013); and creating a citizen science activity that involved elementary school children from across the UK. In communicating their research it is imperative that scientists interact with their audience in an effective and engaging manner, whether in an international conference, a classroom, or indeed the pub. This work also presents a discussion of how these skills can be developed at an early stage in the careers of a research scientist, presenting the results and methodology of a groundbreaking lecture series at the University of Manchester, in which undergraduate and postgraduate students were taught how to be more effective communicators using methods derived from theatrical technique. Goethe told us that 'Science... belong(s) to the whole world', and it is our job as scientists to ensure that this is the case.

An evaluation of remote communication versus face-to-face in clinical dental education.

PubMed

Martin, N; Lazalde, O Martínez; Stokes, C; Romano, D

2012-03-23

Distance learning and internet-based delivery of educational content are becoming very popular as an alternative to real face-to-face delivery. Clinical-based discussions still remain greatly face-to-face despite the advancement of remote communication and internet sharing technology. In this study we have compared three communication modalities between a learner and educator: audio and video using voice over internet protocol (VoIP) alone [AV]; audio and video VoIP with the addition of a three dimensional virtual artefact [AV3D] and physical face-to-face [FTF]. Clinical case discussions based on fictitious patients were held between a 'learner' and an 'expert' using the three communication modalities. The learner presented a clinical scenario to the experts, with the aid of a prop (partially dentate cast, digitised for AV3D), to obtain advice on the management of the clinical case. Each communication modality was tested in timed exercises in a random order among one of three experts (senior clinical restorative staff) and a learner (from a cohort of 15 senior clinical undergraduate students) all from the School of Clinical Dentistry, University of Sheffield. All learners and experts used each communication modality in turn with no prior training. Video recording and structured analysis were used to ascertain learner behaviour and levels of interactivity. Evaluation questionnaires were completed by experts and learners immediately after the experiment to ascertain effectiveness of information exchange and barriers/facilitators to communication. The video recordings showed that students were more relaxed with AV and AV3D than FTF (p = 0.01). The evaluation questionnaires showed that students felt they could provide (p = 0.03) and obtain (p = 0.003) more information using the FTF modality, followed by AV and then AV3D. Experts also ranked FTF better than AV and AV3D for providing (p = 0.012) and obtaining (p = 0) information to/from the expert. Physical face-to-face learning is a more effective communication modality for clinical case-based discussions between a learner and an expert. Remote, internet-based discussions enable a more relaxed discussion environment. The effectiveness of 3D supported internet-based communication is dependent upon a robust and simple to use interface, along with some prior training.

Provider-parent Communication When Discussing Vaccines: A Systematic Review.

PubMed

Connors, John T; Slotwinski, Kate L; Hodges, Eric A

Expert literature on communication practices with vaccine hesitant parents posits that a non-confrontational/participatory discussion with the parent would be the best approach to improve compliance. A prior literature review found limited evidence to recommend any particular face to face intervention other than to incorporate communication about vaccination effectiveness during an encounter. Hence, a systematic review was performed in an attempt to determine the most efficacious communication practices to use with parents with vaccination concerns. Quantitative and qualitative studies written in English that assessed the communication framework/style of the provider-parent interaction and studies where provider communication was listed as an intervention were reviewed. Nine articles were included in the sample. The majority of the studies were descriptive and qualitative in nature with only one randomized controlled trial. Five of the 9 studies utilized a descriptive cross-sectional design. Two main themes included message types recommended or given by the provider and message types that were requested by the parent. Overall, findings showed that there is currently not enough information to definitively state the type of provider-parent communication style that should be employed to affect the parents' vaccination viewpoint. However, recurring themes of trust in the provider and a personalized provider-parent interaction were evident, which promotes a participatory type of interaction. The literature indirectly supports providers engaging with vaccine hesitant parents in a more individualized, participatory format, though higher quality and more rigorous studies that focus specifically on provider-parent communication practices are needed. Published by Elsevier Inc.

Herbicides and forest ecosystems - approaches to risk communication

Treesearch

Charles K. McMahon

1992-01-01

Abstract.It has become apparent to many risk experts that without good communication, risk assessment and risk management efforts may be largely in vain. For the public, perception is reality when it comes to the interpretation of risk information and the shaping of regulatory policy. The findings of several- risk communication experts are reviewed...

What parents and carers think medical students should be learning about communication with children and families.

PubMed

Hammond, Margaret; McLean, Elspeth

2009-09-01

Our objective was to dynamically engage with parents and carers of children treated in a large children's hospital as experts by experience, to find out what they thought medical students should be learning about communicating with children and families in order to inform our communication teaching. We used focus groups to facilitate parents and carers in articulating the communication issues they felt were important for medical students to learn. These data were analysed, using qualitative and quantitative methods, to produce a survey for a Delphi consultation. The results of this stage were mapped onto the Calgary-Cambridge framework for the medical interview. There was considerable overlap of the data on the Calgary-Cambridge framework. There was, however, an emphasis by respondents on perceptual skills, self-awareness and partnership. Within the main tasks of the Calgary-Cambridge framework, new objectives emerged, including giving information in the right place, and the importance of the family in the multidisciplinary team. A new main task, Preparation, was highlighted. Active collaboration with parents and carers revealed areas for enhancement in our communication skill teaching, particularly with regard to relational and perceptual skills. Ways of including effective teaching of perceptual skills and the relational and humanistic aspects of communication must be explored in order to meet the needs of child patients and their families.

"It Is Natural for You to Be Afraid…": On the Discourse of Web-Based Communication with Patients

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mazzi, Davide

2016-01-01

Over the last twenty years, medical discourse has attracted a great deal of scholarly research. Language in healthcare settings has been more generally analysed through genres--whether in terms of expert-to-expert or expert-to-lay communication--whereas more specific aspects include the study of discourse strategies behind the expression of…

Expert Systems and Special Education.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hofmeister, Alan M.; Ferrara, Joseph M.

The application of artificial intelligence to the problems of education is examined. One of the most promising areas in artificial intelligence is expert systems technology which engages the user in a problem-solving diaglogue. Some of the characteristics that make expert systems "intelligent" are identified and exemplified. The rise of…

The Personality of Caregiving and the Three Transformational Steps to Move from Conflict to Collaboration.

PubMed

Kieffer, Lon

2015-01-01

There are books and experts that use slogans and sayings that claim to affect workplace employee engagement. However, healthcare is unique. None of these experts seem particularly focused on or remotely interested in, or even able to recognize, the unique opportunity we have in a healthcare setting when it comes to engagement. The differentiation is the personalities of the people who migrate to healthcare careers and professions. The personalities of the family caregivers that fill our lobbies, cubicles, and exam tables need to be considered when we talk about "engagement." This article briefly describes three transformational steps to begin moving healthcare employees and customers/clients from motivations of self-actualization to team engagement.

The needs and preferences of pregnant smokers regarding tailored Internet-based smoking cessation interventions: a qualitative interview study.

PubMed

Herbec, Aleksandra; Beard, Emma; Brown, Jamie; Gardner, Benjamin; Tombor, Ildiko; West, Robert

2014-10-14

Internet-based Smoking Cessation Interventions (ISCIs) may help pregnant smokers who are unable, or unwilling, to access face-to-face stop smoking support. Targeting ISCIs to specific groups of smokers could increase their uptake and effectiveness. The current study explored the needs and preferences of pregnant women seeking online stop smoking support with an aim to identify features and components of ISCIs that might be most attractive to this population. We conducted qualitative interviews with thirteen pregnant women who completed the intervention arm of a pilot randomized controlled trial of a novel ISCI for pregnant smokers ('MumsQuit'). The interviews explored women's views towards MumsQuit and online support with quitting smoking in general, as well as their suggestions for how ISCIs could be best targeted to pregnancy. Interview transcripts were analyzed using Framework Analysis. Participants expressed preferences for an accessible, highly engaging and targeted to pregnancy smoking cessation website, tailored to individuals' circumstances as well as use of cessation medication, offering comprehensive and novel information on smoking and quitting smoking in pregnancy, ongoing support with cravings management, as well as additional support following relapse to smoking. Participants also viewed as important targeting of the feedback and progress reports to baby's health and development, offering personal support from experts, and providing a discussion forum allowing for communication with other pregnant women wanting to quit . The present study has identified a number of potential building blocks for ISCIs targeted to quitting smoking in pregnancy. Pregnant smokers willing to try using ISCI may particularly value an engaging intervention offering a high degree of targeting of comprehensive information to them as a group and tailoring support and advice to their individual needs, as well as one providing post-relapse support, peer-to-peer communication and personal support from experts.

Cooperating Expert Systems For Space Station Power Distribution Management

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Nguyen, T. A.; Chiou, W. C.

1987-02-01

In a complex system such as the manned Space Station, it is deem necessary that many expert systems must perform tasks in a concurrent and cooperative manner. An important question arise is: what cooperative-task-performing models are appropriate for multiple expert systems to jointly perform tasks. The solution to this question will provide a crucial automation design criteria for the Space Station complex systems architecture. Based on a client/server model for performing tasks, we have developed a system that acts as a front-end to support loosely-coupled communications between expert systems running on multiple Symbolics machines. As an example, we use two ART*-based expert systems to demonstrate the concept of parallel symbolic manipulation for power distribution management and dynamic load planner/scheduler in the simulated Space Station environment. This on-going work will also explore other cooperative-task-performing models as alternatives which can evaluate inter and intra expert system communication mechanisms. It will be served as a testbed and a bench-marking tool for other Space Station expert subsystem communication and information exchange.

Identifying the Essential Elements of Effective Science Communication: What Do the Experts Say?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bray, Belinda; France, Bev; Gilbert, John K.

2012-01-01

Experts in science communication were asked to identify the essential elements of a science communication course for post-graduate students. A Delphi methodology provided a framework for a research design that accessed their opinions and allowed them to contribute to, reflect on and identify 10 essential elements. There was a high level of…

Patient-Centred Communication in Ask-the-Expert Healthcare Websites

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Pounds, Gabrina

2018-01-01

The study presented in this article explores to what extent and in what ways the communication between clinicians and patients on Ask-the-Expert healthcare websites is patient-centred. It further demonstrates the value of using a theory- and text-driven discourse analytical approach for the analysis of verbal communication in a (specific health)…

Expert assessments and content analysis of crew communication during ISS missions

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Yusupova, Anna

During the last seven years, we have analyzed the communication patterns between ISS crewmembers and mission control personnel and identified a number of different communication styles between these two groups (Gushin et al, 2005). In this paper, we will report on an external validity check we conducted that compares our findings with those of another study using the same research material. For many years the group of psychologists at the Medical Center of Space Flight Control (TCUMOKO) at the Institute for Biomedical Problems (IBMP) in Moscow has been analyzing audio communication sessions of Russian space crews with the ground-based Mission Control during long-duration spaceflight conditions. We compared week by week texts of the standard weekly monitoring reports made by the TsUP psychological group and audiocommunication of space crews with mission control centers. Expert assessments of the crewmembers' psychological state are made by IBMP psychoneurologists on the basis of daily schedule fulfillment, video and audio materials, and psychophysiological data from board. The second approach was based on the crew-ground communication analysis. For both population of messages we applied two corresponding schemas of content analysis. All statements made in communication sessions and weekly reports were divided into three groups in terms of their communication function (Lomov, 1981): 1) informative function (e.g., demands for information, requests, professional slang); 2) socio-regulatory function (e.g., rational consent or discord, operational complaint, refusal to cooperate); and 3) affective (emotional) function (e.g., encouragement, sympathy, emotional consent or discord). Number of statements of the audiocommunication sessions correlated with corresponding functions (informative, regulatory, affective) of communication in weekly monitioring reports made by experts. Crewmembers verbal behavior expresses its psycho-emotional state which is formulated by expert psychologists in weekly reports. This result shows that both approaches (expert assessment and content analysis of crew communication) can provide us with valuable data concerning crew's psychological state. Statistically significant correlations between crew-ground communication and expert assessment parameters testify that the same patterns of crewmembers behavior could be detected by both methods. 1. Lomov B.F. Problem of communication in psychology. // Problem of communication in psychology. Moscow, Nauka, 1981 2. Gushin V., M.D., Yusupova A., Pustinnikova J., Popova I. Crew-ground control communication styles: preliminary results in psychosocial area. // Proceedings of 56th International Astronautical Congress, Fukuoka 2005.

The Roles of Science in Local Resilience Policy Development: A Case Study of Three U.S. Cities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Clavin, C.; Gupta, N.

2015-12-01

The development and deployment of resilience policies within communities in the United States often respond to the place-based, hazard-specific nature of disasters. Prior to the onset of a disaster, municipal and regional decision makers establish long-term development policies, such as land use planning, infrastructure investment, and economic development policies. Despite the importance of incorporating disaster risk within community decision making, resilience and disaster risk are only one consideration community decision makers weigh when choosing how and whether to establish resilience policy. Using a case study approach, we examine the governance, organizational, management, and policy making processes and the involvement of scientific advice in designing and implementing resilience policy in three U.S. communities: Los Angeles, CA; Norfolk, VA; and Flagstaff, AZ. Disaster mitigation or resilience initiatives were developed and deployed in each community with differing levels and types of scientific engagement. Engagement spanned from providing technical support with traditional risk assessment to direct engagement with community decision makers and design of community resilience outreach. Best practices observed include embedding trusted, independent scientific advisors with strong community credibility within local government agencies, use of interdisciplinary and interdepartmental expert teams with management and technical skillsets, and establishing scientifically-informed disaster and hazard scenarios to enable community outreach. Case study evidence suggest science communication and engagement within and across municipal government agencies and scientifically-informed direct engagement with community stakeholders are effective approaches and roles that disaster risk scientists can fill to support resilience policy development.

Constructing "Authentic" Science: Results from a University/High School Collaboration Integrating Digital Storytelling and Social Networking

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Olitsky, Stacy; Becker, Elizabeth A.; Jayo, Ignacio; Vinogradov, Philip; Montcalmo, Joseph

2018-02-01

This study explores the implications of a redesign of a college course that entailed a new partnership between a college neuroscience classroom and a high school. In this course, the college students engaged in original research projects which included conducting brain surgery and behavioural tests on rats. They used digital storytelling and social networking to communicate with high school students and were visited by the students during the semester. The aims of the redesign were to align the course with science conducted in the field and to provide opportunities to disseminate scientific knowledge through emerging technologies. This study investigates the impact of these innovations on the college and high school students' perceptions of authentic science, including their relationship with science-centred communities. We found that these collaborative tools increased college students' perceptions that authentic science entailed communication with the general public, in addition to supporting prior perceptions of the importance of conducting experiments and presenting results to experts. In addition, the view of science as high-status knowledge was attenuated as students integrated non-formal communication practices into presentations, showing the backstage process of learning, incorporating music and youth discourse styles, and displaying emotional engagement. An impact of these hybrid presentation approaches was an increase in the high school students' perceptions of the accessibility of laboratory science. We discuss how the use of technologies that are familiar to youth, such as iPads, social networking sites, and multimedia presentations, has the potential to prioritize students' voices and promote a more inclusive view of science.

Engaging the Public to Identify Opportunities to Improve Critical Care: A Qualitative Analysis of an Open Community Forum

PubMed Central

Potestio, Melissa L.; Boyd, Jamie M.; Bagshaw, Sean M.; Heyland, Daren; Oxland, Peter; Doig, Christopher J.; Zygun, Dave; Stelfox, Henry T.

2015-01-01

Objective To engage the public to understand how to improve the care of critically ill patients. Design A qualitative content analysis of an open community forum (Café Scientifique). Setting Public venue in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Participants Members of the general public including patients, families of patients, health care providers, and members of the community at large. Methods A panel of researchers, decision-makers, and a family member led a Café Scientifique, an informal dialogue between the populace and experts, over three-hours to engage the public to understand how to improve the care of critically ill patients. Conventional qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data. The inductive analysis occurred in three phases: coding, categorizing, and developing themes. Results Thirty-eight members of the public (former ICU patients, family members of patients, providers, community members) attended. Participants focused the discussion and provided concrete suggestions for improvement around communication (family as surrogate voice, timing of conversations, decision tools) and provider well-being and engagement, as opposed to medical interventions in critical care. Conclusions Café participants believe patient and family centered care is important to ensure high-quality care in the ICU. A Café Scientifique is a valuable forum to engage the public to contribute to priority setting areas for research in critical care, as well as a platform to share lived experience. Research stakeholders including health care organizations, governments, and funding organizations should provide more opportunities for the public to engage in meaningful conversations about how to best improve healthcare. PMID:26580406

Engaging the Public to Identify Opportunities to Improve Critical Care: A Qualitative Analysis of an Open Community Forum.

PubMed

Potestio, Melissa L; Boyd, Jamie M; Bagshaw, Sean M; Heyland, Daren; Oxland, Peter; Doig, Christopher J; Zygun, Dave; Stelfox, Henry T

2015-01-01

To engage the public to understand how to improve the care of critically ill patients. A qualitative content analysis of an open community forum (Café Scientifique). Public venue in Calgary, Alberta, Canada. Members of the general public including patients, families of patients, health care providers, and members of the community at large. A panel of researchers, decision-makers, and a family member led a Café Scientifique, an informal dialogue between the populace and experts, over three-hours to engage the public to understand how to improve the care of critically ill patients. Conventional qualitative content analysis was used to analyze the data. The inductive analysis occurred in three phases: coding, categorizing, and developing themes. Thirty-eight members of the public (former ICU patients, family members of patients, providers, community members) attended. Participants focused the discussion and provided concrete suggestions for improvement around communication (family as surrogate voice, timing of conversations, decision tools) and provider well-being and engagement, as opposed to medical interventions in critical care. Café participants believe patient and family centered care is important to ensure high-quality care in the ICU. A Café Scientifique is a valuable forum to engage the public to contribute to priority setting areas for research in critical care, as well as a platform to share lived experience. Research stakeholders including health care organizations, governments, and funding organizations should provide more opportunities for the public to engage in meaningful conversations about how to best improve healthcare.

Prescription drug abuse communication: A qualitative analysis of prescriber and pharmacist perceptions and behaviors.

PubMed

Hagemeier, Nicholas E; Tudiver, Fred; Brewster, Scott; Hagy, Elizabeth J; Hagaman, Angela; Pack, Robert P

Interpersonal communication is inherent in a majority of strategies seeking to engage prescriber and pharmacist health care professionals (HCPs) in the reduction and prevention of prescription drug abuse (PDA). However, research on HCP PDA communication behavioral engagement and factors that influence it is limited. This study quantitatively examined communication behaviors and trait-level communication metrics, and qualitatively described prescription drug abuse-related communication perceptions and behaviors among primary care prescribers and community pharmacists. Five focus groups (N = 35) were conducted within the Appalachian Research Network (AppNET), a rural primary care practice-based research network (PBRN) in South Central Appalachia between February and October, 2014. Focus groups were structured around the administration of three previously validated trait-level communication survey instruments, and one instrument developed by the investigators to gauge HCP prescription drug abuse communication engagement and perceived communication importance. Using a grounded theory approach, focus group themes were inductively derived and coded independently by study investigators. Member-checking interviews were conducted to validate derived themes. Respondents' trait-level communication self-perceptions indicated low communication apprehension, high self-perceived communication competence, and average willingness to communicate as compared to instrument specific criteria and norms. Significant variation in HCP communication behavior engagement was noted specific to PDA. Two overarching themes were noted for HCP-patient communication: 1) influencers of HCP communication and prescribing/dispensing behaviors, and 2) communication behaviors. Multiple sub-themes were identified within each theme. Similarities were noted in perceptions and behaviors across both prescribers and pharmacists. Despite the perceived importance of engaging in PDA communication, HCPs reported that prescription drug abuse communication is uncomfortable, variable, multifactorial, and often avoided. The themes that emerged from this analysis support the utility of communication science and health behavior theories to better understand and improve PDA communication behaviors of both prescribers and pharmacists, and thereby improve engagement in PDA prevention and treatment. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Prescription Drug Abuse Communication: A Qualitative Analysis of Prescriber and Pharmacist Perceptions and Behaviors

PubMed Central

Hagemeier, Nicholas E.; Tudiver, Fred; Brewster, Scott; Hagy, Elizabeth J.; Hagaman, Angela; Pack, Robert P.

2016-01-01

Background Interpersonal communication is inherent in a majority of strategies seeking to engage prescriber and pharmacist health care professionals (HCPs) in the reduction and prevention of prescription drug abuse (PDA). However, research on HCP PDA communication behavioral engagement and factors that influence it is limited. Objectives This study quantitatively examined communication behaviors and trait-level communication metrics, and qualitatively described prescription drug abuse-related communication perceptions and behaviors among primary care prescribers and community pharmacists. Methods Five focus groups (N=35) were conducted within the Appalachian Research Network (AppNET), a rural primary care practice-based research network (PBRN) in South Central Appalachia between February and October, 2014. Focus groups were structured around the administration of three previously validated trait-level communication survey instruments, and one instrument developed by the investigators to gauge HCP prescription drug abuse communication engagement and perceived communication importance. Using a grounded theory approach, focus group themes were inductively derived and coded independently by study investigators. Member-checking interviews were conducted to validate derived themes. Results Respondents’ trait-level communication self-perceptions indicated low communication apprehension, high self-perceived communication competence, and average willingness to communicate as compared to instrument specific criteria and norms. Significant variation in HCP communication behavior engagement was noted specific to PDA. Two overarching themes were noted for HCP-patient communication: 1) influencers of HCP communication and prescribing/dispensing behaviors, and 2) communication behaviors. Multiple sub-themes were identified within each theme. Similarities were noted in perceptions and behaviors across both prescribers and pharmacists. Conclusions Despite the perceived importance of engaging in PDA communication, HCPs reported that prescription drug abuse communication is uncomfortable, variable, multifactorial, and often avoided. The themes that emerged from this analysis support the utility of communication science and health behavior theories to better understand and improve PDA communication behaviors of both prescribers and pharmacists, and thereby improve engagement in PDA prevention and treatment. PMID:26806859

Visualising probabilistic flood forecast information: expert preferences and perceptions of best practice in uncertainty communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Pappenberger, F.; Stephens, E. M.; Thielen, J.; Salomon, P.; Demeritt, D.; van Andel, S.; Wetterhall, F.; Alfieri, L.

2011-12-01

The aim of this paper is to understand and to contribute to improved communication of the probabilistic flood forecasts generated by Hydrological Ensemble Prediction Systems (HEPS) with particular focus on the inter expert communication. Different users are likely to require different kinds of information from HEPS and thus different visualizations. The perceptions of this expert group are important both because they are the designers and primary users of existing HEPS. Nevertheless, they have sometimes resisted the release of uncertainty information to the general public because of doubts about whether it can be successfully communicated in ways that would be readily understood to non-experts. In this paper we explore the strengths and weaknesses of existing HEPS visualization methods and thereby formulate some wider recommendations about best practice for HEPS visualization and communication. We suggest that specific training on probabilistic forecasting would foster use of probabilistic forecasts with a wider range of applications. The result of a case study exercise showed that there is no overarching agreement between experts on how to display probabilistic forecasts and what they consider essential information that should accompany plots and diagrams. In this paper we propose a list of minimum properties that, if consistently displayed with probabilistic forecasts, would make the products more easily understandable.

The utility of Twitter as a tool for increasing reach of research on sexual violence.

PubMed

Wekerle, Christine; Vakili, Negar; Stewart, Sherry H; Black, Tara

2018-05-16

Researchers in violence prevention areas seek to disseminate work for impact to practice and policy. Knowledge transfer, exchange, and mobilization are common terms for research knowledge utilization where public communication platforms are playing an increasing role, having unique capacity to connect stakeholders in advocacy and lived experience, academia, non-governmental organizations, government-supported organizations, such as child welfare, and research funding bodies. Social networking platforms provide a communication intervention opportunity to test the effectiveness of the research reach. A Canadian Institutes of Health Research- funded team grant in boys' and men's health, focusing on sexual violence (SV) victimization, health, and resilience undertook an evaluation to examine whether a strategic approach involving a cadre of SV experts (n = 46) and their research increased engagement. Using a unique identifier (#CIHRTeamSV) content was shared on social media (Twitter) within an ABABAB experimental monthly format (A = no sharing; B = sharing content), following a baseline entry of researchers. Active Twitter engagement lead to increases in the number of individuals' profile views, article downloads, and citations. These findings encourage further research into the utility of social media for disseminating sexual violence research, and that social media has developed as a forum for evidence-based conversation on sensitive topics of public health import. Crown Copyright © 2018. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Implementation Strategies for Gender-Sensitive Public Health Practice: A European Workshop.

PubMed

Oertelt-Prigione, Sabine; Dalibert, Lucie; Verdonk, Petra; Stutz, Elisabeth Zemp; Klinge, Ineke

2017-11-01

Providing a robust scientific background for the focus on gender-sensitive public health and a systematic approach to its implementation. Within the FP7-EUGenMed project ( http://eugenmed.eu ) a workshop on sex and gender in public health was convened on February 2-3, 2015. The experts participated in moderated discussion rounds to (1) assemble available knowledge and (2) identify structural influences on practice implementation. The findings were summarized and analyzed in iterative rounds to define overarching strategies and principles. The participants discussed the rationale for implementing gender-sensitive public health and identified priorities and key stakeholders to engage in the process. Communication strategies and specific promotion strategies with distinct stakeholders were defined. A comprehensive list of gender-sensitive practices was established using the recently published taxonomy of the Expert Recommendations for Implementing Change (ERIC) project as a blueprint. A clearly defined implementation strategy should be mandated for all new projects in the field of gender-sensitive public health. Our tool can support researchers and practitioners with the analysis of current and past research as well as with the planning of new projects.

Science Should Inform Sustainable Rebuilding

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Boesch, Donald; Groat, Charles; Killeen, Timothy

2006-06-01

The return of hurricane season prompts reflection on how well those charged with rebuilding New Orleans and the U.S. Gulf Coast are integrating scientific understanding into important decision-making. An associated question relates to whether we, as scientists, are doing all we can to communicate our research results effectively to those very people who need it the most. Some AGU members may feel constrained engaging those responsible with rebuilding the Gulf Coast without an authoritative synthesis of the science that most directly bears on the challenges of rebuilding after hurricanes Katrina and Rita. Such a synthesis is summarized on this page. There is a link to the full report on the AGU Web site. The report derives from an experts' conference held in January 2006 at AGU headquarters in Washington, D.C. The central objective of the conference was to bring together an interdisciplinary group of experts on various aspects of hurricane impacts to review our current scientific understanding of topical areas such as hurricane variability, storm surge response, flooding, wetland loss, subsidence, effects of climate change, and so forth.

Engaging Violent Words: Prophetic Ministry in Digital Discourses

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Zsupan-Jerome, Daniella

2017-01-01

Faith-based engagement with digital culture calls communities of faith beyond an instrumental use of apps, gadgets, and platforms. Rather, engaging in digital culture calls for prophetic engagement that seeks to communicate truth and offer hope in and through digital communication. One salient area for such prophetic engagement is the reality of…

Rating parent-child interactions: joint engagement, communication dynamics, and shared topics in autism, Down syndrome, and typical development.

PubMed

Adamson, Lauren B; Bakeman, Roger; Deckner, Deborah F; Nelson, P Brooke

2012-12-01

A battery of 17 rating items were applied to video records of typically-developing toddlers and young children with autism and Down syndrome interacting with their parents during the Communication Play Protocol. This battery provided a reliable and broad view of the joint engagement triad of child, partner, and shared topic. Ratings of the child's joint engagement correlated very strongly with state coding of joint engagement and replicated the finding that coordinated joint engagement was less likely in children with autism. Ratings of other child actions, of parent contributions, and of shared topics and communicative dynamics also documented pervasive variations related to diagnosis, language facility, and communicative context.

Engagement DEOCS 4.1 Construct Validity Summary

DTIC Science & Technology

2017-08-01

Engagement DEOCS 4.1 Construct Validity Summary DEFENSE EQUAL OPPORTUNITY MANAGEMENT INSTITUTE DIRECTORATE OF...increasingly popular construct in industry and research. Indeed, management literature suggests employee engagement is the key to an organization’s...definition was drawn upon to inform the creation of a definition and measure of engagement that was then adapted using subject matter expert (SME)1

The Effect of Higher Education Faculty Training in Improvisational Theatre Techniques on Student Learning and Perceptions of Engagement and Faculty Perceptions of Teaching and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Massie, DeAnna

2017-01-01

College instructors are content experts but ineffective at creating engaging and productive learning environments. This mixed methods study explored how improvisational theatre techniques affect college instructors' ability to increase student engagement and learning. Theoretical foundations included engagement, active learning, collaboration and…

Engagement in social media environments for individuals with who use augmentative and alternative communication.

PubMed

Caron, Jessica

2016-10-14

Communicative interactions, despite the mode (e.g., face-to-face, online) rely on the communication skills of each individual participating. Some individuals have significant speech and language impairments and require the use of augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) (i.e., signs, speech generating devices) to maximize their communication participation across a variety of on and offline contexts. Use of social media has brought about changes to communication environments, contributing new contexts for engagement. To provide a framework for considering application of engagement theory for interventions around social media use by individuals who use AAC. The author has applied examples from qualitative social media and AAC research to a framework of engagement. No formal data collection was used. Social media use has become a conventional form of communication. Yet recognition of the value of social media (and other electronic modalities) for individuals who use AAC has not been fully translated into practice. The examples used illustrated how the proposed framework can assist in clinical practice and future research directions. Engagement, including the proposed framework for considerations of social media engagement activities, can provide a systematic way to approach social media use for individuals who use AAC.

Communication Strategies to Counter Stigma and Improve Mental Illness and Substance Use Disorder Policy.

PubMed

McGinty, Emma; Pescosolido, Bernice; Kennedy-Hendricks, Alene; Barry, Colleen L

2018-02-01

Despite the high burden and poor rates of treatment associated with mental illness and substance use disorders, public support for allocating resources to improving treatment for these disorders is low. A growing body of research suggests that effective policy communication strategies can increase public support for policies benefiting people with these conditions. In October 2015, the Center for Mental Health and Addiction Policy Research at Johns Hopkins University convened an expert forum to identify what is currently known about the effectiveness of such policy communication strategies and produce recommendations for future research. One of the key conclusions of the forum was that communication strategies using personal narratives to engage audiences have the potential to increase public support for policies benefiting persons with mental illness or substance use disorders. Specifically, narratives combining personal stories with depictions of structural barriers to mental illness and substance use disorder treatment can increase the public's willingness to invest in the treatment system. Depictions of mental illness and violence significantly increase public stigma toward people with mental illness and are no more effective in increasing willingness to invest in mental health services than nonstigmatizing messages about structural barriers to treatment. Future research should prioritize development and evaluation of communication strategies to increase public support for evidence-based substance use disorder policies, including harm reduction policies-such as needle exchange programs-and policies expanding treatment.

How to be more attractive… when communicating science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ocko, I.

2015-12-01

Let's face it; we live in a culture that is captivated by attractive things. Beautiful celebrities, sleek smartphones, fancy cars, high fashion, stunning architecture, and more. Research even shows that we pay more attention to people and objects we find attractive. This talk is about taking advantage of this reality by applying it to science communication; luring in an audience and keeping their attention is essential to effective knowledge transfer. When the material is presented in an attractive and engaging format, the audience, lay or even expert, is more interested and thus educated and informed.Visuals, in particular, are powerful communication tools, as they: transmit messages faster; improve comprehension; trigger emotions; increase a learner's attention; stick in long-term memory; motivate learners; and promote widespread sharing of content. Experts suggest that more than half of the U.S. public prefers to learn visually; 90% of information transmitted to the brain is visual; people are much more inclined to spend the time learning something if it is presented in a visual format; and visuals increase retention scores from 10% to 90% after three days of learning the material. One study even suggested that individuals respond markedly better to infographic messages than text-based messages regardless of their learning style or visual literacy. In 2012, Google Search scored the keyword "infographic" with the highest possible trend score of 100.Attractive visuals are an excellent and beneficial complement to presentations, blog posts, news articles, scientific articles, reports, and memos. While various challenges often inhibit scientists from incorporating visuals (time commitment, skillset, software, etc.)—thus leading to missed opportunities—there are many simple strategies that can be used to circumvent common obstacles.

[Complications after laser hair removal: the standpoint of a dermatological legal expert regarding liability].

PubMed

Bayle, P; Saval, F; Rougé, D; Telmon, N

2015-03-01

Laser hair removal is widely used, including outside medical settings. Potential complications, notably burns, may engage the operator's liability. In this case, investigations by medical experts are frequently requested. We describe 6 expert examinations carried out by the same legal dermatology expert between 2012 and 2014. They concerned burns of varying severity caused by laser hair removal procedures carried out by a doctor, a physiotherapist and 4 beauticians. Laser hair removal is carried out in many beauty centres, although in France it is restricted by law to medical use. This practice is thus currently the subject of legal and economic controversy. The analysis of 6 medical expert investigations of accidents involving laser hair removal illustrates the various types of fault in which the operator's liability may be engaged and it also serves to redefine the legal framework of this act within the realm of aesthetic medicine. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.

Expert communication link management: overview and progress

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dunkelberger, Kirk A.

1998-08-01

Consider the downsizing of our forces, the increasing complexity of our tactical platforms, and the ever widening array of communication options and the conclusion is inevitable. The need for automated support to reduce communication-related workload is critical to continued task force effectiveness. In a previous era, communication management expertise resided solely in the form of human experts. These experts flew with the pilots, providing the most effective means of communication in real time; they have since been removed from a great number of platforms due to force downsizing and real estate value in the cockpit. This burden has typically been shifted to the pilot, providing another set of tasks in an environment which is already far too taxing. An Expert Communication Link Manger (ECLM) is required -- a trusted, reliable assistant which can determine optimal link, channel, and waveform data for the communication requirements at hand and translate those requirements transparently into communication device control. Technologies are at hand which make ECLM possible; the mixture of these elements in the correct proportions can provide a capable, deployable, and cost effective ECLM in the near term. This paper describes specific applied ECLM research work in progress funded by the USAF under a four year effort. Operational objectives, technical objectives, a reference design, and technical excursions within the broad ECLM scope will be discussed in detail. Results of prototypes built to date in the area of communication inference from speech understanding, dynamic adaptive routing, and packet switching networks in the tactical environment will be presented.

Bridging the Gap Between Scientists and Classrooms: Scientist Engagement in the Expedition Earth and Beyond Program

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Graff, P. V.; Stefanov, W. L.; Willis, K. J.; Runco, S.

2012-01-01

Teachers in today s classrooms need to find creative ways to connect students with science, technology, engineering, mathematics (STEM) experts. These STEM experts can serve as role models and help students think about potential future STEM careers. They can also help reinforce academic knowledge and skills. The cost of transportation restricts teachers ability to take students on field trips exposing them to outside experts and unique learning environments. Additionally, arranging to bring in guest speakers to the classroom seems to happen infrequently, especially in schools in rural areas. The Expedition Earth and Beyond (EEAB) Program [1], facilitated by the Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Directorate Education Program at the NASA Johnson Space Center has created a way to enable teachers to connect their students with STEM experts virtually. These virtual connections not only help engage students with role models, but are also designed to help teachers address concepts and content standards they are required to teach. Through EEAB, scientists are able to actively engage with students across the nation in multiple ways. They can work with student teams as mentors, participate in virtual student team science presentations, or connect with students through Classroom Connection Distance Learning (DL) Events.

Communication tips for the job search and on the job.

PubMed

Linney, B J

2000-01-01

Listening, speaking, and nonverbal skills are the most important success factors in getting a job or being effective in your current position. If you don't communicate well, your technical knowledge won't ever be put to good use. Recruiters, hiring organizations, and bosses are looking for people who can play well with others and can sell. Playing well with others involves listening and having self-control about what you say. To sell yourself and your ideas or products, you must speak well. You also must be well-groomed, look energetic, and sound reasonably happy to be at work. Good listeners: Stop talking; ask open-ended questions; para-phrase, restate, or summarize some of what the person had said; and talk about feelings. Effective speakers: Have voice mail etiquette; are courteous and tactful; don't react to a verbal attack; don't engage in verbal attacks; use the right amount of words; don't say too much; prepare ahead of time; and decide whether they should speak or write their message. And remember the power of body language or non-verbal skills--how you look and sound. Experts estimate that 65 to 90 percent of what you communicate is nonverbal.

Academic Advisee Motives for Pursuing Out-of-Class Communication with the Faculty Academic Advisor

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Leach, Rebecca B.; Wang, Tiffany R.

2015-01-01

This study examined advisee communication motives for engaging in out-of-class communication (OCC) with the faculty academic advisor. Undergraduate students (n = 21) were interviewed about their motives for engaging in OCC with their faculty academic advisors. In a thematic analysis, six motives emerged for engaging in OCC with faculty academic…

Measuring Audience Engagement for Public Health Twitter Chats: Insights From #LiveFitNOLA

PubMed Central

Croston, Merriah A

2017-01-01

Background Little empirical evidence exists on the effectiveness of using Twitter as a two-way communication tool for public health practice, such as Twitter chats. Objective We analyzed whether Twitter chats facilitate engagement in two-way communications between public health entities and their audience. We also describe how to measure two-way communications, incoming and outgoing mentions, between users in a protocol using free and publicly available tools (Symplur, OpenRefine, and Gephi). Methods We used a mixed-methods approach, social network analysis, and content analysis. The study population comprised individuals and organizations participating or who were mentioned in the first #LiveFitNOLA chat, during a 75-min period on March 5, 2015, from 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM Central Time. We assessed audience engagement in two-way communications with two metrics: engagement ratio and return on engagement (ROE). Results The #LiveFitNOLA chat had 744 tweets and 66 participants with an average of 11 tweets per participant. The resulting network had 134 network members and 474 engagements. The engagement ratios and ROEs for the #LiveFitNOLA organizers were 1:1, 40% (13/32) (@TulanePRC) and 2:1, −40% (−25/63) (@FitNOLA). Content analysis showed information sharing (63.9%, 314/491) and health information (27.9%, 137/491) as the most salient theme and sub-theme, respectively. Conclusions Our findings suggest Twitter chats facilitate audience engagement in two-way communications between public health entities and their audience. The #LiveFitNOLA organizers’ engagement ratios and ROEs indicated a moderate level of engagement with their audience. The practical significance of the engagement ratio and ROE depends on the audience, context, scope, scale, and goal of a Twitter chat or other organized hashtag-based communications on Twitter. PMID:28596149

Collaborative Stakeholder Engagement. Special Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jordan, Matt; Chrislip, David; Workman, Emily

2016-01-01

Stakeholder engagement and collaboration are essential to the development of an effective state plan. Engaging a diverse group of stakeholders tasked with working together to create education policies that will have a positive, lasting impact on students is not as easy as it sounds. Experts in the field argue that the traditional stakeholder…

Applying Comprehensive Environmental Assessment to Research Planning for Multiwalled Carbon Nanotubes: Refinements to Inform Future Stakeholder Engagement

EPA Science Inventory

We previously described our collective judgment methods to engage expert stakeholders in the Comprehensive Environmental Assessment (CEA) workshop process applied to nano-TiO2 and nano-Ag research planning. We identified several lessons learned in engaging stakeholders to identif...

A Framework Approach to Evaluate Cross-Cultural Adaptation of Public Engagement Strategies for Radioactive Waste Management - 13430

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Hermann, Laura

2013-07-01

The complex interplay of politics, economics and culture undermines attempts to define universal best practices for public engagement in the management of nuclear materials. In the international context, communicators must rely on careful adaptation and creative execution to make standard communication techniques succeed in their local communities. Nuclear professionals need an approach to assess and adapt culturally specific public engagement strategies to meet the demands of their particular political, economic and social structures. Using participant interviews and public sources, the Potomac Communications Group reviewed country-specific examples of nuclear-related communication efforts to provide insight into a proposed approach. The review consideredmore » a spectrum of cultural dimensions related to diversity, authority, conformity, proximity and time. Comparisons help to identify cross-cultural influences of various public engagement tactics and to inform a framework for communicators. While not prescriptive in its application, the framework offers a way for communicators to assess the salience of outreach tactics in specific situations. The approach can guide communicators to evaluate and tailor engagement strategies to achieve localized public outreach goals. (authors)« less

Identifying Threshold Concepts for Information Literacy: A Delphi Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Townsend, Lori; Hofer, Amy R.; Hanick, Silvia Lin; Brunetti, Korey

2016-01-01

This study used the Delphi method to engage expert practitioners on the topic of threshold concepts--core ideas and processes in a discipline that students need to grasp in order to progress in their learning, but that are often unspoken or unrecognized by expert practitioners--for information literacy. A panel of experts considered two questions:…

An Exploration of the Role of Schema Theory and the (Non-Indigenous) Construction of Indigenous Identity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lloyd, D.; Boyd, W. E.

2014-01-01

Community engagement is increasingly important in environmental management. While such engagement has tended to comprise only one-way communication, genuine engagement often requires meaningful cross-cultural communication. This paper explores issues surrounding engagement with Australian indigenous communities, suggesting that the construction of…

Expert Users' Perceptions of Racing Wheelchair Design and Setup: The Knowns, Unknowns, and Next Steps.

PubMed

Bundon, Andrea; Mason, Barry S; Goosey-Tolfrey, Victoria L

2017-04-01

This paper demonstrates how a qualitative methodology can be used to gain novel insights into the demands of wheelchair racing and the impact of particular racing chair configurations on optimal sport performance via engagement with expert users (wheelchair racers, coaches, and manufacturers). We specifically explore how expert users understand how wheels, tires, and bearings impact sport performance and how they engage, implement, or reject evidence-based research pertaining to these components. We identify areas where participants perceive there to be an immediate need for more research especially pertaining to the ability to make individualized recommendations for athletes. The findings from this project speak to the value of a qualitative research design for capturing the embodied knowledge of expert users and also make suggestions for "next step" projects pertaining to wheels, tires, and bearings drawn directly from the comments of participants.

Negotiating community engagement and science in the federal environmental public health sector.

PubMed

Little, Peter C

2009-06-01

In this case study, I use ethnographic data to explore how community engagement and science are deployed at the U.S. Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry, with the goal of formulating an understanding of the personalized meanings of science-community relations for key environmental public health experts. In focus is the cultural discourse circulating in the agency that exposes the real concerns, beliefs, and attitudes of these scientists and experts vis-&-vis their community engagement experiences. Finally, I propose that critical attention to the place of power relations, knowledge politics, and environmental justice are fundamental to studies of toxic contamination where commitments to community engagement and quality science are joined to form a positive research goal and where attempts are made to improve the conditions of quality environmental public health service.

A qualitative examination of patients experiences of dietitians ' consultation engagement styles within nephrology.

PubMed

Morris, A; Herrmann, T; Liles, C; Roskell, C

2018-02-01

Dietitians provide individuals with tailored, practical nutritional advice. For this reason, skills in effective interpersonal communication are essential. In the case of chronic kidney disease, the specifics of dietary advice may change according to renal function. The conveyance of accurate dietary advice and compliance is critical and requires full engagement with the service. The effect of communication styles on patients ' engagement experiences with renal dietetics is unknown. Accordingly, the present study aimed to explore patients ' engagement experiences with renal dietitians. A qualitative phenomenology study using semi-structured in-depth interviews was undertaken with 20 adult renal service users who had engaged with renal dietitians to receive dietary advice. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to analyse data. Two main themes emerged from consultation experiences: helpful and unhelpful engagement styles. Individuals reporting helpful engagement styles experienced dietitians ' communication as empathetic, demonstrating positive regard for their lifestyles. However, individuals who reported experiences of unhelpful engagement styles found dietetic care indifferent and communication styles paternalistic. These individuals continued to engage reluctantly despite unhelpful engagement experiences, but felt disempowered. These diverse experiences of engagement can be interpreted by means of 'ego states' within the theoretical model of transactional analysis (TA). Adult ego states may underpin a helpful engagement style whilst a dietitians ' parental ego state was more likely to precipitate an unhelpful engagement style. Ego states, in the context of TA theory, can help to explain the way in which patients engage with renal dietitians. Attention should be given to the employment of a humanistic approach within dietetic consultations. Dietitans need to ensure that they can demonstrate expertise and confidence in the specific communication skills required for patient-centred care. © 2017 The British Dietetic Association Ltd.

Application of expert-notice dialogue (END) method to assess students’ science communication ability on biology

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sriyati, S.; Amelia, D. N.; Soniyana, G. T.

2018-05-01

Student’s science communication ability can be assessed by the Expert-Notice Dialogue (END) method which focusing on verbal explanations using graphs or images as a tool. This study aims to apply the END method to assess students’ science communication ability. The study was conducted in two high schools with each sample of one class at each school (A and B). The number of experts in class A is 8 students and 7 in class B, the number of notice in class A 24 students and 30 in class B. The material chosen for explanation by expert is Ecosystem in class A and plant classification in class B. Research instruments are rubric of science communication ability, observation rubric, notice concept test and notice questionnaire. The implementation recorded with a video camera and then transcribed based on rubric science communication ability. The results showed that the average of science communication ability in class A and B was 60% and 61.8%, respectively, in enough categories. Mastery of the notice concept is in good category with 79.10 averages in class A and 94.64 in class B. Through the questionnaire notice it is known that the END method generally helps notice in understanding the concept.

Effective Partnering in Conducting Benefit-Risk Patient Preference Studies: Perspectives From a Patient Advocacy Organization, a Pharmaceutical Company, and Academic Stated-Preference Researchers.

PubMed

Wolka, Anne M; Fairchild, Angelyn O; Reed, Shelby D; Anglin, Greg; Johnson, F Reed; Siegel, Michael; Noel, Rebecca

2017-01-01

Formal incorporation of patients' perspectives is becoming increasingly important in medical product development and decision making. This article shares practical advice regarding how patient advocacy organizations, the pharmaceutical industry, and academic experts in stated-preference research can effectively partner on benefit-risk patient preference studies. The authors partnered on a benefit-risk patient preference study related to the treatment of psoriasis. The authors from Duke Clinical Research Institute also share their experiences in collaborating with numerous other organizations in conducting benefit-risk patient preference studies. Upon initiation of the study partnership with appropriate experts, training is important to ensure all collaborators have a common understanding of the methodology, what objectives stated-preference methods can support, and expectations for the project. To the extent possible, partners should align on and document relevant clinical and logistical details prior to study implementation. During study implementation, partners should use good communication practices and document and maintain a record of any changes to the original plan. Presentation of the study results should be tailored to the particular audience, with the appropriate partner leading the presentation based on its format and audience. Partners from patient advocacy organizations, the pharmaceutical industry, and academia can effectively collaborate on benefit-risk patient preference studies with sufficient planning and ongoing communication. This article is a call for action for other organizations to engage in sharing of experiences regarding effective partnering in quantifying patient preferences in medical product development.

Speed-Discussion: Engaging Students in Class Discussions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kornfield, Sarah; Noack, Kristen

2017-01-01

Courses: Communication Criticism, Rhetorical Criticism, Family and Communication, Gender and Communication, Popular Communication, and theory-based courses. Objectives: This activity engages students in dynamic, supportive, social discussion groups; helps them to identify and review the central ideas from the reading; and creates a record of their…

Social Mobilization and Community Engagement Central to the Ebola Response in West Africa: Lessons for Future Public Health Emergencies

PubMed Central

Gillespie, Amaya M; Obregon, Rafael; El Asawi, Rania; Richey, Catherine; Manoncourt, Erma; Joshi, Kshiitij; Naqvi, Savita; Pouye, Ade; Safi, Naqibullah; Chitnis, Ketan; Quereshi, Sabeeha

2016-01-01

ABSTRACT Following the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern regarding the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in July 2014, UNICEF was asked to co-lead, in coordination with WHO and the ministries of health of affected countries, the communication and social mobilization component—which UNICEF refers to as communication for development (C4D)—of the Ebola response. For the first time in an emergency setting, C4D was formally incorporated into each country's national response, alongside more typical components such as supplies and logistics, surveillance, and clinical care. This article describes the lessons learned about social mobilization and community engagement in the emergency response to the Ebola outbreak, with a particular focus on UNICEF's C4D work in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The lessons emerged through an assessment conducted by UNICEF using 4 methods: a literature review of key documents, meeting reports, and other articles; structured discussions conducted in June 2015 and October 2015 with UNICEF and civil society experts; an electronic survey, launched in October and November 2015, with staff from government, the UN, or any partner organization who worked on Ebola (N = 53); and key informant interviews (N = 5). After triangulating the findings from all data sources, we distilled lessons under 7 major domains: (1) strategy and decentralization: develop a comprehensive C4D strategy with communities at the center and decentralized programming to facilitate flexibility and adaptation to the local context; (2) coordination: establish C4D leadership with the necessary authority to coordinate between partners and enforce use of standard operating procedures as a central coordination and quality assurance tool; (3) entering and engaging communities: invest in key communication channels (such as radio) and trusted local community members; (4) messaging: adapt messages and strategies continually as patterns of the epidemic change over time; (5) partnerships: invest in strategic partnerships with community, religious leaders, journalists, radio stations, and partner organizations; (6) capacity building: support a network of local and international professionals with capacity for C4D who can be deployed rapidly; (7) data and performance monitoring: establish clear C4D process and impact indicators and strive for real-time data analysis and rapid feedback to communities and authorities to inform decision making. Ultimately, communication, community engagement, and social mobilization need to be formally placed within the global humanitarian response architecture with proper funding to effectively support future public health emergencies, which are as much a social as a health phenomenon. PMID:28031301

Social Mobilization and Community Engagement Central to the Ebola Response in West Africa: Lessons for Future Public Health Emergencies.

PubMed

Gillespie, Amaya M; Obregon, Rafael; El Asawi, Rania; Richey, Catherine; Manoncourt, Erma; Joshi, Kshiitij; Naqvi, Savita; Pouye, Ade; Safi, Naqibullah; Chitnis, Ketan; Quereshi, Sabeeha

2016-12-23

Following the World Health Organization (WHO) declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern regarding the Ebola outbreak in West Africa in July 2014, UNICEF was asked to co-lead, in coordination with WHO and the ministries of health of affected countries, the communication and social mobilization component-which UNICEF refers to as communication for development (C4D)-of the Ebola response. For the first time in an emergency setting, C4D was formally incorporated into each country's national response, alongside more typical components such as supplies and logistics, surveillance, and clinical care. This article describes the lessons learned about social mobilization and community engagement in the emergency response to the Ebola outbreak, with a particular focus on UNICEF's C4D work in Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone. The lessons emerged through an assessment conducted by UNICEF using 4 methods: a literature review of key documents, meeting reports, and other articles; structured discussions conducted in June 2015 and October 2015 with UNICEF and civil society experts; an electronic survey, launched in October and November 2015, with staff from government, the UN, or any partner organization who worked on Ebola (N = 53); and key informant interviews (N = 5). After triangulating the findings from all data sources, we distilled lessons under 7 major domains: (1) strategy and decentralization: develop a comprehensive C4D strategy with communities at the center and decentralized programming to facilitate flexibility and adaptation to the local context; (2) coordination: establish C4D leadership with the necessary authority to coordinate between partners and enforce use of standard operating procedures as a central coordination and quality assurance tool; (3) entering and engaging communities: invest in key communication channels (such as radio) and trusted local community members; (4) messaging: adapt messages and strategies continually as patterns of the epidemic change over time; (5) partnerships: invest in strategic partnerships with community, religious leaders, journalists, radio stations, and partner organizations; (6) capacity building: support a network of local and international professionals with capacity for C4D who can be deployed rapidly; (7) data and performance monitoring: establish clear C4D process and impact indicators and strive for real-time data analysis and rapid feedback to communities and authorities to inform decision making. Ultimately, communication, community engagement, and social mobilization need to be formally placed within the global humanitarian response architecture with proper funding to effectively support future public health emergencies, which are as much a social as a health phenomenon. © Gillespie et al.

What Do Subject Matter Experts Have to Say about Participating in Education and Outreach?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manning, Colleen; NASA's Universe of Learning Team

2018-01-01

NASA’s Universe of Learning partners wish to actively engage with Subject Matter Experts (scientists and engineers) throughout the design, development, and delivery of products, programs, and professional development. In order to ensure these engagement efforts aligned with the needs of Subject Matter Experts, the external evaluators conducted an online survey. The subject pool included the scientists and engineers employed at the partner organizations as well as other scientists and engineers affiliated with NASA’s Astrophysics missions and research programs. This presentation will describe scientists’/engineers’ interest in various types of education/outreach, their availability to participate in education/outreach, factors that would encourage their participation in education/outreach, and the preparation and support they have for participation in education/outreach.

Communicating Low-Probability High-Consequence Risk, Uncertainty and Expert Confidence: Induced Seismicity of Deep Geothermal Energy and Shale Gas.

PubMed

Knoblauch, Theresa A K; Stauffacher, Michael; Trutnevyte, Evelina

2018-04-01

Subsurface energy activities entail the risk of induced seismicity including low-probability high-consequence (LPHC) events. For designing respective risk communication, the scientific literature lacks empirical evidence of how the public reacts to different written risk communication formats about such LPHC events and to related uncertainty or expert confidence. This study presents findings from an online experiment (N = 590) that empirically tested the public's responses to risk communication about induced seismicity and to different technology frames, namely deep geothermal energy (DGE) and shale gas (between-subject design). Three incrementally different formats of written risk communication were tested: (i) qualitative, (ii) qualitative and quantitative, and (iii) qualitative and quantitative with risk comparison. Respondents found the latter two the easiest to understand, the most exact, and liked them the most. Adding uncertainty and expert confidence statements made the risk communication less clear, less easy to understand and increased concern. Above all, the technology for which risks are communicated and its acceptance mattered strongly: respondents in the shale gas condition found the identical risk communication less trustworthy and more concerning than in the DGE conditions. They also liked the risk communication overall less. For practitioners in DGE or shale gas projects, the study shows that the public would appreciate efforts in describing LPHC risks with numbers and optionally risk comparisons. However, there seems to be a trade-off between aiming for transparency by disclosing uncertainty and limited expert confidence, and thereby decreasing clarity and increasing concern in the view of the public. © 2017 Society for Risk Analysis.

A Cooperative Rhetoric for Professional Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jacobi, Martin J.

Professional communication as commonly taught and practiced encourages the avoidance of ethical concerns and responsibilities. Communicators are asked to accept the assumption that they are engaged in the value-free transmission of objective truth. Teachers should go beyond instruction in communication techniques to engage students more deeply in…

'By failing to prepare you are preparing to fail': lessons from the 2009 H1N1 'swine flu' pandemic.

PubMed

Crosier, Adam; McVey, Dominic; French, Jeff

2015-02-01

Pandemic influenza has the potential to cause widespread death and destruction. Communications with the public have a vital role in the prevention of pandemic influenza by promoting the effective uptake of behaviours that can delay the spread of infection. This study explored the development and implementation of communications in the pandemic influenza outbreak of H1N1 ('swine flu') in 2009 in three European countries. In-depth interviews were conducted with senior policy and communication officials involved in the planning and delivery of communications programmes in England, Italy and Hungary. The study found a lack of planning and a low value attached to the skills required to produce effective communications. In all case study countries there was a dearth of good quality audience research to inform the development of communications. Little thought had been given to the tone, targeting or channelling of messages. Instead, communications were characterized by a 'one size fits all' and a 'top down', expert-led response. There was also little effort to evaluate the impact of communications, but where this was done, very low levels of public compliance and engagement with key behavioural messages were found. Policy makers should prioritize investment in the skills and expertise required to achieve desired behaviour changes. Audience research should be conducted throughout the planning cycle to inform national communications strategies. This should include insights to inform the segmentation of public audiences, targeting of messages and consideration of content and emotional tone most likely to achieve desired behavioural outcomes. © The Author 2014. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Public Health Association. All rights reserved.

Encouraging Teachers to Build Collaborations with Researchers; Examples From the Classroom (Invited)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kane, M.

2013-12-01

Bringing experts into our schools allows for highly engaging lessons, encourages career thinking, adds authenticity to the topic, and allows student's questions to be answered by experts. Researchers can physically visit classrooms or appear through presentation technologies, such as Skype, or Google Hangouts. Virtual visits allow students to see laboratories and field sites. Collaborating with scientists builds the connective tissue that helps all educators and our students learn more deeply. When K-12 teachers collaborate with scientists and graduate students, teachers learn more science, and scientists learn more teaching. This growth of background knowledge is a win-win situation and helps us meet the expectations of the Common Core State Standards. Teachers need to feel encouraged to contact their local or regional scientists for support. Reaching out into the universities to make contact with polar scientists or graduate students is a good place to start. Building professional networks allows PI's to address the 'broader impact' requirement on many grant applications, and helps spread the university's work in the polar regions out to the general public. These collaborations also give teachers expert insights and current data to build authentic lessons, and excite their students to seek careers in the sciences. This presentation will focus on three completed interactive opportunities I have built with researchers in my classroom. Students adding daily sediment to their sediment core, after communications from the field with scientist Heidi Roop in Alaska.

The "ins" and "outs" of provider-parent communication: perspectives from adolescent primary care providers on challenges to forging alliances to reduce adolescent risk.

PubMed

Helitzer, Deborah L; Sussman, Andrew L; de Hernandez, Brisa Urquieta; Kong, Alberta S

2011-04-01

For several decades, the goal to protect adolescents' confidentiality in addition to state and professional mandates to provide confidential health services have sometimes outweighed the interest of involving parents in risk reduction efforts. More recently, experts acknowledge that a balance must be found between maintaining adolescent confidentiality and involving parents in preventing poor adolescent outcomes resulting from risky behaviors. The purpose of this research was to elucidate the challenges in and identify solutions to realizing this newer vision in the primary care setting. We conducted a qualitative study featuring in-depth interviews with 37 primary care providers among whom a significant component of their practice involved adolescent patients. Purposeful sampling was aimed at a diversity of gender, practice specialty, practice venues, and geographic areas. We identified individual and structural barriers and facilitators to involving parents in their adolescents' primary care. Barriers included parents' lack of knowledge and awareness of their children's risk behaviors; providers time constraints and competing clinical demands, concerns for confidentiality and developing a trusting relationship with the child; and legal and system requirements that limit engagement with parents. Facilitators included interest and for some, planned approaches by the provider to engage the parent; encouragement by the provider to the adolescent to communicate with a trusted adult about their risky behavior; and opportunities to educate the parent about risk reduction in general. Opportunities for further research on strategies to improve communication and develop a partnership between providers and parents are described. Copyright © 2011 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A large-scale mass casualty simulation to develop the non-technical skills medical students require for collaborative teamwork.

PubMed

Jorm, Christine; Roberts, Chris; Lim, Renee; Roper, Josephine; Skinner, Clare; Robertson, Jeremy; Gentilcore, Stacey; Osomanski, Adam

2016-03-08

There is little research on large-scale complex health care simulations designed to facilitate student learning of non-technical skills in a team-working environment. We evaluated the acceptability and effectiveness of a novel natural disaster simulation that enabled medical students to demonstrate their achievement of the non-technical skills of collaboration, negotiation and communication. In a mixed methods approach, survey data were available from 117 students and a thematic analysis undertaken of both student qualitative comments and tutor observer participation data. Ninety three per cent of students found the activity engaging for their learning. Three themes emerged from the qualitative data: the impact of fidelity on student learning, reflexivity on the importance of non-technical skills in clinical care, and opportunities for collaborative teamwork. Physical fidelity was sufficient for good levels of student engagement, as was sociological fidelity. We demonstrated the effectiveness of the simulation in allowing students to reflect upon and evidence their acquisition of skills in collaboration, negotiation and communication, as well as situational awareness and attending to their emotions. Students readily identified emerging learning opportunities though critical reflection. The scenarios challenged students to work together collaboratively to solve clinical problems, using a range of resources including interacting with clinical experts. A large class teaching activity, framed as a simulation of a natural disaster is an acceptable and effective activity for medical students to develop the non-technical skills of collaboration, negotiation and communication, which are essential to team working. The design could be of value in medical schools in disaster prone areas, including within low resource countries, and as a feasible intervention for learning the non-technical skills that are needed for patient safety.

MARBLE: A system for executing expert systems in parallel

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Myers, Leonard; Johnson, Coe; Johnson, Dean

1990-01-01

This paper details the MARBLE 2.0 system which provides a parallel environment for cooperating expert systems. The work has been done in conjunction with the development of an intelligent computer-aided design system, ICADS, by the CAD Research Unit of the Design Institute at California Polytechnic State University. MARBLE (Multiple Accessed Rete Blackboard Linked Experts) is a system of C Language Production Systems (CLIPS) expert system tool. A copied blackboard is used for communication between the shells to establish an architecture which supports cooperating expert systems that execute in parallel. The design of MARBLE is simple, but it provides support for a rich variety of configurations, while making it relatively easy to demonstrate the correctness of its parallel execution features. In its most elementary configuration, individual CLIPS expert systems execute on their own processors and communicate with each other through a modified blackboard. Control of the system as a whole, and specifically of writing to the blackboard is provided by one of the CLIPS expert systems, an expert control system.

From Paris to Iowa and Back: Global Temperature Targets, Agricultural Impacts, and Producer Response

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Anderson, C.; Hayhoe, K.; Terando, A. J.

2016-12-01

Traditionally, assessments such as those produced by IPCC and USGCRP have been structured to provide a one-way flow of information from scientists to national and international policy makers. Because the Paris Agreement will ultimately require corresponding domestic policies, the traditional one-way information flow could be inadequate, since it lacks both direct participation and informed feedback from many of the important entities that influence domestic policy. We have engaged Iowa row crop producers in identifying impacts and feasibility of adaptation under global warming of 1.0 and 2.0OC. Our engagement seeks to create within climate impacts assessment a decision-maker feedback loop. We have engaged an expert panel by using yield data modeling as a first step to communicate vividly the potential yield impacts of global average temperature targets. This engagement included validation with historical global average temperature before presenting yield impact under global mean surface temperature increase of 1.0 and 2.0OC. The expert panel requested further analysis of targets at 0.25 and 0.50OC increase and of possible impacts should they pursue adaptation by increasing maize plant population density and soil moisture storage. Several clear messages have emerged that can be voiced by Iowa agribusiness leaders to national and international decision-makers. While Iowa soybean agriculture may remain robust for the foreseeable future, the Paris Agreement is insufficient to protect Iowa maize production from substantial changes in productivity and volatility. These effects could be largely (though not entirely) mitigated by moving from the current +2OC to the "high ambition" +1.5OC target. The projected spring rainfall increase of 10% under +1OC would increase the cost of spring planting. The data model predicts a 5-day reduction in average number of fieldwork days, which requires the addition of one half-time person or larger planting equipment. The current annual rate of increase in maize plant density will maintain historical yield increase through +1OC but by +2OC is substantially reduced and results in unprecedented yield volatility. By increasing soil moisture during July, Iowa maize production can reduce markedly the impacts of +2OC.

Engagement and Disengagement between Special and General Educators: An Application of Miles and Huberman's Cross-Case Analysis.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gersten, Russell; Marks, Susan Unok

1998-01-01

This cross-case analysis examined general education elementary-level teacher engagement with and effectiveness of "coaching," or expert consultation by special educators on effective teaching strategies. Factors resulting in high levels of impact on teaching and high levels of engagement were identified, including emphasis on conceptual…

The roles of effective communication and client engagement in delivering culturally sensitive care to immigrant parents of children with disabilities.

PubMed

King, Gillian; Desmarais, Chantal; Lindsay, Sally; Piérart, Geneviève; Tétreault, Sylvie

2015-01-01

Delivering pediatric rehabilitation services to immigrant parents of children with disabilities requires the practice of culturally sensitive care. Few studies have examined the specific nature of culturally sensitive care in pediatric rehabilitation, especially the notions of effective communication and client engagement. Interviews were held with 42 therapists (10 social workers, 16 occupational therapists and 16 speech language pathologists) from two locations in Canada (Toronto and Quebec City). Data were analyzed using an inductive content analysis approach. Study themes included the importance and nature of effective communication and client engagement in service delivery involving immigrant parents. Participants discussed using four main types of strategies to engage immigrant parents, including understanding the family situation, building a collaborative relationship, tailoring practice to the client's situation and ensuring parents' understanding of therapy procedures. The findings illuminate the importance of effective, two-way communication in providing the mutual understanding needed by therapists to engage parents in the intervention process. The findings also richly describe the engagement strategies used by therapists. Clinical implications include recommendations for strategies for therapists to employ to engage this group of parents. Furthermore, the findings are applicable to service provision in general, as engaging families in a collaborative relationship through attention to their specific situation is a general principle of good quality, family-centered care. Implications for Rehabilitation Effective communication permeates the delivery of culturally sensitive care and provides mutual understanding, which is fundamental to client engagement. The findings illuminate the nature of "partnership" by indicating the role of collaborative therapist strategies in facilitating engagement. Four main strategies facilitate effective communication and client engagement, including understanding the family situation, building a collaborative relationship, tailoring practice to the client's situation and ensuring parents' understanding of therapy procedures. Engaging families in a collaborative relationship through attention to their specific situation is a general principle of good quality, family-centered care.

Regressive Imagery in Creative Problem-Solving: Comparing Verbal Protocols of Expert and Novice Visual Artists and Computer Programmers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kozbelt, Aaron; Dexter, Scott; Dolese, Melissa; Meredith, Daniel; Ostrofsky, Justin

2015-01-01

We applied computer-based text analyses of regressive imagery to verbal protocols of individuals engaged in creative problem-solving in two domains: visual art (23 experts, 23 novices) and computer programming (14 experts, 14 novices). Percentages of words involving primary process and secondary process thought, plus emotion-related words, were…

Dengue Disease Risk Mental Models in the City of Dhaka, Bangladesh: Juxtapositions and Gaps Between the Public and Experts.

PubMed

Dhar-Chowdhury, Parnali; Haque, C Emdad; Driedger, S Michelle

2016-05-01

Worldwide, more than 50 million cases of dengue fever are reported every year in at least 124 countries, and it is estimated that approximately 2.5 billion people are at risk for dengue infection. In Bangladesh, the recurrence of dengue has become a growing public health threat. Notably, knowledge and perceptions of dengue disease risk, particularly among the public, are not well understood. Recognizing the importance of assessing risk perception, we adopted a comparative approach to examine a generic methodology to assess diverse sets of beliefs related to dengue disease risk. Our study mapped existing knowledge structures regarding the risk associated with dengue virus, its vector (Aedes mosquitoes), water container use, and human activities in the city of Dhaka, Bangladesh. "Public mental models" were developed from interviews and focus group discussions with diverse community groups; "expert mental models" were formulated based on open-ended discussions with experts in the pertinent fields. A comparative assessment of the public's and experts' knowledge and perception of dengue disease risk has revealed significant gaps in the perception of: (a) disease risk indicators and measurements; (b) disease severity; (c) control of disease spread; and (d) the institutions responsible for intervention. This assessment further identifies misconceptions in public perception regarding: (a) causes of dengue disease; (b) dengue disease symptoms; (c) dengue disease severity; (d) dengue vector ecology; and (e) dengue disease transmission. Based on these results, recommendations are put forward for improving communication of dengue risk and practicing local community engagement and knowledge enhancement in Bangladesh. © 2015 Society for Risk Analysis.

Communications and tracking expert systems study

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Leibfried, T. F.; Feagin, Terry; Overland, David

1987-01-01

The original objectives of the study consisted of five broad areas of investigation: criteria and issues for explanation of communication and tracking system anomaly detection, isolation, and recovery; data storage simplification issues for fault detection expert systems; data selection procedures for decision tree pruning and optimization to enhance the abstraction of pertinent information for clear explanation; criteria for establishing levels of explanation suited to needs; and analysis of expert system interaction and modularization. Progress was made in all areas, but to a lesser extent in the criteria for establishing levels of explanation suited to needs. Among the types of expert systems studied were those related to anomaly or fault detection, isolation, and recovery.

Engagement and Education

PubMed Central

Tosh, Pritish K.; Hick, John L.; Hanfling, Dan; Geiling, James; Reed, Mary Jane; Uyeki, Timothy M.; Shah, Umair A.; Fagbuyi, Daniel B.; Skippen, Peter; Dichter, Jeffrey R.; Kissoon, Niranjan; Christian, Michael D.; Upperman, Jeffrey S.; Christian, Michael D.; Devereaux, Asha V.; Dichter, Jeffrey R.; Kissoon, Niranjan; Rubinson, Lewis; Amundson, Dennis; Anderson, Michael R.; Balk, Robert; Barfield, Wanda D.; Bartz, Martha; Benditt, Josh; Beninati, William; Berkowitz, Kenneth A.; Daugherty Biddison, Lee; Braner, Dana; Branson, Richard D; Burkle, Frederick M.; Cairns, Bruce A.; Carr, Brendan G.; Courtney, Brooke; DeDecker, Lisa D.; De Jong, Marla J.; Dominguez-Cherit, Guillermo; Dries, David; Einav, Sharon; Erstad, Brian L.; Etienne, Mill; Fagbuyi, Daniel B.; Fang, Ray; Feldman, Henry; Garzon, Hernando; Geiling, James; Gomersall, Charles D.; Grissom, Colin K.; Hanfling, Dan; Hick, John L.; Hodge, James G.; Hupert, Nathaniel; Ingbar, David; Kanter, Robert K.; King, Mary A.; Kuhnley, Robert N.; Lawler, James; Leung, Sharon; Levy, Deborah A.; Lim, Matthew L.; Livinski, Alicia; Luyckx, Valerie; Marcozzi, David; Medina, Justine; Miramontes, David A.; Mutter, Ryan; Niven, Alexander S.; Penn, Matthew S.; Pepe, Paul E.; Powell, Tia; Prezant, David; Reed, Mary Jane; Rich, Preston; Rodriquez, Dario; Roxland, Beth E.; Sarani, Babak; Shah, Umair A.; Skippen, Peter; Sprung, Charles L.; Subbarao, Italo; Talmor, Daniel; Toner, Eric S.; Tosh, Pritish K.; Upperman, Jeffrey S.; Uyeki, Timothy M.; Weireter, Leonard J.; West, T. Eoin; Wilgis, John; Ornelas, Joe; McBride, Deborah; Reid, David; Baez, Amado; Baldisseri, Marie; Blumenstock, James S.; Cooper, Art; Ellender, Tim; Helminiak, Clare; Jimenez, Edgar; Krug, Steve; Lamana, Joe; Masur, Henry; Mathivha, L. Rudo; Osterholm, Michael T.; Reynolds, H. Neal; Sandrock, Christian; Sprecher, Armand; Tillyard, Andrew; White, Douglas; Wise, Robert; Yeskey, Kevin

2014-01-01

BACKGROUND: Engagement and education of ICU clinicians in disaster preparedness is fragmented by time constraints and institutional barriers and frequently occurs during a disaster. We reviewed the existing literature from 2007 to April 2013 and expert opinions about clinician engagement and education for critical care during a pandemic or disaster and offer suggestions for integrating ICU clinicians into planning and response. The suggestions in this article are important for all of those involved in a pandemic or large-scale disaster with multiple critically ill or injured patients, including front-line clinicians, hospital administrators, and public health or government officials. METHODS: A systematic literature review was performed and suggestions formulated according to the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) Consensus Statement development methodology. We assessed articles, documents, reports, and gray literature reported since 2007. Following expert-informed sorting and review of the literature, key priority areas and questions were developed. No studies of sufficient quality were identified upon which to make evidence-based recommendations. Therefore, the panel developed expert opinion-based suggestions using a modified Delphi process. RESULTS: Twenty-three suggestions were formulated based on literature-informed consensus opinion. These suggestions are grouped according to the following thematic elements: (1) situational awareness, (2) clinician roles and responsibilities, (3) education, and (4) community engagement. Together, these four elements are considered to form the basis for effective ICU clinician engagement for mass critical care. CONCLUSIONS: The optimal engagement of the ICU clinical team in caring for large numbers of critically ill patients due to a pandemic or disaster will require a departure from the routine independent systems operating in hospitals. An effective response will require robust information systems; coordination among clinicians, hospitals, and governmental organizations; pre-event engagement of relevant stakeholders; and standardized core competencies for the education and training of critical care clinicians. PMID:25144161

Research Priorities for Studies Linking Intake of Low-Calorie Sweeteners and Potentially Related Health Outcomes

PubMed Central

Bright, Oliver-John M; Wang, Ding Ding; Shams-White, Marissa; Bleich, Sara N; Foreyt, John; Franz, Marion; Johnson, Guy; Manning, Beth Trickett; Mattes, Rick; Pi-Sunyer, Xavier; Schneeman, Barbara; Parrott, James Scott; Steffen, Dan; Sylvetsky, Allison; Ziegler, Paula

2017-01-01

Abstract Background: In a world of finite research funding, efforts to prioritize future research topics are increasingly necessary. Objective: The aim of this study was to identify and prioritize the direction of future research in the broad area of low-calorie sweetener (LCS) intake and potentially related health outcomes by using a novel method that incorporates evidence mapping in the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Future Research Needs (FRN) process. Methods: A diverse expert stakeholder panel was convened and engaged to identify research gaps and prioritize future research needs. An independent research team hosted a number of interactive webinars and elicited feedback through surveys and individual interviews with the stakeholder panel, which included policymakers, lay audience members, health providers, a research funder, individuals with food industry experience, and researchers of several different specialties. Results: The stakeholder panel generated and ranked a list of 18 FRN questions across 5 broad research areas. Overall, stakeholder panel members unanimously agreed that the research questions that will have the largest public health impact are those that address outcomes related to body weight, appetite, and dietary intake. Although the LCSs included in this FRN project have all been Generally Recognized as Safe by the FDA or approved as food additives, the recurrent concerns and confusions with regard to the “safety” of LCSs by consumers underscore the importance of communicating the science to the general public. Conclusion: Our project provides evidence that engaging a diverse expert stakeholder panel is an effective method of translating gaps in nutrition research into prioritized areas of future research.

a Continual Engagement Approach Through Gis-Mcda Conflict Resolution of Loggerhead Sea Turtle Bycatch in Mexico

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bojórquez-Tapia, L. A.

2015-12-01

Continual engagement is an approach that emphasizes of uninterrupted interaction with the stakeholders with the purpose of fully integrating their knowledge into policymaking process. It focuses on the creation of hybrid scientific-local knowledge highly relevant to community and policy makers needs, while balancing the power asymmetries among stakeholders. Hence, it presupposes a capacity for a continuous revision and adjustment of the analyses that support the policymaking process. While continual engagement implies a capacity for enabling an effective communication, translation and mediation of knowledge among the diverse stakeholders, experts and policymakers, it also means keeping a close eye out for how knowledge evolves and how new data and information is introduced along a policymaking process. Through a case study, the loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta) fishing bycatch in Mexico, a geographical information system-multicriteria modeling (GIS-MCDA) approach is presented to address the challenges of implementing continual engagement in conflict resolution processes. The GIS-MCDA combined the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) and compromise programming (CP) to generate consensus regarding the spatial pattern of conflicts. The AHP was fundamental for synthesizing the different sources of knowledge into a geospatial model. In particular, the AHP enabled the assess the salience, legitimacy, and credibility of the information produced for all involved. Results enabled the development of specific policies based upon an assessment of the risk of the loggerhead population to different levels of fishing bycatch, and the needs of the fishing communities in the region.

Making Information Useful: Engagement in the Sustained National Climate Assessment Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lough, G. C.; Cloyd, E.

2015-12-01

Creation of actionable information requires that the producers of that information understand the needs of the intended users and decision makers. To that end, the U.S. Global Change Research Program's sustained National Climate Assessment process includes a focus on engaging users through an inclusive, broad-based, and ongoing process. Such a process provides opportunities for scientific experts and decision makers to share knowledge about the climate-related issues, impacts, and potential response actions that are most important in a particular region or sector. Such a process is also highly transparent in order to produce results that are credible, salient, and legitimate for both scientists and decision makers, ultimately making the results extremely useful. To implement these principles, USGCRP implements a broad-based engagement strategy that invites participation from users and stakeholder communities and considers methods for communicating with potential users at every step. The strategy elicits contributions to help shape the framing of the assessment process and products, improve the transparency of the process, and increase the utility of the final information. Specific user inputs are gathered through workshops, public comment opportunities, town hall meetings, presentations, requests for information, submitted documents, and open meetings. Further, a network of contributors self-organizes around topics of interest to extend assessment activities to a wider range of user groups. Here, we describe the outcomes of these innovations in assessment engagement and identify clear successes, notable surprises, future evaluation needs, and areas for new ideas.

Communication at an online infertility expert forum: provider responses to patients' emotional and informational cues.

PubMed

Aarts, J W M; van Oers, A M; Faber, M J; Cohlen, B J; Nelen, W L D M; Kremer, J A M; van Dulmen, A M

2015-01-01

Online patient-provider communication has become increasingly popular in fertility care. However, it is not known to what extent patients express cues or concerns and how providers respond. In this study, we investigated cues and responses that occur in online patient-provider communication at an infertility-specific expert forum. We extracted 106 threads from the multidisciplinary expert forum of two Dutch IVF clinics. We performed the following analyses: (1) thematic analysis of patients' questions; and (2) rating patients' emotional and informational cues and subsequent professionals' responses using an adaptation of the validated Medical Interview Aural Rating Scale. Frequencies of themes, frequencies of cues and responses, and sequences (what cue is followed by what response) were extracted. Sixty-five infertile patients and 19 providers participated. The most common themes included medication and lifestyle. Patients gave more informational than emotional cues (106 versus 64). Responses to informational cues were mostly adequate (61%). The most common response to emotional cues was empathic acknowledgment (72%). Results indicate that an online expert forum could have a positive effect on patient outcomes, which should guide future research. Offering infertile patients an expert forum to communicate with providers can be a promising supplement to usual care in both providing information and addressing patients' concerns.

Risk communication discourse among ecological risk assessment professionals and its implications for communication with nonexperts.

PubMed

Hunka, Agnieszka D; Palmqvist, Annemette; Thorbek, Pernille; Forbes, Valery E

2013-10-01

Risk communication, especially to the general public and end users of plant protection products, is an important challenge. Currently, much of the risk communication the general public receives is via the popular press, and risk managers face the challenge of presenting their decisions and their scientific basis to the general public in an understandable way. Therefore, we decided to explore the obstacles in risk communication, as done by expert risk assessors and managers. Using the discourse analysis framework and readability tests, we studied perspectives of 3 stakeholder groups-regulators, industry representatives, and academics across Europe. We conducted 30 confidential interviews (10 participants in each group), with part of the interview guide focused on communication of pesticide risk to the general public and the ideas experts in the field of risk assessment and management hold of the public perception of pesticides. We used the key informant approach in recruiting our participants. They were first identified as key stakeholders in ecological risk assessment of pesticides and then sampled by means of a snowball sampling technique. In the analysis, first we identified main motifs (themes) in each group, and then we moved to studying length of the sentences and grammar and to uncovering discourses present in the text data. We also used the Flesch Reading Ease test to determine the comprehension difficulty of transcribed interviews. The test is commonly used as a standard for estimating the readability of technical documents. Our results highlight 3 main obstacles standing in the way of effective communication with wider audiences. First of all, ecological risk assessment as a highly technical procedure uses the specific language of ecological risk assessment, which is also highly specialized and might be difficult to comprehend by nonexperts. Second, the idea of existing "expert-lay discrepancy," a phenomenon described in risk perception studies is visibly present in the experts' opinions. Finally, the communication flow among stakeholders was perceived as flawed, e.g., our participants did not consider themselves fully included in the communication process, despite taking part in many networks. Interestingly, both studies on the role of trust in risk perception, and research on links between daily choices and perceived risk, show that the public is more likely to rely on experts they can trust, than the experts in our study were inclined to think. © 2013 SETAC.

Unleashing Expert Judgment in the IPCC's Fifth Assessment Report

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Freeman, P. T.; Mach, K. J.; Mastrandrea, M.; Field, C. B.

2016-12-01

IPCC assessments are critical vehicles for evaluating and synthesizing existing knowledge about climate change, its impacts, and potential options for adaptation and mitigation. In these assessments, rigorous expert judgment is essential for characterizing current scientific understanding including persistent and complex uncertainties related to climate change. Over its history the IPCC has iteratively developed frameworks for evaluating and communicating what is known and what is not known about climate change science. In this presentation, we explore advances and challenges in approaches to evaluating and communicating expert judgment in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Fifth Assessment Report (IPCC AR5). We present an analysis of the frequency of the use of calibrated degree-of-certainty terms in the policymaker summaries from the IPCC's AR5 and Fourth Assessment Report (AR4). We find that revised guidance for IPCC author teams in the AR5 improved the development of balanced judgments on scientific evidence across disciplines. Overall, degree-of-certainty terms are more abundant in the AR5 policymaker summaries compared to those of the AR4, demonstrating an increased commitment to extensively and transparently characterizing expert judgments underpinning report conclusions. This analysis also shows that while working groups still favor different degree-of-certainty scales in the AR5, authors employed a wider array of degree-of-certainty scales to communicate expert judgment supporting report findings compared to the policymaker summaries of the AR4. Finally, our analysis reveals greater inclusion of lower-certainty findings in the AR5 as compared to the AR4, critical for communicating a fuller range of possible climate change impacts and response options. Building on our findings we propose a simpler, more transparent, and more rigorous framework for developing and communicating expert judgments in future climate and environmental assessments.

Sciencetogo.Org: Using Humor to Engage a Public Audience with the Serious Issue of Climate Change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lustick, D. S.; Lohmeier, J.; Chen, R. F.; Rabkin, D.; Wilson, R.

2014-12-01

A team of educators, scientists, and communication experts from multiple universities as well as a Science museum will report on the impact of ScienceToGo.org, which is an Out of Home Multi-Media (OHMM) exhibit targeting adults riding a major subway system. The campaign's goal is to design, implement, and study the efficacy of an OHMM model for free choice science learning about our changing climate. Subway riders represent a diverse and captive audience with most of them spending an average of one hour a day in the subway system. Through the use of specially designed OHMM such as train placards, platform posters, and virtual resources the campaign engages a potential audience of 500,000 riders/day with opportunities to learn climate change science informally. The primary goal of the ScienceToGo.org campaign is to engage, entertain, and educate the adult subway riding community in major U.S. city about climate change as a real, relevant, and solvable local challenge. A naturalistic quasi-experimental inquiry employing a mixed methodology approach best describes our research design with half of the subway system exposed to the project signage (experimental group) and the other half not being exposed to the project signage (control group). To identify possible outcomes, data was collected in the several forms: survey, analytic data associated with website, social media, web app, focus groups, and observations. This campaign is an example of how an individual's daily routine may be enhanced with an informal science learning opportunity. We see an urgent need to improve both the public's engagement with climate change science and to the profile of climate change science in formal education settings. The campaign makes deliberate use of humor and fun to engage a public and diverse audience with the serious issue of climate change. The research that will be presented will reveal some of the strengths and weaknesses of this strategy when communicating science to a diverse audience. Overall, the preponderance of evidence indicates that humor and fun are effective at engaging riders on mass transit. Mass transit spaces represent a promsing medium for further exploration and development when it comes to informal learning about climate change science.

Mundane science use in a practice theoretical perspective: Different understandings of the relations between citizen-consumers and public communication initiatives build on scientific claims.

PubMed

Halkier, Bente

2015-08-13

Public communication initiatives play a part in placing complicated scientific claims in citizen-consumers' everyday contexts. Lay reactions to scientific claims framed in public communication, and attempts to engage citizens, have been important subjects of discussion in the literatures of public understanding and public engagement with science. Many of the public communication initiatives, however, address lay people as consumers rather than citizens. This creates specific challenges for understanding public engagement with science and scientific citizenship. The article compares five different understandings of the relations between citizen-consumers and public issue communication involving science, where the first four types are widely represented in the Public Understanding of Science discussions. The fifth understanding is a practice theoretical perspective. The article suggests how the public understanding of and engagement in science literature can benefit from including a practice theoretical approach to research about mundane science use and public engagement. © The Author(s) 2015.

Geophysicists' views about public engagement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Besley, J. C.; Dudo, A.; Yuan, S.

2016-12-01

The proposed talk would present the results of 2016 survey of American Geophysical Union members (n = 2040) about public engagement. This survey took place as part of a broader, NSF funded, study of engagement views across eight different U.S.-based scientific societies. The presentation would include data about geophysicists' past engagement behavior and willingness to engage alongside data about engagement attitudes, perceived norms (i.e. beliefs about whether peers engage and value engagement), and perceived efficacy (i.e., scientists' beliefs about their own communication skills and the impact of engagement). The presentation would also include results that describe scientists' overall goals for engagement (e.g., increasing support for specific policy positions, changing citizen behavior, etc.), as well as their communication-specific objectives (e.g., increasing knowledge, increase excitement, etc.). All of the results would be put in the context of equivalent results from scientists from seven other societies across a variety of fields, including chemistry, biology, and the social sciences. Three themes that would be emphasized in the presentation include (1) the fact that there are substantial commonalities in engagement views across scientific fields, (2) the important role that perceived engagement skill (efficacy) appears to play in predicting engagement willingness, and (3) a lack of evidence that scientists are thinking about engagement in strategic ways. Strategic engagement, in this regard, would involve setting clear goals and then choosing activities that the social science of science communication suggests might allow one to achieve those goals. The presentation would conclude with thoughts about what might be done to improve the effectiveness of science communication training.

Measuring Audience Engagement for Public Health Twitter Chats: Insights From #LiveFitNOLA.

PubMed

Rabarison, Kristina M; Croston, Merriah A; Englar, Naomi K; Bish, Connie L; Flynn, Shelbi M; Johnson, Carolyn C

2017-06-08

Little empirical evidence exists on the effectiveness of using Twitter as a two-way communication tool for public health practice, such as Twitter chats. We analyzed whether Twitter chats facilitate engagement in two-way communications between public health entities and their audience. We also describe how to measure two-way communications, incoming and outgoing mentions, between users in a protocol using free and publicly available tools (Symplur, OpenRefine, and Gephi). We used a mixed-methods approach, social network analysis, and content analysis. The study population comprised individuals and organizations participating or who were mentioned in the first #LiveFitNOLA chat, during a 75-min period on March 5, 2015, from 12:00 PM to 1:15 PM Central Time. We assessed audience engagement in two-way communications with two metrics: engagement ratio and return on engagement (ROE). The #LiveFitNOLA chat had 744 tweets and 66 participants with an average of 11 tweets per participant. The resulting network had 134 network members and 474 engagements. The engagement ratios and ROEs for the #LiveFitNOLA organizers were 1:1, 40% (13/32) (@TulanePRC) and 2:1, -40% (-25/63) (@FitNOLA). Content analysis showed information sharing (63.9%, 314/491) and health information (27.9%, 137/491) as the most salient theme and sub-theme, respectively. Our findings suggest Twitter chats facilitate audience engagement in two-way communications between public health entities and their audience. The #LiveFitNOLA organizers' engagement ratios and ROEs indicated a moderate level of engagement with their audience. The practical significance of the engagement ratio and ROE depends on the audience, context, scope, scale, and goal of a Twitter chat or other organized hashtag-based communications on Twitter. ©Kristina M Rabarison, Merriah A Croston, Naomi K Englar, Connie L Bish, Shelbi M Flynn, Carolyn C Johnson. Originally published in JMIR Public Health and Surveillance (http://publichealth.jmir.org), 08.06.2017.

Interactive Care Model: A Framework for More Fully Engaging People in Their Healthcare.

PubMed

Drenkard, Karen; Swartwout, Ellen; Deyo, Patricia; O'Neil, Michael B

2015-10-01

Transformation of care delivery requires rethinking the relationship between the person and clinician. The model described provides a process to more fully engage patients in their care. Five encounters include assessing capacity for engagement, exchanging information and choices, planning, determining interventions, and evaluating the effectiveness of engagement interventions. Created by researchers and validated by experts, implications for practice, education, and policy are explored.

Communication in a Human biomonitoring study: Focus group work, public engagement and lessons learnt in 17 European countries.

PubMed

Exley, Karen; Cano, Noemi; Aerts, Dominique; Biot, Pierre; Casteleyn, Ludwine; Kolossa-Gehring, Marike; Schwedler, Gerda; Castaño, Argelia; Angerer, Jürgen; Koch, Holger M; Esteban, Marta; Schoeters, Greet; Den Hond, Elly; Horvat, Milena; Bloemen, Louis; Knudsen, Lisbeth E; Joas, Reinhard; Joas, Anke; Dewolf, Marie-Christine; Van de Mieroop, Els; Katsonouri, Andromachi; Hadjipanayis, Adamos; Cerna, Milena; Krskova, Andrea; Becker, Kerstin; Fiddicke, Ulrike; Seiwert, Margarete; Mørck, Thit A; Rudnai, Peter; Kozepesy, Szilvia; Cullen, Elizabeth; Kellegher, Anne; Gutleb, Arno C; Fischer, Marc E; Ligocka, Danuta; Kamińska, Joanna; Namorado, Sónia; Reis, M Fátima; Lupsa, Ioana-Rodica; Gurzau, Anca E; Halzlova, Katarina; Jajcaj, Michal; Mazej, Darja; Tratnik, Janja Snoj; Huetos, Olga; López, Ana; Berglund, Marika; Larsson, Kristin; Sepai, Ovnair

2015-08-01

A communication strategy was developed by The Consortium to Perform Human Biomonitoring on a European Scale (COPHES), as part of its objectives to develop a framework and protocols to enable the collection of comparable human biomonitoring data throughout Europe. The framework and protocols were tested in the pilot study DEMOCOPHES (Demonstration of a study to Coordinate and Perform Human biomonitoring on a European Scale). The aims of the communication strategy were to raise awareness of human biomonitoring, encourage participation in the study and to communicate the study results and their public health significance. It identified the audiences and key messages, documented the procedure for dissemination of results and was updated as the project progressed. A communication plan listed the tools and materials such as press releases, flyers, recruitment letters and information leaflets required for each audience with a time frame for releasing them. Public insight research was used to evaluate the recruitment material, and the feedback was used to improve the documents. Dissemination of results was coordinated in a step by step approach by the participating countries within DEMOCOPHES, taking into account specific national messages according to the needs of each country. Participants received individual results, unless they refused to be informed, along with guidance on what the results meant. The aggregate results and policy recommendations were then communicated to the general public and stakeholders, followed by dissemination at European level. Several lessons were learnt that may assist other future human biomonitoring studies. Recruitment took longer than anticipated and so social scientists, to help with community engagement, should be part of the research team from the start. As a European study, involving multiple countries, additional considerations were needed for the numerous organisations, different languages, cultures, policies and priorities. Therefore, communication documents should be seen as templates with essential information clearly indicated and the option for each country to tailor the material to reflect these differences. Future studies should consider setting up multidisciplinary networks of medical professionals and communication experts, and holding training workshops to discuss the interpretation of results and risk communication. Publicity and wide dissemination of the results helped to raise awareness of human biomonitoring to the general public, policy makers and other key stakeholders. Effective and timely communication, at all stages of a study, is essential if the potential of human biomonitoring research to improve public health is to be realised. Copyright © 2015 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Risk communication and human biomonitoring: which practical lessons from the Belgian experience are of use for the EU perspective?

PubMed

Keune, Hans; Morrens, Bert; Loots, Ilse

2008-06-05

In order to investigate and monitor environmental health in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium), the Flemish government funded the Centre of Expertise for Environment and Health, which started a human biomonitoring campaign in 2001. In addition to environmental health experts measuring environmental pollutants and health effects in human beings, social scientific experts at the Centre focus on risk communication associated with the human biomonitoring campaign. In the literature about risk communication an evolution can be traced from traditional, one-way communication, restricted to the dissemination of information from experts to the public, to more modern, two-way risk communication, with a focus on participation and cooperation between scientists, policy-makers and the public.Within the Centre of Expertise for Environment and Health this discourse was first translated into some general principles and guidelines for external communication, at a 'Ten Commandments level'. These principles needed to be incorporated in the day-to-day practice of human biomonitoring research. The social scientific experts at the Centre developed a combined risk communication strategy. On the one hand the strategy consists of traditional risk communication for external communication purposes, for example information meetings and digital newsletters. On the other hand it consists of a step by step approach of incorporating more modern risk communication, for example a risk perception questionnaire, dialogical experiments for involving local stakeholders, and an action-plan for interpreting results for policy making. With a parallel strategy of traditional and modern communication, of external and internal reflection, and through different social scientific projects, the Flemish Centre of Expertise of Environment and Health incorporates risk communication in the day-to-day practice of human biomonitoring research. A direct and continuous involvement of the social scientist, an openness between all colleagues involved, and the awareness of a fine balance between quality and practicability are important success factors. These lessons may be helpful and inspirational for a European human biomonitoring project.

47 CFR 90.31 - Scope.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... licensing of the radio communications of entities engaged in commercial activities, engaged in clergy... FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION (CONTINUED) SAFETY AND SPECIAL RADIO SERVICES PRIVATE LAND MOBILE RADIO..., permissible communications and classes and number of stations, and any special requirements are set forth in...

Societal and Economic Engagement of Universities in Finland: An Evaluation Model

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ritsila, Jari; Nieminen, Mika; Sotarauta, Markku; Lahtonen, Jukka

2008-01-01

This paper is based on the work of an expert team invited by the Ministry of Education of Finland to develop criteria and an evaluation framework for societal and economic engagement for use in university performance management. The paper maps out possible indicators for the societal and economic engagement of universities in the light of national…

Broadening the Definition of Engagement for Students with Severe Disabilities: A Phenomenological Study of the Experts in the Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hollingshead, Aleksandra K.

2013-01-01

While a great deal has been written about the complexities of engagement for learners without severe disabilities, there is less for students with severe disabilities. Engagement as a complex construct, consisting of behavioral, cognitive, and emotional components (Finn & Zimmer, 2012; Fredricks, Blumenfeld, & Paris, 2004; Skinner &…

Promoting EFL Teacher Research Engagement through a Research Support Programme

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Al-Maamari, Faisal; Al-Aamri, Kamla; Khammash, Samar; Al-Wahaibi, Munira

2017-01-01

Existing initiatives purporting to promote teacher research are often found to be inadequate to encourage EFL teachers to engage in research due to the fact that they impose a top down, expert model approach to research engagement. This study reports on a pioneering programme at Sultan Qaboos University Language Centre in the Sultanate of Oman…

Reflective teaching practices: an approach to teaching communication skills in a small-group setting.

PubMed

Fryer-Edwards, Kelly; Arnold, Robert M; Baile, Walter; Tulsky, James A; Petracca, Frances; Back, Anthony

2006-07-01

Small-group teaching is particularly suited for complex skills such as communication. Existing work has identified the basic elements of small-group teaching, but few descriptions of higher-order teaching practices exist in the medical literature. Thus the authors developed an empirically driven and theoretically grounded model for small-group communication-skills teaching. Between 2002 and 2005, teaching observations were collected over 100 hours of direct contact time between four expert facilitators and 120 medical oncology fellows participating in Oncotalk, a semiannual, four-day retreat focused on end-of-life communication skills. The authors conducted small-group teaching observations, semistructured interviews with faculty participants, video or audio recording with transcript review, and evaluation of results by faculty participants. Teaching skills observed during the retreats included a linked set of reflective, process-oriented teaching practices: identifying a learning edge, proposing and testing hypotheses, and calibrating learner self-assessments. Based on observations and debriefings with facilitators, the authors developed a conceptual model of teaching that illustrates an iterative loop of teaching practices aimed at enhancing learners' engagement and self-efficacy. Through longitudinal, empirical observations, this project identified a set of specific teaching skills for small-group settings with applicability to other clinical teaching settings. This study extends current theory and teaching practice prescriptions by describing specific teaching practices required for effective teaching. These reflective teaching practices, while developed for communication skills training, may be useful for teaching other challenging topics such as ethics and professionalism.

Case Studies of Interactive Whole-Class Teaching in Primary Science: Communicative approach and pedagogic purposes

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McMahon, Kendra

2012-07-01

By developing two case studies of expert teaching in action, this study aimed to develop knowledge of talk in whole-class teaching in UK primary science lessons and understand this in relation to both the teachers' interpretations and sociocultural theoretical frameworks. Lessons were observed and video-recorded and the teachers engaged in video-stimulated-reflective dialogue to capture participants' reflections upon their own pedagogic purposes and interactions in the classroom. The analytic framework was developed at three levels: sequence of lessons, lesson, and episode. For each episode, the 'communicative approach' and teaching purposes were recorded. Transcripts were developed for fine grain analysis of selected episodes and a quantitative analysis was undertaken of the use of communicative approaches. Findings exemplify how different communicative approaches were used by the case-study teachers for different pedagogical purposes at different points in the sequence of lessons, contributing to primary teachers' repertoire for planning and practice. The initial elicitation of children's ideas can be understood as pooling them to enhance multivoicedness and develop a shared resource for future dialogues. Whole-class talk can support univocality by rehearsing procedural knowledge and exploring the meanings of scientific terminology. Identifying salient features of phenomena in the context of the whole-class marks them as significant as shared knowledge but valuing other observations extends the multivoicedness of the discourse.

Getting Research to the Policy Table: A Qualitative Study With Public Health Researchers on Engaging With Policy Makers

PubMed Central

Dodson, Elizabeth A.; Fleischhacker, Sheila; Siddiqi, Sameer; Quinn, Emilee L.

2015-01-01

Introduction Little attention has been given to how researchers can best provide evidence to policy makers so that it informs policy making. The objectives of this study were to increase understanding about the current state of public health nutrition and obesity researcher practices, beliefs, barriers, and facilitators to communicating and engaging with policy makers, and to identify best practices and suggest improvements. Methods Eighteen semistructured interviews were conducted from 2011 to 2013 with public health nutrition and obesity researchers who were highly involved in communicating research to policy makers. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed to identify common themes. Results Study participants described wide variation in practices for communicating and engaging with policy makers and had mixed beliefs about whether and when researchers should engage. Besides a lack of formal policy communication training, barriers noted were promotion and tenure processes and a professional culture that does not value communicating and engaging with policy makers. Study participants cited facilitators to engaging with policy makers as ranging from the individual level (eg, desire to make a difference, relationships with collaborators) to the institutional level (eg, training/mentorship support, institutional recognition). Other facilitators identified were research- and funding-driven. Promising strategies suggested to improve policy engagement were more formal training, better use of intermediaries, and learning how to cultivate relationships with policy makers. Conclusion Study findings provide insights into the challenges that will need to be overcome and the strategies that might be tried to improve communication and engagement between public health researchers and policy makers. PMID:25927604

Getting research to the policy table: a qualitative study with public health researchers on engaging with policy makers.

PubMed

Otten, Jennifer J; Dodson, Elizabeth A; Fleischhacker, Sheila; Siddiqi, Sameer; Quinn, Emilee L

2015-04-30

Little attention has been given to how researchers can best provide evidence to policy makers so that it informs policy making. The objectives of this study were to increase understanding about the current state of public health nutrition and obesity researcher practices, beliefs, barriers, and facilitators to communicating and engaging with policy makers, and to identify best practices and suggest improvements. Eighteen semistructured interviews were conducted from 2011 to 2013 with public health nutrition and obesity researchers who were highly involved in communicating research to policy makers. Interviews were transcribed verbatim, coded, and analyzed to identify common themes. Study participants described wide variation in practices for communicating and engaging with policy makers and had mixed beliefs about whether and when researchers should engage. Besides a lack of formal policy communication training, barriers noted were promotion and tenure processes and a professional culture that does not value communicating and engaging with policy makers. Study participants cited facilitators to engaging with policy makers as ranging from the individual level (eg, desire to make a difference, relationships with collaborators) to the institutional level (eg, training/mentorship support, institutional recognition). Other facilitators identified were research- and funding-driven. Promising strategies suggested to improve policy engagement were more formal training, better use of intermediaries, and learning how to cultivate relationships with policy makers. Study findings provide insights into the challenges that will need to be overcome and the strategies that might be tried to improve communication and engagement between public health researchers and policy makers.

Developing Effective Communications about Extreme Weather Risks.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bruine de Bruin, W.

2014-12-01

Members of the general public often face complex decisions about the risks that they face, including those associated with extreme weather and climate change adaptation. Scientific experts may be asked to develop communications with the goal of improving people's understanding of weather and climate risks, and informing people's decisions about how to protect against these risks. Unfortunately, scientific experts' communication efforts may fail if they lack information about what people need or want to know to make more informed decisions or what wording people prefer use to describe relevant concepts. This presentation provides general principles for developing effective risk communication materials that aim for widespread dissemination, such as brochures and websites. After a brief review of the social science evidence on how to design effective risk communication materials, examples will focus on communications about extreme weather events and climate change. Specifically, data will be presented from ongoing projects on flood risk perception, public preparedness for heat waves, and public perceptions of climate change. The presentation will end with specific recommendations about how to improve recipients' understanding about risks and inform decisions. These recommendations should be useful to scientific experts who aim to communicate about extreme weather, climate change, or other risks.

Disseminating effective clinician communication techniques: Engaging clinicians to want to learn how to engage patients.

PubMed

Pollak, Kathryn I; Back, Anthony L; Tulsky, James A

2017-10-01

Patient-clinician communication that promotes patient engagement enhances health care quality. Yet, disseminating effective communication interventions to practicing clinicians remains challenging. Current methods do not have large and sustainable effects. In this paper, we argue that both top-down approaches (mandated by institutions) should be coupled with bottom-up approaches that address clinician motivation, confidence, and barriers. We need to engage clinicians in the same way we ask them to engage patients - strategically and with empathy. We discuss potentially innovative strategies to integrate top-down and bottom-up approaches in ways that fit clinicians' busy schedules and can inform policy. Copyright © 2017. Published by Elsevier B.V.

Cancer risk elicitation and communication: lessons from the psychology of risk perception.

PubMed

Klein, William M P; Stefanek, Michael E

2007-01-01

Cancer risk perceptions are a key predictor of risk-reduction practices, health behaviors, and processing of cancer information. Nevertheless, patients and the general public (as well as health care providers) exhibit a number of errors and biases in the way they think about risk, such that their risk perceptions and decisions deviate greatly from those prescribed by normative decision models and by experts in risk assessment. For example, people are more likely to engage in screening behaviors such as mammography when faced with loss-based messages than gain-framed messages, and they often ignore the base rate of a given disease when assessing their own risk of obtaining this disease. In this article, we review many of the psychological processes that underlie risk perception and discuss how these processes lead to such deviations. Among these processes are difficulties with use of numerical information (innumeracy), cognitive processes (eg, use of time-saving heuristics), motivational factors (eg, loss and regret aversion), and emotion. We conclude with suggestions for future research in the area, as well as implications for improving the elicitation and communication of personal cancer risk.

Concept formation: a supportive process for early career nurses.

PubMed

Thornley, Tracey; West, Sandra

2010-09-01

Individuals come to understand abstract constructs such as that of the 'expert' through the formation of concepts. Time and repeated opportunity for observation to support the generalisation and abstraction of the developing concept are essential if the concept is to form successfully. Development of an effective concept of the 'expert nurse' is critical for early career nurses who are attempting to integrate theory, values and beliefs as they develop their clinical practice. This study explores the use of a concept development framework in a grounded theory study of the 'expert nurse'. Qualitative. Using grounded theory methods for data collection and analysis, semi-structured interviews were conducted with registered nurses. The participants were asked to describe their concept of the 'expert nurse' and to discuss their experience of developing this. Participants reported forming their concept of the 'expert nurse', after multiple opportunities to engage with nurses identified as 'expert'. This identification did not necessarily relate to the designated position of the 'expert nurse' or assigned mentors. When the early career nurse does not successfully form a concept of the 'expert nurse', difficulties in personal and professional development including skill/knowledge development may arise. To underpin development of their clinical practice effectively, early career nurses need to be provided with opportunities that facilitate the purposive formation of their own concept of the 'expert nurse'. Formation of this concept is not well supported by the common practice of assigning mentors. Early career nurses must be provided with the time and the opportunity to individually develop and refine their concept of the 'expert nurse'. To achieve this, strategies including providing opportunities to engage with expert nurses and discussion of the process of concept formation and its place in underpinning personal judgments may be of assistance. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Impact of Secondary Students' Content Knowledge on Their Communication Skills in Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kulgemeyer, Christoph

2018-01-01

The "expert blind spot" (EBS) hypothesis implies that even some experts with a high content knowledge might have problems in science communication because they are using the structure of the content rather than their addressee's prerequisites as an orientation. But is that also true for students? Explaining science to peers is a crucial…

Expert Game experiment predicts emergence of trust in professional communication networks.

PubMed

Bendtsen, Kristian Moss; Uekermann, Florian; Haerter, Jan O

2016-10-25

Strong social capital is increasingly recognized as an organizational advantage. Better knowledge sharing and reduced transaction costs increase work efficiency. To mimic the formation of the associated communication network, we propose the Expert Game, where each individual must find a specific expert and receive her help. Participants act in an impersonal environment and under time constraints that provide short-term incentives for noncooperative behavior. Despite these constraints, we observe cooperation between individuals and the self-organization of a sustained trust network, which facilitates efficient communication channels with increased information flow. We build a behavioral model that explains the experimental dynamics. Analysis of the model reveals an exploitation protection mechanism and measurable social capital, which quantitatively describe the economic utility of trust.

Collaborations for Arctic Sea Ice Information and Tools

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sheffield Guy, L.; Wiggins, H. V.; Turner-Bogren, E. J.; Rich, R. H.

2017-12-01

The dramatic and rapid changes in Arctic sea ice require collaboration across boundaries, including between disciplines, sectors, institutions, and between scientists and decision-makers. This poster will highlight several projects that provide knowledge to advance the development and use of sea ice knowledge. Sea Ice for Walrus Outlook (SIWO: https://www.arcus.org/search-program/siwo) - SIWO is a resource for Alaskan Native subsistence hunters and other interested stakeholders. SIWO provides weekly reports, during April-June, of sea ice conditions relevant to walrus in the northern Bering and southern Chukchi seas. Collaboration among scientists, Alaskan Native sea-ice experts, and the Eskimo Walrus Commission is fundamental to this project's success. Sea Ice Prediction Network (SIPN: https://www.arcus.org/sipn) - A collaborative, multi-agency-funded project focused on seasonal Arctic sea ice predictions. The goals of SIPN include: coordinate and evaluate Arctic sea ice predictions; integrate, assess, and guide observations; synthesize predictions and observations; and disseminate predictions and engage key stakeholders. The Sea Ice Outlook—a key activity of SIPN—is an open process to share and synthesize predictions of the September minimum Arctic sea ice extent and other variables. Other SIPN activities include workshops, webinars, and communications across the network. Directory of Sea Ice Experts (https://www.arcus.org/researchers) - ARCUS has undertaken a pilot project to develop a web-based directory of sea ice experts across institutions, countries, and sectors. The goal of the project is to catalyze networking between individual investigators, institutions, funding agencies, and other stakeholders interested in Arctic sea ice. Study of Environmental Arctic Change (SEARCH: https://www.arcus.org/search-program) - SEARCH is a collaborative program that advances research, synthesizes research findings, and broadly communicates the results to support informed decision-making. One of SEARCH's primary science topics is focused on Arctic sea ice; the SEARCH Sea Ice Action Team is leading efforts to advance understanding and awareness of the impacts of Arctic sea-ice loss.

Teaching Psychology for Sustainability: The Why and How

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Koger, Susan M.; Scott, Britain A.

2016-01-01

The behavioral sciences can make vital contributions to environmental sustainability efforts, as relevant basic and applied psychological research has grown considerably over the past dozen years. Recently, conservation biologists, environmental policy makers, and other experts have recognized the importance of engaging with experts on human…

Enhance Your Science With Social Media: No ... Really

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Goss, H.; Aiken, A. C.; Sams, A.

2016-12-01

The ability to communicate the societal value of basic research to nonacademic audiences is morphing from an optional soft skill to a crucial tool for scientists who are competing over finite or shrinking resources for research. Former National Academy of Sciences President Ralph Cicerone argued as early as 2006 that "scientists themselves must do a better job of communicating directly to the public," taking advantage of "new, non-traditional outlets" on the Internet. Findings suggest that scientists have begun to embrace social media as a viable tool for communicating research and keeping abreast of advancements in their fields. Social media is changing the way that scientists are interacting with each other and with the global community. Scientists are taking to popular social media (Twitter, Facebook, etc.) to challenge weak research, share replication attempts in real time, and counteract hype. Incorporating social media into the different stages of a scientific publication: Accelerates the pace of scientific communication and collaboration Facilitates interdisciplinary collaboration Makes it possible to communicate results to a large and diverse audience Encourages post-publication conversations about findings Accelerates research evaluation Makes science more transparent Amplifies the positive effects of scientists' interactions with more traditional media Our presentation will demonstrate how scientists can use social media as a tool to support their work, collaborate with peers around the world, and advance the cause of science. Information will be presented by communications experts and research librarians in collaboration with scientists who are already active on social media. Content will focus on pragmatic best practices for engaging peers, other stakeholders, promoting science and scientific research, and measuring success.

Integration of the subsurface and the surface sectors for a more holistic approach for sustainable redevelopment of urban brownfields.

PubMed

Norrman, Jenny; Volchko, Yevheniya; Hooimeijer, Fransje; Maring, Linda; Kain, Jaan-Henrik; Bardos, Paul; Broekx, Steven; Beames, Alistair; Rosén, Lars

2016-09-01

This paper presents a holistic approach to sustainable urban brownfield redevelopment where specific focus is put on the integration of a multitude of subsurface qualities in the early phases of the urban redevelopment process, i.e. in the initiative and plan phases. Achieving sustainability in brownfield redevelopment projects may be constrained by a failure of engagement between two key expert constituencies: urban planners/designers and subsurface engineers, leading to missed opportunities and unintended outcomes in the plan realisation phase. A more integrated approach delivers greater benefits. Three case studies in the Netherlands, Belgium and Sweden were used to test different sustainability assessment instruments in terms of the possibility for knowledge exchange between the subsurface and the surface sectors and in terms of cooperative learning among experts and stakeholders. Based on the lessons learned from the case studies, a generic decision process framework is suggested that supports holistic decision making. The suggested framework focuses on stakeholder involvement, communication, knowledge exchange and learning and provides an inventory of instruments that can support these processes. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

What is agenda setting in the clinical encounter? Consensus from literature review and expert consultation.

PubMed

Gobat, Nina; Kinnersley, Paul; Gregory, John W; Robling, Michael

2015-07-01

To establish consensus on the core domains of agenda setting in consultations. We reviewed the healthcare literature and, using a modified Delphi technique to embrace both patient and clinician perspectives, conducted an iterative online survey, with 30 experts in health communication. Participants described agenda setting and rated the importance of proposed domains. Consensus was determined where the group median was ≥5 on a 7-point Likert-like response scale, and the interquartile range fell to within one point on this scale. Relevant publications were identified in three overlapping bodies of healthcare literature. Survey respondents considered that agenda setting involved a process whereby patients and clinicians establish a joint focus for both their conversation and their working relationship. Consensus was obtained on six core domains: identifying patient talk topics, identifying clinician talk topics, agreement of shared priorities, establishing conversational focus, collaboration and engagement. New terminology--agenda mapping and agenda navigation--is proposed. We identified core agenda setting domains that embraced patient and clinician perspectives. An integrated conceptualization of agenda setting may now be used by researchers and educators in both clinician and patient focused interventions. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Rhetorical Consequences of the Computer Society: Expert Systems and Human Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Skopec, Eric Wm.

Expert systems are computer programs that solve selected problems by modelling domain-specific behaviors of human experts. These computer programs typically consist of an input/output system that feeds data into the computer and retrieves advice, an inference system using the reasoning and heuristic processes of human experts, and a knowledge…

Information About a Layperson's Knowledge Supports Experts in Giving Effective and Efficient Online Advice to Laypersons

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Nuckles, Matthias; Wittwer, Jorg; Renkl, Alexander

2005-01-01

To give effective and efficient advice to laypersons, experts should adapt their explanations to the layperson's knowledge. However, experts often fail to consider the limited domain knowledge of laypersons. To support adaptation in asynchronous help desk communication, researchers provided computer experts with information about a layperson's…

Informing, involving or engaging? Science communication, in the ages of atom-, bio- and nanotechnology.

PubMed

Kurath, Monika; Gisler, Priska

2009-09-01

Science communication has shifted considerably in Europe over the last decades. Three technology controversies on atoms, genes, and nanoscale sciences and nanotechnologies (NST) turned the style of communication from one-way information, participation and dialogues to the idea of an early and more democratic engagement of the public. Analyzing science communication developing over the three controversies, this article shows that what happened in one technology field fed forward to and contributed to shaping the subsequent field and that communication was initiated at a progressively earlier stage of technology development. The article concludes with an empirical analysis of six public engagement projects in NST, saying that the shift towards more democratic engagement of the public hasn't been as profound and complete as has been thought. This is particularly due to the continuing adoption of a simplistic contrast structure that opposes science and the public as two self-contained, antagonistic social entities.

Engagement as a Threshold Concept for Science Education and Science Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McKinnon, Merryn; Vos, Judith

2015-01-01

Science communication and science education have the same overarching aim--to engage their audiences in science--and both disciplines face similar challenges in achieving this aim. Knowing how to effectively engage their "audiences" is fundamental to the success of both. Both disciplines have well-developed research fields identifying…

Identifying opportunities for nature engagement in cancer care practice and design: protocol for four-round modified electronic Delphi.

PubMed

Blaschke, Sarah; O'Callaghan, Clare C; Schofield, Penelope

2017-03-08

Opportunities to engage with nature have shown relevance in experiences of health and recovery of patients with cancer and are attracting interest in cancer care practice and design. Such healthcare innovations can widen the horizon of possible supportive care solutions but require deliberate and rigorous investigation to ensure responsible action is taken and wastage avoided. This protocol outlines a study designed to solicit knowledge from relevant experts drawn from a range of healthcare practitioners, management representatives, designers and researchers to explore levels of opinion consensus for determining opportunities for, and barriers to, providing helpful nature engagement in cancer care settings. A 4-round modified electronic Delphi methodology will be used to conduct a structured, iterative feedback process for querying and synthesising expert opinion. Round 1 administers an open-ended questionnaire to a panel of selected, relevant experts who will consider the own recommendations of patients with cancer for nature engagement (drawn from a preceding investigation) before contributing salient issues (items) with relevance to the topic. Round 2 circulates anonymised summaries of responses back to the experts who verify and, if they wish, reconsider their own responses. Rounds 3 and 4 determine and rank experts' top 10 items using a 10-point Likert-type scale. Descriptive statistics (median and mean scores) will be calculated to indicate the items' relative importance. Levels of consensus will be explored with consensus defined as 75% agreement. Ethics approval for this study was obtained from the Institution's Human Research Ethics Committee (blinded for review). It is anticipated that the results will be published in peer-reviewed journals and presented in a variety of forums. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Using Discursis to enhance the qualitative analysis of hospital pharmacist-patient interactions.

PubMed

Chevalier, Bernadette A M; Watson, Bernadette M; Barras, Michael A; Cottrell, William N; Angus, Daniel J

2018-01-01

Pharmacist-patient communication during medication counselling has been successfully investigated using Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT). Communication researchers in other healthcare professions have utilised Discursis software as an adjunct to their manual qualitative analysis processes. Discursis provides a visual, chronological representation of communication exchanges and identifies patterns of interactant engagement. The aim of this study was to describe how Discursis software was used to enhance previously conducted qualitative analysis of pharmacist-patient interactions (by visualising pharmacist-patient speech patterns, episodes of engagement, and identifying CAT strategies employed by pharmacists within these episodes). Visual plots from 48 transcribed audio recordings of pharmacist-patient exchanges were generated by Discursis. Representative plots were selected to show moderate-high and low- level speaker engagement. Details of engagement were investigated for pharmacist application of CAT strategies (approximation, interpretability, discourse management, emotional expression, and interpersonal control). Discursis plots allowed for identification of distinct patterns occurring within pharmacist-patient exchanges. Moderate-high pharmacist-patient engagement was characterised by multiple off-diagonal squares while alternating single coloured squares depicted low engagement. Engagement episodes were associated with multiple CAT strategies such as discourse management (open-ended questions). Patterns reflecting pharmacist or patient speaker dominance were dependant on clinical setting. Discursis analysis of pharmacist-patient interactions, a novel application of the technology in health communication, was found to be an effective visualisation tool to pin-point episodes for CAT analysis. Discursis has numerous practical and theoretical applications for future health communication research and training. Researchers can use the software to support qualitative analysis where large data sets can be quickly reviewed to identify key areas for concentrated analysis. Because Discursis plots are easily generated from audio recorded transcripts, they are conducive as teaching tools for both students and practitioners to assess and develop their communication skills.

Interventions to improve therapeutic communications between Black and minority ethnic patients and professionals in psychiatric services: systematic review

PubMed Central

Bhui, Kamaldeep S.; Aslam, Rabeea'h W.; Palinski, Andrea; McCabe, Rose; Johnson, Mark R. D.; Weich, Scott; Singh, Swaran P.; Knapp, Martin; Ardino, Vittoria; Szczepura, Ala

2015-01-01

Background Communication may be an influential determinant of inequality of access to, engagement with and benefit from psychiatric services. Aims To review the evidence on interventions designed to improve therapeutic communications between Black and minority ethnic patients and clinicians who provide care in psychiatric services. Method Systematic review and evidence synthesis (PROSPERO registration: CRD42011001661). Data sources included the published and the ‘grey’ literature. A survey of experts and a consultation with patients and carers all contributed to the evidence synthesis, interpretation and recommendations. Results Twenty-one studies were included in our analysis. The trials showed benefits mainly for depressive symptoms, experiences of care, knowledge, stigma, adherence to prescribed medication, insight and alliance. The effect sizes were smaller for better-quality trials (range of d 0.18–0.75) than for moderate- or lower-quality studies (range of d 0.18–4.3). The review found only two studies offering weak economic evidence. Conclusions Culturally adapted psychotherapies, and ethnographic and motivational assessment leading to psychotherapies were effective and favoured by patients and carers. Further trials are needed from outside of the UK and USA, as are economic evaluations and studies of routine psychiatric care practices. PMID:26243761

What conceptions of science communication are espoused by science research funding bodies?

PubMed

Palmer, Sarah E; Schibeci, Renato A

2014-07-01

We examine the conceptions of science communication, especially in relation to "public engagement with science" (PES), evident in the literature and websites of science research funding bodies in Europe, North America, South America, Asia and Oceania, and Africa. The analysis uses a fourfold classification of science communication to situate these conceptions: professional, deficit, consultative and deliberative. We find that all bodies engage in professional communication (within the research community); however, engagement with the broader community is variable. Deficit (information dissemination) models still prevail but there is evidence of movement towards more deliberative, participatory models.

Research in space commercialization, technology transfer, and communications, volume 2

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Dunn, D. A.; Agnew, C. E.

1983-01-01

Spectrum management, models for evaluating communication systems, the communications regulatory environment, expert prediction and consensus, remote sensing, and manned space operations research are discussed.

Patient engagement in clinical communication: an exploratory study.

PubMed

Chaboyer, Wendy; McMurray, Anne; Marshall, Andrea; Gillespie, Brigid; Roberts, Shelley; Hutchinson, Alison M; Botti, Mari; McTier, Lauren; Rawson, Helen; Bucknall, Tracey

2016-09-01

Existing practice strategies for actively involving patients in care during hospitalisation are poorly understood. The aim of this study was to explore how healthcare professionals engaged patients in communication associated with care transitions. An instrumental, collective case study approach was used to generate empirical data about patient transitions in care. A purposive sample of key stakeholders representing (i) patients and their families; (ii) hospital discharge planning team members; and (iii) healthcare professionals was recruited in five Australian health services. Individual and group semi-structured interviews were conducted to elicit detailed explanations of patient engagement in transition planning. Interviews lasted between 30 and 60 minutes and were digitally recorded and transcribed verbatim. Data collection and analysis were conducted simultaneously and continued until saturation was achieved. Thematic analysis was undertaken. Five themes emerged as follows: (i) organisational commitment to patient engagement; (ii) the influence of hierarchical culture and professional norms on patient engagement; (iii) condoning individual healthcare professionals' orientations and actions; (iv) understanding and negotiating patient preferences; and (v) enacting information sharing and communication strategies. Most themes illustrated how patient engagement was enabled; however, barriers also existed. Our findings show that strong organisational and professional commitment to patient-centred care throughout the organisation was a consistent feature of health services that actively engaged patients in clinical communication. Understanding patients' needs and preferences and having both formal and informal strategies to engage patients in clinical communication were important in how this involvement occurred. © 2016 Nordic College of Caring Science.

Home medication support for childhood cancer: family-centered design and testing.

PubMed

Walsh, Kathleen E; Biggins, Colleen; Blasko, Deb; Christiansen, Steven M; Fischer, Shira H; Keuker, Christopher; Klugman, Robert; Mazor, Kathleen M

2014-11-01

Errors in the use of medications at home by children with cancer are common, and interventions to support correct use are needed. We sought to (1) engage stakeholders in the design and development of an intervention to prevent errors in home medication use, and (2) evaluate the acceptability and usefulness of the intervention. We convened a multidisciplinary team of parents, clinicians, technology experts, and researchers to develop an intervention using a two-step user-centered design process. First, parents and oncologists provided input on the design. Second, a parent panel and two oncology nurses refined draft materials. In a feasibility study, we used questionnaires to assess usefulness and acceptability. Medication error rates were assessed via monthly telephone interviews with parents. We successfully partnered with parents, clinicians, and IT experts to develop Home Medication Support (HoMeS), a family-centered Web-based intervention. HoMeS includes a medication calendar with decision support, a communication tool, adverse effect information, a metric conversion chart, and other information. The 15 families in the feasibility study gave HoMeS high ratings for acceptability and usefulness. Half recorded information on the calendar to indicate to other caregivers that doses were given; 34% brought it to the clinic to communicate with their clinician about home medication use. There was no change in the rate of medication errors in this feasibility study. We created and tested a stakeholder-designed, Web-based intervention to support home chemotherapy use, which parents rated highly. This tool may prevent serious medication errors in a larger study. Copyright © 2014 by American Society of Clinical Oncology.

E-health readiness assessment framework in iran.

PubMed

Rezai-Rad, M; Vaezi, R; Nattagh, F

2012-01-01

Concept of e-readiness is used in many areas such as e-business, e-commerce, e-government, and e-banking. In terms of healthcare, e-readiness is a rather new concept, and is propounded under the title of E-healthcare. E-health readiness refers to the readiness of communities and healthcare institutions for the expected changes brought by programs related to Information and Communications Technology (lCT). The present research is conducted aiming at designing E-health Readiness Assessment Framework (EHRAF) in Iran. The e-health readiness assessment framework was designed based on reviewing literature on e-readiness assessment models and opinions of ICT and health experts. In the next step, Delphi method was used to develop and test the designed framework. Three questionnaires developed to test and modify the model while determining weights of the indices; afterward they were either sent to experts through email or delivered to them in face. The designed framework approved with 4 dimensions, 11 constituents and 58 indices. Technical readiness had the highest importance coefficient (0.256099), and the other dimensions were of the next levels of coefficient importance: core readiness (0.25520), social communication readiness (0.244658), and engagement readiness (0.244039). The framework presents the movement route and investment priorities in e-health in Iran. The proposed framework is a good instrument for measuring the e-readiness in health centers in Iran, and for identifying strengths and weaknesses of these centers to access ICT and its implementation for more effectiveness and for analyzing digital divide between them, as well.

E-Health Readiness Assessment Framework in Iran

PubMed Central

Rezai-Rad, M; Vaezi, R; Nattagh, F

2012-01-01

Background: Concept of e-readiness is used in many areas such as e-business, e-commerce, e-government, and e-banking. In terms of healthcare, e-readiness is a rather new concept, and is propounded under the title of E-healthcare. E-health readiness refers to the readiness of communities and healthcare institutions for the expected changes brought by programs related to Information and Communications Technology (lCT). The present research is conducted aiming at designing E-health Readiness Assessment Framework (EHRAF) in Iran. Methods: The e-health readiness assessment framework was designed based on reviewing literature on e-readiness assessment models and opinions of ICT and health experts. In the next step, Delphi method was used to develop and test the designed framework. Three questionnaires developed to test and modify the model while determining weights of the indices; afterward they were either sent to experts through email or delivered to them in face. Results: The designed framework approved with 4 dimensions, 11 constituents and 58 indices. Technical readiness had the highest importance coefficient (0.256099), and the other dimensions were of the next levels of coefficient importance: core readiness (0.25520), social communication readiness (0.244658), and engagement readiness (0.244039). Conclusion: The framework presents the movement route and investment priorities in e-health in Iran. The proposed framework is a good instrument for measuring the e-readiness in health centers in Iran, and for identifying strengths and weaknesses of these centers to access ICT and its implementation for more effectiveness and for analyzing digital divide between them, as well. PMID:23304661

Developing an Integrative Treatment Program for Cancer-Related Fatigue Using Stakeholder Engagement - A Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Canella, Claudia; Mikolasek, Michael; Rostock, Matthias; Beyer, Jörg; Guckenberger, Matthias; Jenewein, Josef; Linka, Esther; Six, Claudia; Stoll, Sarah; Stupp, Roger; Witt, Claudia M

2017-11-01

Although cancer-related fatigue (CRF) has gained increased attention in the past decade, it remains difficult to treat. An integrative approach combining conventional and complementary medicine interventions seems highly promising. Treatment programs are more likely to be effective if the needs and interests of the people involved are well represented. This can be achieved through stakeholder engagement. The aim of the study was to develop an integrative CRF treatment program using stakeholder engagement and to compare it to an expert version. In a qualitative study, a total of 22 stakeholders (4 oncologists, 1 radiation-oncologist, 1 psycho-oncologist, 5 nurses/nurse experts, 9 patients, 1 patient family member, 1 representative of a local Swiss Cancer League) were interviewed either face-to-face or in a focus group setting. For data analysis, qualitative content analysis was used. With stakeholder engagement, the integrative CRF treatment program was adapted to usual care using a prioritizing approach and allowing more patient choice. Unlike the expert version, in which all intervention options were on the same level, the stakeholder engagement process resulted in a program with 3 different levels. The first level includes mandatory nonpharmacological interventions, the second includes nonpharmacological choice-based interventions, and the third includes pharmacological interventions for severe CRF. The resulting stakeholder based integrative CRF treatment program was implemented as clinical practice guideline at our clinic (Institute for Complementary and Integrative Medicine, University Hospital Zurich). Through the stakeholder engagement approach, we integrated the needs and preferences of people who are directly affected by CRF. This resulted in an integrative CRF treatment program with graded recommendations for interventions and therefore potentially greater sustainability in a usual care setting.

Teaching Communication and Conflict as a Game

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yoshimura, Christina G.

2017-01-01

Courses: Communication and Conflict. Objectives: Through the use of a game-based framework, students will build intrinsic motivation to engage with course material and course content, and will engage their critical-thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills in relation to conflict management over the length of the course. A list of…

A Case Study: Follow-Up Assessment of Facilitated Communication.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Simon, Elliott W.; And Others

1996-01-01

This study of an adolescent with multiple disabilities, including moderate mental retardation, who was reported to engage in validated facilitated communication (FC) found he did not engage in validated FC; performance was equivalent whether food or nonfood reinforcers were used; and the Picture Exchange Communication System was a valid and…

"Getting the Point" of Literature: Relations between Processing and Interpretation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burkett, Candice; Goldman, Susan R.

2016-01-01

Comparisons of literary experts and novices indicate that experts engage in interpretive processes to "get the point" during their reading of literary texts but novices do not. In two studies the reading and interpretive processes of literary novices (undergraduates with no formal training in literature study) were elicited through…

How Experts Practice: A Novel Test of Deliberate Practice Theory

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Coughlan, Edward K.; Williams, A. Mark; McRobert, Allistair P.; Ford, Paul R.

2014-01-01

Performance improvement is thought to occur through engagement in deliberate practice. Deliberate practice is predicted to be challenging, effortful, and not inherently enjoyable. Expert and intermediate level Gaelic football players executed two types of kicks during an acquisition phase and pre-, post-, and retention tests. During acquisition,…

An Embedded Rule-Based Diagnostic Expert System in Ada

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Jones, Robert E.; Liberman, Eugene M.

1992-01-01

Ada is becoming an increasingly popular programming language for large Government-funded software projects. Ada with it portability, transportability, and maintainability lends itself well to today's complex programming environment. In addition, expert systems have also assumed a growing role in providing human-like reasoning capability expertise for computer systems. The integration is discussed of expert system technology with Ada programming language, especially a rule-based expert system using an ART-Ada (Automated Reasoning Tool for Ada) system shell. NASA Lewis was chosen as a beta test site for ART-Ada. The test was conducted by implementing the existing Autonomous Power EXpert System (APEX), a Lisp-based power expert system, in ART-Ada. Three components, the rule-based expert systems, a graphics user interface, and communications software make up SMART-Ada (Systems fault Management with ART-Ada). The rules were written in the ART-Ada development environment and converted to Ada source code. The graphics interface was developed with the Transportable Application Environment (TAE) Plus, which generates Ada source code to control graphics images. SMART-Ada communicates with a remote host to obtain either simulated or real data. The Ada source code generated with ART-Ada, TAE Plus, and communications code was incorporated into an Ada expert system that reads the data from a power distribution test bed, applies the rule to determine a fault, if one exists, and graphically displays it on the screen. The main objective, to conduct a beta test on the ART-Ada rule-based expert system shell, was achieved. The system is operational. New Ada tools will assist in future successful projects. ART-Ada is one such tool and is a viable alternative to the straight Ada code when an application requires a rule-based or knowledge-based approach.

Transforming Engagement: A Case Study of Building Intrinsic Motivation in a Child with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dearden, Jackie; Emerson, Anne; Lewis, Tom; Papp, Rebecca

2017-01-01

This longitudinal case study of a 10-year-old girl with autism and severe communication impairment measures the impact of the MORE (Means, Opportunities, Reasons and Expectations) approach to enhancing engagement and communication. Through detailed observation of video data over a period of 28 months, engagement behaviours including interaction…

Creative Turbulence: Experiments in Art and Physics

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fonda, Enrico; Dubois, R. Luke; Camnasio, Sara; Porfiri, Maurizio; Sreenivasan, Katepalli R.; Lathrop, Daniel P.; Serrano, Daniel; Ranjan, Devesh

2016-11-01

Effective communication of basic research to non-experts is necessary to inspire the public and to justify support for science by the taxpayers. The creative power of art is particularly important to engage an adult audience, who otherwise might not be receptive to standard didactic material. Interdisciplinarity defines new trends in research, and works at the intersection of art and science are growing in popularity, even though they are often isolated experiments. We present a public-facing collaboration between physicists/engineers performing research in fluid dynamics, and audiovisual artists working in cutting-edge media installation and performance. The result of this collaboration is a curated exhibition, with supporting public programming. We present the artworks, the lesson learned from the interactions between artists and scientists, the potential outreach impact and future developments. This project is supported by the APS Public Outreach Mini Grant.

[Sport as a means to prevention, rehabilitation, and health promotion. An expert opinion].

PubMed

Brehm, W; Bös, K; Graf, C H; Hartmann, H; Pahmeier, I; Pfeifer, K; Rütten, A; Sygusch, R; Tiemann, M; Tittlbach, S; Vogt, L; Wagner, P

2013-10-01

Physical activities are particularly health effective when they are structured and systematically organized, for example, with respect to a dose-response relationship or to psychosocial aspects. Which insights can be gained from scientific knowledge on the structure of physical activities? Which health-related goals can be sought with different physical activities in the field of sport? Which target groups can be reached with these kinds of sport? These questions are addressed in this article on the basis of current scientific knowledge-to promote the development of health-enhancing physical activities especially in sport federations, but also to create a communication platform between the sport and the health sector. The work of researchers in this field is focused mainly on health-enhancing physical activity, but they are also engaged in health-related scientific organizations and in sport federations.

ELICITED EXPERT PERCEPTIONS FOR CLIMATE CHANGE RISKS AND ADAPTATION IN AGRICULTURE AND FOOD PRODUCTION THROUGH MENTAL MODELS APPROACH

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Suda, Eiko; Kubota, Hiromi; Baba, Kenshi; Hijioka, Yasuaki; Takahashi, Kiyoshi; Hanasaki, Naota

Impacts of climate change have become obvious in agriculture and food production in Japan these days, and researches to adapt to their risks have been conducted as a key effort to cope with the climate change. Numerous scientific findings on climate change impacts have been presented so far; however, prospective risks to be adapted to and their management in the context of individual on-site situations have not been investigated in detail. The structure of climate change risks and their management vary depending on geographical and social features in the regions where the adaptation options should be applied; therefore, a practical adaptation strategy should consider actual on-site situations. This study intended to clarify climate change risks to be adapted to in the Japanese agricultural sector, and factors to be considered in adaptation options, for encouragement of decision-making on adaptation implementation in the field. Semi-structured individual interviews have been conducted with 9 multidisciplinary experts engaging in climate change impacts research in agricultural production, economics, engineering, policy, and so on. Based on the results of the interviews, and the latest literatures available for risk assessment and adaptation, an expert mental model including their perceptions which cover the process from climate change impacts assessment to adaptation has been developed. The prospective risks, adaptation options, and issues to be examined to progress the development of practical and effective adaptation options and to support individual or social decision-making, have been shown on the developed expert mental model. It is the basic information for developing social communication and stakeholders cooperations in climate change adaptation strategies in agriculture and food production in Japan.

Evolving MCDM Applications Using Hybrid Expert-Based ISM and DEMATEL Models: An Example of Sustainable Ecotourism

PubMed Central

Chuang, Huan-Ming

2013-01-01

Ecological degradation is an escalating global threat. Increasingly, people are expressing awareness and priority for concerns about environmental problems surrounding them. Environmental protection issues are highlighted. An appropriate information technology tool, the growing popular social network system (virtual community, VC), facilitates public education and engagement with applications for existent problems effectively. Particularly, the exploration of related involvement behavior of VC member engagement is an interesting topic. Nevertheless, member engagement processes comprise interrelated sub-processes that reflect an interactive experience within VCs as well as the value co-creation model. To address the top-focused ecotourism VCs, this study presents an application of a hybrid expert-based ISM model and DEMATEL model based on multi-criteria decision making tools to investigate the complex multidimensional and dynamic nature of member engagement. Our research findings provide insightful managerial implications and suggest that the viral marketing of ecotourism protection is concerned with practitioners and academicians alike. PMID:24453902

Evolving MCDM applications using hybrid expert-based ISM and DEMATEL models: an example of sustainable ecotourism.

PubMed

Chuang, Huan-Ming; Lin, Chien-Ku; Chen, Da-Ren; Chen, You-Shyang

2013-01-01

Ecological degradation is an escalating global threat. Increasingly, people are expressing awareness and priority for concerns about environmental problems surrounding them. Environmental protection issues are highlighted. An appropriate information technology tool, the growing popular social network system (virtual community, VC), facilitates public education and engagement with applications for existent problems effectively. Particularly, the exploration of related involvement behavior of VC member engagement is an interesting topic. Nevertheless, member engagement processes comprise interrelated sub-processes that reflect an interactive experience within VCs as well as the value co-creation model. To address the top-focused ecotourism VCs, this study presents an application of a hybrid expert-based ISM model and DEMATEL model based on multi-criteria decision making tools to investigate the complex multidimensional and dynamic nature of member engagement. Our research findings provide insightful managerial implications and suggest that the viral marketing of ecotourism protection is concerned with practitioners and academicians alike.

Crafting interactivity for stakeholder engagement: transforming assumptions about communication in science and policy.

PubMed

Aakhus, Mark

2011-11-01

The International Radiation Protection Association's guiding principles for stakeholder engagement focus on fostering, facilitating, and enabling interaction among stakeholders that is inclusive and fosters competent decision making. Implicit in these standards is a call to cultivate knowledge and competence in designing communication for stakeholder engagement among radiation protection professionals. Communication as design is an approach to risk communication in science and policy that differs from, yet complements, the more well-known communication practices of informing and persuading. Design focuses on the recurring practical problem faced by professionals in making communication possible among stakeholders where it has otherwise been difficult, impossible, or even unimagined. The knowledge and competence associated with design involves principles for crafting interactivity across a variety of mediated and non-mediated encounters among stakeholders. Risk communication can be improved by cultivating expertise in scalable communication design that embraces the demands of involvement without abandoning the need for competence in science and policy communication.

Footprints of Fascination: Digital Traces of Public Engagement with Particle Physics on CERN's Social Media Platforms.

PubMed

Kahle, Kate; Sharon, Aviv J; Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet

2016-01-01

Although the scientific community increasingly recognizes that its communication with the public may shape civic engagement with science, few studies have characterized how this communication occurs online. Social media plays a growing role in this engagement, yet it is not known if or how different platforms support different types of engagement. This study sets out to explore how users engage with science communication items on different platforms of social media, and what are the characteristics of the items that tend to attract large numbers of user interactions. Here, user interactions with almost identical items on five of CERN's social media platforms were quantitatively compared over an eight-week period, including likes, comments, shares, click-throughs, and time spent on CERN's site. The most popular items were qualitatively analyzed for content features. Findings indicate that as audience size of a social media platform grows, the total rate of engagement with content tends to grow as well. However, per user, engagement tends to decline with audience size. Across all platforms, similar topics tend to consistently receive high engagement. In particular, awe-inspiring imagery tends to frequently attract high engagement across platforms, independent of newsworthiness. To our knowledge, this study provides the first cross-platform characterization of public engagement with science on social media. Findings, although focused on particle physics, have a multidisciplinary nature; they may serve to benchmark social media analytics for assessing science communication activities in various domains. Evidence-based suggestions for practitioners are also offered.

Footprints of Fascination: Digital Traces of Public Engagement with Particle Physics on CERN's Social Media Platforms

PubMed Central

Baram-Tsabari, Ayelet

2016-01-01

Although the scientific community increasingly recognizes that its communication with the public may shape civic engagement with science, few studies have characterized how this communication occurs online. Social media plays a growing role in this engagement, yet it is not known if or how different platforms support different types of engagement. This study sets out to explore how users engage with science communication items on different platforms of social media, and what are the characteristics of the items that tend to attract large numbers of user interactions. Here, user interactions with almost identical items on five of CERN's social media platforms were quantitatively compared over an eight-week period, including likes, comments, shares, click-throughs, and time spent on CERN's site. The most popular items were qualitatively analyzed for content features. Findings indicate that as audience size of a social media platform grows, the total rate of engagement with content tends to grow as well. However, per user, engagement tends to decline with audience size. Across all platforms, similar topics tend to consistently receive high engagement. In particular, awe-inspiring imagery tends to frequently attract high engagement across platforms, independent of newsworthiness. To our knowledge, this study provides the first cross-platform characterization of public engagement with science on social media. Findings, although focused on particle physics, have a multidisciplinary nature; they may serve to benchmark social media analytics for assessing science communication activities in various domains. Evidence-based suggestions for practitioners are also offered. PMID:27232498

The Volcanic Hazards Simulation: Students behaving expert-like when faced with challenging, authentic tasks during a simulated Volcanic Crisis

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dohaney, J. A.; kennedy, B.; Brogt, E.; Gravley, D.; Wilson, T.; O'Steen, B.

2011-12-01

This qualitative study investigates behaviors and experiences of upper-year geosciences undergraduate students during an intensive role-play simulation, in which the students interpret geological data streams and manage a volcanic crisis event. We present the development of the simulation, its academic tasks, (group) role assignment strategies and planned facilitator interventions over three iterations. We aim to develop and balance an authentic, intensive and highly engaging capstone activity for volcanology and geo-hazard courses. Interview data were collected from academic and professional experts in the fields of Volcanology and Hazard Management (n=11) in order to characterize expertise in the field, characteristics of key roles in the simulation, and to validate the authenticity of tasks and scenarios. In each iteration, observations and student artifacts were collected (total student participants: 68) along with interviews (n=36) and semi-structured, open-ended questionnaires (n=26). Our analysis of these data indicates that increasing the structure (i.e. organization, role-specific tasks and responsibilities) lessens non-productive group dynamics, which allows for an increase in difficulty of academic tasks within the simulation without increasing the cognitive load on students. Under these conditions, students exhibit professional expert-like behaviours, in particular in the quality of decision-making, communication skills and task-efficiency. In addition to illustrating the value of using this simulation to teach geosciences concepts, this study has implications for many complex situated-learning activities.

The Expert Mathematician. Revised. What Works Clearinghouse Intervention Report

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

What Works Clearinghouse, 2006

2006-01-01

"The Expert Mathematician" is designed to help middle school students develop the thinking processes for mathematical applications and communication. A three-year program of instruction, "The Expert Mathematician" uses a software and consumable print materials package with 196 lessons that teach the "Logo" programming…

Students' perceptions of communication ease and engagement. How they relate to academic success.

PubMed

Long, G; Stinson, M S; Braeges, J

1991-12-01

The extent to which students' self-perceptions of communication ease and engagement relate to their academic achievement was assessed in a study of 95 high school students enrolled in a large urban school for the deaf. Four dimensions of classroom communication were measured: students' understanding of teachers, students' understanding of peers, and positive and negative feelings about communication at school. Engagement, the extent students report being excited and actively involved in the classroom, predicted only teacher-assigned grades when the variance of background variables such as residual hearing and IQ was removed. However, communication ease made a significant contribution to the prediction of the three standardized achievement test scores, as well as grades, when background variance was removed. The results suggest that students are more likely to learn if they perceive themselves as being effective in communicating and have positive feelings about the communication that occurs.

An Introduction to Quantum Communications Networks; Or, how shall we communicate in the quantum era?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Razavi, Mohsen

2018-05-01

This book fills a gap between experts and non-experts in the field by providing readers with the basic tools to understand the latest developments in quantum communications and its future directions. With the fast pace of developments in quantum technologies, it is more necessary than ever to make the new generation of students in science/engineering familiar with the key ideas behind such disruptive systems. This book describes key applications for quantum networks; local, metropolitan, and global networks; and the industrial outlook for the field.

Not All Flavor Expertise Is Equal: The Language of Wine and Coffee Experts.

PubMed

Croijmans, Ilja; Majid, Asifa

2016-01-01

People in Western cultures are poor at naming smells and flavors. However, for wine and coffee experts, describing smells and flavors is part of their daily routine. So are experts better than lay people at conveying smells and flavors in language? If smells and flavors are more easily linguistically expressed by experts, or more "codable", then experts should be better than novices at describing smells and flavors. If experts are indeed better, we can also ask how general this advantage is: do experts show higher codability only for smells and flavors they are expert in (i.e., wine experts for wine and coffee experts for coffee) or is their linguistic dexterity more general? To address these questions, wine experts, coffee experts, and novices were asked to describe the smell and flavor of wines, coffees, everyday odors, and basic tastes. The resulting descriptions were compared on a number of measures. We found expertise endows a modest advantage in smell and flavor naming. Wine experts showed more consistency in how they described wine smells and flavors than coffee experts, and novices; but coffee experts were not more consistent for coffee descriptions. Neither expert group was any more accurate at identifying everyday smells or tastes. Interestingly, both wine and coffee experts tended to use more source-based terms (e.g., vanilla) in descriptions of their own area of expertise whereas novices tended to use more evaluative terms (e.g., nice). However, the overall linguistic strategies for both groups were en par. To conclude, experts only have a limited, domain-specific advantage when communicating about smells and flavors. The ability to communicate about smells and flavors is a matter not only of perceptual training, but specific linguistic training too.

Not All Flavor Expertise Is Equal: The Language of Wine and Coffee Experts

PubMed Central

Majid, Asifa

2016-01-01

People in Western cultures are poor at naming smells and flavors. However, for wine and coffee experts, describing smells and flavors is part of their daily routine. So are experts better than lay people at conveying smells and flavors in language? If smells and flavors are more easily linguistically expressed by experts, or more “codable”, then experts should be better than novices at describing smells and flavors. If experts are indeed better, we can also ask how general this advantage is: do experts show higher codability only for smells and flavors they are expert in (i.e., wine experts for wine and coffee experts for coffee) or is their linguistic dexterity more general? To address these questions, wine experts, coffee experts, and novices were asked to describe the smell and flavor of wines, coffees, everyday odors, and basic tastes. The resulting descriptions were compared on a number of measures. We found expertise endows a modest advantage in smell and flavor naming. Wine experts showed more consistency in how they described wine smells and flavors than coffee experts, and novices; but coffee experts were not more consistent for coffee descriptions. Neither expert group was any more accurate at identifying everyday smells or tastes. Interestingly, both wine and coffee experts tended to use more source-based terms (e.g., vanilla) in descriptions of their own area of expertise whereas novices tended to use more evaluative terms (e.g., nice). However, the overall linguistic strategies for both groups were en par. To conclude, experts only have a limited, domain-specific advantage when communicating about smells and flavors. The ability to communicate about smells and flavors is a matter not only of perceptual training, but specific linguistic training too. PMID:27322035

Effective communications strategies: engaging the media, policymakers, and the public.

PubMed

Blake, Allison; Bonk, Kathy; Heimpel, Daniel; Wright, Cathy S

2013-01-01

Too often, strategic communication is too little, or comes too late, when involved with a child fatality or serious injury. This article explores the challenges arising from negative publicity around child safety issues and the opportunities for communications strategies that employ a proactive public health approach to engaging media, policymakers, and the public. The authors provide a case study and review methods by which child welfare agencies across the nation are building public engagement and support for improved outcomes in child safety while protecting legitimate confidentiality requirements. Finally, the piece articulates the rationale for agency investments in the resources necessary to develop and implement an effective communications plan.

[Anthropology engaged against Ebola (2014-2016): approaches, contributions and new questions].

PubMed

Desclaux, Alice; Anoko, Julienne

2017-10-02

Anthropologists contributed to the response to the 2014-2016 Ebola outbreak in three ways : as Ebola experts, cultural mediators between populations and caregivers, and researchers. This article presents a preliminary review of approaches, contributions and related issues based on a literature review, case studies and debates. The anthropological research discussed in this article concerns four themes : epidemiological contexts of transmission ; cultural interpretation of illness and social responses ; social construction of stakeholders' experience ; critical analysis of public health interventions. In addition to insightful contributions, particularly regarding the socio-political contexts and their interfaces with global public health measures, anthropologists tested forms of communication to facilitate access of public health actors to their results. However, these heterogeneous forms of engagement raise a number of questions, especially when they reflect anthropological interpretations that exclude any critical or reflexive dimension, or when anthropology is considered to be similar to social intervention. Nevertheless, anthropological research provides a major contribution, which could be even greater if transnational networks set up by researchers to analyse the socio-political, economic and biocultural dimensions of emerging epidemics are supported in order to improve ?preparedness? for future health crises.

Making Information Useful: Engagement in the National Climate Assessment Process

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Lough, G. C.; Cloyd, E.

2014-12-01

Creation of actionable information requires that the producers of that information understand the needs of the intended users and decision makers. To that end, development of the Third National Climate Assessment included a focus on engaging users through an inclusive, broad-based, and sustained process. Such a process provides opportunities for scientific experts and decision makers to share knowledge about the climate-related issues, impacts, and potential response actions that are most important in a particular region or sector. Such a process is also highly transparent in order to produce results that are credible, salient, and legitimate for both scientists and decision makers, ultimately making the results extremely useful. To implement these principles for the recent NCA, a broad-based engagement strategy was implemented from the start of the process. The strategy invited participation from users and stakeholder communities at each stage of the process, and considered methods for communicating with potential users at every step. The strategy was designed to elicit contributions to help shape the framing of the assessment, improve the transparency of the process, and increase the utility of the final information. Specific user inputs were gathered through a series of workshops, public comment opportunities, town hall meetings, presentations, requests for information, submitted documents, and open meetings. Further, a network of contributors self-organized around topics of interest to extend the NCA to a wider range of user groups. Here, we describe the outcomes of these innovations in assessment engagement and identify clear successes, notable surprises, future evaluation needs, and areas for new ideas.

Science Center Public Forums: Engaging Lay-Publics in Resilience Deliberations Through Informal Science Education

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sittenfeld, D.; Choi, F.; Farooque, M.; Helmuth, B.

2017-12-01

Because climate hazards present a range of potential impacts and considerations for different kinds of stakeholders, community responses to increase resilience are best considered through the inclusion of diverse, informed perspectives. The Science Center Public Forums project has created multifaceted modules to engage diverse publics in substantive deliberations around four hazards: heat waves, drought, extreme precipitation, and sea level rise. Using a suite of background materials including visualization and narrative components, each of these daylong dialogues engage varied groups of lay-participants at eight US science centers in learning about hazard vulnerabilities and tradeoffs of proposed strategies for building resilience. Participants listen to and consider the priorities and perspectives of fellow residents and stakeholders, and work together to formulate detailed resilience plans reflecting both current science and informed public values. Deliverables for the project include visualizations of hazard vulnerabilities and strategies through immersive planetarium graphics and Google Earth, stakeholder perspective narratives, and detailed background materials for each project hazard. This session will: communicate the process for developing the hazard modules with input from subject matter experts, outline the process for iterative revisions based upon findings from formative focus groups, share results generated by participants of the project's first two pilot forums, and describe plans for broader implementation. These activities and outcomes could help to increase the capacity of informal science education institutions as trusted conveners for informed community dialogue by educating residents about vulnerabilities and engaging them in critical thinking about potential policy responses to critical climate hazards while sharing usable public values and priorities with civic planners.

Risk communication and human biomonitoring: which practical lessons from the Belgian experience are of use for the EU perspective?

PubMed Central

Keune, Hans; Morrens, Bert; Loots, Ilse

2008-01-01

Background In order to investigate and monitor environmental health in Flanders (the Dutch speaking part of Belgium), the Flemish government funded the Centre of Expertise for Environment and Health, which started a human biomonitoring campaign in 2001. In addition to environmental health experts measuring environmental pollutants and health effects in human beings, social scientific experts at the Centre focus on risk communication associated with the human biomonitoring campaign. Methods In the literature about risk communication an evolution can be traced from traditional, one-way communication, restricted to the dissemination of information from experts to the public, to more modern, two-way risk communication, with a focus on participation and cooperation between scientists, policy-makers and the public. Within the Centre of Expertise for Environment and Health this discourse was first translated into some general principles and guidelines for external communication, at a 'Ten Commandments level'. These principles needed to be incorporated in the day-to-day practice of human biomonitoring research. Results The social scientific experts at the Centre developed a combined risk communication strategy. On the one hand the strategy consists of traditional risk communication for external communication purposes, for example information meetings and digital newsletters. On the other hand it consists of a step by step approach of incorporating more modern risk communication, for example a risk perception questionnaire, dialogical experiments for involving local stakeholders, and an action-plan for interpreting results for policy making. Conclusion With a parallel strategy of traditional and modern communication, of external and internal reflection, and through different social scientific projects, the Flemish Centre of Expertise of Environment and Health incorporates risk communication in the day-to-day practice of human biomonitoring research. A direct and continuous involvement of the social scientist, an openness between all colleagues involved, and the awareness of a fine balance between quality and practicability are important success factors. These lessons may be helpful and inspirational for a European human biomonitoring project. PMID:18541065

The Research Communication Continuum: Linking Public Engagement Skills to the Advancement of Cross-Disciplinary Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alpert, Carol Lynn

2016-01-01

This paper theorizes and provides evidence of a "Research Communication Continuum" in which acquisition of skills conducive to communication with broader audiences contributes to greater efficacy in cross-disciplinary discourse and collaboration among scientists and engineers engaged in research; and, vice versa, acquisition of skills…

Forum: Learning Outcomes in Communication. Civic Engagement and a Communication Research Agenda

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ball, Timothy C.; Procopio, Claire H.; Goering, Beth; Dong, Qingwen; Bodary, David L.

2016-01-01

Civic engagement has long been a pedagogical and societal goal for communication scholars (Arnett & Arneson, 1999; Bennett, Wells, & Freelon, 2011). Kidd and Parry-Giles (2013) point out that belief in the "inherent civic value of speech to meaningful citizenship" is the "pedagogical core of the discipline" (n.p.).…

Narrowing the broader autism phenotype: a study using the Communication Checklist-Adult Version (CC-A).

PubMed

Whitehouse, Andrew J O; Coon, Hilary; Miller, Judith; Salisbury, Bryanna; Bishop, Dorothy V M

2010-11-01

This study investigated whether the Communication Checklist - Adult (CC-A) could identify subtypes of social and communication dysfunction in autism probands and their parents. The CC-A is divided into subscales measuring linguistic ability as well as two aspects of social communication: the Pragmatic Skills subscale assesses the level of pragmatic oddities (e.g. excessive talking), while the Social Engagement subscale picks up on those behaviours that reflect a more passive communication style (e.g. failure to engage in social interactions). CC-A data were collected for 69 autism probands, 238 parents of autism probands and 187 typical participants. The CC-A proved sensitive to the communication difficulties of autism probands and a proportion of their parents. The majority of parents who demonstrated the broader phenotype scored poorly on either the Pragmatic Skills or Social Engagement scale only. The Social Engagement scale was particularly sensitive to the difficulties of the parents, indicating that social-communicative passivity may be an important part of the broader autism phenotype. The findings provide evidence for the existence of more constrained pragmatic phenotypes in autism. Molecular genetic studies in this area may benefit from stratifying samples according to these phenotypes.

Engagement and education: care of the critically ill and injured during pandemics and disasters: CHEST consensus statement.

PubMed

Devereaux, Asha V; Tosh, Pritish K; Hick, John L; Hanfling, Dan; Geiling, James; Reed, Mary Jane; Uyeki, Timothy M; Shah, Umair A; Fagbuyi, Daniel B; Skippen, Peter; Dichter, Jeffrey R; Kissoon, Niranjan; Christian, Michael D; Upperman, Jeffrey S

2014-10-01

Engagement and education of ICU clinicians in disaster preparedness is fragmented by time constraints and institutional barriers and frequently occurs during a disaster. We reviewed the existing literature from 2007 to April 2013 and expert opinions about clinician engagement and education for critical care during a pandemic or disaster and offer suggestions for integrating ICU clinicians into planning and response. The suggestions in this article are important for all of those involved in a pandemic or large-scale disaster with multiple critically ill or injured patients, including front-line clinicians, hospital administrators, and public health or government officials. A systematic literature review was performed and suggestions formulated according to the American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) Consensus Statement development methodology. We assessed articles, documents, reports, and gray literature reported since 2007. Following expert-informed sorting and review of the literature, key priority areas and questions were developed. No studies of sufficient quality were identified upon which to make evidence-based recommendations. Therefore, the panel developed expert opinion-based suggestions using a modified Delphi process. Twenty-three suggestions were formulated based on literature-informed consensus opinion. These suggestions are grouped according to the following thematic elements: (1) situational awareness, (2) clinician roles and responsibilities, (3) education, and (4) community engagement. Together, these four elements are considered to form the basis for effective ICU clinician engagement for mass critical care. The optimal engagement of the ICU clinical team in caring for large numbers of critically ill patients due to a pandemic or disaster will require a departure from the routine independent systems operating in hospitals. An effective response will require robust information systems; coordination among clinicians, hospitals, and governmental organizations; pre-event engagement of relevant stakeholders; and standardized core competencies for the education and training of critical care clinicians.

What would a 'scientifically engaged Australia' look like?

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Donald, Tegan N.

In 2010 the Australian Federal Government released the landmark report Inspiring Australia which described the first national strategy for engagement with the sciences, and aimed to create a ‘scientifically engaged Australia’. This study investigates what might be meant by a ‘scientifically engaged Australia’ by creating a snapshot picture of the current Australian science communication landscape: its priorities, its limitations and its key players’ envisioned recommendations for future activity. It draws on several sources of data to create this picture: academic and practitioner literature regarding the emerging concept of ‘public engagement’; literature and case studies that discuss the appropriate place for deficit model and one-way approaches to science communication; the Inspiring Australia report itself and other government policy documents; and a series of interviews with top level public figures in Australian science policy and advocacy. A central finding of this study is the absence of a universal and unambiguous definition of public engagement. In addition, in contrast to trends within much of the scholarly literature, the study highlights the persistence of one-way methods and to a lesser degree the deficit model in practice. The ongoing use and relevance of one-way communication is evident; it remains a popular, albeit often default, choice in practice and is seen as ideal for the communication of fixed messages. Science communication in Australia remains, for the foreseeable future, dominated by one-way methods, in particular in the use of traditional and social media. In this respect, a scientifically engaged Australia would seem to be one in which a great deal of one-way communication takes place, supplemented by small moves towards dialogical or participatory communication. Finally, this study highlights two dominant motivations behind the call for a ‘scientifically engaged Australia’. Much high level discourse on this topic is characterised by governments’ desire to safeguard future investment in science and to bolster a dwindling economy, so in this sense economic pragmatism drives much of the science communication agenda. To a lesser degree, a desire to foster science appreciation within society is also a driver. It is apparent that the nation’s science agenda is influenced by the increasing politicising of science, and the communication of it.

Using Facebook to Enhance Independent Student Engagement: A Case Study of First-Year Undergraduates

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Clements, Jeff C.

2015-01-01

A case study was conducted to assess the efficacy of online communication tools for enhancing independent student engagement in a first-year undergraduate class. Material relevant to course topics was shared with students through three communication platforms and data were extracted to measure student engagement. A questionnaire was also used to…

Student Response Systems and Facilitating the Large Lecture Basic Communication Course: Assessing Engagement and Learning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Denker, Katherine J.

2013-01-01

Instructors of large lecture classes face a variety of challenges, including student engagement and participation. With budget cuts and increasing class sizes, more schools may turn to large lecture/lab formats for the basic communication course (Stanley & Porter, 2002); instructors must understand how these classes engage students. One viable…

Assessing and improving cross-border chemical incident preparedness and response across Europe.

PubMed

Stewart-Evans, James; Hall, Lisbeth; Czerczak, Slawomir; Manley, Kevin; Dobney, Alec; Hoffer, Sally; Pałaszewska-Tkacz, Anna; Jankowska, Agnieszka

2014-11-01

Good practices in emergency preparedness and response for chemical incidents include practices specific to the different functions of exposure assessment (e.g., within the monitoring function, the use of mobile monitoring equipment; within the modelling function, the use of rapid dispersion models with integrated mapping software) and generic practices to engage incident response stakeholders to maximise exposure assessment capabilities (e.g., sharing protocols and pre-prepared information and multi-agency training and exercising). Such practices can optimise cross-border collaboration. A wide range of practices have been implemented across MSs during chemical incident response, particularly during incidents that have cross-border and trans-boundary impacts. This paper proposes a self-assessment methodology to enable MSs, or organisations within MSs, to examine exposure assessment capabilities and communication pathways between exposure assessors and public health risk assessors. Where gaps exist, this methodology provides links to good practices that could improve response, communication and collaboration across local, regional and national borders. A fragmented approach to emergency preparedness for chemical incidents is a major obstacle to improving cross-border exposure assessment. There is no one existing body or structure responsible for all aspects of chemical incident preparedness and response in the European Union. Due to the range of different organisations and networks involved in chemical incident response, emergency preparedness needs to be drawn together. A number of recommendations are proposed, including the use of networks of experts which link public health risk assessors with experts in exposure assessment, in order to coordinate and improve chemical incident emergency preparedness. The EU's recent Decision on serious cross-border threats to health aims to facilitate MSs' compliance with the International Health Regulations, which require reporting and communication regarding significant chemical incidents. This provides a potential route to build on in order to improve chemical incident preparedness and response across Europe. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Recognizing the importance of conversation between experts and non-experts in science communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rushlow, C. R.; Soderquist, B.; Cohn, T.; Eitel, K.

2016-12-01

Science communication is often perceived by scientists as the flow of information from experts to non-experts, and institutions have responded by providing science communication training that focuses on best practices for disseminating information. This unidirectional approach neglects a key component of science communication: scientists must understand the needs and values of the stakeholders for whom they are producing information, whether the stakeholders are community members, resource managers, or policy makers. We designed an activity for graduate students enrolled in a science communication class at the McCall Outdoor Science School to both alert them to this misconception, and to give them an opportunity to rectify it. Over the course of 24-hours, we challenged students to have a conversation about climate change with someone they encountered in the community of McCall, ID. Using material from their conversations, students created a story in podcast or video form to share with the class. Through reflecting on this activity, students experienced a change in their perceptions of their identities as science communicators. Many students expressed an increased interest in listening to the stories of community members to learn more about the community's needs and values. We repeated the activity with early career scientists attending a climate workshop in McCall offered by the USGS Northwest Climate Science Center, focusing our evaluation around the science identity model of Carlone and Johnson (2007). Evaluations suggest that participants recognized their role as scientists in not only to providing information, but also in listening to the values and needs of the people for whom they are working. We believe this understanding is fundamental to being a good science communicator and ensuring that science remains relevant to communities.

A Wireless Text Messaging System Improves Communication for Neonatal Resuscitation.

PubMed

Hughes Driscoll, Colleen A; Schub, Jamie A; Pollard, Kristi; El-Metwally, Dina

Handoffs for neonatal resuscitation involve communicating critical delivery information (CDI). The authors sought to achieve ≥95% communication of CDI during resuscitation team requests. CDI included name of caller, urgency of request, location of delivery, gestation of fetus, status of amniotic fluid, and indication for presence of the resuscitation team. Three interventions were implemented: verbal scripted handoff, Spök text messaging, and Engage text messaging. Percentages of CDI communications were analyzed using statistical process control. Following implementation of Engage, the communication of all CDI, except for indication, was ≥95%; communication of indication occurred 93% of the time. Control limits for most CDI were narrower with Engage, indicating greater reliability of communication compared to the verbal handoff and Spök. Delayed resuscitation team arrival, a countermeasure, was not higher with text messaging compared to verbal handoff ( P = 1.00). Text messaging improved communication during high-risk deliveries, and it may represent an effective tool for other delivery centers.

Market potential of nanoremediation in Europe - Market drivers and interventions identified in a deliberative scenario approach.

PubMed

Bartke, Stephan; Hagemann, Nina; Harries, Nicola; Hauck, Jennifer; Bardos, Paul

2018-04-01

A deliberate expert-based scenario approach is applied to better understand the likely determinants of the evolution of the market for nanoparticles use in remediation in Europe until 2025. An initial set of factors had been obtained from a literature review and was complemented by a workshop and key-informant interviews. In further expert engaging formats - focus groups, workshops, conferences, surveys - this initial set of factors was condensed and engaged experts scored the factors regarding their importance for being likely to influence the market development. An interaction matrix was obtained identifying the factors being most active in shaping the market development in Europe by 2025, namely "Science-Policy-Interface" and "Validated information on nanoparticle application potential". Based on these, potential scenarios were determined and development of factors discussed. Conclusions are offered on achievable interventions to enhance nanoremediation deployment. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Investigating the Role of an Inquiry-Based Biology Lab Course on Student Attitudes and Views toward Science

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jeffery, Erica; Nomme, Kathy; Deane, Thomas; Pollock, Carol; Birol, Gülnur

2016-01-01

Students' academic experiences can influence their conceptualization of science. In contrast experts hold particular beliefs, perceptions, opinions, and attitudes about science that are often absent in first-year undergraduate students. Shifts toward more expert-like attitudes and views have been linked to improved student engagement,…

Calling STEM Experts: How Can Experts Contribute to Students' Increased STEM Engagement?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gamse, Beth C.; Martinez, Alina; Bozzi, Laurie

2017-01-01

Encouraging student interest in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) is an urgent priority in the USA and abroad. How most effectively to generate and sustain student interest in and preparation for STEM education and careers remains a vexing question, as the content areas, target ages, instructional approaches, and specific purposes…

"Let Your Data Tell a Story:" Climate Change Experts and Students Navigating Disciplinary Argumentation in the Classroom

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walsh, Elizabeth Mary; McGowan, Veronica Cassone

2017-01-01

Science education trends promote student engagement in authentic knowledge in practice to tackle personally consequential problems. This study explored how partnering scientists and students on a social media platform supported students' development of disciplinary practice knowledge through practice-based learning with experts during two pilot…

Few Governing Boards Engage in Sophisticated Financial Planning, Experts Say

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fain, Paul

2009-01-01

Financial stewardship by college governing boards too often stops at balancing the budget. That was the message two finance experts presented last week during the annual meeting of the Association of Governing Boards of Universities and Colleges. Furthermore, the yearly budget exercise can give trustees a misperception of their institutions'…

Sourcing While Reading Divergent Expert Accounts: Pathways from Views of Knowing to Written Argumentation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Barzilai, Sarit; Tzadok, Eynav; Eshet-Alkalai, Yoram

2015-01-01

Sourcing is vital for knowledge construction from online information sources, yet learners may find it difficult to engage in effective sourcing. Sourcing can be particularly challenging when lay readers encounter conflicting expert accounts of controversial topics, a situation which is increasingly common when learning online. The aim of this…

Engaging Beginning Teachers as Experts in Professional Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fleming, Jane

2014-01-01

Beginning teachers most often are viewed as needing significant support in all areas of teaching. As a result, professional development (PD) associated with induction programs typically is presented by experienced professionals. This article describes one induction program's attempt to draw on the strengths within its network, engaging new…

Engaging Students in Climate Change Science and Communication through a Multi-disciplinary Study Abroad Program

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

North, L. A.; Polk, J.; Strenecky, B.

2014-12-01

The implications of the climate change phenomenon are far-reaching, and will impact every person on Earth. These problems will be complex, and will require leaders well-versed in interdisciplinary learning and international understanding. To employ a multi-disciplinary approach to studying the impact climate change is having in the world in which we live, a team of 57 Western Kentucky University (WKU) faculty, staff, and students participated in a study abroad program to seven ports in the North Sea and North Atlantic, including three ports in Iceland, onboard the Semester at Sea ship, MV Explorer. This program combined interdisciplinary learning, service learning, and international understanding toward the goal of preparing the leaders of tomorrow with the skills to address climate change challenges. Together, the group learned how climate change affects the world from varied academic perspectives, and how more often than not these perspectives are closely interrelated. Courses taught during the experience related to climate change science and communication, economics, future trends, and K-12 education. Each student also participated in a The $100 Solution™ service-learning course. While in port, each class engaged in a discipline-specific activities related to the climate change topic, while at sea students participated in class lectures, engaged in shipboard lectures by international experts in their respective fields, and participated in conversations with lifelong learners onboard the ship. A culminating point of the study abroad experience was a presentation by the WKU students to over 100 persons from the University of Akureyri in Akureyri, Iceland, representatives of neighboring Icelandic communities, environmental agencies, and tourism bureaus about what they had learned about climate change during their travels. By forging this relationship, students were able to share their knowledge, which in turn gave them a deeper understanding of the issues they were learning throughout the voyage.

[The pandemic of the experts in the mass media. How to create trust in public communication by acknowledging ignorance and uncertainty].

PubMed

Stollorz, V

2013-01-01

The first influenza pandemic in the twenty-first century is an example of how public trust in expert recommendations can erode if prognostic ability of these experts is suddenly doubted in the mass media. A highly consonant pandemic alarm communicated through the mass media can later cause heightened resonance concerning the appropriateness of the same alarm. In this case a paradoxical effect can develop, in which the same media outlet first paints an overly risky picture of an unfolding pandemic only to later condemn this assessment as alarmist. Can such behavior be considered a defect of journalism? In this article I describe the circumstances under which such media dynamics and "hypes" without trust in expertise are more likely to develop: when there is nontransparent decision making; when uncertainty and nescience of expert judgments are not communicated transparently; when warnings and measures taken are not readily adapted to the evolving risk situation in reality. If these basic principles are recognized in future pandemic risk communication, long-term public trust in scientific expertise can be secured. In this way, despite a public health crisis, a long-lasting break in the credibility of sound science can be avoided.

DISCRIMINATED FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION: A PROCEDURAL EXTENSION OF FUNCTIONAL COMMUNICATION TRAINING

PubMed Central

Kuhn, David E; Chirighin, Anna E; Zelenka, Katrina

2010-01-01

A limitation associated with communication-based interventions for problem behavior is the potential for requesting reinforcement at high rates. Multiple-schedule arrangements have been demonstrated to be effective for controlling rates of responding (Hanley, Iwata, & Thompson, 2001). In the current study, we extended previous research by teaching individuals to attend to naturally occurring discriminative stimuli (e.g., caregiver behavior) instead of arbitrary stimuli (e.g., picture cards). Following successful treatment with functional communication and extinction, 2 participants were taught to request attention differentially based on whether the caregiver was engaging in a variety of “busy” (e.g., talking on the phone) or “nonbusy” (e.g., reading a magazine) activities. Following training, each participant engaged in communication primarily when caregivers were engaged in nonbusy activities. PMID:21119898

Using Discursis to enhance the qualitative analysis of hospital pharmacist-patient interactions

PubMed Central

Barras, Michael A.; Angus, Daniel J.

2018-01-01

Introduction Pharmacist-patient communication during medication counselling has been successfully investigated using Communication Accommodation Theory (CAT). Communication researchers in other healthcare professions have utilised Discursis software as an adjunct to their manual qualitative analysis processes. Discursis provides a visual, chronological representation of communication exchanges and identifies patterns of interactant engagement. Aim The aim of this study was to describe how Discursis software was used to enhance previously conducted qualitative analysis of pharmacist-patient interactions (by visualising pharmacist-patient speech patterns, episodes of engagement, and identifying CAT strategies employed by pharmacists within these episodes). Methods Visual plots from 48 transcribed audio recordings of pharmacist-patient exchanges were generated by Discursis. Representative plots were selected to show moderate-high and low- level speaker engagement. Details of engagement were investigated for pharmacist application of CAT strategies (approximation, interpretability, discourse management, emotional expression, and interpersonal control). Results Discursis plots allowed for identification of distinct patterns occurring within pharmacist-patient exchanges. Moderate-high pharmacist-patient engagement was characterised by multiple off-diagonal squares while alternating single coloured squares depicted low engagement. Engagement episodes were associated with multiple CAT strategies such as discourse management (open-ended questions). Patterns reflecting pharmacist or patient speaker dominance were dependant on clinical setting. Discussion and conclusions Discursis analysis of pharmacist-patient interactions, a novel application of the technology in health communication, was found to be an effective visualisation tool to pin-point episodes for CAT analysis. Discursis has numerous practical and theoretical applications for future health communication research and training. Researchers can use the software to support qualitative analysis where large data sets can be quickly reviewed to identify key areas for concentrated analysis. Because Discursis plots are easily generated from audio recorded transcripts, they are conducive as teaching tools for both students and practitioners to assess and develop their communication skills. PMID:29787568

Insights on Inspirational Education for "High-Risk" Youth Informed by Participatory Action Research (PAR) on Youth Engagement: Short Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Iwasaki, Yoshitaka; Hopper, Tristan; Whelan, Patricia

2017-01-01

This short communication provides our insights into how or in what ways educators can more effectively support aspiration of at-risk/high-risk youth toward meaningful education. These are informed by the key learnings from our ongoing youth engagement research. Those insights emphasize the importance of "meaningful engagement of youth"…

Assessing the Impact of a K-12 Engagement Program on Graduate Learning Outcomes for Communicating with Diverse Audiences, Pedagogy, and Community Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Weeks, Faith; Harbor, Jon

2014-01-01

A large midwestern university has developed a program that places graduate students in middle school classrooms to enhance the graduate students' communication skills with diverse audiences, develop pedagogical knowledge, and provide a foundation for effective future K-12 engagement. After observing and co-teaching, participants develop and…

A Typology of ICU Patients and Families from the Clinician Perspective: Toward Improving Communication.

PubMed

Leslie, Myles; Paradis, Elise; Gropper, Michael A; Milic, Michelle M; Kitto, Simon; Reeves, Scott; Pronovost, Peter

2017-06-01

This paper presents an exploratory case study of clinician-patient communications in a specific clinical environment. It describes how intensive care unit (ICU) clinicians' technical and social categorizations of patients and families shape the flow of communication in these acute care settings. Drawing on evidence from a year-long ethnographic study of four ICUs, we develop a typology of patients and families as viewed by the clinicians who care for them. Each type, or category, of patient is associated with differing communication strategies, with compliant patients and families engaged in greater depth. In an era that prioritizes patient engagement through communication for all patients, our findings suggest that ICU teams need to develop new strategies for engaging and communicating with not just compliant patients and families, but those who are difficult as well. We discuss innovative methods for developing such strategies.

Engagement and communication among participants in the ClinSeq Genomic Sequencing Study.

PubMed

Hooker, Gillian W; Umstead, Kendall L; Lewis, Katie L; Koehly, Laura K; Biesecker, Leslie G; Biesecker, Barbara B

2017-01-01

As clinical genome sequencing expand its reach, understanding how individuals engage with this process are of critical importance. In this study, we aimed to describe internal engagement and its correlates among a ClinSeq cohort of adults consented to genome sequencing and receipt of results. This study was framed using the precaution adoption process model (PAPM), in which knowledge predicts engagement and engagement predicts subsequent behaviors. Prior to receipt of sequencing results, 630 participants in the study completed a baseline survey. Engagement was assessed as the frequency with which participants thought about their participation in ClinSeq since enrollment. Results were consistent with the PAPM: those with higher genomics knowledge reported higher engagement (r = 0.13, P = 0.001) and those who were more engaged reported more frequent communication with their physicians (r = 0.28, P < 0.001) and family members (r = 0.35, P < 0.001) about ClinSeq. Characteristics of those with higher engagement included poorer overall health (r = -0.13, P = 0.002), greater seeking of health information (r = 0.16, P < 0.001), and more recent study enrollment (r = -0.21, P < 0.001). These data support the importance of internal engagement in communication related to genomic sequencing.Genet Med 19 1, 98-103.

The Role of Patient-Provider Communication in Engagement and Re-engagement in HIV Treatment in Bamako, Mali: A Qualitative Study.

PubMed

Hurley, Emily A; Harvey, Steven A; Winch, Peter J; Keita, Mariam; Roter, Debra L; Doumbia, Seydou; Diarra, Nièlè H; Kennedy, Caitlin E

2018-01-01

Mounting evidence in sub-Saharan Africa suggests poor patient-provider communication (PPC) negatively impacts patient engagement (retention in care and adherence to medication) in antiretroviral therapy (ART) programs. In Bamako, Mali, where 36% of ART patients are lost to follow-up within 12 months of initiating treatment, we aimed to define features of positive PPC according to patient values and explore the mechanisms by which these features may sustain engagement and re-engagement according to patient and provider experiences. We conducted 33 in-depth interviews and 7 focus groups with 69 patients and 17 providers in five ART clinics. Regarding sustaining engagement, participants highlighted "establishing rapport" as a foundational feature of effective PPC, but also described how "responding to emotional needs", "eliciting patient conflicts and perspective" and "partnering to mitigate conflicts" functioned to address barriers to engagement and increase connectedness to care. Patients who had disengaged felt that "communicating reacceptance" may have prompted them re-engage sooner and that tailored "partnering to mitigate conflicts" would be more effective in sustaining re-engagement than the standard adherence education providers typically offer. Optimizing provider skills related to these key PPC features may help maximize ART patient engagement, ultimately improving health outcomes and decreasing HIV transmission in sub-Saharan Africa.

Assessing what to address in science communication.

PubMed

Bruine de Bruin, Wändi; Bostrom, Ann

2013-08-20

As members of a democratic society, individuals face complex decisions about whether to support climate change mitigation, vaccinations, genetically modified food, nanotechnology, geoengineering, and so on. To inform people's decisions and public debate, scientific experts at government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and other organizations aim to provide understandable and scientifically accurate communication materials. Such communications aim to improve people's understanding of the decision-relevant issues, and if needed, promote behavior change. Unfortunately, existing communications sometimes fail when scientific experts lack information about what people need to know to make more informed decisions or what wording people use to describe relevant concepts. We provide an introduction for scientific experts about how to use mental models research with intended audience members to inform their communication efforts. Specifically, we describe how to conduct interviews to characterize people's decision-relevant beliefs or mental models of the topic under consideration, identify gaps and misconceptions in their knowledge, and reveal their preferred wording. We also describe methods for designing follow-up surveys with larger samples to examine the prevalence of beliefs as well as the relationships of beliefs with behaviors. Finally, we discuss how findings from these interviews and surveys can be used to design communications that effectively address gaps and misconceptions in people's mental models in wording that they understand. We present applications to different scientific domains, showing that this approach leads to communications that improve recipients' understanding and ability to make informed decisions.

An evidence-based approach to interactive health communication: a challenge to medicine in the information age. Science Panel on Interactive Communication and Health.

PubMed

Robinson, T N; Patrick, K; Eng, T R; Gustafson, D

1998-10-14

To examine the current status of interactive health communication (IHC) and propose evidence-based approaches to improve the quality of such applications. The Science Panel on Interactive Communication and Health, a 14-member, nonfederal panel with expertise in clinical medicine and nursing, public health, media and instructional design, health systems engineering, decision sciences, computer and communication technologies, and health communication, convened by the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, US Department of Health and Human Services. Published studies, online resources, expert panel opinions, and opinions from outside experts in fields related to IHC. The panel met 9 times during more than 2 years. Government agencies and private-sector experts provided review and feedback on the panel's work. Interactive health communication applications have great potential to improve health, but they may also cause harm. To date, few applications have been adequately evaluated. Physicians and other health professionals should promote and participate in an evidence-based approach to the development and diffusion of IHC applications and endorse efforts to rigorously evaluate the safety, quality, and utility of these resources. A standardized reporting template is proposed to help developers and evaluators of IHC applications conduct evaluations and disclose their results and to help clinicians, purchasers, and consumers judge the quality of IHC applications.

The "expert patient" approach for non-communicable disease management in low and middle income settings: When the reality confronts the rhetoric.

PubMed

Xiao, Yue

2015-09-01

This paper seeks to explore the relevance between the Western "expert patient" rhetoric and the reality of non-communicable diseases (NCDs) control and management in low and middle income settings from the health sociological perspective. It firstly sets up a conceptual framework of the "expert patient" or the patient self-management approach, showing the rhetoric of the initiative in the developed countries. Then by examining the situation of NCDs control and management in low income settings, the paper tries to evaluate the possibilities of implementing the "expert patient" approach in these countries. Kober and Van Damme's study on the relevance of the "expert patient" for an HIV/AIDS program in low income settings is critically studied to show the relevance of the developed countries' rhetoric of the "expert patient" approach for the reality of developing countries. In addition, the MoPoTsyo diabetes peer educator program is analyzed to show the challenges faced by the low income countries in implementing patient self-management programs. Finally, applications of the expert patient approach in China are discussed as well, to remind us of the possible difficulties in introducing it into rural settings.

Environmental factors associated with physician's engagement in communication activities.

PubMed

Mazurenko, Olena; Hearld, Larry R

2015-01-01

Communication between patients and providers is a crucial component of effective care coordination and is associated with a number of desired patient and provider outcomes. Despite these benefits, physician-patient and physician-physician communication occurs infrequently. The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between a medical practice's external environment and physician engagement in communication activities. This was a cross-sectional examination of 4,299 U.S. physicians' self-reported engagement in communication activities. Communication was operationalized as physician's time spent on communication with patients and other providers during a typical work day. The explanatory variables were measures of environmental complexity, dynamism, and munificence. Data sources were the Health Tracking Physician Survey, the Area Resource File database, and the Dartmouth Atlas. Binary logistic regression was used to estimate the association between the environmental factors and physician engagement in communication activities. Several environmental factors, including per capita income (odds ratio range, 1.17-1.38), urban location (odds ratio range, 1.08-1.45), fluctuations in Health Maintenance Organization penetration (odds ratio range, 3.47-13.22), poverty (odds ratio range, 0.80-0.97) and population rates (odds ratio range, 1.01-1.02), and the presence of a malpractice crisis (odds ratio range, 0.22-0.43), were significantly associated with communication. Certain aspects of a physician's external environment are associated with different modes of communication with different recipients (patients and providers). This knowledge can be used by health care managers and policy makers who strive to improve communication between different stakeholders within the health care system (e.g., patient and providers).

Enhancing international medical graduates' communication: the contribution of applied linguistics.

PubMed

Dahm, Maria R; Yates, Lynda; Ogden, Kathryn; Rooney, Kim; Sheldon, Brooke

2015-08-01

International medical graduates (IMGs) make up one-third of the Australian medical workforce. Those from non-English-language backgrounds can face cultural and communication barriers, yet linguistic support is variable and medical educators are often required to provide feedback on both medical and communication issues. However, some communication difficulties may be very specific to the experiences of IMGs as second language users. This interdisciplinary study combines perspectives from applied linguistics experts and clinical educators to address IMGs' difficulties from multiple dimensions and to enhance feedback quality. Five video-recorded patient encounters with five IMGs were collected at Launceston General Hospital. Three clinical educators gave quantitative and qualitative feedback using the Rating Instrument for Clinical Consulting Skills, and two applied linguistics experts analysed the data for language, pragmatic and communication difficulties. The comparison of the educators' language-related feedback with linguistic analyses of the same interactions facilitated the exploration of differences in the difficulties identified by the two expert groups. Although the clinical educators were able to use their tacit intuitive understanding of communication issues to identify IMG difficulties, they less frequently addressed the underlying issues or suggested specific remedies in their feedback. This pilot study illustrates the effectiveness of interdisciplinary collaboration in highlighting the specific discourse features contributing to IMG communication difficulties and thus assists educators in deconstructing their intuitive knowledge. The authors suggest that linguistic insights can therefore improve communications training by assisting educators to provide more targeted feedback. © 2015 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The Effect of Teacher-Family Communication on Student Engagement: Evidence from a Randomized Field Experiment

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kraft, Matthew A.; Dougherty, Shaun M.

2013-01-01

In this study, we evaluate the efficacy of teacher communication with parents and students as a means of increasing student engagement. We estimate the causal effect of teacher communication by conducting a randomized field experiment in which sixth- and ninth-grade students were assigned to receive a daily phone call home and a text/written…

Engaging in Effective Science Communication: A Response to Blancke et al. on Deproblematizing GMOs.

PubMed

Landrum, Asheley R; Hallman, William K

2017-05-01

As science communication scholars, we encourage interdisciplinary efforts such as those by Blancke, Grunewald, and De Jaeger to engage with the public on GMOs and genetic engineering broadly. We extend the advice given by these scholars with tips based on what we know from the science of science communication. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Learning through Engaging in Retrospective Reflection on a Change Process in an English Course on Workplace Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lu, Yi-Ling

2017-01-01

This study describes a change process of implementing role-plays in a course on workplace communication in English, and of engaging in retrospective reflection. Considering that English education for nursing students in Taiwan has focused on the development of medical terminology and that students' communicative competence is the main deficiency,…

The crossover of daily work engagement: test of an actor-partner interdependence model.

PubMed

Bakker, Arnold B; Xanthopoulou, Despoina

2009-11-01

This study of 62 dyads of employees (N = 124) examined the crossover of work engagement-a positive, fulfilling, work-related state of mind that is characterized by vigor, dedication, and absorption. We hypothesized that work engagement crosses over from an employee (the actor) to his or her colleague (the partner) on a daily basis. The frequency of daily communication was expected to moderate the crossover of daily work engagement, which in turn would relate to colleagues' daily performance. Participants first filled in a general questionnaire and then completed a diary study over 5 consecutive workdays. The hypotheses were tested with multilevel analyses, using an actor-partner interdependence model. Results confirmed the crossover of daily work engagement, but only on days when employees within a dyad interacted more frequently than usual. Moreover, we found that actor's work engagement (particularly vigor), when frequently communicated, had a positive indirect relationship with partner's performance through partner's work engagement. Finally, results showed that actor's vigor was negatively related to partner's performance when communication was low. However, this negative effect was counteracted when mediated by the vigor of the partner.

"It's Harder Than We Thought It Would Be": A Comparative Case Study of Expert-Novice Experimentation Strategies.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hmelo-Silver, Cindy E.; Nagarajan, Anandi; Day, Roger S.

2002-01-01

Compares a group of expert cancer researchers with four groups of fourth year medical students (the "novice" groups) engaged in the task of designing a clinical trial to test a new cancer drug using a computer-based modeling tool, the Oncology Thinking Cap. (Contains 24 references.) (Author/YDS)

The Role of Supported Joint Engagement and Parent Utterances in Language and Social Communication Development in Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bottema-Beutel, Kristen; Yoder, Paul J.; Hochman, Julia M.; Watson, Linda R.

2014-01-01

This study examined associations between three parent-child engagement states and social communication, expressive language, and receptive language at 8 month follow-up, in 63 preschool-age children with autism spectrum disorder. We extend the literature on supported joint engagement by dividing this state into higher order (HSJE) and lower order…

Paired peer learning through engineering education outreach

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fogg-Rogers, Laura; Lewis, Fay; Edmonds, Juliet

2017-01-01

Undergraduate education incorporating active learning and vicarious experience through education outreach presents a critical opportunity to influence future engineering teaching and practice capabilities. Engineering education outreach activities have been shown to have multiple benefits; increasing interest and engagement with science and engineering for school children, providing teachers with expert contributions to engineering subject knowledge, and developing professional generic skills for engineers such as communication and teamwork. This pilot intervention paired 10 pre-service teachers and 11 student engineers to enact engineering outreach in primary schools, reaching 269 children. A longitudinal mixed methods design was employed to measure change in attitudes and Education Outreach Self-Efficacy in student engineers; alongside attitudes, Teaching Engineering Self-Efficacy and Engineering Subject Knowledge Confidence in pre-service teachers. Highly significant improvements were noted in the pre-service teachers' confidence and self-efficacy, while both the teachers and engineers qualitatively described benefits arising from the paired peer mentor model.

The use of social media in healthcare: organizational, clinical, and patient perspectives.

PubMed

Househ, Mowafa

2013-01-01

The purpose of this review paper is to explore the impacts of social media on healthcare organizations, clinicians, and patients. This study found that healthcare organizations, clinicians and patients can benefit from the use of social media. For healthcare organizations, social media can be used primarily for community engagement activities such as fundraising, customer service and support, the provision of news and information, patient education, and advertising new services. The study also found that the most widely used social media venues for physicians were online communities where physicians can read news articles, listen to experts, research new medical developments, network, and communicate with colleagues regarding patient issues. Patients can benefit from the use of social media through education, obtaining information, networking, performing research, receiving support, goal setting, and tracking personal progress. Future research should further examine other financial, technological, informational, ethical, legal, and privacy issues surrounding the use of social media in healthcare.

Joining the conversation: newspaper journalists' views on working with researchers.

PubMed

Waddell, Charlotte; Lomas, Jonathan; Lavis, John N; Abelson, Julia; Shepherd, Cody A; Bird-Gayson, Twylla

2005-09-01

For health researchers who seek more research use in policy making to improve health and healthcare, working with the news media may represent an opportunity, given the media's pivotal role in public policy agenda-setting. Much literature on science and health journalism assumes a normative stance, focusing on improving the accuracy of news coverage. In this study, we investigated journalists' perspectives and experiences. We were particularly interested in learning how health researchers could work constructively with journalists as a means to increase research use in policy making. Qualitative methods were used to conduct and analyze interviews with experienced newspaper journalists across Canada, with children's mental health as a content example. In response, study participants emphasized journalistic processes more than the content of news coverage, whether children's mental health or other topics. Instead, they focused on what they thought researchers needed to know about journalists' roles, practices and views on working with researchers. Newspaper journalists balance business and social responsibilities according to their respective roles as editors, columnists and reporters. In practice, journalists must ensure newsworthiness, relevance to readers and access to sources in a context of daily deadlines. As generalists, journalists rely on researchers to be expert interpreters, although they find many researchers unavailable or unable to communicate with public audiences. While journalists are skeptical about such common organizational communications tools as news releases, they welcome the uncommon contributions of those researchers who cultivate relationships and invest time to synthesize and communicate research evidence on an ongoing basis. Some appealed for more researchers to join them in participating in public conversations. We conclude that there are opportunities for policy-oriented health researchers to work constructively with newspaper journalists--by appreciating journalists' perspectives and by taking seriously some of their suggestions for engaging in public conversations--and that such engagement can be a means to increase the use of research evidence in policy making and thereby improve health and healthcare.

Joining the Conversation: Newspaper Journalists’ Views on Working with Researchers

PubMed Central

Waddell, Charlotte; Lomas, Jonathan; Lavis, John N; Abelson, Julia; Shepherd, Cody A; Bird-Gayson, Twylla

2005-01-01

For health researchers who seek more research use in policy making to improve health and healthcare, working with the news media may represent an opportunity, given the media’s pivotal role in public policy agenda-setting. Much literature on science and health journalism assumes a normative stance, focusing on improving the accuracy of news coverage. In this study, we investigated journalists’ perspectives and experiences. We were particularly interested in learning how health researchers could work constructively with journalists as a means to increase research use in policy making. Qualitative methods were used to conduct and analyze interviews with experienced newspaper journalists across Canada, with children’s mental health as a content example. In response, study participants emphasized journalistic processes more than the content of news coverage, whether children’s mental health or other topics. Instead, they focused on what they thought researchers needed to know about journalists’ roles, practices and views on working with researchers. Newspaper journalists balance business and social responsibilities according to their respective roles as editors, columnists and reporters. In practice, journalists must ensure newsworthiness, relevance to readers and access to sources in a context of daily deadlines. As generalists, journalists rely on researchers to be expert interpreters, although they find many researchers unavailable or unable to communicate with public audiences. While journalists are skeptical about such common organizational communications tools as news releases, they welcome the uncommon contributions of those researchers who cultivate relationships and invest time to synthesize and communicate research evidence on an ongoing basis. Some appealed for more researchers to join them in participating in public conversations. We conclude that there are opportunities for policy-oriented health researchers to work constructively with newspaper journalists – by appreciating journalists’ perspectives and by taking seriously some of their suggestions for engaging in public conversations – and that such engagement can be a means to increase the use of research evidence in policy making and thereby improve health and healthcare. PMID:19308107

Behaviors in Advance Care Planning and ACtions Survey (BACPACS): development and validation part 1.

PubMed

Kassam, Aliya; Douglas, Maureen L; Simon, Jessica; Cunningham, Shannon; Fassbender, Konrad; Shaw, Marta; Davison, Sara N

2017-11-22

Although advance care planning (ACP) is fairly well understood, significant barriers to patient participation remain. As a result, tools to assess patient behaviour are required. The objective of this study was to improve the measurement of patient engagement in ACP by detecting existing survey design issues and establishing content and response process validity for a new survey entitled Behaviours in Advance Care Planning and ACtions Survey (BACPACS). We based our new tool on that of an existing ACP engagement survey. Initial item reduction was carried out using behavior change theories by content and design experts to help reduce response burden and clarify questions. Thirty-two patients with chronic diseases (cancer, heart failure or renal failure) were recruited for the think aloud cognitive interviewing with the new, shortened survey evaluating patient engagement with ACP. Of these, n = 27 had data eligible for analysis (n = 8 in round 1 and n = 19 in rounds 2 and 3). Interviews were audio-recorded and analyzed using the constant comparison method. Three reviewers independently listened to the interviews, summarized findings and discussed discrepancies until consensus was achieved. Item reduction from key content expert review and conversation analysis helped decrease number of items from 116 in the original ACP Engagement Survey to 24-38 in the new BACPACS depending on branching of responses. For the think aloud study, three rounds of interviews were needed until saturation for patient clarity was achieved. The understanding of ACP as a construct, survey response options, instructions and terminology pertaining to patient engagement in ACP warranted further clarification. Conversation analysis, content expert review and think aloud cognitive interviewing were useful in refining the new survey instrument entitled BACPACS. We found evidence for both content and response process validity for this new tool.

How Experts' Use of Medical Technical Jargon in Different Types of Online Health Forums Affects Perceived Information Credibility: Randomized Experiment With Laypersons.

PubMed

Zimmermann, Maria; Jucks, Regina

2018-01-23

Online health forums are widely used, but the quality of advice differs as much as the knowledge backgrounds of the audience members who receive the advice. It is important to understand how people judge the information given online. In line with the communication accommodation theory (CAT), online forums represent specific social contexts of communication which can present either accommodative or nonaccommodative language to an audience. Accordingly, use of accommodative or nonaccommodative language might affect people's perceived trust in the communicator. The objective of this study was to investigate how experts who use accommodative (vs nonaccommodative) language are evaluated by passive users of an online forum. Participants (n=98) took part in an online experiment and read experts' posts about 10 nutrition myths. Following a 2 x 2 mixed design, experts' posts were written using either low or high amounts of medical technical jargon (MTJ) (within factor) and were directed at different audiences (mainly other medical experts [in a professional forum] vs a user group mainly comprising laypersons [in an advisory forum]) (between factor). Accommodation occurred where experts used high amounts of MTJ to address other medical experts in the professional forum; it also occurred when experts used low amounts of MTJ to address laypersons in the advisory forum. Conversely, nonaccommodation occurred when experts used high amounts of MTJ in the advisory forum and low amounts of MTJ in the professional forum. In each condition, participants evaluated the credibility of the information, the trustworthiness of the experts, and the accommodation by the experts. Overall, participants judged the credibility of information to be higher when experts used MTJ that was accommodative to the designated audience, F 1,95 =3.10, P=.04, η p 2 =.031. In addition, participants judged the experts in professional forums to be more trustworthy than experts in advisory forums (all F 1,96 ≥3.54, P ≤.03, η p 2 ≥.036). Moreover, participants rated experts who used high amounts of MTJ to have higher competence (F 1,96 =37.54, P<.001, η p 2 =.28], lower integrity (F 1,96 =10.77, P=.001, η p 2 =.101), and lower benevolence (F 1,96 =9.75, P=.002, η p 2 =.092), as well as to have lower perceived accommodation to the audience (all F 1,96 ≥72.17, P<.001, η p 2 ≥.43) compared with experts who used low MTJ. To provide health information online that is perceived as credible, experts should consider using similar language as the language used by the addressed audience. As it is often impossible to determine the exact makeup of an online audience, further research might investigate whether having experts explicitly declare which audience they intend to address can help people to more reliably assess an expert's trustworthiness. Furthermore, as people assess information differently depending on the context of online communication, it would be valuable for research to consider other aspects of the context beyond those of the audience. ©Maria Zimmermann, Regina Jucks. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 23.01.2018.

The making of a cavitation children's book

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Henry de Frahan, Marc; Patterson, Brandon; Lazar, Erika

2016-11-01

Engaging young children in science is particularly important to future scientific endeavors. From thunderstorms to the waterpark, children are constantly exposed to the wonders of fluid dynamics. Among fluid phenomena, bubbles have always fascinated children. Yet some of the most exciting aspects of bubbles, such as cavitation, are scarcely known to non-experts. To introduce cavitation to a five year old audience, we wrote "Brooke Bubble Breaks Things", a children's book about the adventures of a cavitation bubble learning about all the things she could break. In this talk, we discuss how a children's book is made by walking through the steps involved in creating the book from concept to publication. We focus on strategies for successfully communicating a technical message while balancing entertainment and fidelity to nature. To provide parents, teachers, and young inquiring minds with a detailed explanation of the physics and applications of cavitation, we also created a website with detailed explanations, animations, and links to further information. We aim to convince the fluids community that writing picture books is an intellectually stimulating and fun way of communicating fluids principles and applications to children. ArtsEngine Microgrant at the University of Michigan.

Communication and Integrated Rural Development.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Information Center on Instructional Technology Report, 1976

1976-01-01

In discussing communication planning and integrated rural development, Philip H. Coombs, Manzoor Ahmed, and Pratima Kale of the International Council for Educational Development stress that communication planning must deal with problems in behavioral and not just technical terms. Communication planners must be able to work with experts from other…

The role of academic institutions in leveraging engagement and action on climate change

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hill, T. M.; Palca, J.

2016-12-01

Growing global concern over the impact of climate change places climate scientists at the forefront of communicating risks, impacts, and adaptation strategies to non-scientists. Academic institutions can play a leadership role in providing support, incentives, and structures that encourage scientific engagement on this, and other, complex societal and scientific issues. This presentation will focus on `best practices' in supporting university scientists in communicating their science and engaging in thoughtful dialogue with decision makers, managers, media, and public audiences. For example, institutions that can provide significant administrative support for science communication (press officers, training workshops) may decrease barriers between academic science and public knowledge. Additionally, financial (or similar) support in the form of teaching releases and institutional awards can be utilized to acknowledge the time and effort spent in engagement. This presentation will feature examples from universities, professional societies and other institutions where engagement on climate science is structurally encouraged and supported.

School Construction Management: Expert Administrators Speak.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fickes, Michael

2001-01-01

Presents expert opinion on school construction management communication concerning educational needs, obtaining consensus among diverse groups, and envisioning what schools must offer in the future. Why furniture issues are also important is highlighted. (GR)

Not Waiting for a Rainy Day: Professional Development to Promote Informed and Engaged Catchment Communities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whelan, James; La Rocca, Sam

2004-01-01

Managers and decision-makers are under increasing pressure to engage community members along with experts in considering and resolving environmental degradation. This is especially the case with respect to decisions concerning water quality and quantity in Australia. The commitment of citizens and government to sustainable catchment management and…

Authoring Educational Courseware Using OXYGEN.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ip, Albert

Engaging learners on the World Wide Web is more than sending Web pages to the user. However, for many course delivery software programs, the smallest unit of delivery is a Web page. How content experts can create engaging Web pages has largely been ignored or taken for granted. This paper reports on an authoring model for creating pedagogically…

CosmoQuest: Supporting Subject Matter Experts in Broadening the Impacts of their Work beyond their Institutional Walls.

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Noel-Storr, J.; Buxner, S.; Grier, J.; Gay, P.

2016-12-01

CosmoQuest is a virtual research facility, which, like its physical counterparts, provides tools for scientists to acquire reduced data products (thanks to our cadre of citizen scientists working to analyze images and produce results online), and also to participate in education and outreach activities either directly through CosmoQuest activities (such as CosmoAcademy and the Educators' Zone) or with the support of CosmoQuest. Here, we present our strategies to inspire, engage and support Subject Matter Experts (SMEs - Scientists, Engineers, Technologists and Mathematicians) in activities outside of their institutions, and beyond college classroom teaching. We provide support for SMEs who are interested in increasing the impacts of their science knowledge and expertise by interacting with people online, or in other venues outside of their normal work environment. This includes a broad spectrum of opportunities for those interested in hosting webinars; running short courses for the public; using Facebook, Twitter or other social media to communicate science; or other diverse activities such as supporting an open house, science fair, or star party. As noted by Katheryn Woods-Townsend and colleagues, "...face-to-face interactions with scientists allowed students to view scientists as approachable and normal people, and to begin to understand the range of scientific areas and careers that exist. Scientists viewed the scientist-student interactions as a vehicle for science communication" (2015). As CosmoQuest fosters these relationships, it We present a framework for SMEs which combine opportunities for continuing professional development (virtually and in person at conferences) with ongoing online support, creating a dynamic professional learning network. The goal of this is to deepen SME capacity-knowledge, attitudes and behaviors-both encouraging and empowering them to connect to broader audiences in new ways.

Development and usability evaluation of the mHealth Tool for Lung Cancer (mHealth TLC): A virtual world health game for lung cancer patients

PubMed Central

Brown-Johnson, Cati G.; Berrean, Beth; Cataldo, Janine K.

2015-01-01

Objective To test the feasibility and usability of mHealth TLC, an interactive, immersive 3-dimensional iPad health game that coaches lung cancer patients toward assertive communication strategies during first-person virtual clinics visits. Method We observed players and conducted semi-structured interviews. Research questions focused on scenario believability, the impact of technical issues, transparency of game goals, and potential of mHealth TLC to decrease lung cancer stigma (LCS) and improve patient–clinician communication. Results Eight users confirmed mHealth TLC to be: (1) believable, (2) clinic-appropriate, and (3) helpful in support of informed healthcare consumers. Concerns were expressed about emotionally charged content and plans to use mHealth TLC in clinic settings as opposed to at home. Conclusions Although the dialog and interactions addressed emotionally charged issues, players were able to engage, learn, and benefit from role-play in a virtual world. Health games have the potential to improve patient–clinician communication, and mHealth TLC specifically may decrease LCS, and promote optimal self-management. Practice implications Process reflection revealed the need for health games to be created by experienced game developers in collaboration with health care experts. To prepare for this best practice, research institutions and game developers interested in health games should proactively seek out networking and collaboration opportunities. PMID:25620075

Development and usability evaluation of the mHealth Tool for Lung Cancer (mHealth TLC): a virtual world health game for lung cancer patients.

PubMed

Brown-Johnson, Cati G; Berrean, Beth; Cataldo, Janine K

2015-04-01

To test the feasibility and usability of mHealth TLC, an interactive, immersive 3-dimensional iPad health game that coaches lung cancer patients toward assertive communication strategies during first-person virtual clinics visits. We observed players and conducted semi-structured interviews. Research questions focused on scenario believability, the impact of technical issues, transparency of game goals, and potential of mHealth TLC to decrease lung cancer stigma (LCS) and improve patient-clinician communication. Eight users confirmed mHealth TLC to be: (1) believable, (2) clinic-appropriate, and (3) helpful in support of informed healthcare consumers. Concerns were expressed about emotionally charged content and plans to use mHealth TLC in clinic settings as opposed to at home. Although the dialog and interactions addressed emotionally charged issues, players were able to engage, learn, and benefit from role-play in a virtual world. Health games have the potential to improve patient-clinician communication, and mHealth TLC specifically may decrease LCS, and promote optimal self-management. Process reflection revealed the need for health games to be created by experienced game developers in collaboration with health care experts. To prepare for this best practice, research institutions and game developers interested in health games should proactively seek out networking and collaboration opportunities. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Scientists' Perceptions of Communicating During Crises

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dohaney, J. A.; Hudson-Doyle, E.; Brogt, E.; Wilson, T. M.; Kennedy, B.

2015-12-01

To further our understanding of how to enhance student science and risk communication skills in natural hazards and earth science courses, we conducted a pilot study to assess the different perceptions of expert scientists and risk communication practitioners versus the perceptions of students. These differences will be used to identify expert views on best practice, and improve the teaching of communication skills at the University level. In this pilot study, a perceptions questionnaire was developed and validated. Within this, respondents (geoscientists, engineers, and emergency managers; n=44) were asked to determine their agreement with the use and effectiveness of specific communication strategies (within the first 72 hours after a devastating earthquake) when communicating to the public. In terms of strategies and information to the public, the respondents were mostly in agreement, but there were several statements which elicited large differences between expert responses: 1) the role and purpose of the scientific communication during crises (to persuade people to care, to provide advice, to empower people to take action); 2) the scientist's delivery (showing the scientists emotions and enthusiasm for scientific concepts they are discussing); and 3) the amount of data that is discussed (being comprehensive versus 'only the important' data). The most disagreed upon dimension was related to whether to disclose any political influence on the communication. Additionally, scientists identified that being an effective communicator was an important part of their job, and agreed that it is important to practice these skills. Respondents generally indicated that while scientists should be accountable for the science advice provided, they should not be held liable.

Characterizing Social Networks and Communication Channels in a Web-Based Peer Support Intervention.

PubMed

Owen, Jason E; Curran, Michaela; Bantum, Erin O'Carroll; Hanneman, Robert

2016-06-01

Web and mobile (mHealth) interventions have promise for improving health outcomes, but engagement and attrition may be reducing effect sizes. Because social networks can improve engagement, which is a key mechanism of action, understanding the structure and potential impact of social networks could be key to improving mHealth effects. This study (a) evaluates social network characteristics of four distinct communication channels (discussion board, chat, e-mail, and blog) in a large social networking intervention, (b) predicts membership in online communities, and (c) evaluates whether community membership impacts engagement. Participants were 299 cancer survivors with significant distress using the 12-week health-space.net intervention. Social networking attributes (e.g., density and clustering) were identified separately for each type of network communication (i.e., discussion board, blog, web mail, and chat). Each channel demonstrated high levels of clustering, and being a community member in one communication channel was associated with being in the same community in each of the other channels (φ = 0.56-0.89, ps < 0.05). Predictors of community membership differed across communication channels, suggesting that each channel reached distinct types of users. Finally, membership in a discussion board, chat, or blog community was strongly associated with time spent engaging with coping skills exercises (Ds = 1.08-1.84, ps < 0.001) and total time of intervention (Ds = 1.13-1.80, ps < 0.001). mHealth interventions that offer multiple channels for communication allow participants to expand the number of individuals with whom they are communicating, create opportunities for communicating with different individuals in distinct channels, and likely enhance overall engagement.

Characterizing Social Networks and Communication Channels in a Web-Based Peer Support Intervention

PubMed Central

Curran, Michaela; Bantum, Erin O'Carroll; Hanneman, Robert

2016-01-01

Abstract Web and mobile (mHealth) interventions have promise for improving health outcomes, but engagement and attrition may be reducing effect sizes. Because social networks can improve engagement, which is a key mechanism of action, understanding the structure and potential impact of social networks could be key to improving mHealth effects. This study (a) evaluates social network characteristics of four distinct communication channels (discussion board, chat, e-mail, and blog) in a large social networking intervention, (b) predicts membership in online communities, and (c) evaluates whether community membership impacts engagement. Participants were 299 cancer survivors with significant distress using the 12-week health-space.net intervention. Social networking attributes (e.g., density and clustering) were identified separately for each type of network communication (i.e., discussion board, blog, web mail, and chat). Each channel demonstrated high levels of clustering, and being a community member in one communication channel was associated with being in the same community in each of the other channels (φ = 0.56–0.89, ps < 0.05). Predictors of community membership differed across communication channels, suggesting that each channel reached distinct types of users. Finally, membership in a discussion board, chat, or blog community was strongly associated with time spent engaging with coping skills exercises (Ds = 1.08–1.84, ps < 0.001) and total time of intervention (Ds = 1.13–1.80, ps < 0.001). mHealth interventions that offer multiple channels for communication allow participants to expand the number of individuals with whom they are communicating, create opportunities for communicating with different individuals in distinct channels, and likely enhance overall engagement. PMID:27327066

Does reflection lead to wise choices?

PubMed Central

Bortolotti, Lisa

2011-01-01

Does conscious reflection lead to good decision-making? Whereas engaging in reflection is traditionally thought to be the best way to make wise choices, recent psychological evidence undermines the role of reflection in lay and expert judgement. The literature suggests that thinking about reasons does not improve the choices people make, and that experts do not engage in reflection, but base their judgements on intuition, often shaped by extensive previous experience. Can we square the traditional accounts of wisdom with the results of these empirical studies? Should we even attempt to? I shall defend the view that philosophy and cognitive sciences genuinely interact in tackling questions such as whether reflection leads to making wise choices. PMID:22408385

Grassroots Engagement and the University of Washington: Evaluating Science Communication Training Created by Graduate Students for Graduate Students

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Rohde, J. A.; Clarkson, M.; Houghton, J.; Chen, W.

2016-12-01

Science graduate students increasingly seek science communication training, yet many do not have easy access to training programs. Students often rely on a "do it yourself" approach to gaining communication skills, and student created science communication programs are increasingly found at universities and institutions across the U.S. In 2010, graduate students at the University of Washington led a grassroots effort to improve their own communication and outreach by creating "The Engage Program." With a focus on storytelling and public speaking, this graduate level course not only trains students in science communication but also gives them real world experience practicing that training at a public speaker series at Town Hall Seattle. The Engage Program was fortunate in that it was able to find institutional champions at University of Washington and secure funding to sustain the program over the long-term. However, many grassroots communication programs find it difficult to gain institutional support if there is a perceived lack of alignment with university priorities or lack of return on investment. In order to justify and incentivize institutional support for instruction in science communication, student leaders within the program initiated, designed and carried out an evaluation of their own program focused on assessing the impact of student communication, evaluating the effectiveness of the program in teaching communication skills, and quantifying the benefits of communication training to both the students and their institution. Project leaders created the opportunity for this evaluation by initiating a crowdfunding campaign, which has helped to further engage public support of science communication and incentivized student participation in the program, and may also inspire future program leaders to pursue similar program optimizations.

Development of an Index of Engagement in HIV Care: An Adapted Internet-Based Delphi Process

PubMed Central

Koester, Kimberly A; Wood, Troy; Neilands, Torsten B; Pomeranz, Jamie L; Christopoulos, Katerina A

2017-01-01

Background Improving engagement in medical care among persons living with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is critical to optimizing clinical outcomes and reducing onward transmission of HIV. However, a clear conceptualization of what it means to be engaged in HIV care is lacking, and thus efforts to measure and enhance engagement in care are limited. Objective This paper describes the use of a modified online Delphi process of consensus building to solicit input from a range of HIV and non-HIV researchers and providers, and to integrate that input with focus group data conducted with HIV-infected patients. The overarching goal was to generate items for a patient-centered measure of engagement in HIV care for use in future research and clinical practice. Methods We recruited 66 expert panelists from around the United States. Starting with six open-ended questions, we used four rounds of online Delphi data collection in tandem with 12 in-person focus groups with patients and cognitive interviews with 25 patients. Results We recruited 66 expert panelists from around the United States and 64 (97%) were retained for four rounds of data collection. Starting with six open-ended questions, we used four rounds of online Delphi data collection in tandem with 12 in-person focus groups with patients and cognitive interviews with 25 patients. The process resulted in an expansion to 120 topics that were subsequently reduced to 13 candidate items for the planned assessment measure. Conclusions The process was an efficient method of soliciting input from geographically separated and busy experts across a range of disciplines and professional roles with the aim of arriving at a coherent definition of engagement in HIV care and a manageable set of survey items to assess it. Next steps are to validate the utility of the new measure in predicting retention in care, adherence to treatment, and clinical outcomes among patients living with HIV. PMID:29208589

You Can’t Win If You Don’t Play: Communication - Engage Early, Engage Often

DTIC Science & Technology

2014-02-01

the public but also, and more importantly, to the media. In one memorable case, Air Force broadcasters shot video of C-17s dropping food supplies...4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE You Can’t Win If You Don’t Play: Communication - Engage Early, Engage Often 5a. CONTRACT NUMBER 5b. GRANT NUMBER 5c. PROGRAM ...ELEMENT NUMBER 6. AUTHOR( S ) 5d. PROJECT NUMBER 5e. TASK NUMBER 5f. WORK UNIT NUMBER 7. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME( S ) AND ADDRESS(ES) Air Force

A system dynamics evaluation model: implementation of health information exchange for public health reporting

PubMed Central

Merrill, Jacqueline A; Deegan, Michael; Wilson, Rosalind V; Kaushal, Rainu; Fredericks, Kimberly

2013-01-01

Objective To evaluate the complex dynamics involved in implementing electronic health information exchange (HIE) for public health reporting at a state health department, and to identify policy implications to inform similar implementations. Materials and methods Qualitative data were collected over 8 months from seven experts at New York State Department of Health who implemented web services and protocols for querying, receipt, and validation of electronic data supplied by regional health information organizations. Extensive project documentation was also collected. During group meetings experts described the implementation process and created reference modes and causal diagrams that the evaluation team used to build a preliminary model. System dynamics modeling techniques were applied iteratively to build causal loop diagrams representing the implementation. The diagrams were validated iteratively by individual experts followed by group review online, and through confirmatory review of documents and artifacts. Results Three casual loop diagrams captured well-recognized system dynamics: Sliding Goals, Project Rework, and Maturity of Resources. The findings were associated with specific policies that address funding, leadership, ensuring expertise, planning for rework, communication, and timeline management. Discussion This evaluation illustrates the value of a qualitative approach to system dynamics modeling. As a tool for strategic thinking on complicated and intense processes, qualitative models can be produced with fewer resources than a full simulation, yet still provide insights that are timely and relevant. Conclusions System dynamics techniques clarified endogenous and exogenous factors at play in a highly complex technology implementation, which may inform other states engaged in implementing HIE supported by federal Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) legislation. PMID:23292910

A system dynamics evaluation model: implementation of health information exchange for public health reporting.

PubMed

Merrill, Jacqueline A; Deegan, Michael; Wilson, Rosalind V; Kaushal, Rainu; Fredericks, Kimberly

2013-06-01

To evaluate the complex dynamics involved in implementing electronic health information exchange (HIE) for public health reporting at a state health department, and to identify policy implications to inform similar implementations. Qualitative data were collected over 8 months from seven experts at New York State Department of Health who implemented web services and protocols for querying, receipt, and validation of electronic data supplied by regional health information organizations. Extensive project documentation was also collected. During group meetings experts described the implementation process and created reference modes and causal diagrams that the evaluation team used to build a preliminary model. System dynamics modeling techniques were applied iteratively to build causal loop diagrams representing the implementation. The diagrams were validated iteratively by individual experts followed by group review online, and through confirmatory review of documents and artifacts. Three casual loop diagrams captured well-recognized system dynamics: Sliding Goals, Project Rework, and Maturity of Resources. The findings were associated with specific policies that address funding, leadership, ensuring expertise, planning for rework, communication, and timeline management. This evaluation illustrates the value of a qualitative approach to system dynamics modeling. As a tool for strategic thinking on complicated and intense processes, qualitative models can be produced with fewer resources than a full simulation, yet still provide insights that are timely and relevant. System dynamics techniques clarified endogenous and exogenous factors at play in a highly complex technology implementation, which may inform other states engaged in implementing HIE supported by federal Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) legislation.

EDI and the Technical Communicator.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eiler, Mary Ann

1994-01-01

Assesses the role of technical communicators in electronic data interchange (EDI). Argues that, as experts in information design, human factors, instructional theory, and professional writing, technical communicators should be advocates of standard documentation protocols and should rethink the traditional concepts of "document" to…

"The Boy in the Dress": Queering Mantle of the Expert

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Terret, Liselle

2013-01-01

In this paper I offer a queer analysis of several key moments during a Mantle of the Expert (MoE) project that resulted in Year 5 children creating performances and engaging with heightened versions of gendered femininity in their primary school. I will refer to theoretical notions of transvestism as a means of challenging the notions of binarism,…

Engagement of a Person with Dementia Scale: Establishing Content Validity and Psychometric Properties.

PubMed

Jones, Cindy; Sung, Billy; Moyle, Wendy

2018-05-17

To develop and psychometrically test the Engagement of a Person with Dementia Scale. It is important to study engagement in people with dementia when exploring the effectiveness of psychosocial interventions that can promote meaningful activity, stimulation and wellbeing, through an increase in positive emotions and an improvement in quality of life. The Engagement of a Person with Dementia Scale was developed based on current literature and previous research work on a video coding tool to ascertain the effect of psychosocial interventions on engagement in people with dementia. Using the Delphi technique, the content validity of the scale was evaluated by 15 dementia experts and formal/informal dementia carers. Psychometric properties of the scale were evaluated using 131 videos of people with dementia presented with PARO - a therapeutic, interactive, robotic seal - in long-term aged care facilities. A 10-item scale was established following the rewording, combining and elimination of prospective items, with revisions made to the instructions for using and scoring the scale. An overall consensus with agreement for the scale was established among the panel of experts. The scale demonstrated robust internal consistency, inter-rater and test-retest reliability and convergent and discriminant validity. This study successfully developed the Engagement of a Person with Dementia Scale, with established content validity and psychometric properties. The scale assesses the behavioural and emotional expressions and responses of engagement by people with dementia when partaking in a psychosocial activity in five areas: affective, visual, verbal, behavioural and social engagement. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved.

Development of the Communication Complexity Scale

PubMed Central

Brady, Nancy C.; Fleming, Kandace; Thiemann-Bourque, Kathy; Olswang, Lesley; Dowden, Patricia; Saunders, Muriel D.

2011-01-01

Accurate description of an individual's communication status is critical in both research and practice. Describing the communication status of individuals with severe intellectual and developmental disabilities is difficult because these individuals often communicate with presymbolic means that may not be readily recognized. Our goal was to design a communication scale and summary score for interpretation that could be applied across populations of children and adults with limited (often presymbolic) communication forms. Methods The Communication Complexity Scale (CCS) was developed by a team of researchers and tested with 178 participants with varying levels of presymbolic and early symbolic communication skills. Correlations between standardized and informant measures were completed, and expert opinions were obtained regarding the CCS. Results CCS scores were within expected ranges for the populations studied and inter-rater reliability was high. Comparison across other measures indicated significant correlations with standardized tests of language. Scores on informant report measures tended to place children at higher levels of communication. Expert opinions generally favored the development of the CCS. Clinical implications The scale appears to be useful for describing a given individual's level of presymbolic or early symbolic communication. Further research is needed to determine if it is sensitive to developmental growth in communication. PMID:22049404

A Dyadic Perspective on Engagement in Advance Care Planning.

PubMed

Fried, Terri; Zenoni, Maria; Iannone, Lynne

2017-01-01

To understand the perspectives of both patients and the person who would make medical decisions for them if they were unable (surrogates) on their participation in advance care planning (ACP). Qualitative cross-sectional study. Community. Thirty-one veterans age 55 years and older and their surrogates. In interviews conducted with both the veteran and surrogate, they were asked to discuss their participation in four ACP activities: communication about life-sustaining treatment, communication about views on quality of life, completion of a living will, and appointment of a healthcare proxy. They were asked about barriers to and facilitators of ACP engagement. When they did not agree about engagement, they each provided their perspective on what they believed had or had not occurred. Many of the same barriers to and facilitators of engagement were discussed by both patients and surrogates. These included difficulty thinking about dying, differences in values, and experiences with others that demonstrated the ability of ACP to decrease burden or avoid conflict. Reasons for disagreements in perceptions about whether communication had occurred included surrogates' need for more detailed information, surrogates' lack of readiness to hear what the patient was saying, and surrogates' reliance on what they know about the patient. For some dyads, participation in the study prompted additional communication, resulting in a better shared understanding of ACP engagement. Surrogates can both impede and facilitate engagement in ACP, and they can hold different perceptions from patients regarding this engagement. Efforts to promote ACP may be most successful if they assess and address both patients' and surrogates' attitudes and help to facilitate clear communication between them. © 2016, Copyright the Authors Journal compilation © 2016, The American Geriatrics Society.

Norms and Values in UK Science Engagement Practice

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Jensen, Eric; Holliman, Richard

2016-01-01

In recent years, there has been a rhetorical shift from "deficit" to "dialogue" and "engagement" in UK policy and institutional discourse about science communication. Past efforts to reduce public scientific literacy deficits have been overshadowed by calls for dialogue between scientists, science communicators and…

How Experts’ Use of Medical Technical Jargon in Different Types of Online Health Forums Affects Perceived Information Credibility: Randomized Experiment With Laypersons

PubMed Central

Jucks, Regina

2018-01-01

Background Online health forums are widely used, but the quality of advice differs as much as the knowledge backgrounds of the audience members who receive the advice. It is important to understand how people judge the information given online. In line with the communication accommodation theory (CAT), online forums represent specific social contexts of communication which can present either accommodative or nonaccommodative language to an audience. Accordingly, use of accommodative or nonaccommodative language might affect people’s perceived trust in the communicator. Objective The objective of this study was to investigate how experts who use accommodative (vs nonaccommodative) language are evaluated by passive users of an online forum. Methods Participants (n=98) took part in an online experiment and read experts’ posts about 10 nutrition myths. Following a 2 x 2 mixed design, experts’ posts were written using either low or high amounts of medical technical jargon (MTJ) (within factor) and were directed at different audiences (mainly other medical experts [in a professional forum] vs a user group mainly comprising laypersons [in an advisory forum]) (between factor). Accommodation occurred where experts used high amounts of MTJ to address other medical experts in the professional forum; it also occurred when experts used low amounts of MTJ to address laypersons in the advisory forum. Conversely, nonaccommodation occurred when experts used high amounts of MTJ in the advisory forum and low amounts of MTJ in the professional forum. In each condition, participants evaluated the credibility of the information, the trustworthiness of the experts, and the accommodation by the experts. Results Overall, participants judged the credibility of information to be higher when experts used MTJ that was accommodative to the designated audience, F1,95=3.10, P=.04, ηp2=.031. In addition, participants judged the experts in professional forums to be more trustworthy than experts in advisory forums (all F1,96≥3.54, P ≤.03, ηp2≥.036). Moreover, participants rated experts who used high amounts of MTJ to have higher competence (F1,96=37.54, P<.001, ηp2=.28], lower integrity (F1,96=10.77, P=.001, ηp2=.101), and lower benevolence (F1,96=9.75, P=.002, ηp2=.092), as well as to have lower perceived accommodation to the audience (all F1,96≥72.17, P<.001, ηp2≥.43) compared with experts who used low MTJ. Conclusions To provide health information online that is perceived as credible, experts should consider using similar language as the language used by the addressed audience. As it is often impossible to determine the exact makeup of an online audience, further research might investigate whether having experts explicitly declare which audience they intend to address can help people to more reliably assess an expert’s trustworthiness. Furthermore, as people assess information differently depending on the context of online communication, it would be valuable for research to consider other aspects of the context beyond those of the audience. PMID:29362212

NASA’s Universe of Learning: Engaging Subject Matter Experts to Support Museum Alliance Science Briefings

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Marcucci, Emma; Slivinski, Carolyn; Lawton, Brandon L.; Smith, Denise A.; Squires, Gordon K.; Biferno, Anya A.; Lestition, Kathleen; Cominsky, Lynn R.; Lee, Janice C.; Rivera, Thalia; Walker, Allyson; Spisak, Marilyn

2018-06-01

NASA's Universe of Learning creates and delivers science-driven, audience-driven resources and experiences designed to engage and immerse learners of all ages and backgrounds in exploring the universe for themselves. The project is a unique partnership between the Space Telescope Science Institute, Caltech/IPAC, Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory, and Sonoma State University and is part of the NASA SMD Science Activation Collective. The NASA’s Universe of Learning projects pull on the expertise of subject matter experts (scientist and engineers) from across the broad range of NASA Astrophysics themes and missions. One such project, which draws strongly on the expertise of the community, is the NASA’s Universe of Learning Science Briefings, which is done in collaboration with the NASA Museum Alliance. This collaboration presents a monthly hour-long discussion on relevant NASA astrophysics topics or events to an audience composed largely of informal educators from informal learning environments. These professional learning opportunities use experts and resources within the astronomical community to support increased interest and engagement of the informal learning community in NASA Astrophysics-related concepts and events. Briefings are designed to create a foundation for this audience using (1) broad science themes, (2) special events, or (3) breaking science news. The NASA’s Universe of Learning team engages subject matter experts to be speakers and present their science at these briefings to provide a direct connection to NASA Astrophysics science and provide the audience an opportunity to interact directly with scientists and engineers involved in NASA missions. To maximize the usefulness of the Museum Alliance Science Briefings, each briefing highlights resources related to the science theme to support informal educators in incorporating science content into their venues and/or interactions with the public. During this presentation, learn how you can help contribute to the NASA’s Universe of Learning and take part in Science Briefings.

Pandemic influenza communication: views from a deliberative forum.

PubMed

Rogers, Wendy A; Street, Jackie M; Braunack-Mayer, Annette J; Hiller, Janet E

2009-09-01

To use a deliberative forum to elicit community perspectives on communication about pandemic influenza planning, and to compare these findings with the current Australian national communication strategy. Deliberative forum of 12 persons randomly selected from urban South Australia. Forum members were briefed by experts in infection control, virology, ethics and public policy before deliberating on four key questions: what, how and when should the community be told about pandemic influenza and by whom? The forum recommended provision of detailed and comprehensive information by credible experts, rather than politicians, using a variety of media including television and internet. Recommendations included cumulative communication to build expertise in the community, and specific strategies to include groups such as young people, people with physical or mental disabilities, and rural and remote communities. Information provided should be practical, accurate, and timely, with no 'holding back' about the seriousness of a pandemic. The forum expressed confidence in the expert witnesses, despite the acknowledged uncertainty of many of the predictions. The deliberative forum's recommendations were largely consistent with the Australian national pandemic influenza communication strategy and the relevant literature. However, the forum recommended: release of more detailed information than currently proposed in the national strategy; use of non-political spokespersons; and use of novel communication methods. Their acceptance of uncertainty suggests that policy makers should be open about the limits of knowledge in potentially threatening situations. Our findings show that deliberative forums can provide community perspectives on topics such as communication about pandemic influenza.

Forecasting Doctoral-Level Content in Agricultural Education: Viewpoints of Engaged Scholars in the United States

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shinn, Glen C.; Briers, Gary; Baker, Matt

2008-01-01

In this study, the researchers used a classical Delphi method to re-examine the conceptual framework, definition, and knowledge base of the field. Seventeen engaged scholars, each representing the expert agricultural education community, reached consensus on defining the field of study, 10 knowledge domains, and 67 knowledge objects. The Delphi…

Engaging Pupils in the Science, Engineering and Technology of a Low-Energy School

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Charnley, Fiona; Fleming, Paul; Fleming, Margaret; Mill, Greig

2010-01-01

The UK Government's Building Schools for the Future programme has provided schools with a unique opportunity to improve education for sustainable development substantially by giving pupils the chance to study within a real-life context. This article documents an engagement project in which experts in low-energy building design are facilitating…

An Interpersonal Approach to Classroom Management: Strategies for Improving Student Engagement. Classroom Insights from Educational Psychology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Davis, Heather A.; Summers, Jessica J.; Miller, Lauren M.

2012-01-01

Like having a hidden camera in other teachers' classrooms, An Interpersonal Approach to Classroom Management engages you from the start by contrasting how two teachers respond differently to common situations. The authors expertly bridge the gap between educational psychology and peer and student-teacher management from the perspectives of student…

[Problems in expert assessment in child custody cases according to sections 1666, 1666a BGB in the controversy between control and assistance].

PubMed

Rüth, U

1998-09-01

The restriction of parental rights includes not only legal but also therapeutic aspects. The therapeutic aspects refer first to the child's disorder and then to its resulting needs. Furthermore a restriction of parental rights could be necessary for therapeutic reasons when the parents' reaction to reality is insufficient, usually caused by parental psychiatric disorders. The expert's counsel should facilitate the communication with disturbed parents thus engendering an improved reality-insight by the parents. Successful helping strategies can thus be made workable. The expert, the judge and the local authority social services should mutually respect specifically defined role-functions. The communication barriers between parents and helpers can only this way be partially resolved. The expert's evidence requires a high professional competence and responsibility and goes over and above the professional contribution from family therapy.

Using cooperative learning for a drug information assignment.

PubMed

Earl, Grace L

2009-11-12

To implement a cooperative learning activity to engage students in analyzing tertiary drug information resources in a literature evaluation course. The class was divided into 4 sections to form expert groups and each group researched a different set of references using the jigsaw technique. Each member of each expert group was reassigned to a jigsaw group so that each new group was composed of 4 students from 4 different expert groups. The jigsaw groups met to discuss search strategies and rate the usefulness of the references. In addition to group-based learning, teaching methods included students' writing an independent research paper to enhance their abilities to search and analyze drug information resources. The assignment and final course grades improved after implementation of the activity. Students agreed that class discussions were a useful learning experience and 75% (77/102) said they would use the drug information references for other courses. The jigsaw technique was successful in engaging students in cooperative learning to improve critical thinking skills regarding drug information.

Building a Communication, Education, an Outreach Program for the ShakeAlert National Earthquake Early Warning Program - Recommendations for Public Alerts Via Cell Phones

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

DeGroot, R. M.; Long, K.; Strauss, J. A.

2017-12-01

The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners are developing the ShakeAlert Earthquake Early Warning System for the West Coast of the United States. To be an integral part of successful implementation, ShakeAlert engagement programs and materials must integrate with and leverage broader earthquake risk programs. New methods and products for dissemination must be multidisciplinary, cost effective, and consistent with existing hazards education and communication efforts. The ShakeAlert Joint Committee for Communication, Education, and Outreach (JCCEO), is identifying, developing, and cultivating partnerships with ShakeAlert stakeholders including Federal, State, academic partners, private companies, policy makers, and local organizations. Efforts include developing materials, methods for delivery, and reaching stakeholders with information on ShakeAlert, earthquake preparedness, and emergency protective actions. It is essential to develop standards to ensure information communicated via the alerts is consistent across the public and private sector and achieving a common understanding of what actions users take when they receive a ShakeAlert warning. In February 2017, the JCCEO convened the Warning Message Focus Group (WMFG) to provide findings and recommendations to the Alliance for Telecommunications Industry Solutions on the use of earthquake early warning message content standards for public alerts via cell phones. The WMFG represents communications, education, and outreach stakeholders from various sectors including ShakeAlert regional coordinators, industry, emergency managers, and subject matter experts from the social sciences. The group knowledge was combined with an in-depth literature review to ensure that all groups who could receive the message would be taken into account. The USGS and the participating states and agencies acknowledge that the implementation of ShakeAlert is a collective effort requiring the participation of hundreds of stakeholders committed to ensuring public accessibility.

Science communication at scientific societies.

PubMed

Braha, Jeanne

2017-10-01

Scientific societies can play a key role in bridging the research and practice of scientists' engagement of public audiences. Societies are beginning to support translation of science communication research, connections between scientists and audiences, and the creation of opportunities for scientists to engage publics without extensive customization. This article suggests roles, strategies, and mechanisms for scientific societies to promote and enhance their member's engagement of public audiences. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Expert Care

MedlinePlus

... risk of complications and have better quality of life. Learn More Research Research We Fund Parkinson's Outcomes Project Grant Opportunities Science News & Progress Patient Engagement Research Our research has ...

An Automated Approach to Examining Conversational Dynamics between People with Dementia and Their Carers

PubMed Central

Atay, Christina; Conway, Erin R.; Angus, Daniel; Wiles, Janet; Baker, Rosemary; Chenery, Helen J.

2015-01-01

The progressive neuropathology involved in dementia frequently causes a gradual decline in communication skills. Communication partners who are unaware of the specific communication problems faced by people with dementia (PWD) can inadvertently challenge their conversation partner, leading to distress and a reduced flow of information between speakers. Previous research has produced an extensive literature base recommending strategies to facilitate conversational engagement in dementia. However, empirical evidence for the beneficial effects of these strategies on conversational dynamics is sparse. This study uses a time-efficient computational discourse analysis tool called Discursis to examine the link between specific communication behaviours and content-based conversational engagement in 20 conversations between PWD living in residential aged-care facilities and care staff members. Conversations analysed here were baseline conversations recorded before staff members underwent communication training. Care staff members spontaneously exhibited a wide range of facilitative and non-facilitative communication behaviours, which were coded for analysis of conversation dynamics within these baseline conversations. A hybrid approach combining manual coding and automated Discursis metric analysis provides two sets of novel insights. Firstly, this study revealed nine communication behaviours that, if used by the care staff member in a given turn, significantly increased the appearance of subsequent content-based engagement in the conversation by PWD. Secondly, the current findings reveal alignment between human- and computer-generated labelling of communication behaviour for 8 out of the total 22 behaviours under investigation. The approach demonstrated in this study provides an empirical procedure for the detailed evaluation of content-based conversational engagement associated with specific communication behaviours. PMID:26658135

An Interdisciplinary Program in Technical Communications: Problems Encountered.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Eckman, Martha

The need for experts in technical communication is growing significantly while the number of college graduates in the field accounts for less than one percent of the need. Three major types of problems should be considered in trying to establish a technical communication program: those involving society's need for better technical communicators,…

Roadmap of optical communications

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Agrell, Erik; Karlsson, Magnus; Chraplyvy, A. R.; Richardson, David J.; Krummrich, Peter M.; Winzer, Peter; Roberts, Kim; Fischer, Johannes Karl; Savory, Seb J.; Eggleton, Benjamin J.; Secondini, Marco; Kschischang, Frank R.; Lord, Andrew; Prat, Josep; Tomkos, Ioannis; Bowers, John E.; Srinivasan, Sudha; Brandt-Pearce, Maïté; Gisin, Nicolas

2016-06-01

Lightwave communications is a necessity for the information age. Optical links provide enormous bandwidth, and the optical fiber is the only medium that can meet the modern society's needs for transporting massive amounts of data over long distances. Applications range from global high-capacity networks, which constitute the backbone of the internet, to the massively parallel interconnects that provide data connectivity inside datacenters and supercomputers. Optical communications is a diverse and rapidly changing field, where experts in photonics, communications, electronics, and signal processing work side by side to meet the ever-increasing demands for higher capacity, lower cost, and lower energy consumption, while adapting the system design to novel services and technologies. Due to the interdisciplinary nature of this rich research field, Journal of Optics has invited 16 researchers, each a world-leading expert in their respective subfields, to contribute a section to this invited review article, summarizing their views on state-of-the-art and future developments in optical communications.

History and structures of telecommunication in pathology, focusing on open access platforms.

PubMed

Kayser, Klaus; Borkenfeld, Stephan; Djenouni, Amina; Kayser, Gian

2011-11-07

Telecommunication has matured to a broadly applied tool in diagnostic pathology. Contemporary with the development of fast electronic communication lines (Integrated digital network services (ISDN), broad band connections, and fibre optics, as well as the digital imaging technology (digital camera), telecommunication in tissue--based diagnosis (telepathology) has matured. Open access (internet) and server--based communication have induced the development of specific medical information platforms, such as iPATH, UICC-TPCC (telepathology consultation centre of the Union International against Cancer), or the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) teleconsultation system. They have been closed, and are subject to be replaced by specific open access forums (Medical Electronic Expert Communication System (MECES) with embedded virtual slide (VS) technology). MECES uses php language, data base driven mySqL architecture, X/L-AMPP infrastructure, and browser friendly W3C conform standards. The server--based medical communication systems (AFIP, iPATH, UICC-TPCC) have been reported to be a useful and easy to handle tool for expert consultation. Correct sampling and evaluation of transmitted still images by experts reported revealed no or only minor differences to the original images and good practice of the involved experts. β tests with the new generation medical expert consultation systems (MECES) revealed superior results in terms of performance, still image viewing, and system handling, especially as this is closely related to the use of so--called social forums (facebook, youtube, etc.). In addition to the acknowledged advantages of the former established systems (assistance of pathologists working in developing countries, diagnosis confirmation, international information exchange, etc.), the new generation offers additional benefits such as acoustic information transfer, assistance in image screening, VS technology, and teaching in diagnostic sampling, judgement, and verification.

Communicating Chemical Risks for Social Learning: Findings from an Expert Opinion Survey

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lyytimaki, Jari; Assmuth, Timo; Hilden, Mikael

2009-01-01

Environmental and health risks caused by chemical substances have been intensively debated in various arenas of science and policy, and in news media. The impacts of risk debates on the public have been widely studied, while less attention has been paid to expert views. We present results from a cross-national survey charting expert views on the…

Weighing In: The Taste-Engineering Frame in Obesity Expert Discourse

PubMed Central

Zimmerman, Frederick J.; Gilliam, Franklin D.

2015-01-01

Objectives. We sought expert opinion on the problems with 2 dominant obesity-prevention discourse frames—personal responsibility and the environment—and examined alternative frames for understanding and addressing obesity. Methods. We conducted 60-minute, semistructured interviews with 15 US-based obesity experts. We manually coded and entered interview transcripts into software, generating themes and subthematic areas that captured the debate’s essence. Results. Although the environmental frame is the dominant model used in communications with the public and policymakers, several experts found that communicating key messages within this frame was difficult because of the enormity of the obesity problem. A subframe of the environmental frame—the taste-engineering frame—identifies food industry strategies to influence the overconsumption of certain foods and beverages. This emerging frame deconstructs the environmental frame so that causal attributes and responsible agents are more easily identifiable and proposed policies and public health interventions more salient. Conclusions. Expert interviews are an invaluable resource for understanding how experts use frames in discussing their work and in conversations with the public and policymakers. Future empirical studies testing the effectiveness of the taste-engineering frame on public opinion and support for structural-level health policies are needed. PMID:25602888

Weighing in: the taste-engineering frame in obesity expert discourse.

PubMed

Ortiz, Selena E; Zimmerman, Frederick J; Gilliam, Franklin D

2015-03-01

We sought expert opinion on the problems with 2 dominant obesity-prevention discourse frames-personal responsibility and the environment-and examined alternative frames for understanding and addressing obesity. We conducted 60-minute, semistructured interviews with 15 US-based obesity experts. We manually coded and entered interview transcripts into software, generating themes and subthematic areas that captured the debate's essence. Although the environmental frame is the dominant model used in communications with the public and policymakers, several experts found that communicating key messages within this frame was difficult because of the enormity of the obesity problem. A subframe of the environmental frame--the taste-engineering frame--identifies food industry strategies to influence the overconsumption of certain foods and beverages. This emerging frame deconstructs the environmental frame so that causal attributes and responsible agents are more easily identifiable and proposed policies and public health interventions more salient. Expert interviews are an invaluable resource for understanding how experts use frames in discussing their work and in conversations with the public and policymakers. Future empirical studies testing the effectiveness of the taste-engineering frame on public opinion and support for structural-level health policies are needed.

Defending the scientific integrity of conservation-policy processes.

PubMed

Carroll, Carlos; Hartl, Brett; Goldman, Gretchen T; Rohlf, Daniel J; Treves, Adrian; Kerr, Jeremy T; Ritchie, Euan G; Kingsford, Richard T; Gibbs, Katherine E; Maron, Martine; Watson, James E M

2017-10-01

Government agencies faced with politically controversial decisions often discount or ignore scientific information, whether from agency staff or nongovernmental scientists. Recent developments in scientific integrity (the ability to perform, use, communicate, and publish science free from censorship or political interference) in Canada, Australia, and the United States demonstrate a similar trajectory. A perceived increase in scientific-integrity abuses provokes concerted pressure by the scientific community, leading to efforts to improve scientific-integrity protections under a new administration. However, protections are often inconsistently applied and are at risk of reversal under administrations publicly hostile to evidence-based policy. We compared recent challenges to scientific integrity to determine what aspects of scientific input into conservation policy are most at risk of political distortion and what can be done to strengthen safeguards against such abuses. To ensure the integrity of outbound communications from government scientists to the public, we suggest governments strengthen scientific integrity policies, include scientists' right to speak freely in collective-bargaining agreements, guarantee public access to scientific information, and strengthen agency culture supporting scientific integrity. To ensure the transparency and integrity with which information from nongovernmental scientists (e.g., submitted comments or formal policy reviews) informs the policy process, we suggest governments broaden the scope of independent reviews, ensure greater diversity of expert input and transparency regarding conflicts of interest, require a substantive response to input from agencies, and engage proactively with scientific societies. For their part, scientists and scientific societies have a responsibility to engage with the public to affirm that science is a crucial resource for developing evidence-based policy and regulations in the public interest. © 2017 The Authors. Conservation Biology published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of Society for Conservation Biology.

The National Ocean Sciences Bowl: An Effective Model for Engaging High School Students in Ocean Science

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Holloway, A. E.

2016-02-01

The National Ocean Sciences Bowl (NOSB) is an informal high school education program that engages students in ocean and environmental science and exposes them to the breadth of ocean-related careers. The NOSB strives to train the next generation of interdisciplinary capable scientists and build a STEM-literate society that harnesses the power of ocean and climate science to address environmental, economic, and societal issues. Through the NOSB, students not only learn scientific principles, but also apply them to compelling real-world problems. The NOSB provides a richer STEM education and exposes students to ocean science topics they may not otherwise study through classroom curriculum. A longitudinal study that began in 2007 has shown that NOSB participants have an enhanced interest in ocean-related hobbies and environmental stewardship and an increasing number of these students have remained in the STEM pipeline and workforce.While the NOSB is primarily an academic competition, it has evolved since its creation in 1998 to include a variety of practical and professional development components. One of the program enhancements, the Scientific Expert Briefing (SEB), gives students the opportunity to apply what they have studied and think critically about current and ongoing ocean science challenges. The SEB helps students connect their knowledge of ocean science with current and proposed policy initiatives. Students gain significant research, writing, and presentation skills, while enhancing their ability for collaboration and consensus building, all vital workforce skills. Ultimately, the SEB teaches students how to communicate complex scientific research into digestible information for decision-makers and the general public.This poster will examine the impact of the NOSB and its role in strengthening the workforce pipeline through a combination of independent learning, competition, and opportunities for communication skills development.

Health Communication in Social Media: Message Features Predicting User Engagement on Diabetes-Related Facebook Pages.

PubMed

Rus, Holly M; Cameron, Linda D

2016-10-01

Social media provides unprecedented opportunities for enhancing health communication and health care, including self-management of chronic conditions such as diabetes. Creating messages that engage users is critical for enhancing message impact and dissemination. This study analyzed health communications within ten diabetes-related Facebook pages to identify message features predictive of user engagement. The Common-Sense Model of Illness Self-Regulation and established health communication techniques guided content analyses of 500 Facebook posts. Each post was coded for message features predicted to engage users and numbers of likes, shares, and comments during the week following posting. Multi-level, negative binomial regressions revealed that specific features predicted different forms of engagement. Imagery emerged as a strong predictor; messages with images had higher rates of liking and sharing relative to messages without images. Diabetes consequence information and positive identity predicted higher sharing while negative affect, social support, and crowdsourcing predicted higher commenting. Negative affect, crowdsourcing, and use of external links predicted lower sharing while positive identity predicted lower commenting. The presence of imagery weakened or reversed the positive relationships of several message features with engagement. Diabetes control information and negative affect predicted more likes in text-only messages, but fewer likes when these messages included illustrative imagery. Similar patterns of imagery's attenuating effects emerged for the positive relationships of consequence information, control information, and positive identity with shares and for positive relationships of negative affect and social support with comments. These findings hold promise for guiding communication design in health-related social media.

Communication by Mothers with Breast Cancer or Melanoma with Their Children

PubMed Central

Gaber, Rikki; Desai, Sapna; Smith, Maureen; Eilers, Steve; Blatt, Hanz; Guevara, Yanina; Robinson, June K.

2013-01-01

Communication of familial risk of breast cancer and melanoma has the potential to educate relatives about their risk, and may also motivate them to engage in prevention and early detection practices. With the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy laws, the patient often becomes the sole communicator of such risks to family members. This study surveys mothers diagnosed with either breast cancer or melanoma and their adult children about their family communication style, knowledge of increased risk, and early detection practices. In both cancer groups, most mothers alerted their children of the risk and need for early detection practices. Breast cancer mothers communicated risk and secondary prevention with early detection by breast self-examination and mammograms whereas the melanoma mothers communicated risk and primary prevention strategies like applying sunscreen and avoiding deliberate tanning. Open communication about health matters significantly increased the likelihood that children engaged in early detection and/or primary prevention behaviors. Examining the information conveyed to at-risk family members, and whether such information motivated them to engage in early detection/prevention behaviors, is key to guiding better cancer prevention communication between doctors and patients. PMID:23965923

Communication by mothers with breast cancer or melanoma with their children.

PubMed

Gaber, Rikki; Desai, Sapna; Smith, Maureen; Eilers, Steve; Blatt, Hanz; Guevara, Yanina; Robinson, June K

2013-08-08

Communication of familial risk of breast cancer and melanoma has the potential to educate relatives about their risk, and may also motivate them to engage in prevention and early detection practices. With the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) privacy laws, the patient often becomes the sole communicator of such risks to family members. This study surveys mothers diagnosed with either breast cancer or melanoma and their adult children about their family communication style, knowledge of increased risk, and early detection practices. In both cancer groups, most mothers alerted their children of the risk and need for early detection practices. Breast cancer mothers communicated risk and secondary prevention with early detection by breast self-examination and mammograms whereas the melanoma mothers communicated risk and primary prevention strategies like applying sunscreen and avoiding deliberate tanning. Open communication about health matters significantly increased the likelihood that children engaged in early detection and/or primary prevention behaviors. Examining the information conveyed to at-risk family members, and whether such information motivated them to engage in early detection/prevention behaviors, is key to guiding better cancer prevention communication between doctors and patients.

What does the UK public want from academic science communication?

PubMed

Redfern, James; Illingworth, Sam; Verran, Joanna

2016-01-01

The overall aim of public academic science communication is to engage a non-scientist with a particular field of science and/or research topic, often driven by the expertise of the academic. An e-survey was designed to provide insight into respondent's current and future engagement with science communication activities. Respondents provided a wide range of ideas and concerns as to the 'common practice' of academic science communication, and whilst they support some of these popular approaches (such as open-door events and science festivals), there are alternatives that may enable wider engagement. Suggestions of internet-based approaches and digital media were strongly encouraged, and although respondents found merits in methods such as science festivals, limitations such as geography, time and topic of interest were a barrier to engagement for some. Academics and scientists need to think carefully about how they plan their science communication activities and carry out evaluations, including considering the point of view of the public, as although defaulting to hands-on open door events at their university may seem like the expected standard, it may not be the best way to reach the intended audience.

What does the UK public want from academic science communication?

PubMed Central

Redfern, James; Illingworth, Sam; Verran, Joanna

2016-01-01

The overall aim of public academic science communication is to engage a non-scientist with a particular field of science and/or research topic, often driven by the expertise of the academic. An e-survey was designed to provide insight into respondent’s current and future engagement with science communication activities. Respondents provided a wide range of ideas and concerns as to the ‘common practice’ of academic science communication, and whilst they support some of these popular approaches (such as open-door events and science festivals), there are alternatives that may enable wider engagement. Suggestions of internet-based approaches and digital media were strongly encouraged, and although respondents found merits in methods such as science festivals, limitations such as geography, time and topic of interest were a barrier to engagement for some. Academics and scientists need to think carefully about how they plan their science communication activities and carry out evaluations, including considering the point of view of the public, as although defaulting to hands-on open door events at their university may seem like the expected standard, it may not be the best way to reach the intended audience. PMID:27347384

Post-coma persons with multiple disabilities use assistive technology for their leisure engagement and communication.

PubMed

Lancioni, Giulio E; Singh, Nirbhay N; O'Reilly, Mark F; Sigafoos, Jeff; Oliva, Doretta; Buonocunto, Francesca; Sacco, Valentina; D'Amico, Fiora; Navarro, Jorge; Lanzilotti, Crocifissa; De Tommaso, Marina; Megna, Marisa

2014-01-01

Interventions for post-coma persons, who have emerged from a minimally conscious state but present with extensive neuro-motor impairment and lack of or minimal verbal skills, need to promote occupation and communication through the use of assistive technology. These two studies were aimed at assessing two technology-aided programs to promote leisure engagement and communication for three post-coma participants with multiple disabilities. Study I assessed a program to allow a woman and a man with extensive neuro-motor impairment and lack of speech to switch on music and videos, make requests to caregivers, and send messages to (communicate with) relevant partners and receive messages from those partners. Study II assessed a program to allow a post-coma woman with extensive motor impairment and reduced verbal behavior to activate music, videos and requests, send and receive messages, and make telephone calls. Data showed that both programs were successful. The participants of Study I managed leisure engagement, requests, as well as text messaging. The participant of Study II showed consistent leisure engagement, text messaging, and telephone calls. Assistive technology can be profitably used to provide post-coma persons with multiple disabilities relevant leisure and communication opportunities.

A Seismic Shift: Evaluating Changes in Scientists' Attitudes Regarding Journalists and Science Communication After Media Workshops

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

McBride, S.; Herbulock, D.

2015-12-01

Providing natural hazards scientists the opportunity to question and engage directly with journalists in a workshop setting proved effective at shifting scientists' attitudes on their role in media and public communication during natural disasters. Scientists surveyed after the encounter expressed a more responsive attitude to communicating during crises, increased willingness to support scientific peers' communication efforts and more realistic perspectives on journalists' needs and objectives. Geoscientists experienced unprecedented and intensive media and public scrutiny during the Canterbury, New Zealand earthquakes of 2010-2012. Following major quakes and aftershocks, there was a sustained high level of public demand for information and expert analysis of the underlying geological events and ongoing hazards and risks. Once the crisis ended, a period of reflection gave rise to understanding of the need for further media and communication training amongst natural hazards scientists. A workshop designed to explore scientists' attitudes to public communication during disasters and challenge their views on media, press offices and the expectations of the public was developed and implemented by the Science Media Centre, New Zealand and Massey University. This research was developed as an evaluation of this workshop. Quantitative analysis with some qualititive analysis were the methods used. Some findings include: a shift in how journalists were perceived by scientists after the workshop, largely influenced by perspectives shared during a panel where invited journalists reflected on their own experiences and answered questions from scientists. discussions on different spokespeople from different science institutions contributing to the public discussion showed a change in perception from a preference for one central spokesperson to increased support for a variety of perspectives from multiple scientists. This was influenced by insight provided by journalists during the workshop into the practical demands of media and the need for multiple voices in media coverage. changes in how they would manage media queries, as well as a shift from passive to responsive attitudes towards communicating in crises.

The impact of emotional intelligence, self-esteem, and self-image on romantic communication over MySpace.

PubMed

Dong, Qingwen; Urista, Mark A; Gundrum, Duane

2008-10-01

A study based on a survey of 240 individual MySpace users found that low self-esteem encourages young adults to engage in romantic communication (such as having intimate communication with the opposite sex and looking for romantic partners) while higher emotional intelligence discourages such activity. The results also suggested that those who have higher self-image, such as thinking themselves attractive and happy with their appearance, tend to engage in romantic communication. Limitations of the study and suggestion for future study are discussed.

Nurturing Students' Problem-Solving Skills and Engagement in Computer-Mediated Communications (CMC)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chen, Ching-Huei

2014-01-01

The present study sought to investigate how to enhance students' well- and ill-structured problem-solving skills and increase productive engagement in computer-mediated communication with the assistance of external prompts, namely procedural and reflection. Thirty-three graduate students were randomly assigned to two conditions: procedural and…

Improving Employees' Interpersonal Communication Competencies: A Qualitative Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hynes, Geraldine E.

2012-01-01

Companies that recognize the relationship between employee engagement and business success will seek ways to foster and facilitate workers' emotional well-being. One way to encourage employee engagement is to provide training in interpersonal communication. This research analyzes what one U.S.-based company is doing to achieve that goal. The…

Polish Teenage Students' Willingness to Engage in On-Line Intercultural Interactions

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wach, Aleksandra

2013-01-01

Computer-based technologies, including various forms of computer-mediated communication (CMC), provide L2 users with opportunities to engage in intercultural interactions which may promote the development of their intercultural communicative competence. The article reports the findings of a study that investigated how beyond-the-classroom…

Goofy Guide Game: Affordances and Constraints for Engagement and Oral Communication in English

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Enticknap-Seppänen, Kaisa

2017-01-01

This study investigates tourism undergraduates' perceptions of learning engagement and oral communication in English through their experiences of testing a pilot purpose-designed educational digital game. Reflecting the implementation of digitalization strategy in universities of applied sciences in Finland, it examines whether single instances of…

Toward actionable science: Empowering ecologists to engage in the process of translation through decision-maker and stakeholder partnerships

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Enquist, C.; Jackson, S. T.; Garfin, G. M.

2017-12-01

Translational ecology is an approach by which ecologists, stakeholders, and decision-makers work collaboratively to develop and deliver ecological research that, ideally, results in actionable science that leads to improved environmental decision-making. We analyzed a diverse array of real-world case studies and distilled six principles that characterize the practice of translational ecology: communication, commitment, collaboration, engagement, process, and decision-framing. In this talk, we highlight a subset of the case studies that illustrate these principles. Notably, we found that translational ecology is distinct from both basic and applied ecological research. As a practice, the approach deliberately extends research beyond theory or opportunistic applications, motivated by a search for outcomes that directly serve the needs of natural resource managers and decision-makers. Translational ecology is also distinct from knowledge co-production in that it does not require deep engagement between collaborators, although incorporating differing modes of co-production relative to the decision context, associated time frame, and available financial resources can greatly enhance the translational approach. Although there is a need for incentives to pursue in this type of work, we found that the creativity and context-specific knowledge of resource managers, practitioners, and decision-makers informs and enriches the scientific process, helping shape actionable science. Moreover, the process of addressing research questions arising from on-the-ground management issues, rather than from the top-down or expert-oriented perspectives of traditional science, can foster the long-term trust and commitment that is critical for long-term, sustained engagement between partners. Now, perhaps more than ever, the climate and environmental issues facing society are complex, often politicized, and value-laden. We argue that ecological science should play a key role in informing these problems and ecologists can engage as important partners committed to finding solutions. More broadly, scientists that embrace translational approaches are poised to make science-informed decision-making a reality in the face of a rapidly changing global environment.

Effective dialogue: Enhanced public engagement as a legitimising tool for municipal waste management decision-making

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Garnett, Kenisha, E-mail: k.garnett@cranfield.ac.uk; Cooper, Tim, E-mail: t.h.cooper@ntu.ac.uk

2014-12-15

Highlights: • A review of public engagement in waste management decision-making is undertaken. • Enhanced public engagement is explored as a means to legitimise waste decisions. • Analytical–deliberative processes are explored as a tool for effective dialogue. • Considerations for integrating public values with technical analysis are outlined. • Insights into the design of appropriate public engagement processes are provided. - Abstract: The complexity of municipal waste management decision-making has increased in recent years, accompanied by growing scrutiny from stakeholders, including local communities. This complexity reflects a socio-technical framing of the risks and social impacts associated with selecting technologies andmore » sites for waste treatment and disposal facilities. Consequently there is growing pressure on local authorities for stakeholders (including communities) to be given an early opportunity to shape local waste policy in order to encourage swift planning, development and acceptance of the technologies needed to meet statutory targets to divert waste from landfill. This paper presents findings from a research project that explored the use of analytical–deliberative processes as a legitimising tool for waste management decision-making. Adopting a mixed methods approach, the study revealed that communicating the practical benefits of more inclusive forms of engagement is proving difficult even though planning and policy delays are hindering development and implementation of waste management infrastructure. Adopting analytical–deliberative processes at a more strategic level will require local authorities and practitioners to demonstrate how expert-citizen deliberations may foster progress in resolving controversial issues, through change in individuals, communities and institutions. The findings suggest that a significant shift in culture will be necessary for local authorities to realise the potential of more inclusive decision processes. This calls for political actors and civic society to collaborate in institutionalising public involvement in both strategic and local planning structures.« less

2013 Technical Roundtable

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

On December 9, 2013, EPA reconvened the study’s Technical Roundtable. Subject-matter experts discussed the outcomes of the 2013 Technical Workshops, stakeholder engagement, and plans for draft assessment report.

Training Peer Partners to Use a Speech-Generating Device With Classmates With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Exploring Communication Outcomes Across Preschool Contexts.

PubMed

Thiemann-Bourque, Kathy S; McGuff, Sara; Goldstein, Howard

2017-09-18

This study examined effects of a peer-mediated intervention that provided training on the use of a speech-generating device for preschoolers with severe autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and peer partners. Effects were examined using a multiple probe design across 3 children with ASD and limited to no verbal skills. Three peers without disabilities were taught to Stay, Play, and Talk using a GoTalk 4+ (Attainment Company) and were then paired up with a classmate with ASD in classroom social activities. Measures included rates of communication acts, communication mode and function, reciprocity, and engagement with peers. Following peer training, intervention effects were replicated across 3 peers, who all demonstrated an increased level and upward trend in communication acts to their classmates with ASD. Outcomes also revealed moderate intervention effects and increased levels of peer-directed communication for 3 children with ASD in classroom centers. Additional analyses revealed higher rates of communication in the added context of preferred toys and snack. The children with ASD also demonstrated improved communication reciprocity and peer engagement. Results provide preliminary evidence on the benefits of combining peer-mediated and speech-generating device interventions to improve children's communication. Furthermore, it appears that preferred contexts are likely to facilitate greater communication and social engagement with peers.

Bridging Research and Environmental Regulatory Processes: The Role of Knowledge Brokers

PubMed Central

Pennell, Kelly G.; Thompson, Marcella; Rice, James W.; Senier, Laura; Brown, Phil; Suuberg, Eric

2013-01-01

Federal funding agencies increasingly require research investigators to ensure that federally-sponsored research demonstrates broader societal impact. Specifically, the National Institutes of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) Superfund Research Program (SRP) requires research centers to include research translation and community engagement cores to achieve broader impacts, with special emphasis on improving environmental health policies through better scientific understanding. This paper draws on theoretical insights from the social sciences to show how incorporating knowledge brokers in research centers can facilitate translation of scientific expertise to influence regulatory processes and thus promote public health. Knowledge brokers connect academic researchers with decision-makers, to facilitate the translation of research findings into policies and programs. In this article, we describe the stages of the regulatory process and highlight the role of the knowledge broker and scientific expert at each stage. We illustrate the cooperation of knowledge brokers, scientific experts and policymakers using a case from the Brown University (Brown) SRP. We show how the Brown SRP incorporated knowledge brokers to engage scientific experts with regulatory officials around the emerging public health problem of vapor intrusion. In the Brown SRP, the knowledge broker brought regulatory officials into the research process, to help scientific experts understand the critical nature of this emerging public health threat, and helped scientific experts develop a research agenda that would inform the development of timely measures to protect public health. Our experience shows that knowledge brokers can enhance the impact of environmental research on public health by connecting policy decision-makers with scientific experts at critical points throughout the regulatory process. PMID:24083557

Engaging Faculty in the Assessment and Improvement of Students' Critical Thinking Using the Critical Thinking Assessment Test

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stein, Barry; Haynes, Ada

2011-01-01

Many assessment experts believe it is essential to develop faculty-driven assessment tools in order to engage faculty in meaningful assessment that can improve student learning. Tennessee Technological University (TTU) has been involved in an extended effort during the last ten years to develop, refine, and nationally disseminate an instrument to…

Providing Written Feedback on Students' Mathematical Arguments: Proof Validations of Prospective Secondary Mathematics Teachers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bleiler, Sarah K.; Thompson, Denisse R.; Krajcevski, Milé

2014-01-01

Mathematics teachers play a unique role as experts who provide opportunities for students to engage in the practices of the mathematics community. Proof is a tool essential to the practice of mathematics, and therefore, if teachers are to provide adequate opportunities for students to engage with this tool, they must be able to validate student…

U.S. Army Medical Contingent to Task Force Forager Pacific Partnership 2015: Lessons and Best Practices

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-07-01

CONTINGENT-PACIFIC PARTNERSHIP 2015 Foreword Global health engagements conducted in...medical task force of health -care experts with medical equipment and supplies to conduct health engagements in four host nations, including the...at Pearl Harbor, HI, 15 medical personnel from the Australian and New Zealand defense forces; a civilian medical planner from Project HOPE ( Health

Community of Interest Engagement Process Plan

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-02-09

and input from Subject Matter Experts (SMEs), as shown in the far left of Figure 2. The team may prepare a Business Process Model Notation ( BPMN ) 22...22 Business Process Modeling Notation ( BPMN ) is a method of illustrating business processes in the form of a...Community of Interest Engagement Plan Joint Planning and Development Office 21 10. Acronyms BPMN Business Process Modeling Notation COI

Crowd-driven Ecosystem for Evolutionary Design

DTIC Science & Technology

2012-07-28

also embeds social media connections to maximize crowd engagement. Within such an environment, experts and non- traditional contributors (crowd) can...process.” The CEED platform also embeds social media connections to maximize crowd engagement. When completed, the software developed under the...track a project of interest online through other social media (namely RSS, Facebook, and Twitter) as well as on the vehicleforge website itself

On Human Communication: A Review, a Survey, and a Criticism.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cherry, Colin

This book, uniting the material from numerous lectures on communication theory, is designed to serve as the introduction to a series entitled "Studies in Communication," which will appear during the next few years. It is not intended for the expert in each of the many fields related to human communication, but, rather, it is designed for the…

Language Learning Effects through the Integration of Synchronous Online Communication: The Case of Video Communication and Second Life

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Canto, Silvia; Jauregi Ondarra, Kristi

2017-01-01

This article attempts to shed some light on the possible learning benefits for language acquisition and intercultural development of authentic social interaction with expert peers through computer mediated communication (CMC) tools. The environments used in this study are video communication and the 3D virtual world "Second Life." For…

Becoming an Engaged Campus: A Practical Guide for Institutionalizing Public Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beere, Carole A.; Votruba, James C.; Wells, Gail W.

2011-01-01

"Becoming an Engaged Campus" offers campus leaders a systematic and detailed approach to creating an environment where public engagement can grow and flourish. The book explains not only what to do to expand community engagement and how to do it, but it also explores how to document, evaluate, and communicate university engagement efforts. An…

Communicating climate science to high school students in the Arctic: Adventure Learning @ Greenland

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hougham, R. J.; Miller, B.; Cox, C. J.

2012-12-01

Adventure Learning @ Greenland (AL@GL) engaged high school students in atmospheric research in the Arctic and in local environments to enhance climate literacy. The overarching objective for this project was to support climate literacy in high school students, specifically the concept of energy exchange between the Earth, atmosphere, and space. The goal then is to produce a model of education and outreach for remote STEM research that can be used to meaningfully engage K-12 and public communities. Over the course of the program experience, students conducted scientific inquiry associated with their place that supported a more focused science content at a field location. Approximately 45 students participated in the hybrid learning environments as part of this project at multiple locations in Idaho, USA, and Greenland. In Greenland, the Summit Camp research station located on the Greenland Ice Sheet was the primary location. The AL@GL project provided a compelling opportunity to engage students in an inquiry-based curriculum alongside a cutting-edge geophysical experiment at Summit: the Integrated Characterization of Energy, Clouds, Atmospheric state, and Precipitation at Summit (ICECAPS) experiment. ICECAPS measures parameters that are closely tied to those identified in student misconceptions. Thus, ICECAPS science and the AL@ approach combined to create a learning environment that was practical, rich, and engaging. Students participating in this project were diverse, rural, and traditionally underrepresented. Groups included: students participating in a field school at Kangerlussuaq, Greenland and Summit Station as members of the JSEP; students at MOSS will were part of the Upward Bound Math Science (UBMS) and HOIST (Helping Orient Indian Students and Teachers) project. These project serve high school students who are first college generation and from low-income families. JSEP is an international group of students from the United States, Greenland, and Denmark. As a result of this project a model for education and outreach for remote science research was developed. The AL@ GL project was interested in the impact on student science and climate literacy. Survey data was collected from student participants two times and the surveys included questions pertaining to student knowledge of atmospheric science and climate and their impressions on scientific inquiry, and student interest and skills in technology. A subset of students were interviewed using a semi-structured, open-ended protocol at the end of the AL@ GL expedition. Beyond reaching 45 students directly through AL@GL instruction and field experiences, the web-based platform for communicating within this project reached over 10,000 site visits. This platform can be viewed at adventurelearningat.org and includes photos, videos and authentic narratives of the students and scientists involved with the project. The Adventure Learning @ (AL@) approach presents a powerful tool for teaching and learning exploring novel places through technology-rich curricula. By defining problems of local interest, and working with experts with local knowledge who have connections to the community, students can come to think of themselves as experts, scientists, and problem solvers within their own places.

[Recommandation for patient engagement promotion in care and cure for chronic conditions.

PubMed

Graffigna, Guendalina; Barello, Serena; Riva, Giuseppe; Castelnuovo, Gianluca; Corbo, Massimo; Coppola, Liliana; Daverio, Giovanni; Fauci, Alice; Iannone, Primiano; Ricciardi, Walter; Bosio, Albino Claudio

2017-11-01

The concept of patient engagement is receiving a growing attention in the healthcare field. The last decades have seen a deep revision of care models in the aim of a greater acknowledge of the patient role, seen as an expert actor, in the healthcare process. On the other side, healthcare systems are facing a growing request for participation expressed by citizens and patients. People claim for being more involved in all the crucial turning point of their healthcare journey and of being better aware of their right and duties. They require a deeper knowledge about all the different therapeutic options with the related risks and advantages. However, although all the different stakeholders agree in considering patient engagement a pragmatic further then ethical priority, a shared consensus related to the strategies and instrument to promote has still to come. Patients and healthcare professional perspective about the factors that may hinder or sustain patient engagement still need to be further studied and at shared recommendations - about the programs better effective and efficient in promoting patient engagement - are still missed. Based on these premises, Università Cattolica of Milano and DG Welfare of Regione Lombardia, under the methodological supervision of the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, promoted a consesus conference entitled "Recommendation for promoting patient engagement in healthcare for chronic conditions". This consensus conferences constituted the occasion of sharing and discussion among experts belonging to different clinical and institutional contexts as well as with representative of patients associations in order to identify good practices and effective tools to promote patient engagement in the care and cure process for chronic conditions.

The Rules of Engagement: CTTI Recommendations for Successful Collaborations Between Sponsors and Patient Groups Around Clinical Trials.

PubMed

Bloom, Diane; Beetsch, Joel; Harker, Matthew; Hesterlee, Sharon; Moreira, Paulo; Patrick-Lake, Bray; Selig, Wendy; Sherman, Jeffrey; Smith, Sophia K; Valentine, James E; Roberts, Jamie N

2018-03-01

To identify the elements necessary for successful collaboration between patient groups and academic and industry sponsors of clinical trials, in order to develop recommendations for best practices for effective patient group engagement. In-depth interviews, informed by a previously reported survey, were conducted to identify the fundamentals of successful patient group engagement. Thirty-two respondents from 3 sectors participated: patient groups, academic researchers, and industry. The findings were presented to a multistakeholder group of experts in January 2015. The expert group came to consensus on a set of actionable recommendations for best practices for patient groups and research sponsors. Interview respondents acknowledged that not all patient groups are created equal in terms of what they can contribute to a clinical trial. The most important elements for effective patient group engagement include establishing meaningful partnerships, demonstrating mutual benefits, and collaborating as partners from the planning stage forward. Although there is a growing appreciation by sponsors about the benefits of patient group engagement, there remains some resistance and some uncertainty about how best to engage. Barriers include mismatched expectations and a perception that patient groups lack scientific sophistication and that "wishful thinking" may cloud their recommendations. Patient groups are developing diverse skillsets and acquiring assets to leverage in order to become collaborators with industry and academia on clinical trials. Growing numbers of research sponsors across the clinical trials enterprise are recognizing the benefits of continuous and meaningful patient group engagement, but there are still mindsets to change, and stakeholders need further guidance on operationalizing a new model of clinical trial conduct.

The Rules of Engagement

PubMed Central

Bloom, Diane; Beetsch, Joel; Harker, Matthew; Hesterlee, Sharon; Moreira, Paulo; Patrick-Lake, Bray; Selig, Wendy; Sherman, Jeffrey; Smith, Sophia K.; Valentine, James E.; Roberts, Jamie N.

2017-01-01

Objective: To identify the elements necessary for successful collaboration between patient groups and academic and industry sponsors of clinical trials, in order to develop recommendations for best practices for effective patient group engagement. Methods: In-depth interviews, informed by a previously reported survey, were conducted to identify the fundamentals of successful patient group engagement. Thirty-two respondents from 3 sectors participated: patient groups, academic researchers, and industry. The findings were presented to a multistakeholder group of experts in January 2015. The expert group came to consensus on a set of actionable recommendations for best practices for patient groups and research sponsors. Results: Interview respondents acknowledged that not all patient groups are created equal in terms of what they can contribute to a clinical trial. The most important elements for effective patient group engagement include establishing meaningful partnerships, demonstrating mutual benefits, and collaborating as partners from the planning stage forward. Although there is a growing appreciation by sponsors about the benefits of patient group engagement, there remains some resistance and some uncertainty about how best to engage. Barriers include mismatched expectations and a perception that patient groups lack scientific sophistication and that “wishful thinking” may cloud their recommendations. Conclusions: Patient groups are developing diverse skillsets and acquiring assets to leverage in order to become collaborators with industry and academia on clinical trials. Growing numbers of research sponsors across the clinical trials enterprise are recognizing the benefits of continuous and meaningful patient group engagement, but there are still mindsets to change, and stakeholders need further guidance on operationalizing a new model of clinical trial conduct. PMID:29714514

Assessing students' communication skills: validation of a global rating.

PubMed

Scheffer, Simone; Muehlinghaus, Isabel; Froehmel, Annette; Ortwein, Heiderose

2008-12-01

Communication skills training is an accepted part of undergraduate medical programs nowadays. In addition to learning experiences its importance should be emphasised by performance-based assessment. As detailed checklists have been shown to be not well suited for the assessment of communication skills for different reasons, this study aimed to validate a global rating scale. A Canadian instrument was translated to German and adapted to assess students' communication skills during an end-of-semester-OSCE. Subjects were second and third year medical students at the reformed track of the Charité-Universitaetsmedizin Berlin. Different groups of raters were trained to assess students' communication skills using the global rating scale. Validity testing included concurrent validity and construct validity: Judgements of different groups of raters were compared to expert ratings as a defined gold standard. Furthermore, the amount of agreement between scores obtained with this global rating scale and a different instrument for assessing communication skills was determined. Results show that communication skills can be validly assessed by trained non-expert raters as well as standardised patients using this instrument.

Pandemic influenza communication: views from a deliberative forum

PubMed Central

Rogers, Wendy A.; Street, Jackie M.; Braunack‐Mayer, Annette J.; Hiller, Janet E.

2009-01-01

Abstract Objective  To use a deliberative forum to elicit community perspectives on communication about pandemic influenza planning, and to compare these findings with the current Australian national communication strategy. Design  Deliberative forum of 12 persons randomly selected from urban South Australia. Forum members were briefed by experts in infection control, virology, ethics and public policy before deliberating on four key questions: what, how and when should the community be told about pandemic influenza and by whom? Results  The forum recommended provision of detailed and comprehensive information by credible experts, rather than politicians, using a variety of media including television and internet. Recommendations included cumulative communication to build expertise in the community, and specific strategies to include groups such as young people, people with physical or mental disabilities, and rural and remote communities. Information provided should be practical, accurate, and timely, with no ‘holding back’ about the seriousness of a pandemic. The forum expressed confidence in the expert witnesses, despite the acknowledged uncertainty of many of the predictions. Discussion and Conclusion  The deliberative forum’s recommendations were largely consistent with the Australian national pandemic influenza communication strategy and the relevant literature. However, the forum recommended: release of more detailed information than currently proposed in the national strategy; use of non‐political spokespersons; and use of novel communication methods. Their acceptance of uncertainty suggests that policy makers should be open about the limits of knowledge in potentially threatening situations. Our findings show that deliberative forums can provide community perspectives on topics such as communication about pandemic influenza. PMID:19754694

Engaging Patients and Caregivers Managing Rare Diseases to Improve the Methods of Clinical Guideline Development: A Research Protocol

PubMed Central

Kinnett, Kathi; Grant, Sean; Lucas, Ann; Martin, Ann; Denger, Brian; Peay, Holly; Coulter, Ian; Fink, Arlene

2017-01-01

Background Clinical guidelines provide systematically developed recommendations for deciding on appropriate health care options for specific conditions and clinical circumstances. Up until recently, patients and caregivers have rarely been included in the process of developing care guidelines. Objective This project will develop and test a new online method for including patients and their caregivers in this process using Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) care guidelines as an example. The new method will mirror and complement the RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method (RAM)—the gold standard approach for conducting clinical expert panels that uses a modified Delphi format. RAM is often used in clinical guideline development to determine care appropriateness and necessity in situations where existing clinical evidence is uncertain, weak, or unavailable. Methods To develop the new method for engaging patients and their caregivers in guideline development, we will first conduct interviews with experts on RAM, guideline development, patient engagement, and patient-centeredness and engage with Duchenne patients and caregivers to identify how RAM should be modified for the purposes of patient engagement and what rating criteria should patients and caregivers use to provide their input during the process of guideline development. Once the new method is piloted, we will test it by conducting two concurrently run patient/caregiver panels that will rate patient-centeredness of a subset of DMD care management recommendations already deemed clinically appropriate and necessary. The ExpertLens™ system—a previously evaluated online modified Delphi system that combines two rounds of rating with a round of feedback and moderated online discussions—will be used to conduct these panels. In addition to developing and testing the new engagement method, we will work with the members of our project’s Advisory Board to generate a list of best practices for enhancing the level of patient and caregiver involvement in the guideline development process. We will solicit input on these best practice from Duchenne patients, caregivers, and clinicians by conducting a series of round-table discussions and making a presentation at an annual conference on Duchenne. Results The study protocol was reviewed by RAND’s Human Subjects Protection Committee, which determined it to be exempt from review. Interviews with RAM experts have been completed. The projected study completion date is May 2020. Conclusions We expect that the new method will make it easier to engage large numbers of patients and caregivers in the process of guideline development in a rigorous and culturally appropriate manner that is consistent with the way clinicians participate in guideline development. Moreover, this project will develop best practices that could help involve patients and caregivers in the clinical guideline development process in other clinical areas, thereby facilitating the work of guideline developers. PMID:28455279

Autism Spectrum Disorder

MedlinePlus

... show all behaviors, but most will show several. Social communication / interaction behaviors may include: Making little or inconsistent eye ... The expert will ask about concerns, such as: Social interaction and communication challenges Sensory issues Repetitive behaviors Restricted ...

Striking the Right Chord and Sustaining Successful Professional Development in Information and Communications Technologies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holmes, Bryn; Gardner, John; Galanouli, Despina

2007-01-01

This article argues that most variants of professional development in information and communications technologies are merely "in-between" processes, the design of which does not pay sufficient attention to important antecedent and post-engagement activities. These we identify as preparing the ground before the main engagement with the…

Using Wikis to Investigate Communication, Collaboration and Engagement in Capstone Engineering Design Projects

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berthoud, L.; Gliddon, J.

2018-01-01

In today's global Aerospace industry, virtual workspaces are commonly used for collaboration between geographically distributed multidisciplinary teams. This study investigated the use of wikis to look at communication, collaboration and engagement in 'Capstone' team design projects at the end of an engineering degree. Wikis were set up for teams…

Enhancing Intercultural Communication and Understanding: Team Translation Project as a Student Engagement Learning Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Yang, Ping

2015-01-01

This paper reflects on a team translation project on Aboriginal culture designed to enhance university students' intercultural communication competence and understanding through engaging in an interactive team translation project funded by the Australia-China Council. A selected group of Chinese speaking translation students participated in the…

Primary Pupils' Use of Information and Communication Technologies at School and Home

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Selwyn, Neil; Potter, John; Cranmer, Sue

2009-01-01

Based on survey data from 612 pupils in five English primary schools, this paper investigates children's engagement with information and communication technologies (ICTs) inside and outside the school context. Analysis of the data shows pupils' engagements with ICTs to be often perfunctory and unspectacular, especially within the school setting,…

Social Impact "Buycotts": A Tool for Innovation, Impact, and Engagement to Teach Integrated Marketing Communications

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Holland, Jonna

2016-01-01

A novel concept for an integrated marketing communications (IMC) semester project succeeded in meeting or exceeding course learning objectives while increasing social impact and community engagement. Partnering with a selected business and a synergistic community cause, student teams developed and implemented an IMC plan to motivate consumers to…

Electronic versus Traditional Storybooks: Relative Influence on Preschool Children's Engagement and Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moody, Amelia K; Justice, Laura M; Cabell, Sonia Q

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to examine children's reading engagement and communicative initiations when they were read storybooks in varying media and reading manners, with a focus on understanding the way electronic storybooks (e-storybooks) may affect young children's shared reading experiences. The reading behaviors of 25 preschool-aged…

On using ethical principles of community-engaged research in translational science.

PubMed

Khodyakov, Dmitry; Mikesell, Lisa; Schraiber, Ron; Booth, Marika; Bromley, Elizabeth

2016-05-01

The transfer of new discoveries into both clinical practice and the wider community calls for reliance on interdisciplinary translational teams that include researchers with different areas of expertise, representatives of health care systems and community organizations, and patients. Engaging new stakeholders in research, however, calls for a reconsideration or expansion of the meaning of ethics in translational research. We explored expert opinion on the applicability of ethical principles commonly practiced in community-engaged research (CEnR) to translational research. To do so, we conducted 2 online, modified-Delphi panels with 63 expert stakeholders who iteratively rated and discussed 9 ethical principles commonly used in CEnR in terms of their importance and feasibility for use in translational research. The RAND/UCLA appropriateness method was used to analyze the data and determine agreement and disagreement among participating experts. Both panels agreed that ethical translational research should be "grounded in trust." Although the academic panel endorsed "culturally appropriate" and "forthcoming with community about study risks and benefits," the mixed academic-community panel endorsed "scientifically valid" and "ready to involve community in interpretation and dissemination" as important and feasible principles of ethical translational research. These findings suggest that in addition to protecting human subjects, contemporary translational science models need to account for the interests of, and owe ethical obligations to, members of the investigative team and the community at large. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

On Using Ethical Principles of Community-Engaged Research in Translational Science

PubMed Central

Mikesell, Lisa; Schraiber, Ron; Booth, Marika; Bromley, Elizabeth

2015-01-01

The transfer of new discoveries into both clinical practice and the wider community calls for reliance on interdisciplinary translational teams that include researchers with different areas of expertise, representatives of healthcare systems and community organizations, and patients. Engaging new stakeholders in research, however, calls for a re-consideration or expansion of the meaning of ethics in translational research. We explored expert opinion on the applicability of ethical principles commonly practiced in community-engaged research (CEnR) to translational research. To do so, we conducted two online, modified-Delphi panels with 63 expert stakeholders who iteratively rated and discussed nine ethical principles commonly used in CEnR in terms of their importance and feasibility for use in translational research. The RAND/UCLA Appropriateness Method was used to analyze the data and determine agreement and disagreement among participating experts. Both panels agreed that ethical translational research should be “grounded in trust.” While the academic panel endorsed “culturally appropriate” and “forthcoming with community about study risks and benefits,” the mixed academic-community panel endorsed “scientifically valid” and “ready to involve community in interpretation and dissemination” as important and feasible principles of ethical translational research. These findings suggest that in addition to protecting human subjects, contemporary translational science models need to account for the interests of, and owe ethical obligations to, members of the investigative team and the community at large. PMID:26773561

Computers Simulate Human Experts.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Roberts, Steven K.

1983-01-01

Discusses recent progress in artificial intelligence in such narrowly defined areas as medical and electronic diagnosis. Also discusses use of expert systems, man-machine communication problems, novel programing environments (including comments on LISP and LISP machines), and types of knowledge used (factual, heuristic, and meta-knowledge). (JN)

Strategic communication related to academic performance: Evidence from China.

PubMed

Zhao, Li; Chen, Lulu; He, Luwei; Heyman, Gail D

2017-09-01

We examined a range of forms of strategic communication relevant to academic performance among 151 seventh- and eleventh-grade adolescents in China. Participants were asked to rate the frequency of their engagement of strategic communication and to evaluate the possible motives for each strategy. The most commonly adopted strategy was to give a vague response about one's own performance, and the predominant motives for strategic communication were the desires to outcompete others, to be prosocial, and to be modest. Males were more likely than females to focus on gaining social approval, and eleventh graders were more likely than seventh graders to focus on being prosocial and modest when engaging in strategic communication. These findings provide insight into the development of strategic communication beyond Western culture. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? Adolescents in the West often hide their effort to appear more competent or to gain social acceptance. Little is known about other communication strategies related to academic performance. Little is known about the development of these strategies in non-Western samples. What does this study add? We show that in China, as in Western cultures, children often engage in strategic communication. We demonstrate links between different forms of strategic communication and specific motives. We demonstrate that strategic communication can be motivated by outcompeting others, by being prosocial, and by being modest. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

Exploring nursing staffs communication in stressful and non-stressful situations.

PubMed

André, Beate; Frigstad, Sigrun A; Nøst, Torunn H; Sjøvold, Endre

2016-03-01

To explore the factors that characterise the work environment, focusing on communication among nurses in stressful and non-stressful situations. Nursing is often described as a stressful occupation. Implementation of change may be an additional stress factor. Nurses and assistant nurses completed a questionnaire from two different perspectives, 'communication in non-stressful situations' and 'communication under stress'. The Systematising Person-Group Relations method was used to gather and analyse the data. When the two perspectives, 'communication in non-stressful situations' and 'communication under stress', were compared, there were significant differences in 8 of the 12 factors. The stressful situations were characterised by low values in task orientation, caring, criticism, loyalty, acceptance, engagement and empathy; only the factor creativity had higher scores. The stressful situations were characterised by creative and spontaneous behaviour, not by task orientation and engagement, indicating a potential patient safety risk. There is a need to help health-care workers develop more mature analytical and task-oriented behaviours related to both independent work and collaboration in stressful situations. Nursing leadership and organisation must focus on healthy work environments to promote engaged communication in stressful situations, ultimately increasing patient safety. © 2015 The Authors. Journal of Nursing Management Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

SCRIPT: School/Community Relations Innovative Program Techniques Handbook.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Arizona State Dept. of Education, Phoenix.

A compilation of ideas from the nation's school-community relations experts, this handbook suggests many types of communication. The introduction describes school-community relations as a four-step process: (1) analyzing what, how, and with whom to communicate; (2) planning and formulating a timetable and evaluation methods; (3) communicating; and…

Communication and Values.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Sillars, Malcolm O.

Communication experts and researchers have done little to help prepare themselves or others to cope with values in the communication revolution that is taking place. The problem goes beyond the influence the media has in the United States; it has implications of international issues of survival. What is needed is an emphasis on research and…

Scientists' Prioritization of Communication Objectives for Public Engagement.

PubMed

Dudo, Anthony; Besley, John C

2016-01-01

Amid calls from scientific leaders for their colleagues to become more effective public communicators, this study examines the objectives that scientists' report drive their public engagement behaviors. We explore how scientists evaluate five specific communication objectives, which include informing the public about science, exciting the public about science, strengthening the public's trust in science, tailoring messages about science, and defending science from misinformation. We use insights from extant research, the theory of planned behavior, and procedural justice theory to identify likely predictors of scientists' views about these communication objectives. Results show that scientists most prioritize communication designed to defend science from misinformation and educate the public about science, and least prioritize communication that seeks to build trust and establish resonance with the public. Regression analyses reveal factors associated with scientists who prioritize each of the five specific communication objectives. Our findings highlight the need for communication trainers to help scientists select specific communication objectives for particular contexts and audiences.

Analytical liquid test sample filtration apparatus

DOEpatents

Lohnes, B.C.; Turner, T.D.; Klingler, K.M.; Clark, M.L.

1996-01-09

A liquid sample filtration apparatus includes: (a) a module retaining filter elements; (b) a filter clamping and fluid injection apparatus positioned relative to the module to engage a filter element thereon, and includes a pair of first and second opposing engageable members to engage a filter element there between; (c) an inlet tube connected to an opposing engageable member; (d) an outlet tube connected to an opposing engageable member; (e) a motor to move the module relative to the filter clamping and injection apparatus to register filter elements on the module to the clamping and injection apparatus; and (f) a motor associated with the filter clamping and injection apparatus to move the opposing engageable members into substantial sealing fluid communication relative to a filter element on the module. An apparatus for engaging opposing ends of a filter element includes: (a) a member having a recess configured to engage one end of a filter element, including a first fluid passage communicating with the recess to pass fluid between the recess and externally of the member; and (b) a second member positioned in opposing juxtaposition relative to the other member, and having a projection sized and shaped to matingly fit within the other member recess, the second member projection including a second recess configured to engage the other end of the filter element, the second member including a second fluid passage communicating with the second recess to pass fluid between the second recess and externally of the second member. 8 figs.

Analytical liquid test sample filtration apparatus

DOEpatents

Lohnes, Brent C.; Turner, Terry D.; Klingler, Kerry M.; Clark, Michael L.

1996-01-01

A liquid sample filtration apparatus includes: a) a module retaining filter elements; b) a filter clamping and fluid injection apparatus positioned relative to the module to engage a filter element thereon, and includes a pair of first and second opposing engageable members to sealing engage a filter element therebetween; c) an inlet tube connected to an opposing engageable member; d) an outlet tube connected to an opposing engageable member; e) a motor to move the module relative to the filter clamping and injection apparatus to register filter elements on the module to the clamping and injection apparatus; and f) a motor associated with the filter clamping and injection apparatus to move the opposing engageable members into substantial sealing fluid communication relative to a filter element on the module. An apparatus for engaging opposing ends of a filter element includes: a) a member having a recess configured to engage one end of a filter element, including a first fluid passage communicating with the recess to pass fluid between the recess and externally of the member; and b) a second member positioned in opposing juxtaposition relative to the other member, and having a projection sized and shaped to matingly fit within the other member recess, the second member projection including a second recess configured to engage the other end of the filter element, the second member including a second fluid passage communicating with the second recess to pass fluid between the second recess and externally of the second member.

A Cognitive Architecture for Human Performance Process Model Research

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-11-01

individually defined, updatable world representation which is a description of the world as the operator knows it. It contains rules for decisions, an...operate it), and rules of engagement (knowledge about the operator’s expected behavior). The HPP model works in the following way. Information enters...based models depict the problem-solving processes of experts. The experts’ knowledge is represented in symbol structures, along with rules for

Knowledge Acquisition for Expert Systems in Construction

DTIC Science & Technology

1988-12-01

following scientific personnel have been closely involved in the execution of this research : Dr R J Allwood Mr A E Bryman Mr C N Cooper Dr J Cullen Mr...alternative methods and should use them flexibly as the position unfolds. This approach has been advocated by other researchers (eg Cordingley - see Diaper...currently engaged in research into methods of knowledge acquisition for expert systems. Although their original focus was on construction industry

COREDAR: COmmunicating Risk of sea level rise and Engaging stakeholDers in framing community based Adaptation stRategies

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Amsad Ibrahim Khan, S. K.; Chen, R. S.; de Sherbinin, A. M.; Andimuthu, R.; Kandasamy, P.

2015-12-01

Accelerated sea-level rise (SLR) is a major long term outcome of climate change leading to increased inundation of low-lying areas. Particularly, global cities that are located on or near the coasts are often situated in low lying areas and these locations put global cities at greater risk to SLR. Localized flooding will profoundly impact vulnerable communities located in high-risk urban areas. Building community resilience and adapting to SLR is increasingly a high priority for cities. On the other hand, Article 6 of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change addresses the importance of climate change communication and engaging stakeholders in decision making process. Importantly, Community Based Adaptation (CBA) experiences emphasize that it is important to understand a community's unique perceptions of their adaptive capacities to identify useful solutions and that scientific and technical information on anticipated coastal climate impacts needs to be translated into a suitable language and format that allows people to be able to participate in adaptation planning. To address this challenge, this study has put forth three research questions from the lens of urban community engagement in SLR adaptation, (1) What, if any, community engagement in addressing SLR occurring in urban areas; (2) What information do communities need and how does it need to be communicated, in order to be better prepared and have a greater sense of agency? and (3) How can government agencies from city to federal levels facilitate community engagement and action?. To answer these questions this study has evolved a framework "COREDAR" (COmmunicating Risk of sea level rise and Engaging stakeholDers in framing community based Adaptation StRategies) to communicate and transfer complex climate data and information such as projected SLR under different scenarios of IPCC AR5, predicted impact of SLR, prioritizing vulnerability, etc. to concerned stakeholders and local communities, and to engage them in framing actionable urban CBA adaptation strategies to rising sea-level. Thus, this study seeks to provide insights on communicating risk of climate change (SLR) and to develop a robust picture of urban CBA through effective decision making that are grounded in pressing community priorities in a case study approach.

Bringing Cosmic Objects Down to Earth: An Overview of 3D Modelling and Printing in Astronomy and Astronomy Communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Arcand, K.; Megan, W.; DePasquale, J.; Jubett, A.; Edmonds, P.; DiVona, K.

2017-09-01

Three-dimensional (3D) modelling is more than just good fun, it offers a new vehicle to represent and understand scientific data and gives experts and non-experts alike the ability to manipulate models and gain new perspectives on data. This article explores the use of 3D modelling and printing in astronomy and astronomy communication and looks at some of the practical challenges, and solutions, to using 3D modelling, visualisation and printing in this way.

Complex Causal Process Diagrams for Analyzing the Health Impacts of Policy Interventions

PubMed Central

Joffe, Michael; Mindell, Jennifer

2006-01-01

Causal diagrams are rigorous tools for controlling confounding. They also can be used to describe complex causal systems, which is done routinely in communicable disease epidemiology. The use of change diagrams has advantages over static diagrams, because change diagrams are more tractable, relate better to interventions, and have clearer interpretations. Causal diagrams are a useful basis for modeling. They make assumptions explicit, provide a framework for analysis, generate testable predictions, explore the effects of interventions, and identify data gaps. Causal diagrams can be used to integrate different types of information and to facilitate communication both among public health experts and between public health experts and experts in other fields. Causal diagrams allow the use of instrumental variables, which can help control confounding and reverse causation. PMID:16449586

Collaborative Web-Enabled GeoAnalytics Applied to OECD Regional Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Jern, Mikael

Recent advances in web-enabled graphics technologies have the potential to make a dramatic impact on developing collaborative geovisual analytics (GeoAnalytics). In this paper, tools are introduced that help establish progress initiatives at international and sub-national levels aimed at measuring and collaborating, through statistical indicators, economic, social and environmental developments and to engage both statisticians and the public in such activities. Given this global dimension of such a task, the “dream” of building a repository of progress indicators, where experts and public users can use GeoAnalytics collaborative tools to compare situations for two or more countries, regions or local communities, could be accomplished. While the benefits of GeoAnalytics tools are many, it remains a challenge to adapt these dynamic visual tools to the Internet. For example, dynamic web-enabled animation that enables statisticians to explore temporal, spatial and multivariate demographics data from multiple perspectives, discover interesting relationships, share their incremental discoveries with colleagues and finally communicate selected relevant knowledge to the public. These discoveries often emerge through the diverse backgrounds and experiences of expert domains and are precious in a creative analytics reasoning process. In this context, we introduce a demonstrator “OECD eXplorer”, a customized tool for interactively analyzing, and collaborating gained insights and discoveries based on a novel story mechanism that capture, re-use and share task-related explorative events.

Guidance for Researchers Developing and Conducting Clinical Trials in Practice-based Research Networks (PBRNs)

PubMed Central

Dolor, Rowena J.; Schmit, Kristine M.; Graham, Deborah G.; Fox, Chester H.; Baldwin, Laura Mae

2015-01-01

Background There is increased interest nationally in multicenter clinical trials to answer questions about clinical effectiveness, comparative effectiveness, and safety in real-world community settings. Primary care practice-based research networks (PBRNs), comprising community- and/or academically affiliated practices committed to improving medical care for a range of health problems, offer ideal settings for these trials, especially pragmatic clinical trials. However, many researchers are not familiar with working with PBRNs. Methods Experts in practice-based research identified solutions to challenges that researchers and PBRN personnel experience when collaborating on clinical trials in PBRNs. These were organized as frequently asked questions in a draft document presented at a 2013 Agency for Health care Research and Quality PBRN conference workshop, revised based on participant feedback, then shared with additional experts from the DARTNet Institute, Clinical Translational Science Award PBRN, and North American Primary Care Research Group PBRN workgroups for further input and modification. Results The “Toolkit for Developing and Conducting Multi-site Clinical Trials in Practice-Based Research Networks” offers guidance in the areas of recruiting and engaging practices, budgeting, project management, and communication, as well as templates and examples of tools important in developing and conducting clinical trials. Conclusion Ensuring the successful development and conduct of clinical trials in PBRNs requires a highly collaborative approach between academic research and PBRN teams. PMID:25381071

Parents' Adoption of Social Communication Intervention Strategies: Families Including Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Who are Minimally Verbal

PubMed Central

Goods, Kelly; Shih, Wendy; Mucchetti, Charlotte; Kaiser, Ann; Wright, Courtney; Mathy, Pamela; Landa, Rebecca; Kasari, Connie

2015-01-01

Notably absent from the intervention literature are parent training programs targeting school-aged children with autism who have limited communication skills (Tager-Flusberg and Kasari in Autism Res 6:468–478, 2013). Sixty-one children with autism age 5–8 with minimal spontaneous communication received a 6-month social communication intervention including parent training. Parent–child play interactions were coded for parents' strategy implementation and children's time jointly engaged (Adamson et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 39:84–96, 2009). Parents mastered an average of 70 % of the strategies. Further analyses indicated some gains in implementation occurred from mere observation of sessions, while the greatest gains occurred in the first month of active coaching and workshops. Children's joint engagement was associated with parents' implementation success across time demonstrating parents' implementation was relevant to children's social engagement. PMID:25475363

Parents' Adoption of Social Communication Intervention Strategies: Families Including Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder Who are Minimally Verbal.

PubMed

Shire, Stephanie Y; Goods, Kelly; Shih, Wendy; Distefano, Charlotte; Kaiser, Ann; Wright, Courtney; Mathy, Pamela; Landa, Rebecca; Kasari, Connie

2015-06-01

Notably absent from the intervention literature are parent training programs targeting school-aged children with autism who have limited communication skills (Tager-Flusberg and Kasari in Autism Res 6:468-478, 2013). Sixty-one children with autism age 5-8 with minimal spontaneous communication received a 6-month social communication intervention including parent training. Parent-child play interactions were coded for parents' strategy implementation and children's time jointly engaged (Adamson et al. in J Autism Dev Disord 39:84-96, 2009). Parents mastered an average of 70% of the strategies. Further analyses indicated some gains in implementation occurred from mere observation of sessions, while the greatest gains occurred in the first month of active coaching and workshops. Children's joint engagement was associated with parents' implementation success across time demonstrating parents' implementation was relevant to children's social engagement.

Ethical challenges in social media engagement and research: considerations for code of engagement practices.

PubMed

Gehner, Monika; Oughton, Deborah

2016-06-01

Social media have great potential for effectively communicating about public health risks so people make healthier and safer choices. If used appropriately, social media can strengthen trust between the public and the institution. If used inappropriately, it may also create distrust. This note addresses some of the ethical challenges in using social media for communication and research. It reflects on opportunities in social media risk communication based on experience from the World Health Organization (WHO) and suggests a code of engagement be included in corporate social media policies that contain guidance as to what conduct is or is not appropriate with a view to maintaining public trust in the institution. The note concludes with considerations about the ethical use of social media in research, which is particularly relevant for entities communicating about ionizing radiation, including during emergency situations.

Engaging patients and families in communication across transitions of care: an integrative review protocol.

PubMed

Bucknall, Tracey K; Hutchinson, Alison M; Botti, Mari; McTier, Lauren; Rawson, Helen; Hewitt, Nicky A; McMurray, Anne; Marshall, Andrea P; Gillespie, Brigid M; Chaboyer, Wendy

2016-07-01

To describe an integrative review protocol to analyse and synthesize peer-reviewed research evidence in relation to engagement of patients and their families in communication during transitions of care to, in and from acute care settings. Communication at transitions of care in acute care settings can be complex and challenging, with important information about patients not always clearly transferred between responsible healthcare providers. Involving patients and their families in communication during transitions of care may improve the transfer of clinical information and patient outcomes and prevent adverse events during hospitalization and following discharge. Recently, optimizing patient and family participation during care transitions has been acknowledged as central to the implementation of patient-centred care. Integrative review with potential for meta-analysis and application of framework synthesis. The review will evaluate and synthesize qualitative and quantitative research evidence identified through a systematic search. Primary studies will be selected according to inclusion criteria. Data collection, quality appraisal and analysis of the evidence will be conducted by at least two authors. Nine electronic databases (including CINAHL and Medline) will be searched. The search will be restricted to 10 years up to December 2013. Data analysis will include content and thematic analysis. The review will seek to identify all types of patient engagement activities employed during transitions of care communication. The review will identify enablers for and barriers to engagement for patients, families and health professionals. Key strategies and tools for improving patient engagement, clinical communication and promoting patient-centred care will be recommended based on findings. © 2016 The Authors. Journal of Advanced Nursing Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Implementation of the IHR Joint External Evaluation: Taiwan's Experiences.

PubMed

Lo, Yi-Chun

In February 2016, the World Health Organization developed the Joint External Evaluation (JEE) tool to independently assess country capacity to prevent, detect, and respond to public health threats as part of the International Health Regulations (IHR) (2005) monitoring and evaluation framework. In light of this, the Taiwan government actively engaged at least 19 government agencies or institutions and voluntarily implemented the JEE. An External Assessment Team consisting of 6 US subject matter experts conducted the external evaluation, including site visits, from June 21 to July 1, 2016. The results, published on October 18, 2016, are useful and will be translated into actions and change in the system. Based on Taiwan's experiences, early stakeholder engagement and an experts' pre-JEE pilot visit would contribute to a successful JEE process.

Partnering to change the world for people with haemophilia: 7th Haemophilia Global Summit, Madrid, Spain 22-24 September 2016.

PubMed

Dolan, Gerry

2017-10-01

The 7th Haemophilia Global Summit was held in Madrid, Spain, in September 2016. With a programme designed, for the 6th consecutive year, by a Scientific Steering Committee of haemophilia experts, the aim of the summit was to share optimal management strategies for haemophilia at all life stages and to provide an opportunity for specialists from across the haemophilia multidisciplinary care team to engage in discussion and debate with leading international experts on current and future areas of research. Topics covered ranged from the optimisation of haemophilia management, emerging issues in clinical care, practical approaches and future perspectives, in addition to patient engagement and empowerment in modern haemophilia care. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Shifting public health practice to advance health equity: recommendations from experts and community leaders.

PubMed

Knight, Erin K

2014-01-01

While the evidence base regarding the social determinants of health and their relationship to health inequities grows, the field of public health is challenged to translate this knowledge into practice changes that advance health equity. Drawing on the knowledge, beliefs, and experiences of public health experts and community leaders working to advance health equity, our objective was to develop and disseminate recommendations for changing public health practice to better address this problem. We conducted semistructured, qualitative telephone interviews (n = 25) with key informants. Interviews were recorded and transcribed, and data were coded and analyzed using both inductive and deductive methods. Member checks were used to enhance quality. A purposeful sample of key informants was selected from content experts and community leaders involved with the development of the Unnatural Causes public impact campaign. Participants represented state and local health departments, community-based organizations, national research/advocacy organizations, and academic institutions across the country. Participants distinguished between social determinants of health and their structural precursors in social and political institutions. They believed that the field of public health has an obligation to address health inequities and shifts in practice are needed that focus more attention on societal factors that underlie such inequities. According to participants, specific practice changes are difficult to identify because actions should be community specific and community driven. Recommended approaches that may be adapted to community-based needs and assets include building nontraditional partnerships, engaging in political advocacy, promoting community leadership, collecting better data on social conditions and institutional factors, and enhancing communication for health equity. Recommended shifts in practice may be facilitated by revisiting our understanding of the 3 core functions of public health-assessment, assurance, and policy development.

The first year of practice: an investigation of the professional learning and development of promising novice physical therapists.

PubMed

Black, Lisa L; Jensen, Gail M; Mostrom, Elizabeth; Perkins, Jan; Ritzline, Pamela D; Hayward, Lorna; Blackmer, Betsy

2010-12-01

The goal in studying expertise is not merely to describe ways in which experts excel but also to understand how experts develop in order to better facilitate the development of novices. The study of novice progression helps us to understand what successful versus unsuccessful learning looks like. This understanding is critical, as autonomous practice places increased demands for advanced clinical judgments and the ability to assume professional responsibilities. The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences, learning, and development of promising novice therapists throughout their first year of practice in the United States. A longitudinal, multiple-site qualitative case study method was used for within-case and across-case analysis. A purposive sample of 11 promising new graduates from 4 physical therapist education programs participated. Investigators followed the graduates throughout their first year of practice. Data sources included: (1) semistructured interviews conducted at baseline and every 3 months thereafter for 1 year, (2) reflective journals completed at regular intervals, and (3) review of academic and clinical education records and résumés. Four themes emerged: (1) the clinical environment influenced the novice physical therapists' performance, (2) participants learned through experience and social interaction and learning was primarily directed toward self, (3) growing confidence was directly related to developing communication skills, and (4) therapists were engaged in professional identity formation and role transitions. The findings suggest there are common experiences and themes that emerge as novice physical therapists develop. Although research has been conducted on expertise in physical therapy, few longitudinal investigations have explored the development of therapists across transitions from graduate to novice to expert practitioner. This study explored and described the learning and development of graduates during their first year of practice.

Many Experts, Many Audiences: Public Engagement with Science and Informal Science Education. A CAISE Inquiry Group Report. Executive Summary

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

McCallie, Ellen; Bell, Larry; Lohwater, Tiffany; Falk, John H.; Lehr, Jane L.; Lewenstein, Bruce V.; Needham, Cynthia; Wiehe, Ben

2009-01-01

Science and technology are embedded in every aspect of modern life. This executive summary describes how Public Engagement with Science (PES), in the context of informal science education (ISE), can provide opportunities for public awareness of and participation in science and technology. PES is an approach that has developed in the last 10 years…

A hierarchically distributed architecture for fault isolation expert systems on the space station

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Miksell, Steve; Coffer, Sue

1987-01-01

The Space Station Axiomatic Fault Isolating Expert Systems (SAFTIES) system deals with the hierarchical distribution of control and knowledge among independent expert systems doing fault isolation and scheduling of Space Station subsystems. On its lower level, fault isolation is performed on individual subsystems. These fault isolation expert systems contain knowledge about the performance requirements of their particular subsystem and corrective procedures which may be involved in repsonse to certain performance errors. They can control the functions of equipment in their system and coordinate system task schedules. On a higher level, the Executive contains knowledge of all resources, task schedules for all systems, and the relative priority of all resources and tasks. The executive can override any subsystem task schedule in order to resolve use conflicts or resolve errors that require resources from multiple subsystems. Interprocessor communication is implemented using the SAFTIES Communications Interface (SCI). The SCI is an application layer protocol which supports the SAFTIES distributed multi-level architecture.

Knowledge-based operation and management of communications systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Heggestad, Harold M.

1988-01-01

Expert systems techniques are being applied in operation and control of the Defense Communications System (DCS), which has the mission of providing reliable worldwide voice, data and message services for U.S. forces and commands. Thousands of personnel operate DCS facilities, and many of their functions match the classical expert system scenario: complex, skill-intensive environments with a full spectrum of problems in training and retention, cost containment, modernization, and so on. Two of these functions are: (1) fault isolation and restoral of dedicated circuits at Tech Control Centers, and (2) network management for the Defense Switched Network (the modernized dial-up voice system currently replacing AUTOVON). An expert system for the first of these is deployed for evaluation purposes at Andrews Air Force Base, and plans are being made for procurement of operational systems. In the second area, knowledge obtained with a sophisticated simulator is being embedded in an expert system. The background, design and status of both projects are described.

Knowledge-based operation and management of communications systems

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Heggestad, Harold M.

1988-11-01

Expert systems techniques are being applied in operation and control of the Defense Communications System (DCS), which has the mission of providing reliable worldwide voice, data and message services for U.S. forces and commands. Thousands of personnel operate DCS facilities, and many of their functions match the classical expert system scenario: complex, skill-intensive environments with a full spectrum of problems in training and retention, cost containment, modernization, and so on. Two of these functions are: (1) fault isolation and restoral of dedicated circuits at Tech Control Centers, and (2) network management for the Defense Switched Network (the modernized dial-up voice system currently replacing AUTOVON). An expert system for the first of these is deployed for evaluation purposes at Andrews Air Force Base, and plans are being made for procurement of operational systems. In the second area, knowledge obtained with a sophisticated simulator is being embedded in an expert system. The background, design and status of both projects are described.

Knowledge, attitudes and behavioral intentions of agricultural professionals toward genetically modified (GM) foods: a case study in Southwest Iran.

PubMed

Ghasemi, Sedigheh; Karami, Ezatollah; Azadi, Hossein

2013-09-01

While there has been a number of consumers' studies looking at factors that influence individuals' attitudes and behavior toward GM foods, few studies have considered agricultural professionals' intentions in this regard. This study illuminates agricultural professionals' insights toward GM foods in Southwest Iran. A random sample of 262 respondents was studied. The results indicated that the majority of the respondents had little knowledge about GM foods. They perceived few benefits or risks of GM foods. Their perceived benefits and trust in individuals and institutions had positive impacts on the behavioral intentions of the agricultural professionals. The results also revealed that the low knowledge level of the respondents had a negative impact on the behavioral intentions toward GM foods. This state of affairs is problematic, either GM foods have serious problems or the knowledge conveyed to the Iranian agricultural experts is inappropriate. We recommend a well defined communication strategy to provide information in such a way that allows individuals to feel adequately informed about GM foods. Furthermore, the development of trust and knowledge regarding GM foods can be greater when risk analysis frameworks are transparent, risk assessment methodologies are objective, all stakeholders are engaged in the risk management process, and risk communication focuses on consumers.

Physiotherapy beyond Our Borders: Investigating Ideal Competencies for Canadian Physiotherapists Working in Resource-Poor Countries

PubMed Central

Cassady, Christina; Meru, Rehana; Chan, Nga Man Carmen; Engelhardt, Julie; Fraser, Michelle

2014-01-01

ABSTRACT Purpose: To explore the perspectives of Canadian physiotherapists with global health experience on the ideal competencies for Canadian physiotherapists working in resource-poor countries. Method: A qualitative interpretive methodology was used, and the Essential Competency Profile for Physiotherapists in Canada, 2009 (ECP), was employed as a starting point for investigation and analysis. Semi-structured one-on-one interviews (60–90 minutes) were conducted with 17 Canadian physiotherapists who have worked in resource-poor countries. Descriptive and thematic analyses were conducted collaboratively. Results: The seven ECP roles—Expert, Communicator, Collaborator, Manager, Advocate, Scholarly Practitioner, and Professional—were all viewed as important for Canadian physiotherapists working in resource-poor countries. Two roles, Communicator and Manager, have additional competencies that participants felt were important. Three novel roles—Global Health Learner, Critical Thinker, and Respectful Guest—were created to describe other competencies related to global health deemed crucial by participants. Conclusions: This is the first study to examine competencies required by Canadian physiotherapists working in resource-poor countries. In addition to the ECP roles, supplementary competencies are recommended for engagement in resource-poor countries. These findings align with ideas in current global health and international development literature. Future research should examine the relevance of these findings to resource-poor settings within Canada. PMID:24719503

The Impact of Scientist-Educator Collaborations: an early-career scientist's perspective

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Roop, H. A.

2017-12-01

A decade ago, a forward-thinking faculty member exposed a group of aspiring scientists to the impacts and career benefits of working directly with K-12 students and educators. Ten years later, as one of those young scientists, it is clear that the relationships born out of this early experience can transform a researcher's impact and trajectory in science. Connections with programs like the NSF-funded PolarTREC program, the teacher-led Scientists in the Classroom effort, and through well-coordinated teacher training opportunities there are clear ways in which these partnerships can a) transform student learning; b) serve as a powerful and meaningful way to connect students to authentic research and researchers; and c) help researchers become more effective communicators by expanding their ability to connect their work to society. The distillation of science to K-12 students, with the expert eye of educators, makes scientists better at their work with tangible benefits to skills that matter in academia - securing funding, writing and communicating clearly and having high-value broader impacts. This invited abstract is submitted as part of this session's panel discussion and will explore in detail, with concrete examples, the mutual benefits of educator-scientist partnerships and how sustained engagement can transform the reach, connection and application of research science.

Student Perceptions of the Use of Multimedia for Online Course Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Krause, Jaclyn; Portolese, Laura; Bonner, Julie

2017-01-01

A great deal of research exists in the use of multimedia communications in online classrooms as a means of furthering student engagement. However, little research exists that examines the perceptions of students when such technologies are used. Additionally, it is unclear that students are likely to engage in the use of such technologies when…

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) in an Elementary School: Students' Engagement in Higher Order Thinking

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lim, Cher Ping; Tay, Lee Yong

2003-01-01

Based on a case study of an elementary school in Singapore, this article describes and analyzes how different types of ICT tools (informative, situating, constructive, and communicative tools) are used to engage students in higher-order thinking. The discussion emphasizes that the objective of the lesson and the orienting activities, rather than…

Social Media as a Practical Approach in Engaging Key Stakeholders in School Crisis Communication Plans: A Qualitative Analysis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Agozzino, Alisa; Kaiser, Candace

2014-01-01

The current study examined how public relations specialists within school systems are developing, implementing, and revising their communication crisis plans in an effort to fully engage all key stakeholders. Four research questions and two hypotheses were posed. Members from a state public relations association for schools were asked to…

Parent-Teacher Conference Communication: A Guide to Integrating Family Engagement through Simulated Conversations about Student Academic Progress

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Walker, Joan M. T.; Legg, Angela M.

2018-01-01

Teachers regularly communicate with families, yet few candidates are well-prepared for this professional activity. This gap can hinder family-school partnership and pupils' success. Given that candidates' opportunities to learn about family engagement (FE) depends on the decisions and values of individual teacher educators, we illustrate how FE…

Using Poetry as a Communication Multimodality to Encourage Reading Engagement of Selected African-American Learners: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ward, Cherie A.

2015-01-01

This study examined the use of poetry as a multimodal communicative text to encourage reading engagement in selected African-American learners with mild intellectual disabilities. Framed by critical discourse theory, genre theory, and Gardner's theory of multiple intelligences, this investigation presented poetry as an alternative text…

"Bill Is Now Singing": Joint Engagement and the Emergence of Social Communication of Three Young Children with Autism

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vaiouli, Potheini; Grimmet, Kharon; Ruich, Lawrence J.

2015-01-01

Young children with autism spectrum disorder meet significant challenges in joint attention skills and in social communication. A child-centered, improvisational, music therapy intervention model was implemented to promote engagement in three young children with autism in a kindergarten classroom. A multiple baseline design compared the children's…

National Strategic Communication: Back to the Future

DTIC Science & Technology

2013-03-01

Word Count: 10,876 14. ABSTRACT America is engaged in a struggle for ideas with those who believe in radical Salafi jihadist ideology. Both...properly to compete and win the struggle for ideas. Historically, America has been highly successful in national strategic communication and...Public Diplomacy Classification: Unclassified America is engaged in a struggle for ideas with those who believe

Scriptural Engagement, Communication with God, and Moral Behavior among Children

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ovwigho, Pamela Caudill; Cole, Arnold

2010-01-01

How often an individual reads or listens to scripture is one dimension of private spirituality rarely discussed in the literature. In this study, we use data from a random sample survey of 1009 American children (ages eight to 12) to explore children's engagement with the Christian Bible, their views of communicating with God, and their moral…

Teen Science Cafés: A Model for Addressing Broader Impacts, Diversity, and Recruitment

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Hall, M.; Mayhew, M. A.

2017-12-01

Teen Science Café programs (TeenScienceCafe.org) are a free and fun way for teens to explore science and technology affecting their lives. Through lively presentations, conversation, and activities to explore a topic deeply, Café programs open doors for teens to learn from experts about exciting and rewarding STEM career pathways. The programs are local and led by teens with the help of an adult mentor. The Teen Science Café Network (teensciencecafe.org) provides mentoring and resources, including small grants, to help organizations get started with and then maintain successful "teen café" programs. Through membership in the Network, more than 80 Teen Science Cafés have sprung up across the country, from rural towns to major cities. They serve a critical need for teens - meeting and engaging with STEM professionals, learning about their career paths, and seeing their passion for the work they do. Teen Science Café programs can offer geoscience departments a substantive, yet low cost, way to meet the challenges many of them face: finding ways to increase enrollment, helping faculty satisfy the broader impacts requirements of funding agencies, connecting with the surrounding communities, and providing opportunities for faculty and graduate students to learn how to communicate their science effectively to the public audience. The typical experience of scientists who have presented in teen cafés throughout the Network is that the communication skills learned spill over into their courses, proposals, and presentations to administrators and program officers. A department might partner with one or more organizations in their surrounding communities—libraries, for example—and engage its faculty and its graduate students—and even its undergraduates—in providing geoscience programming across multiple disciplines to local teens. Besides the internal benefits to the department's personnel and the value of establishing connections with community organizations, the impact of such engagement might well be attracting students to the department. We seek geoscience departments that are interested in this concept and willing to join the Teen Science Café Network (TeenScienceCafe.org) and participate in a study of how Teen Science Cafés may impact undergraduate recruitment to their departments.

Representative Agricultural Pathways: A Trans-Disciplinary Approach to Agricultural Model Inter-comparison, Improvement, Climate Impact Assessment and Stakeholder Engagement

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Antle, J. M.; Valdivia, R. O.; Claessens, L.; Nelson, G. C.; Rosenzweig, C.; Ruane, A. C.; Vervoort, J.

2013-12-01

The global change research community has recognized that new pathway and scenario concepts are needed to implement impact and vulnerability assessment that is logically consistent across local, regional and global scales. For impact and vulnerability assessment, new socio-economic pathway and scenario concepts are being developed. Representative Agricultural Pathways (RAPs) are designed to extend global pathways to provide the detail needed for global and regional assessment of agricultural systems. In addition, research by the Agricultural Model Inter-comparison and Improvement Project (AgMIP) shows that RAPs provide a powerful way to engage stakeholders in climate-related research throughout the research process and in communication of research results. RAPs are based on the integrated assessment framework developed by AgMIP. This framework shows that both bio-physical and socio-economic drivers are essential components of agricultural pathways and logically precede the definition of adaptation and mitigation scenarios that embody associated capabilities and challenges. This approach is based on a trans-disciplinary process for designing pathways and then translating them into parameter sets for bio-physical and economic models that are components of agricultural integrated assessments of climate impact, adaptation and mitigation. RAPs must be designed to be part of a logically consistent set of drivers and outcomes from global to regional and local. Global RAPs are designed to be consistent with higher-level global socio-economic pathways, but add key agricultural drivers such as agricultural growth trends that are not specified in more general pathways, as illustrated in a recent inter-comparison of global agricultural models. To create pathways at regional or local scales, further detail is needed. At this level, teams of scientists and other experts with knowledge of the agricultural systems and regions work together through a step-wise process. Experiences from AgMIP Regional Teams, and from the project on Regional Approaches to Climate Change in the Pacific Northwest, are used to discuss how the RAPs procedures can be further developed and improved, and how RAPs can help engage stakeholders in climate-related research throughout the research process and in communication of research results.

The Cool Club: Creating engaging, experimental and creative encounters between young minds and polar researchers at SPRI

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Weeks, S. M.; Pope, A.

2011-12-01

Whilst the scientific case for current climate change is compelling, the consequences of climate change have largely failed to permeate through to individuals. This lack of public awareness of the science and the potential impacts could be considered a key obstacle to action. The possible reasons for such limited success centre on the issue that climate change is a complex subject, and that a wide ranging academic, political and social research literature on the science and wider implications of climate change has failed to communicate the key issues in an accessible way. These failures to adequately communicate both the science and the social science of climate change at a number of levels results in ';communication gaps' that act as fundamental barriers to both understanding and engagement with the issue. Meyer and Land (2003) suggest that learners can find certain ideas and concepts within a discipline difficult to understand and these act as a barrier to deeper understanding of a subject. To move beyond these threshold concepts, they suggest that the expert needs to support the learner through a range of learning experiences that allows the development of learning strategies particular to the individual. Meyer and Land's research into these threshold concepts has been situated within Economics, but has been suggested to be more widely applicable though there has been no attempt to either define or evaluate threshold concepts to climate change science. By identifying whether common threshold concepts exist specifically in climate science for cohorts of either formal or informal learners, scientists will be better able to support the public in understanding these concepts by changing how the knowledge is communicated to help overcome these barriers to learning. This paper reports on the findings of a study that examined the role of threshold concepts as barriers to understanding climate science in a UK University and considers its implications for wider scientific engagement with the public to develop climate literacy. The analysis of 3 successive cohorts of students' journals who followed the same degree module identified that threshold concepts do exist within the field, such as those related to: role of ocean circulation, use of proxy indicators, forcing factors and feedback mechanisms. Once identified, the study looked at possible strategies to overcome these barriers to support student climate literacy. It concluded that the use of threshold concepts could be problematic when trying to improve climate literacy, as each individual has their own concepts they find ';troublesome' that do not necessarily relate to others. For scientists this presents the difficulty of how to develop a strategy that supports the individual that is cost and time effective. However, the study identifies that eLearning can be used effectively to help people understand troublesome knowledge.

Summary of the recommendations on sexual dysfunctions in women.

PubMed

Basson, Rosemary; Wierman, Margaret E; van Lankveld, Jacques; Brotto, Lori

2010-01-01

Women's sexual dysfunction includes reduced interest/incentives for sexual engagement, difficulties with becoming subjectively and/or genitally aroused, difficulties in triggering desire during sexual engagement, orgasm disorder, and sexual pain. To update the recommendations published in 2004, from the 2nd International Consultation on Sexual Medicine (ICSM) pertaining to the diagnosis and treatment of women's sexual dysfunctions. A third international consultation in collaboration with the major sexual medicine associations assembled over 186 multidisciplinary experts from 33 countries into 25 committees. Twenty one experts from six countries contributed to the Recommendations on Sexual Dysfunctions in Women. Expert opinion was based on grading of evidence-based medical literature, widespread internal committee discussion, public presentation, and debate. A comprehensive assessment of medical, sexual, and psychosocial history is recommended for diagnosis and management. Indications for general and focused pelvic genital examination are identified. Evidence based recommendations for further revisions of definitions for sexual disorders are given. An evidence based approach to management is provided. Extensive references are provided in the full ICSM reports. There remains a need for more research and scientific reporting on the optimal management of women's sexual dysfunctions including multidisciplinary approaches.

26 CFR 56.4911-5 - Communications with members.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-04-01

... lobbying expenditures even though those expenditures would be grass roots expenditures if the communication... communication does not directly encourage the member to engage in grass roots lobbying (whether individually or... lobbying. (d) Communications (directed only to members) that are grass roots lobbying communications...

26 CFR 56.4911-5 - Communications with members.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-04-01

... lobbying expenditures even though those expenditures would be grass roots expenditures if the communication... communication does not directly encourage the member to engage in grass roots lobbying (whether individually or... lobbying. (d) Communications (directed only to members) that are grass roots lobbying communications...

Training Peer Partners to Use a Speech-Generating Device With Classmates With Autism Spectrum Disorder: Exploring Communication Outcomes Across Preschool Contexts

PubMed Central

McGuff, Sara; Goldstein, Howard

2017-01-01

Purpose This study examined effects of a peer-mediated intervention that provided training on the use of a speech-generating device for preschoolers with severe autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and peer partners. Method Effects were examined using a multiple probe design across 3 children with ASD and limited to no verbal skills. Three peers without disabilities were taught to Stay, Play, and Talk using a GoTalk 4+ (Attainment Company) and were then paired up with a classmate with ASD in classroom social activities. Measures included rates of communication acts, communication mode and function, reciprocity, and engagement with peers. Results Following peer training, intervention effects were replicated across 3 peers, who all demonstrated an increased level and upward trend in communication acts to their classmates with ASD. Outcomes also revealed moderate intervention effects and increased levels of peer-directed communication for 3 children with ASD in classroom centers. Additional analyses revealed higher rates of communication in the added context of preferred toys and snack. The children with ASD also demonstrated improved communication reciprocity and peer engagement. Conclusions Results provide preliminary evidence on the benefits of combining peer-mediated and speech-generating device interventions to improve children's communication. Furthermore, it appears that preferred contexts are likely to facilitate greater communication and social engagement with peers. PMID:28854313

47 CFR 1.20002 - Definitions.

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... authorizing or approving interception of wire or electronic communications; or (2) Other authorization... or entity that the Commission has found is engaged in providing wire or electronic communication... Telecommunication FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION GENERAL PRACTICE AND PROCEDURE Communications Assistance for Law...

Engaging Students, Teachers, and the Public with NASA Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) Assets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Graff, P. V.; Foxworth, S.; Kascak, A.; Luckey, M. K.; Mcinturff, B.; Runco, S.; Willis, K. J.

2016-01-01

Engaging students, teachers, and the public with NASA Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) assets, including Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) experts and NASA curation astromaterial samples, provides an extraordinary opportunity to connect citizens with authentic aspects unique to our nation's space program. Effective engagement can occur through both virtual connections such as webcasts and in-person connections at educator workshops and public outreach events. Access to NASA ARES assets combined with adaptable resources and techniques that engage and promote scientific thinking helps translate the science and research being facilitated through NASA exploration, elicits a curiosity that aims to carry over even after a given engagement, and prepares our next generation of scientific explorers.

Using Virtual and In-Person Engagement Opportunities to Connect K-12 Students, Teachers, and the Public With NASA Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science Assets

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Graff, P.; Foxworth, S.; Luckey, M. K.; McInturff, B.; Mosie, A.; Runco, S.; Todd, N.; Willis, K. J.; Zeigler, R.

2017-01-01

Engaging K-12 students, teachers, and the public with NASA Astromaterials Research and Exploration Science (ARES) assets provides an extraordinary opportunity to connect audiences with authentic aspects unique to our nation's space program. NASA ARES has effectively engaged audiences with 1) Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) experts, 2) NASA specialized facilities, and 3) NASA astromaterial samples through both virtual and in-person engagement opportunities. These engagement opportunities help connect local and national audiences with STEM role models, promote the exciting work being facilitated through NASA's Science Mission Directorate, and expose our next generation of scientific explorers to science they may be inspired to pursue as a future STEM career.

Enhancing Student Empathetic Engagement, History-Taking, and Communication Skills During Electronic Medical Record Use in Patient Care.

PubMed

LoSasso, Alisa Alfonsi; Lamberton, Courtney E; Sammon, Mary; Berg, Katherine T; Caruso, John W; Cass, Jonathan; Hojat, Mohammadreza

2017-07-01

To examine whether an intervention on proper use of electronic medical records (EMRs) in patient care could help improve medical students' empathic engagement, and to test the hypothesis that the training would reduce communication hurdles in clinical encounters. Seventy third-year medical students from the Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson University were randomly divided into intervention and control groups during their six-week pediatric clerkship in 2012-2013. The intervention group received a one-hour training session on EMR-specific communication skills, including discussion of EMR use, the SALTED mnemonic and technique (Set-up, Ask, Listen, Type, Exceptions, Documentation), and role-plays. Both groups completed the Jefferson Scale of Empathy (JSE) at the clerkship's start and end. At clerkship's end, faculty and standardized patients (SPs) rated students' empathic engagement in SP encounters, using the Jefferson Scale of Patient Perceptions of Physician Empathy (JSPPPE), and their history-taking and communication skills. Faculty mean ratings on the JSPPPE, history-taking skills, and communication skills were significantly higher for the intervention group than the control group. SP mean ratings on history-taking skills were significantly higher for the intervention group than the control group. Both groups' JSE mean scores increased pretest to posttest, but the changes were not significant. The intervention group's posttest JSE mean score was higher than the control group's, but the difference was not significant. The findings suggest that a simple intervention providing specialized training in EMR-specific communication can improve medical students' empathic engagement in patient care, history-taking skills, and communication skills.

Expert Testimony, "Regular People," and Public Values: Arguing Common Sense at a Death Penalty Trial.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chappell, Virginia A.

1995-01-01

Presents a case study of a particular courtroom case dealing with the death penalty. Analyzes the processes and communications of the trial jury. Discusses the interplay of common-sense and expert claims at three crucial stages of the trial. (HB)

Parent-youth communication and concordance between parents and adolescents on reported engagement in social relationships and sexually intimate behaviors in Ha Noi and Khanh Hoa Province, Viet Nam

PubMed Central

Kaljee, Linda M.; Green, Mackenzie; Lerdboon, Porntip; Riel, Rosemary; Pham, Van; Tho, Le Huu; Ha, Nguyen T; Minh, Truong Tan; Li, Xiaoming; Chen, Xinguang; Stanton, Bonita

2010-01-01

Purpose Parent-child communication is associated with positive outcomes for youths’ engagement in sexual behaviors. Limited data are available regarding parent-child communication in transitional countries. We present data from Vietnamese parent-youth dyads on parent reproductive health knowledge, comfort of communication, frequency of talk, and discordancy between youths’ reported and parents’ perceptions for engagement in relationships and sexually intimate behaviors. Methods 185 randomly selected parent-youth dyads in four communes in Ha Noi and Khanh Hoa Province. Descriptive and comparative analysis included chi-square tests, independent samples t-tests, and ANOVA. Linear regression analysis was utilized to assess relationships between parental knowledge, level of comfort, frequency of talk, and discordancy. Results Seventy-six percent of parents and 44% of youth were female. Youth mean age was 17.2 years. For parental “reproductive health knowledge” mean score was 24.74 (SD 3.84: range 15–34). Lower parental reproductive health knowledge was positively associated with lower levels of education [F=2.983, df 184: p=0.014]. Data indicate a linear model in which knowledge is related to “comfort” (β =0.17; p=0.048) and “comfort” to frequency of “talk” (β =0.6; p<0.0001). Frequency of “talk” is not related to parents’ discordant perceptions regarding their child’s reported involvement in relationships (β =0.002; p=0.79) or sexual touching (β =0.57; p=0.60). Conclusions Parent and youth in Viet Nam are engaged in limited communication about reproductive health. There is need for more data to assess the impact of these communication patterns on youths’ engagement in sexual behaviors and for development of family-centered interventions to increase parental knowledge and skills for positive communication. PMID:21338898

Parent-youth communication and concordance between parents and adolescents on reported engagement in social relationships and sexually intimate behaviors in Hanoi and Khanh Hoa Province, Vietnam.

PubMed

Kaljee, Linda M; Green, Mackenzie; Lerdboon, Porntip; Riel, Rosemary; Pham, Van; Tho, Le Huu; Ha, Nguyen T; Minh, Truong Tan; Li, Xiaoming; Chen, Xinguang; Stanton, Bonita

2011-03-01

Parent-child communication is associated with positive outcomes for youths' engagement in sexual behaviors. Limited data are available regarding parent-child communication in transitional countries. We present data from Vietnamese parent-youth dyads on parent reproductive health (RH) knowledge, comfort of communication, frequency of talk, and discordancy between youths' reported and parents' perceptions for engagement in relationships and sexually intimate behaviors. The cohort included 185 randomly selected parent-youth dyads in four communes in Hanoi and Khanh Hoa Province. Descriptive and comparative analysis included chi-squared tests, independent samples t-tests, and ANOVA. Linear regression analysis was used to assess relationships between parental knowledge, level of comfort, frequency of talk, and discordancy. Seventy-six percent of parents and 44% of youth were female. The mean age of youth was 17.2 years. The mean score for parental "RH knowledge" was 24.74 (SD, 3.84; range, 15-34). Lower parental RH knowledge was positively associated with lower levels of education (F = 2.983; df, 184; p = .014). Data indicate a linear model in which knowledge is related to "comfort" (β = .17; p = .048), and "comfort" to frequency of "talk" (β = .6; p < .0001). Frequency of "talk" is not related to parents' discordant perceptions regarding their child's reported involvement in relationships (β = .002; p = .79) or sexual touching (β = .57; p = .60). Parent and youth in Vietnam are engaged in limited communication about RH. There is a need for more data to assess the effect of these communication patterns on youths' engagement in sexual behaviors and for development of family-centered interventions to increase parental knowledge and skills for positive communication. Copyright © 2011 Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Rethinking Technical Communication Pedagogy: A Poststructuralist View of Program and Course Design.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Woolever, Kristin R.

Technical communication specialists today really have to be technology experts as well as effective writers--even their titles have changed to "information designers, information engineers, or document developers." Teachers of technical communication should be up to date in the classroom to meet the changing needs of the workplace.…

Teaching Communication Skills to Students with Severe Disabilities, Second Edition

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Downing, June E.

2005-01-01

How can educators and therapists best teach students with severe and multiple disabilities to communicate effectively? Developed by a highly respected expert, this practical guide has the comprehensive, research-based information professionals need to support students from preschool to high school as they learn and use communication skills. With a…

Communication in Cancer Care (PDQ®)—Health Professional Version

Cancer.gov

Effective communication in cancer care between the health care team, cancer patients, and their family is important. Learn about communication skills that support a patient-centered practice and how to talk with adults and children about their diagnosis, prognosis, and transition to end-of-life care in this expert-reviewed summary.

Your Competitive Edge: The Art of Interpersonal Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Montgomery, Judy K.

2006-01-01

In our professional lives in schools, hospitals, private practices, and universities, speech-language pathologists often pride ourselves on being communication experts--but are we? We may know how to diagnose and treat a wide range of communication disabilities, but can we effectively get our message across to our colleagues and families? Raymond…

Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: Fostering Professional Communication Skills in a Graduate Accounting Certificate Program

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brizee, Allen; Langmead, Joseph

2014-01-01

For decades, scholars and working professionals have known that accountants struggle with communication. Experts agree that integrating communication pedagogy into accounting courses is the most effective way of addressing this problem, but an integrated approach is not always possible. In this programmatic and pedagogical article, we address this…

Communication Strategies for Developing Trust in the Salesperson/Prospect Exchange.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cochran, Daniel S.; Gibson, C. Kendrick

A review of literature in the sales area reveals that the communication process between salespeople and their customers is a complex one offering a wide range of relationships. To develop a feeling of trust between the two parties, salespeople can use practical communication skills emphasizing their expertness, reliability, and dynamism. Sales…

Community Peer-Led Falls Prevention Presentations: What Do the Experts Suggest?

PubMed

Khong, Linda A M; Berlach, Richard G; Hill, Keith D; Hill, Anne-Marie

2018-04-01

Falls among older adults are a major problem. Despite considerable progress in falls prevention research, older adults often show low motivation to engage in recommended preventive strategies. Peer-led falls prevention education for older adults may have potential for bridging the research evidence-practice gap, thereby promoting the uptake of falls prevention strategies. We evaluated peer educators' presentations of falls prevention education to community-dwelling older adults in regard to established criteria that were consistent with adult learning principles, the framework of health behaviour change, falls prevention guidelines, and recommendations for providing falls prevention information. We conducted a within-stage mixed model study using purposive and snowball sampling techniques to recruit 10 experts to evaluate video recordings of the delivery of three peer-led falls prevention presentations. Each expert viewed three videos and rated them using a questionnaire containing both open-ended and closed items. There was a good level of expert agreement across the questionnaire domains. Though the experts rated some aspects of the presentations highly, they thought that the presentations were mainly didactic in delivery, not consistently personally relevant to the older adult audience, and did not encourage older adults to engage in the preventive strategies that were presented. Based on the experts' findings, we developed five key themes and recommendations for the effective delivery of peer-led falls prevention presentations. These included recommending that peer educators share falls prevention messages in a more interactive and experiential manner and that uptake of strategies should be facilitated by encouraging the older adults to develop a personalised action plan. Findings suggest that if peer-led falls prevention presentations capitalise on older adults' capability, opportunity, and motivation, the older adults may be more receptive to take up falls prevention messages.

Measuring Parent Perceptions of Family-School Engagement: The Development of New Survey Tools

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Schueler, Beth E.; McIntyre, Joseph C.; Gehlbach, Hunter

2017-01-01

Given family-school engagement is correlated with student academic achievement, educational researchers have long been interested in the construct. However, measuring parental engagement is deceptively challenging. The concept includes school-based engagement, home-based learning support, and family-school communication. In this article we focus…

Improving Student Engagement Using Course-Based Social Networks

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Imlawi, Jehad Mohammad

2013-01-01

This study proposes an engagement model that supports use of course-based online social networks for engaging student, and hence, improving their educational outcomes. This research demonstrates that instructors who create course-based online social networks to communicate with students can increase the student engagement in these online social…

Occupational Engagement in Low-Income Latina Breast Cancer Survivors.

PubMed

Sleight, Alix G

This qualitative study examined the experience of occupational engagement in low-income Latina breast cancer survivors and suggests the potential for occupational therapy practitioners to improve health outcomes in this vulnerable and underserved population. Semistructured interviews were conducted with 9 participants. Inductive analysis was used to code for themes and patterns related to occupational engagement and quality of life (QOL). Lack of occupational engagement negatively affected QOL, but participation in occupations such as religious activity and caregiving promoted well-being. Financial concerns and communication barriers decreased QOL. Breast cancer can have a negative impact on occupational engagement in low-income Latina breast cancer survivors; however, some occupations may increase QOL. Socioeconomic status and cultural values influence occupational engagement and QOL. Occupational therapy practitioners can improve health outcomes in this population through awareness of relevant sociocultural factors and attention to appropriate patient communication. Copyright © 2017 by the American Occupational Therapy Association, Inc.

Contributors to patient engagement in primary health care: perceptions of patients with obesity.

PubMed

Forhan, Mary; Risdon, Cathy; Solomon, Patricia

2013-10-01

Patients with obesity are at risk for treatment avoidance and nonadherence. Factors that contribute to engagement in primary health care for patients with obesity are not fully understood. The purpose of this pilot study was to identify issues associated with engagement in primary health care for patients with obesity. Using qualitative methodology, 11 patients with a mean body mass index of 40.8 kg/m(2) registered with a primary health care practice were interviewed. Conventional content analysis was used to identify factors that contribute to engagement in primary health care. Barriers and facilitators to engagement in primary health care were categorized into the following themes: availability of resources, importance of the relationship, meaningful communication, feeling judged, lack of privacy, poor communication and limited provider knowledge about obesity. Obesity was identified as a health condition that requires additional considerations for patient engagement in their health care.

Preliminary testing of the reliability and feasibility of SAGE: a system to measure and score engagement with and use of research in health policies and programs.

PubMed

Makkar, Steve R; Williamson, Anna; D'Este, Catherine; Redman, Sally

2017-12-19

Few measures of research use in health policymaking are available, and the reliability of such measures has yet to be evaluated. A new measure called the Staff Assessment of Engagement with Evidence (SAGE) incorporates an interview that explores policymakers' research use within discrete policy documents and a scoring tool that quantifies the extent of policymakers' research use based on the interview transcript and analysis of the policy document itself. We aimed to conduct a preliminary investigation of the usability, sensitivity, and reliability of the scoring tool in measuring research use by policymakers. Nine experts in health policy research and two independent coders were recruited. Each expert used the scoring tool to rate a random selection of 20 interview transcripts, and each independent coder rated 60 transcripts. The distribution of scores among experts was examined, and then, interrater reliability was tested within and between the experts and independent coders. Average- and single-measure reliability coefficients were computed for each SAGE subscales. Experts' scores ranged from the limited to extensive scoring bracket for all subscales. Experts as a group also exhibited at least a fair level of interrater agreement across all subscales. Single-measure reliability was at least fair except for three subscales: Relevance Appraisal, Conceptual Use, and Instrumental Use. Average- and single-measure reliability among independent coders was good to excellent for all subscales. Finally, reliability between experts and independent coders was fair to excellent for all subscales. Among experts, the scoring tool was comprehensible, usable, and sensitive to discriminate between documents with varying degrees of research use. Secondly, the scoring tool yielded scores with good reliability among the independent coders. There was greater variability among experts, although as a group, the tool was fairly reliable. The alignment between experts' and independent coders' ratings indicates that the independent coders were scoring in a manner comparable to health policy research experts. If the present findings are replicated in a larger sample, end users (e.g. policy agency staff) could potentially be trained to use SAGE to reliably score research use within their agencies, which would provide a cost-effective and time-efficient approach to utilising this measure in practice.

Using Patient Portals to Increase Engagement in Patients with Cancer.

PubMed

Rodriguez, Elizabeth S

2018-05-01

To review patient portals which serve as a tool for patient engagement by increasing access to electronic health care information and expanding ways to communicate with health care providers. Reviews of the literature and first-hand experience. Meaningful Use requirements propelled the design and development of patient portals in recent years. Patient engagement in oncology can improve quality of life and outcomes. Oncology nurses facilitate patient adoption of patient portals and support usage. Patient education helps manage communication expectations and understanding of online medical information. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

How can scientists bring research to use: the HENVINET experience.

PubMed

Bartonova, Alena

2012-06-28

Health concerns have driven the European environmental policies of the last 25 years, with issues becoming more complex. Addressing these concerns requires an approach that is both interdisciplinary and engages scientists with society. In response to this requirement, the FP6 coordination action "Health and Environment Network" HENVINET was set up to create a permanent inter-disciplinary network of professionals in the field of health and environment tasked to bridge the communication gap between science and society. In this paper we describe how HENVINET delivered on this task. The HENVINET project approached the issue of inter-disciplinary collaboration in four ways. (1) The Drivers-Pressures-State-Exposure-Effect-Action framework was used to structure information gathering, collaboration and communication between scientists in the field of health and the environment. (2) Interactive web-based tools were developed to enhance methods for knowledge evaluation, and use these methods to formulate policy advice. (3) Quantification methods were adapted to measure scientific agreement. And (4) Open architecture web technology was used to develop an information repository and a web portal to facilitate collaboration and communication among scientists. Twenty-five organizations from Europe and five from outside Europe participated in the Health and Environment Network HENVINET, which lasted for 3.5 years. The consortium included partners in environmental research, public health and veterinary medicine; included medical practitioners and representatives of local administrations; and had access to national policy making and EEA and WHO expertise. Dedicated web-based tools for visualisation of environmental health issues and knowledge evaluation allowed remote expert elicitation, and were used as a basis for developing policy advice in five health areas (asthma and allergies; cancer; neurodevelopmental disorders; endocrine disruption; and engineered nanoparticles in the environment). An open searchable database of decision support tools was established and populated. A web based social networking tool was developed to enhance collaboration and communication between scientists and society. HENVINET addressed key issues that arise in inter-disciplinary research on health and environment and in communicating research results to policy makers and society. HENVINET went beyond traditional scientific tools and methods to bridge the communication gap between science and policy makers. The project identified the need for a common framework and delivered it. It developed and implemented a variety of novel methods and tools and, using several representative examples, demonstrated the process of producing politically relevant scientific advice based on an open participation of experts. It highlighted the need for, and benefits of, a liaison between health and environment professionals and professionals in the social sciences and liberal arts. By adopting critical complexity thinking, HENVINET extended the traditional approach to environment and health research, and set the standard for current approaches to bridge the gap between science and society.

Development of a risk-screening tool for cancer survivors to participate in unsupervised moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise: results from a survey study.

PubMed

Brown, Justin C; Ko, Emily M; Schmitz, Kathryn H

2015-02-01

The health benefits of exercise increase in dose-response fashion among cancer survivors. However, it is unclear how to identify cancer survivors who may require a pre-exercise evaluation before they progress from the common recommendation of walking to unsupervised moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise. To clarify how to identify cancer survivors who should undergo a pre-exercise evaluation before they progress from the common recommendation of walking to unsupervised moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise. Electronic survey. Forty-seven (n = 47) experts in the field of exercise physiology, rehabilitation medicine, and cancer survivorship. Not applicable. We synthesized peer-reviewed guidelines for exercise and cancer survivorship and identified 82 health factors that may warrant a pre-exercise evaluation before a survivor engages in unsupervised moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise. The 82 health factors were classified into 3 domains: (1) clinical health factors; (2) comorbidity and device health factors; and (3) medications. We surveyed a sample of experts asking them to identify which of the 82 health factors among cancer survivors would indicate the need for a pre-exercise evaluation before they engaged in moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise. The response rate to our survey was 75% (n = 47). Across the 3 domains of health factors, acute symptoms, comorbidities, and medications related to cardiovascular disease were agreed on to indicate a pre-exercise evaluation for survivors before they engaged in unsupervised moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise. Other health factors in the survey included hematologic, musculoskeletal, systemic, gastrointestinal, pulmonary, and neurological symptoms and comorbidities. Eighteen experts (38%) said it was difficult to provide absolute answers because no 2 patients are alike, and their decisions are made on a case-by-case basis. The results from this expert survey will help to identify which cancer survivors should undergo a pre-exercise evaluation before they engage in unsupervised moderate- to vigorous-intensity exercise. Copyright © 2015 American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

SEEING IS BELIEVING, AND BELIEVING IS SEEING

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Dutrow, B. L.

2009-12-01

Geoscience disciplines are filled with visual displays of data. From the first cave drawings to remote imaging of our Planet, visual displays of information have been used to understand and interpret our discipline. As practitioners of the art, visuals comprise the core around which we write scholarly articles, teach our students and make every day decisions. The effectiveness of visual communication, however, varies greatly. For many visual displays, a significant amount of prior knowledge is needed to understand and interpret various representations. If this is missing, key components of communication fail. One common example is the use of animations to explain high density and typically complex data. Do animations effectively convey information, simply "wow an audience" or do they confuse the subject by using unfamiliar forms and representations? Prior knowledge impacts the information derived from visuals and when communicating with non-experts this factor is exacerbated. For example, in an advanced geology course fractures in a rock are viewed by petroleum engineers as conduits for fluid migration while geoscience students 'see' the minerals lining the fracture. In contrast, a lay audience might view these images as abstract art. Without specific and direct accompanying verbal or written communication such an image is viewed radically differently by disparate audiences. Experts and non-experts do not 'see' equivalent images. Each visual must be carefully constructed with it's communication task in mind. To enhance learning and communication at all levels by visual displays of data requires that we teach visual literacy as a portion of our curricula. As we move from one form of visual representation to another, our mental images are expanded as is our ability to see and interpret new visual forms thus promoting life-long learning. Visual literacy is key to communication in our visually rich discipline. What do you see?

Family Engagement in Schoolwide Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports: Barriers and Facilitators to Implementation.

PubMed

Garbacz, S Andrew; Hirano, Kara; McIntosh, Kent; Eagle, John W; Minch, Devon; Vatland, Christopher

2017-11-20

The purpose of this study was to identify barriers and facilitators to family engagement in schools implementing schoolwide positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS). Participants consisted of 1 representative member each from 204 school PBIS teams across 3 states. Qualitative analysis guided examination of responses to 1 question regarding barriers and 2 questions about facilitators to family engagement. Survey respondents identified key barriers to family engagement as a lack of resources, inconsistent communication, and reluctance of families and school staff to partner. Specified facilitators included communication, PBIS, shared decision-making, and strategies to build relationships with families. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Facebook Advertising Across an Engagement Spectrum: A Case Example for Public Health Communication.

PubMed

Platt, Tevah; Platt, Jodyn; Thiel, Daniel B; Kardia, Sharon L R

2016-05-30

The interpersonal, dialogic features of social networking sites have untapped potential for public health communication. We ran a Facebook advertising campaign to raise statewide awareness of Michigan's newborn screening and biobanking programs. We ran a Facebook advertising campaign to stimulate public engagement on the complex and sensitive issue of Michigan's newborn screening and biobank programs. We ran an 11-week, US $15,000 Facebook advertising campaign engaging Michigan Facebook users aged 18-64 years about the state's newborn screening and population biobank programs, and we used a novel "engagement spectrum" framework to contextualize and evaluate engagement outcomes ranging from observation to multi-way conversation. The campaign reached 1.88 million Facebook users, yielding a range of engagement outcomes across ad sets that varied by objective, content, budget, duration, and bid type. Ad sets yielded 9009 page likes (US $4125), 15,958 website clicks (US $5578), and 12,909 complete video views to 100% (US $3750). "Boosted posts" yielded 528 comments and 35,966 page post engagements (US $1500). Overall, the campaign led to 452 shares and 642 comments, including 176 discussing newborn screening and biobanking. Facebook advertising campaigns can efficiently reach large populations and achieve a range of engagement outcomes by diversifying ad types, bid types, and content. This campaign provided a population-based approach to communication that also increased transparency on a sensitive and complex topic by creating a forum for multi-way interaction.

Facebook Advertising Across an Engagement Spectrum: A Case Example for Public Health Communication

PubMed Central

Platt, Jodyn; Thiel, Daniel B; Kardia, Sharon L. R

2016-01-01

Background The interpersonal, dialogic features of social networking sites have untapped potential for public health communication. We ran a Facebook advertising campaign to raise statewide awareness of Michigan’s newborn screening and biobanking programs. Objective We ran a Facebook advertising campaign to stimulate public engagement on the complex and sensitive issue of Michigan’s newborn screening and biobank programs. Methods We ran an 11-week, US $15,000 Facebook advertising campaign engaging Michigan Facebook users aged 18-64 years about the state’s newborn screening and population biobank programs, and we used a novel “engagement spectrum” framework to contextualize and evaluate engagement outcomes ranging from observation to multi-way conversation. Results The campaign reached 1.88 million Facebook users, yielding a range of engagement outcomes across ad sets that varied by objective, content, budget, duration, and bid type. Ad sets yielded 9009 page likes (US $4125), 15,958 website clicks (US $5578), and 12,909 complete video views to 100% (US $3750). “Boosted posts” yielded 528 comments and 35,966 page post engagements (US $1500). Overall, the campaign led to 452 shares and 642 comments, including 176 discussing newborn screening and biobanking. Conclusions Facebook advertising campaigns can efficiently reach large populations and achieve a range of engagement outcomes by diversifying ad types, bid types, and content. This campaign provided a population-based approach to communication that also increased transparency on a sensitive and complex topic by creating a forum for multi-way interaction. PMID:27244774

Study Of Physician And Patient Communication Identifies Missed Opportunities To Help Reduce Patients’ Out-Of-Pocket Spending

PubMed Central

Ubel, Peter A.; Zhang, Cecilia J.; Hesson, Ashley; Davis, J. Kelly; Kirby, Christine; Barnett, Jamison; Hunter, Wynn G.

2018-01-01

Some experts contend that requiring patients to pay out of pocket for a portion of their care will bring consumer discipline to health care markets. But are physicians prepared to help patients factor out-of-pocket expenses into medical decisions? In this qualitative study of audiorecorded clinical encounters, we identified physician behaviors that stand in the way of helping patients navigate out-of-pocket spending. Some behaviors reflected a failure to fully engage with patients’ financial concerns, from never acknowledging such concerns to dismissing them too quickly. Other behaviors reflected a failure to resolve uncertainty about out-of-pocket expenses or reliance on temporary solutions without making long-term plans to reduce spending. Many of these failures resulted from systemic barriers to health care spending conversations, such as a lack of price transparency. For consumer health care markets to work as intended, physicians need to be prepared to help patients navigate out-of-pocket expenses when financial concerns arise during clinical encounters. PMID:27044966

Methodological and Ethical Issues in Pediatric Medication Safety Research.

PubMed

Carpenter, Delesha; Gonzalez, Daniel; Retsch-Bogart, George; Sleath, Betsy; Wilfond, Benjamin

2017-09-01

In May 2016, the Eshelman School of Pharmacy at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill convened the PharmSci conference to address the topic of "methodological and ethical issues in pediatric medication safety research." A multidisciplinary group of experts representing a diverse array of perspectives, including those of the US Food and Drug Administration, children's hospitals, and academia, identified important considerations for pediatric medication safety research and opportunities to advance the field. This executive summary describes current challenges that clinicians and researchers encounter related to pediatric medication safety research and identifies innovative and ethically sound methodologies to address these challenges to improve children's health. This article addresses 5 areas: (1) pediatric drug development and drug trials; (2) conducting comparative effectiveness research in pediatric populations; (3) child and parent engagement on study teams; (4) improving communication with children and parents; and (5) assessing child-reported outcomes and adverse drug events. Copyright © 2017 by the American Academy of Pediatrics.

Tales from the sea: critical care nurses serving aboard the USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy.

PubMed

Faulk, Jeanette F; Hanly, Marsha A

2013-08-01

During the springs and summers of 2009 to 2012, military and nongovernment organization nurses served side by side on hospital ships USNS Comfort and USNS Mercy to offer free humanitarian clinical services to developing nations in Central and South America and Southeast Asia. Translators were engaged to facilitate communication on shore and off. Host nation patients came on board for prearranged surgery and then were returned to land within a few days for follow-up care with local clinicians. Nurses had opportunities to go onshore to assist in clinics, teach as subject matter experts, or participate in construction/remodeling projects. Weather and other environmental conditions influenced the availability and services of the ships, which could also be deployed to provide support for global disaster relief. Professional and personal preparedness and flexibility were essential for operational effectiveness. The authors, both critical care nurses, learned many lessons in teamwork, education, and life at sea. Readers are encouraged to consider the challenges, hard work, and vast rewards of hospital ship service.

How to Talk About Science: Lessons from a Middle School Science Classroom

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Cushman-Patz, B. J.

2010-12-01

Middle school students are curious, energetic, and impatient. A middle school science teacher is always challenged to find ways to relate the content she’d like to convey to the students’ everyday lives, working to both satiate and foster their natural curiosity. She must communicate science in language appropriate for her audience, teaching new vocabulary words the first time she uses them, and reviewing them often. A thriving middle school science classroom is noisy, messy, and fun. Understanding what makes this classroom dynamic work can lead to better communication about science to any audience. 1) Know your bottom-line message, and keep it simple. Research science is complicated and nuanced. Your audience may be interested in some of these details, but start with the big picture first, and fill in the details as appropriate. 2) Avoid jargon. Use language that you would use to explain science to your 13-year-old neighbor or your 85-year old grandmother. They know what a volcano is, but they may not know the difference between a crater and a caldera. They definitely don’t know what a phreatomagmatic eruption is. As you introduce necessary jargon into your discussion, define it clearly in terms of something you are sure they do know and understand. 3) Engage the audience. Use pictures; use your hands; use common-reference points. Whenever possible, get the audience members to use their hands to mimic your motion. Encourage them to try to reframe what you say in terms that they’re comfortable with. Make it a two-way conversation 4) Pause. New concepts take time to absorb. Take a breath; give your audience a moment to absorb what you just explained and to formulate questions they may have. 5) Pay attention to cues. Middle school students make it obvious when they’re bored; adults tend to be more subtle. When eyes wander or eyelids droop, ask a question that engages your audience, even if it’s just, “do you follow?” or, “where did I lose you?” Communicating about science requires us to remember what it was like before we became experts in our disciplines. Middle school students think science is fun; let’s use the lessons from a successful middle school classroom to model our communication about science in general. We can work together towards a more science-literate society.

Systematic development of a communication skills training course for physicians performing work disability assessments: from evidence to practice

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Physicians require specific communication skills, because the face-to-face contact with their patients is an important source of information. Although physicians who perform work disability assessments attend some communication-related training courses during their professional education, no specialised and evidence-based communication skills training course is available for them. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: 1) to systematically develop a training course aimed at improving the communication skills of physicians during work disability assessment interviews with disability claimants, and 2) to plan an evaluation of the training course. Methods A physician-tailored communication skills training course was developed, according to the six steps of the Intervention Mapping protocol. Data were collected from questionnaire studies among physicians and claimants, a focus group study among physicians, a systematic review of the literature, and meetings with various experts. Determinants and performance objectives were formulated. A concept version of the training course was discussed with several experts before the final training course programme was established. The evaluation plan was developed by consulting experts, social insurance physicians, researchers, and policy-makers, and discussing with them the options for evaluation. Results A two-day post-graduate communication skills training course was developed, aimed at improving professional communication during work disability assessment interviews. Special focus was on active teaching strategies, such as practising the skills in role-play. An adoption and implementation plan was formulated, in which the infrastructure of the educational department of the institute that employs the physicians was utilised. Improvement in the skills and knowledge of the physicians who will participate in the training course will be evaluated in a randomised controlled trial. Conclusions The feasibility and practical relevance of the communication skills training course that was developed seem promising. Such a course may be relevant for physicians in many countries who perform work disability assessments. The development of the first training course of this type represents an important advancement in this field. PMID:21639871

Systematic development of a communication skills training course for physicians performing work disability assessments: from evidence to practice.

PubMed

van Rijssen, H Jolanda; Schellart, Antonius J M; Anema, Johannes R; de Boer, Wout E L; van der Beek, Allard J

2011-06-03

Physicians require specific communication skills, because the face-to-face contact with their patients is an important source of information. Although physicians who perform work disability assessments attend some communication-related training courses during their professional education, no specialised and evidence-based communication skills training course is available for them. Therefore, the objectives of this study were: 1) to systematically develop a training course aimed at improving the communication skills of physicians during work disability assessment interviews with disability claimants, and 2) to plan an evaluation of the training course. A physician-tailored communication skills training course was developed, according to the six steps of the Intervention Mapping protocol. Data were collected from questionnaire studies among physicians and claimants, a focus group study among physicians, a systematic review of the literature, and meetings with various experts. Determinants and performance objectives were formulated. A concept version of the training course was discussed with several experts before the final training course programme was established. The evaluation plan was developed by consulting experts, social insurance physicians, researchers, and policy-makers, and discussing with them the options for evaluation. A two-day post-graduate communication skills training course was developed, aimed at improving professional communication during work disability assessment interviews. Special focus was on active teaching strategies, such as practising the skills in role-play. An adoption and implementation plan was formulated, in which the infrastructure of the educational department of the institute that employs the physicians was utilised. Improvement in the skills and knowledge of the physicians who will participate in the training course will be evaluated in a randomised controlled trial. The feasibility and practical relevance of the communication skills training course that was developed seem promising. Such a course may be relevant for physicians in many countries who perform work disability assessments. The development of the first training course of this type represents an important advancement in this field.

Knowing 'something is not right' is beyond intuition: development of a clinical algorithm to enhance surveillance and assist nurses to organise and communicate clinical findings.

PubMed

Brier, Jessica; Carolyn, Moalem; Haverly, Marsha; Januario, Mary Ellen; Padula, Cynthia; Tal, Ahuva; Triosh, Henia

2015-03-01

To develop a clinical algorithm to guide nurses' critical thinking through systematic surveillance, assessment, actions required and communication strategies. To achieve this, an international, multiphase project was initiated. Patients receive hospital care postoperatively because they require the skilled surveillance of nurses. Effective assessment of postoperative patients is essential for early detection of clinical deterioration and optimal care management. Despite the significant amount of time devoted to surveillance activities, there is lack of evidence that nurses use a consistent, systematic approach in surveillance, management and communication, potentially leading to less optimal outcomes. Several explanations for the lack of consistency have been suggested in the literature. Mixed methods approach. Retrospective chart review; semi-structured interviews conducted with expert nurses (n = 10); algorithm development. Themes developed from the semi-structured interviews, including (1) complete, systematic assessment, (2) something is not right (3) validating with others, (4) influencing factors and (5) frustration with lack of response when communicating findings were used as the basis for development of the Surveillance Algorithm for Post-Surgical Patients. The algorithm proved beneficial based on limited use in clinical settings. Further work is needed to fully test it in education and practice. The Surveillance Algorithm for Post-Surgical Patients represents the approach of expert nurses, and serves to guide less expert nurses' observations, critical thinking, actions and communication. Based on this approach, the algorithm assists nurses to develop skills promoting early detection, intervention and communication in cases of patient deterioration. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Scholarship for Nuclear Communications and Methods for Evaluation of Nuclear Project Acceptability

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Golay, Michael

This project aims to go beyond effective communication in understanding how to design nuclear enterprise projects that will gain stakeholder acceptability. Much of what we are studying is generally applicable to controversial projects, and we expect our results to be of broad value beyond the nuclear arena. Acceptability is more than effective communication; it also requires varying degrees of engagement with a disparate number of stakeholder groups. In the nuclear enterprise, previous attempts have been well designed physically (i.e., technologically sound), but have floundered by being insensitive concerning acceptance. Though effective communication is a necessary, but insufficient, condition for suchmore » success, there is a lack of scholarship regarding how to gain stakeholder acceptance for new controversial projects, including nuclear ones. Our work is building a model for use in assessing the performance of a project in the area of acceptability. In the nuclear-social nexus, gaining acceptance requires a clear understanding of factors regarded as being important by the many stakeholders that are common to new nuclear project (many of whom hold an effective veto power). Projects tend to become socially controversial when public beliefs, expert opinion and decision-maker understanding are misaligned. As such, stakeholder acceptance is hypothesized as both an ongoing process and an initial project design parameter comprised of complex, social, cognitive and technical components. Controversial projects may be defined as aspects of modern technologies that some people question, or are cautious about. They could range from genetic modifications, biological hazards, effects of chemical agents, nuclear radiation or hydraulic fracturing operations. We intend that our work will result in a model likely to be valuable for refining project design and implementation to increase the knowledge needed for successful management of stakeholder relationships.« less

Children with Communication Impairments: Caregivers' and Teachers' Shared Book-Reading Quality and Children's Level of Engagement

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaderavek, Joan N.; Pentimonti, Jill M.; Justice, Laura M.

2014-01-01

This study addressed two aims: First, to examine the quality of adult shared book-reading behaviors for teachers and caregivers of children with communication impairments (CI) and, second, to compare the level of child literacy engagement during the teacher-led (group) and caregiver-led (one-on-one) shared book-reading sessions. Sixteen children…

Students' Knowledge Construction in Small Groups in the Seventh Grade Biology Laboratory: Verbal Communication and Physical Engagement.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

She, Hsiao-Ching

1999-01-01

Reports on a study of seventh-grade students' interactions in small groups during a biology laboratory activity. Finds that girls have the potential to perform equally as well as do boys in the science laboratory and that both individual and gender differences contribute to students' differential verbal communication and laboratory engagement.…

Sharing the Focus: Engaging with Support Workers to Include People with Communication Needs in Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lutz, Deborah; Fisher, Karen R.; Robinson, Sally

2016-01-01

Inclusive research is an increasing expectation to value and include people's voice in research and evaluations intended to benefit them. The active participation of people with communication support needs can be difficult due to the practical constraints of evaluations. One technique is to engage with workers who are familiar with the person, but…

Clinician Descriptions of Communication Strategies to Improve Treatment Engagement by Racial/Ethnic Minorities in Mental Health Services: A Systematic Review

PubMed Central

Aggarwal, Neil Krishan; Pieh, Matthew C.; Dixon, Lisa; Guarnaccia, Peter; Alegría, Margarita; Lewis-Fernández, Roberto

2015-01-01

Objective To describe studies on clinician communication and the engagement of racial/ethnic minority patients in mental health treatment. Methods Authors conducted electronic searches of published and grey literature databases from inception to November 2014, forward citation analyses, and backward bibliographic sampling of included articles. Included studies reported original data on clinician communication strategies to improve minority treatment engagement, defined as initiating, participating, and continuing services. Results Twenty-three studies met inclusion criteria. Low treatment initiation and high treatment discontinuation were related to patient views that the mental health system did not address their understandings of illness, care or stigma. Treatment participation was based more on clinician language use, communication style, and discussions of patient-clinician differences. Conclusion Clinicians may improve treatment initiation and continuation by incorporating patient views of illness into treatment and targeting stigma. Clinicians may improve treatment participation by using simple language, tailoring communication to patient preferences, discussing differences, and demonstrating positive affect. Practice implications Lack of knowledge about the mental health system and somatic symptoms may delay treatment initiation. Discussions of clinician backgrounds, power, and communication style may improve treatment participation. Treatment continuation may improve if clinicians tailor communication and treatment plans congruent with patient expectations. PMID:26365436

Clinician descriptions of communication strategies to improve treatment engagement by racial/ethnic minorities in mental health services: A systematic review.

PubMed

Aggarwal, Neil Krishan; Pieh, Matthew C; Dixon, Lisa; Guarnaccia, Peter; Alegría, Margarita; Lewis-Fernández, Roberto

2016-02-01

To describe studies on clinician communication and the engagement of racial/ethnic minority patients in mental health treatment. Authors conducted electronic searches of published and grey literature databases from inception to November 2014, forward citation analyses, and backward bibliographic sampling of included articles. Included studies reported original data on clinician communication strategies to improve minority treatment engagement, defined as initiating, participating, and continuing services. Twenty-three studies met inclusion criteria. Low treatment initiation and high treatment discontinuation were related to patient views that the mental health system did not address their understandings of illness, care or stigma. Treatment participation was based more on clinician language use, communication style, and discussions of patient-clinician differences. Clinicians may improve treatment initiation and continuation by incorporating patient views of illness into treatment and targeting stigma. Clinicians may improve treatment participation by using simple language, tailoring communication to patient preferences, discussing differences, and demonstrating positive affect. Lack of knowledge about the mental health system and somatic symptoms may delay treatment initiation. Discussions of clinician backgrounds, power, and communication style may improve treatment participation. Treatment continuation may improve if clinicians tailor communication and treatment plans congruent with patient expectations. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Mediatisation or PR-ization of Public--Media Communication--Analysis of Mediated Communication of Zoran Milanović.

PubMed

Tanta, Ivan; Lesinger, Gordana

2015-12-01

Politicians and their public relations advisors depend on the mass communication media to transmit messages dailyand communicate effectively. The development of the mass media, from traditional to new, has changed the working conditions of these professions where one inevitably affects the other. Consequently, the way of formatting information in the newshas changed, along with the way of monitoring the political developments and informs the public on political activities. Amajor role in this process, over and above the political actors, has advisers for public relations, who choose moments andevents to publicise (PR-ization). With the increasing influence of public relations to media reports, politics also changes thepicture of the media and the impact on media coverage. Similarly, the impact on the manner in which the media reportprocess, what topics will be discussed topics and what tone the given information will have. We are living in a world characterized by mediation (Mazzoleni and Schulz, 1999) of the politics and the society as a whole, because politics and publicrelations necessarily need the media to communicate with their audiences. In this regard, we can talk about PR-izationmedia as the fundamental role of public relations practitioners affect attitudes, which skillfully make careful design ofmessages and events that are not included herein are the three professions each other should one without the other does notmake sense. This paper will focus on the influence of the media on politics and on influence of the public relations as profession in the content media perception. In view of the drawn by daily public appearances of Prime Minister, Zoran Milanovi6,and as says Lali63 few politics-related phenomena have over the past twenty years engaged so many reviews by experts andscholars as the Prime Minister's rhetoric. The particular form of the political communication will be reviewed in this paper.Through the interviews and the content analysis of key moments and statements from the media, we shall try to determinehow the communication by Zoran Milanovi6 has changed with the new public relations advisor, and that the change hasaffected the public attitudes that Milanovi6 communication seen through the media-mediated reality.

Using Pathfinder networks to discover alignment between expert and consumer conceptual knowledge from online vaccine content.

PubMed

Amith, Muhammad; Cunningham, Rachel; Savas, Lara S; Boom, Julie; Schvaneveldt, Roger; Tao, Cui; Cohen, Trevor

2017-10-01

This study demonstrates the use of distributed vector representations and Pathfinder Network Scaling (PFNETS) to represent online vaccine content created by health experts and by laypeople. By analyzing a target audience's conceptualization of a topic, domain experts can develop targeted interventions to improve the basic health knowledge of consumers. The underlying assumption is that the content created by different groups reflects the mental organization of their knowledge. Applying automated text analysis to this content may elucidate differences between the knowledge structures of laypeople (heath consumers) and professionals (health experts). This paper utilizes vaccine information generated by laypeople and health experts to investigate the utility of this approach. We used an established technique from cognitive psychology, Pathfinder Network Scaling to infer the structure of the associational networks between concepts learned from online content using methods of distributional semantics. In doing so, we extend the original application of PFNETS to infer knowledge structures from individual participants, to infer the prevailing knowledge structures within communities of content authors. The resulting graphs reveal opportunities for public health and vaccination education experts to improve communication and intervention efforts directed towards health consumers. Our efforts demonstrate the feasibility of using an automated procedure to examine the manifestation of conceptual models within large bodies of free text, revealing evidence of conflicting understanding of vaccine concepts among health consumers as compared with health experts. Additionally, this study provides insight into the differences between consumer and expert abstraction of domain knowledge, revealing vaccine-related knowledge gaps that suggest opportunities to improve provider-patient communication. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Watershed Council as Polymorph: The Changing Nature of Expertise and Expert-Public Communication in Deliberations about Superfund Remediation

EPA Science Inventory

This paper investigates the navigation of expert and public credibility in the remediation of a New England Superfund site. In 1999, the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) named Rhode Island’s Centredale Manor an official Superfund site, prompting remediation effort...

Comparing Powerpoint Experts' and University Students' Opinions about Powerpoint Presentations

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mackiewicz, Jo

2008-01-01

Technical communication instructors want to help students, as well as professionals, design effective PowerPoint presentations. Toward this end, I compare the advice of academic and industry experts about effective PowerPoint presentation design to survey responses from university students about slide text, visual elements, animations, and other…

Complexity and Chaos - State-of-the-Art; List of Works, Experts, Organizations, Projects, Journals, Conferences and Tools

DTIC Science & Technology

2007-09-01

Adaptive Systems............................................. 64 3.9 Connectivity and Communication in Complex Adaptive Systems...450 3.10.6 Human Factors: Perception, Comprehension, Communication and Collaboration...288 B.9 Catastrophe, Conflict, Crisis

The dragons of inaction: psychological barriers that limit climate change mitigation and adaptation.

PubMed

Gifford, Robert

2011-01-01

Most people think climate change and sustainability are important problems, but too few global citizens engaged in high-greenhouse-gas-emitting behavior are engaged in enough mitigating behavior to stem the increasing flow of greenhouse gases and other environmental problems. Why is that? Structural barriers such as a climate-averse infrastructure are part of the answer, but psychological barriers also impede behavioral choices that would facilitate mitigation, adaptation, and environmental sustainability. Although many individuals are engaged in some ameliorative action, most could do more, but they are hindered by seven categories of psychological barriers, or "dragons of inaction": limited cognition about the problem, ideological world views that tend to preclude pro-environmental attitudes and behavior, comparisons with key other people, sunk costs and behavioral momentum, discredence toward experts and authorities, perceived risks of change, and positive but inadequate behavior change. Structural barriers must be removed wherever possible, but this is unlikely to be sufficient. Psychologists must work with other scientists, technical experts, and policymakers to help citizens overcome these psychological barriers.

Putting the "we" into teamwork: effects of priming personal or social identity on flight attendants' perceptions of teamwork and communication.

PubMed

Ford, Jane; O'Hare, David; Henderson, Robert

2013-06-01

The study was designed to investigate the effectiveness of a manipulation derived from social categorization and social identity theory to promote greater cabin crew willingness to engage in intergroup communication and teamwork in airline operations. Failures of communication and teamwork between airline crew have been implicated in a number of airline crashes. Flight attendants based domestically (n = 254) or overseas (n = 230) received a manipulation designed to prime either their social identity or personal identity and then read a brief outline of an in-flight event before completing a teamwork questionnaire. Flight attendants who received a social identity prime indicated increased willingness to engage in coordinated team action compared with those who received a personal identity prime. Priming social identity can enhance attitudes toward teamwork and communication, potentially leading to increased willingness to engage in intergroup cooperation. Social categorization and social identity theories can be used to inform joint training program development for flight attendants and pilots to create increased willingness for group members to participate in effective communication and teamwork behaviors.

"The Adopted Children of ART": expert clients and role tensions in ART provision in Uganda.

PubMed

Kyakuwa, Margaret; Hardon, Anita; Goldstein, Zoe

2012-01-01

The implementation of the greater involvement of people living with HIV (GIPA) principle in Ugandan AIDS care is described by focusing on the engagement of expert clients in two rural health centers during a time of antiretroviral therapy (ART) scale-up. We contrast how the expert clients help overburdened nurses to manage the well-attended ART programs in the public and in the nongovernmental organization clinic. They are unpaid, but acquire preferential status in the ART program because of their knowledge of AIDS medicines (and its adverse effects) and because of the compassionate care that they provide. Despite the assistance provided, nurses in the public facility felt threatened in their professional status by these expert clients, who were seen to overstep the boundaries of their role. We pay particular attention to the double burden for HIV-positive nurses, who fear stigma, and (unlike the expert patients) keep their HIV status secret.

Study plan to identify long term national telecommunications need and priorities applying Delphi techniques (handbook). [technological forecasting - United States of America

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1974-01-01

A handbook that explains the basic Delphi methodology and discusses modified Delphi techniques is presented. The selection of communications experts to participate in a study, the construction of questionnaires on potential communications developments, and requisite technology is treated. No two modified Delphi studies were the same, which reflects the flexibility and adaptability of the technique. Each study must be specifically tailored to a particular case, and consists of seeking a consensus of opinion among experts about a particular subject and attendant conditions that may prevail in the future.

Virtual Ultrasound Guidance for Inexperienced Operators

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Caine, Timothy; Martin, Davis

2012-01-01

Medical ultrasound or echocardiographic studies are highly operator-dependent and generally require lengthy training and internship to perfect. To obtain quality echocardiographic images in remote environments, such as on-orbit, remote guidance of studies has been employed. This technique involves minimal training for the user, coupled with remote guidance from an expert. When real-time communication or expert guidance is not available, a more autonomous system of guiding an inexperienced operator through an ultrasound study is needed. One example would be missions beyond low Earth orbit, in which the time delay inherent with communication will make remote guidance impractical.

Scientists’ Prioritization of Communication Objectives for Public Engagement

PubMed Central

2016-01-01

Amid calls from scientific leaders for their colleagues to become more effective public communicators, this study examines the objectives that scientists’ report drive their public engagement behaviors. We explore how scientists evaluate five specific communication objectives, which include informing the public about science, exciting the public about science, strengthening the public’s trust in science, tailoring messages about science, and defending science from misinformation. We use insights from extant research, the theory of planned behavior, and procedural justice theory to identify likely predictors of scientists' views about these communication objectives. Results show that scientists most prioritize communication designed to defend science from misinformation and educate the public about science, and least prioritize communication that seeks to build trust and establish resonance with the public. Regression analyses reveal factors associated with scientists who prioritize each of the five specific communication objectives. Our findings highlight the need for communication trainers to help scientists select specific communication objectives for particular contexts and audiences. PMID:26913869

Patient engagement with surgical site infection prevention: an expert panel perspective.

PubMed

Tartari, E; Weterings, V; Gastmeier, P; Rodríguez Baño, J; Widmer, A; Kluytmans, J; Voss, A

2017-01-01

Despite remarkable developments in the use of surgical techniques, ergonomic advancements in the operating room, and implementation of bundles, surgical site infections (SSIs) remain a substantial burden, associated with increased morbidity, mortality and healthcare costs. National and international recommendations to prevent SSIs have been published, including recent guidelines by the World Health Organization, but implementation into clinical practice remains an unresolved issue. SSI improvement programs require an integrative approach with measures taken during the pre-, intra- and postoperative care from the numerous stakeholders involved. The current SSI prevention strategies have focused mainly on the role of healthcare workers (HCWs) and procedure related risk factors. The importance and influence of patient participation is becoming an increasingly important concept and advocated as a means to improve patient safety. Novel interventions supporting an active participative role within SSI prevention programs have not been assessed. Empowering patients with information they require to engage in the process of SSI prevention could play a major role for the implementation of recommendations. Based on available scientific evidence, a panel of experts evaluated options for patient involvement in order to provide pragmatic recommendations for pre-, intra- and postoperative activities for the prevention of SSIs. Recommendations were based on existing guidelines and expert opinion. As a result, 9 recommendations for the surgical patient are presented here, including a practice brief in the form of a patient information leaflet. HCWs can use this information to educate patients and allow patient engagement.

Unpacking Exoplanet Detection Using Pedagogical Discipline Representations (PDRs)

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Prather, Edward E.; Chambers, Timothy G.; Wallace, Colin Scott; Brissenden, Gina

2017-01-01

Successful educators know the importance of using multiple representations to teach the content of their disciplines. We have all seen the moments of epiphany that can be inspired when engaging with just the right representation of a difficult concept. The formal study of the cognitive impact of different representations on learners is now an active area of education research. The affordances of a particular representation are defined as the elements of disciplinary knowledge that students are able to access and reason about using that representation. Instructors with expert pedagogical content knowledge teach each topic using representations with complementary affordances, maximizing their students’ opportunity to develop fluency with all aspects of the topic. The work presented here examines how we have applied the theory of affordances to the development of pedagogical discipline representation (PDR) in an effort to provide access to, and help non-science-majors engage in expert-like reasoning about, general relativity as applied to detection of exoplanets. We define a pedagogical discipline representation (PDR) as a representation that has been uniquely tailored for the purpose of teaching a specific topic within a discipline. PDRs can be simplified versions of expert representations or can be highly contextualized with features that purposefully help unpack specific reasoning or concepts, and engage learners’ pre-existing mental models while promoting and enabling critical discourse. Examples of PDRs used for instruction and assessment will be provided along with preliminary results documenting the effectiveness of their use in the classroom.

Open Science: a first step towards Science Communication

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Grigorov, Ivo; Tuddenham, Peter

2015-04-01

As Earth Science communicators gear up to adopt the new tools and captivating approaches to engage citizen scientists, budding entrepreneurs, policy makers and the public in general, researchers have the responsibility, and opportunity, to fully adopt Open Science principles and capitalize on its full societal impact and engagement. Open Science is about removing all barriers to basic research, whatever its formats, so that it can be freely used, re-used and re-hashed, thus fueling discourse and accelerating generation of innovative ideas. The concept is central to EU's Responsible Research and Innovation philosophy, and removing barriers to basic research measurably contributes to engaging citizen scientists into the research process, it sets the scene for co-creation of solutions to societal challenges, and raises the general science literacy level of the public. Despite this potential, only 50% of today's basic research is freely available. Open Science can be the first passive step of communicating marine research outside academia. Full and unrestricted access to our knowledge including data, software code and scientific publications is not just an ethical obligation, but also gives solid credibility to a more sophisticated communication strategy on engaging society. The presentation will demonstrate how Open Science perfectly compliments a coherent communication strategy for placing Marine Research in societal context, and how it underpin an effective integration of Ocean & Earth Literacy principles in standard educational, as well mobilizing citizen marine scientists, thus making marine science Open Science.

Unbalanced progress: The hard road from science popularisation to public engagement with science in China.

PubMed

Jia, Hepeng; Liu, Li

2014-01-01

This article critically traces the development of science communication in China in the past 30 years. While confirming the tremendous progress Chinese science communicators have achieved in popularising science, it argues that the deficit model-based popularisation effort cannot meet the diversifying demands on science in Chinese society. Citing both recent science and technology controversies and active public participation in science pilot initiatives in China, this article concludes that science communication efforts in the country must be focused on constructive dialogues and public engagement with science.

Communication in Cancer Care (PDQ®)—Patient Version

Cancer.gov

Good communication in cancer care between patients, families, caregivers and doctors is important. Talk to your doctor about your cancer diagnosis, goals of treatment, plan of care, and what to expect over time. Learn how good communication between the healthcare team, cancer patients, and family can improve the patient's quality of life in this expert-reviewed summary.

Perspectives of Science Communication Training Held by Lecturers of Biotechnology and Science Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edmondston, Joanne; Dawson, Vaille

2014-01-01

Science communication training for undergraduate science students has been recommended to improve future scientists' ability to constructively engage with the public. This study examined biotechnology lecturers' and science communication lecturers' views of science communication training and its possible inclusion in a biotechnology degree course…

The Influence of Asynchronous Video Communication on Learner Social Presence: A Narrative Analysis of Four Cases

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Borup, Jered; West, Richard E.; Graham, Charles R.

2013-01-01

Online courses are increasingly using asynchronous video communication. However, little is known about how asynchronous video communication influences students' communication patterns. This study presents four narratives of students with varying characteristics who engaged in asynchronous video communication. The extrovert valued the efficiency of…

Patient Engagement as a Patient Safety Strategy: Patients’ Perspectives

PubMed Central

Walters, Chasity Burrows; Duthie, Elizabeth

2017-01-01

Purpose/Objectives To describe patient engagement as a patient safety strategy from the perspective of hospitalized surgical oncology patients. Research Approach Qualitative, descriptive approach using grounded theory. Setting A National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center in the northeastern United States. Participants Thirteen hospitalized surgical oncology patients. Methodological Approach Grounded theory with maximum variation sampling. Findings Participants’ perceptions regarding their engagement as a patient safety strategy were expressed through three overarching themes: 1) the word patient obscures the message; 2) safety is a shared responsibility; and 3) involvement in safety is a right. Themes were further defined by eight subthemes. Interpretation Using direct messaging, such as “your safety” as opposed to “patient safety” and teaching patients specific behaviors to maintain their safety appear to facilitate patient engagement and increase awareness of safety issues. Patients may be willing to accept some responsibility for ensuring their safety by engaging in behaviors that are intuitive or that they are clearly instructed to do, however they describe their involvement in their safety as a right, not an obligation. Implications for Nursing Clear, inviting, multimodal communication appears to have the greatest potential to enhance patients’ engagement in their safety. Nurses’ ongoing assessment of patients’ ability to engage is critical in so far as it provides the opportunity to encourage engagement without placing undue burden on them. By employing communication techniques that consider patients’ perspectives, nurses can support patient engagement. Knowledge Translation Nurses must identify creative ways to infuse information related to patients’ safety into the delivery of care. Instructions should be provided clearly, accompanied by a simply stated rationale, and reinforced over time. Cues in the environment, such as thoughtfully placed signage, may also encourage patient engagement. Nurses should assess patients’ desire and ability to be engaged regularly, and extend communications encouraging engagement to patients’ visitors. PMID:29052666

Collaborative Workshop on Handling, Management, and ...

EPA Pesticide Factsheets

Report The Water Environment Research Foundation (WERF), in partnership with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) National Homeland Security Research Center (NHSRC) and the National Science Foundation (NSF), hosted an expert workshop on November 17 and 18, 2015, in Alexandria, Virginia, to engage with subject matter experts and wastewater utility stakeholders on a number of topics surrounding high consequence pathogens in wastewater collection and treatment systems, should such pathogens enter the systems as a result of an emergency situation.

Psychological tools for knowledge acquisition

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Rueter, Henry H.; Olson, Judith Reitman

1988-01-01

Knowledge acquisition is said to be the biggest bottleneck in the development of expert systems. The problem is getting the knowledge out of the expert's head and into a computer. In cognitive psychology, characterizing metal structures and why experts are good at what they do is an important research area. Is there some way that the tools that psychologists have developed to uncover mental structure can be used to benefit knowledge engineers? We think that the way to find out is to browse through the psychologist's toolbox to see what there is in it that might be of use to knowledge engineers. Expert system developers have relied on two standard methods for extracting knowledge from the expert: (1) the knowledge engineer engages in an intense bout of interviews with the expert or experts, or (2) the knowledge engineer becomes an expert himself, relying on introspection to uncover the basis of his own expertise. Unfortunately, these techniques have the difficulty that often the expert himself isn't consciously aware of the basis of his expertise. If the expert himself isn't conscious of how he solves problems, introspection is useless. Cognitive psychology has faced similar problems for many years and has developed exploratory methods that can be used to discover cognitive structure from simple data.

The Generic Spacecraft Analyst Assistant (GenSAA): A tool for automating spacecraft monitoring with expert systems

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Hughes, Peter M.; Luczak, Edward C.

1991-01-01

Flight Operations Analysts (FOAs) in the Payload Operations Control Center (POCC) are responsible for monitoring a satellite's health and safety. As satellites become more complex and data rates increase, FOAs are quickly approaching a level of information saturation. The FOAs in the spacecraft control center for the COBE (Cosmic Background Explorer) satellite are currently using a fault isolation expert system named the Communications Link Expert Assistance Resource (CLEAR), to assist in isolating and correcting communications link faults. Due to the success of CLEAR and several other systems in the control center domain, many other monitoring and fault isolation expert systems will likely be developed to support control center operations during the early 1990s. To facilitate the development of these systems, a project was initiated to develop a domain specific tool, named the Generic Spacecraft Analyst Assistant (GenSAA). GenSAA will enable spacecraft analysts to easily build simple real-time expert systems that perform spacecraft monitoring and fault isolation functions. Lessons learned during the development of several expert systems at Goddard, thereby establishing the foundation of GenSAA's objectives and offering insights in how problems may be avoided in future project, are described. This is followed by a description of the capabilities, architecture, and usage of GenSAA along with a discussion of its application to future NASA missions.

Technology-Aided Programs for Assisting Communication and Leisure Engagement of Persons with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis: Two Single-Case Studies

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lancioni, Giulio E.; Singh, Nirbhay N.; O'Reilly, Mark F.; Sigafoos, Jeff; Ferlisi, Gabriele; Ferrarese, Giacomina; Zullo, Valeria; Addante, Luigi M.; Spica, Antonella; Oliva, Doretta

2012-01-01

Technology-aided programs for assisting communication and leisure engagement were assessed in single-case studies involving two men with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Study I involved a 51-year-old man with a virtually total loss of his motor repertoire and assessed a technology-aided program aimed at enabling him to (a) write and send out…

Rating Parent-Child Interactions: Joint Engagement, Communication Dynamics, and Shared Topics in Autism, Down Syndrome, and Typical Development

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Adamson, Lauren B.; Bakeman, Roger; Deckner, Deborah F.; Nelson, P. Brooke

2012-01-01

A battery of 17 rating items were applied to video records of typically-developing toddlers and young children with autism and Down syndrome interacting with their parents during the Communication Play Protocol. This battery provided a reliable and broad view of the joint engagement triad of child, partner, and shared topic. Ratings of the child's…

Mobile Learning and Art Museums: A Case Study of a New Art Interpretation Approach for Visitor Engagement through Mobile Media

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Benito, Victoria López

2014-01-01

Nowadays Mobile technologies in Museums and especially in Art Museums are a popular way of communication with their audiences. These kinds of technologies have a high communicative potential and also could be a tool for marketing, information, engagement and learning as well. However with regards how these resources explain the meaning of works of…

Mobile Communication and Civil Society: Linking Patterns and Places of Use to Engagement with Others in Public

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Campbell, Scott W.; Kwak, Nojin

2011-01-01

This study examined whether and how mobile communication influences the extent to which one engages with new people in public settings. Contrary to our expectation, general use of the technology in public did not detract from conversing with strangers. Shifting focus from "where" one uses the mobile phone to "how" it is used, we found that uses…

Infant Twins’ Social Interactions with Caregivers and Same-Age Siblings

PubMed Central

Aldrich, Naomi J.; Brooks, Patricia J.; Yuksel-Sokmen, P. Ozlem; Ragir, Sonia; Flory, Michael J.; Lennon, Elizabeth M.; Karmel, Bernard Z.; Gardner, Judith M.

2015-01-01

The study of twin behavior offers the opportunity to study differential patterns of social and communicative interactions in a context where the adult partner and same-age peer are equally familiar. We investigated the development of social engagement, communicative gestures, and imitation in 7- to 25-month-old twins. Twin dyads (N = 20 pairs) participated in ten-minute, semi-structured play sessions, with the mother seated in a chair completing paperwork for half the session, and on the floor with her children for the other half. Overall, twins engaged more with their mothers than with their siblings: they showed objects and imitated speech and object use more frequently when interacting with their mothers than with their siblings. When the mother was otherwise engaged, the twins played with toys separately, observed each other’s toy play, or were unengaged. These results demonstrate that adult scaffolding of social interactions supports increased communicative bids even in a context where both familiar peers and adults are available as communicative partners. PMID:26476957

Infant twins' social interactions with caregivers and same-age siblings.

PubMed

Aldrich, Naomi J; Brooks, Patricia J; Yuksel-Sokmen, P Ozlem; Ragir, Sonia; Flory, Michael J; Lennon, Elizabeth M; Karmel, Bernard Z; Gardner, Judith M

2015-11-01

The study of twin behavior offers the opportunity to study differential patterns of social and communicative interactions in a context where the adult partner and same-age peer are equally familiar. We investigated the development of social engagement, communicative gestures, and imitation in 7- to 25-month-old twins. Twin dyads (N=20 pairs) participated in 10-min, semi-structured play sessions, with the mother seated in a chair completing paperwork for half the session, and on the floor with her children for the other half. Overall, twins engaged more with their mothers than with their siblings: they showed objects and imitated speech and object use more frequently when interacting with their mothers than with their siblings. When the mother was otherwise engaged, the twins played with toys separately, observed each other's toy play, or were unengaged. These results demonstrate that adult scaffolding of social interactions supports increased communicative bids even in a context where both familiar peers and adults are available as communicative partners. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Teaching, Practice, Feedback: 15 years of COMPASS science communication training

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Neeley, L.; Smith, B.; McLeod, K.; English, C. A.; Baron, N.

2014-12-01

COMPASS is focused on helping scientists build the skills and relationships they need to effectively participate in public discourse. Founded in 2001 with an emphasis on ocean science, and since expanding to a broader set of environmental sciences, we have advised, coached, and/or trained thousands of researchers of all career stages. Over the years, our primary work has notably shifted from needing to persuade scientists why communication matters to supporting them as they pursue the question of what their communication goals are and how best to achieve them. Since our earliest forays into media promotion, we have evolved with the state of the science communication field. In recent years, we have adapted our approach to one that facilitates dialogue and encourages engagement, helps scientists identify the most relevant people and times to engage, tests our own assumptions, and incorporates relevant social science as possible. In this case study, we will discuss more than a decade of experience in helping scientists find or initiate and engage in meaningful conversations with journalists and policymakers.

The KnowRISK project - Know your city, Reduce seISmic risK through non-structural elements

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Sousa Oliveria, Carlos; Amaral Ferreira, Mónica; Lopez, Mário; Sousa Silva, Delta; Musacchio, Gemma; Rupakhety, Rajesh; Falsaperla, Susanna; Meroni, Fabrizio; Langer, Horst

2016-04-01

Historically, there is a tendency to focus on seismic structural performance of buildings, neglecting the potential for damage of non-structural elements. In particular, non-structural elements of buildings are their architectural parts (i.e. partitions, ceilings, cladding), electrical and mechanical components (i.e., distribution panels, piping, plumbing), and contents (e.g., furniture, bookcases, computers and desktop equipment). Damage of these elements often contributes significantly to earthquake impacts. In the 1999 Izmit Earthquake, Turkey, 50% of the injuries and 3% of human losses were caused by non-structural failures. In the 2010-2011 Christchurch Earthquakes (New Zealand), 40% of building damage was induced by non-structural malfunctions. Around 70%-85% of construction cost goes into these elements, and their damage can strongly influence the ability of communities to cope with and recover from earthquakes. The project Know your city, Reduce seISmic risK through non-structural elements (KnowRISK) aims at facilitating local communities' access to expert knowledge on non-structural seismic protection solutions. The project will study seismic scenarios critical for non-structural damage, produce a portfolio of non-structural protection measures and investigate the level of awareness in specific communities. We will implement risk communication strategies that will take into account the social and cultural background and a participatory approach to raise awareness in local communities. The paradox between the progress of scientific knowledge and the ongoing increase of losses from natural disasters worldwide is a well-identified gap in the UN Hyogo Framework for Action 2005-2015, in which one of the main priorities is the investment on "knowledge use, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience". The KnowRISK is well aligned with these priorities and will contribute to participatory action aimed at: i) transferring expert knowledge on seismic risk and non-structural protective solutions into practical knowledge and ii) communication tools designed to engage communities in disaster risk reduction

Patients' Perspectives of Engagement as a Safety Strategy.

PubMed

Burrows Walters, Chasity; Duthie, Elizabeth A

2017-11-01

To describe patient engagement as a safety strategy from the perspective of hospitalized surgical patients with cancer.
. Qualitative, descriptive approach using grounded theory.
. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, New York.
. 13 hospitalized surgical patients with cancer.
. Grounded theory with maximum variation sampling.
. Participants' perceptions regarding their engagement as a patient safety strategy were expressed through three overarching themes. Using direct messaging, such as "your safety" as opposed to "patient safety," and teaching patients specific behaviors to maintain their safety appeared to facilitate patient engagement and increase awareness of safety issues. Patients may be willing to accept some responsibility for ensuring their safety by engaging in behaviors that are intuitive or that they are clearly instructed to do; however, they described their involvement in their safety as a right, not an obligation.
. Clear, inviting, multimodal communication appears to have the greatest potential to enhance patients' engagement in their safety. Nurses' ongoing assessment of patients' ability to engage is critical insofar as it provides the opportunity to encourage engagement without placing undue burden on them. By employing communication techniques that consider patients' perspectives, nurses can support patient engagement.

Do intergroup conflicts necessarily result from outgroup hate?

PubMed

Mäs, Michael; Dijkstra, Jacob

2014-01-01

We developed a new experimental design to test whether or not individuals engage in conflict between social groups because they seek to harm outgroup members. Challenging prominent social psychological theories, we did not find support for such negative social preferences. Nevertheless, subjects heavily engaged in group conflict. Results support the argument that processes that act within social groups motivate engagement in conflict between groups even in the absence of negative social preferences. In particular, we found that "cheap talk" communication between group members fuels conflict. Analyses did not support the notion that the effect of communication results from guilt-aversion processes.

Detection of events of public health importance under the international health regulations: a toolkit to improve reporting of unusual events by frontline healthcare workers.

PubMed

MacDonald, Emily; Aavitsland, Preben; Bitar, Dounia; Borgen, Katrine

2011-09-21

The International Health Regulations (IHR (2005)) require countries to notify WHO of any event which may constitute a public health emergency of international concern. This notification relies on reports of events occurring at the local level reaching the national public health authorities. By June 2012 WHO member states are expected to have implemented the capacity to "detect events involving disease or death above expected levels for the particular time and place" on the local level and report essential information to the appropriate level of public health authority. Our objective was to develop tools to assist European countries improve the reporting of unusual events of public health significance from frontline healthcare workers to public health authorities. We investigated obstacles and incentives to event reporting through a systematic literature review and expert consultations with national public health officials from various European countries. Multi-day expert meetings and qualitative interviews were used to gather experiences and examples of public health event reporting. Feedback on specific components of the toolkit was collected from healthcare workers and public health officials throughout the design process. Evidence from 79 scientific publications, two multi-day expert meetings and seven qualitative interviews stressed the need to clarify concepts and expectations around event reporting in European countries between the frontline and public health authorities. An analytical framework based on three priority areas for improved event reporting (professional engagement, communication and infrastructure) was developed and guided the development of the various tools. We developed a toolkit adaptable to country-specific needs that includes a guidance document for IHR National Focal Points and nine tool templates targeted at clinicians and laboratory staff: five awareness campaign tools, three education and training tools, and an implementation plan. The toolkit emphasizes what to report, the reporting process and the need for follow-up, supported by real examples. This toolkit addresses the importance of mutual exchange of information between frontline healthcare workers and public health authorities. It may potentially increase frontline healthcare workers' awareness of their role in the detection of events of public health concern, improve communication channels and contribute to creating an enabling environment for event reporting. However, the effectiveness of the toolkit will depend on the national body responsible for dissemination and training.

When the facts are just not enough: credibly communicating about risk is riskier when emotions run high and time is short.

PubMed

Reynolds, Barbara J

2011-07-15

When discussing risk with people, commonly subject matter experts believe that conveying the facts will be enough to allow people to assess a risk and respond rationally to that risk. Because of this expectation, experts often become exasperated by the seemingly illogical way people assess personal risk and choose to manage that risk. In crisis situations when the risk information is less defined and choices must be made within impossible time constraints, the thought processes may be even more susceptible to faulty heuristics. Understanding the perception of risk is essential to understanding why the public becomes more or less upset by events. This article explores the psychological underpinnings of risk assessment within emotionally laden events and the risk communication practices that may facilitate subject matter experts to provide the facts in a manner so they can be more certain those facts are being heard. Source credibility is foundational to risk communication practices. The public meeting is one example in which these best practices can be exercised. Risks are risky because risk perceptions differ and the psychosocial environment in which risk is discussed complicates making risk decisions. Experts who want to influence the actions of the public related to a threat or risk should understand that decisions often involve emotional as well as logical components. The media and other social entities will also influence the risk context. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's crisis and emergency-risk communication (CERC) principles are intended to increase credibility and recognize emotional components of an event. During a risk event, CERC works to calm emotions and increase trust which can help people apply the expertise being offered by response officials. Copyright © 2011. Published by Elsevier Inc.

When the facts are just not enough: Credibly communicating about risk is riskier when emotions run high and time is short

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Reynolds, Barbara J., E-mail: Bsr0@cdc.gov

2011-07-15

When discussing risk with people, commonly subject matter experts believe that conveying the facts will be enough to allow people to assess a risk and respond rationally to that risk. Because of this expectation, experts often become exasperated by the seemingly illogical way people assess personal risk and choose to manage that risk. In crisis situations when the risk information is less defined and choices must be made within impossible time constraints, the thought processes may be even more susceptible to faulty heuristics. Understanding the perception of risk is essential to understanding why the public becomes more or less upsetmore » by events. This article explores the psychological underpinnings of risk assessment within emotionally laden events and the risk communication practices that may facilitate subject matter experts to provide the facts in a manner so they can be more certain those facts are being heard. Source credibility is foundational to risk communication practices. The public meeting is one example in which these best practices can be exercised. Risks are risky because risk perceptions differ and the psychosocial environment in which risk is discussed complicates making risk decisions. Experts who want to influence the actions of the public related to a threat or risk should understand that decisions often involve emotional as well as logical components. The media and other social entities will also influence the risk context. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention's crisis and emergency-risk communication (CERC) principles are intended to increase credibility and recognize emotional components of an event. During a risk event, CERC works to calm emotions and increase trust which can help people apply the expertise being offered by response officials.« less

Restoring the voids of voices by signs and gestures, in dentistry: A cross-sectional study.

PubMed

Jain, Suyog; Duggi, Vijay; Avinash, Alok; Dubey, Alok; Fouzdar, Sambodhi; Sagar, Mylavarapu Krishna

2017-01-01

To help dentists to communicate with the hearing impaired patients, reach an accurate diagnosis and explain the treatment plan by learning some signs and gestures used in the nonverbal communication (NVC) and by devising some new signs and gestures related to dentistry which shall be easy to learn and understand both by the hearing impaired patients and the dentists. The study was carried out on 100 hearing impaired students in the age group of 10-14 years in two special schools for hearing impaired children located in two different states of India, where different spoken languages and different sign languages are used. One dentist (expert dentist) was trained in the NVC and the other dentist (non expert dentist) had no knowledge of this type of communication, communicated the same sets of statements related to dentistry, to the hearing impaired children. One1 translator was assigned to judge their interactions. Students were asked to tell the interpreter at the end of each signed interaction what they understood from the statement conveyed to them by both the dentists. All data collected were subjected to statistical analysis using Chi-square test and odds ratio test. In the special school of 1st state, the nonexpert dentist conveyed only 36.3% of the information correctly to the students, whereas the expert dentist conveyed 83% of the information correctly. In the special school of 2nd state, the nonexpert dentist conveyed only 37.5% of the information correctly to the students, whereas the expert dentist conveyed 80.3% of the information correctly. Dentists should be made aware of the NVC and signs and gestures related to dentistry should be taught to the hearing impaired students as well as the dental students.

Assessing Personal Learning Environments (PLEs). An Expert Evaluation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Llorente Cejudo, María del Carmen

2013-01-01

On the basis of the Research Project funded by the Spanish Ministry of Education under the title "Design, production and evaluation of a 2.0 learning environment for faculty training in the use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)" (EDU2009-08 893), experts have used the external competence coefficient to evaluate the…