Allied Health Research Papers - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

This article describes the emergence of the American Interprofessional Health Collaborative to rebuild capacity for interprofessional education and care in the U.S. through an inclusive, evidence-based and open exchange of information and resources. Also described are the historical context and the national and international climate for its emergence.

Background: Allied health professionals provide a
diverse range of patient care. However funders and purchasers of
allied health services have few mechanisms for defining the
interventions carried out by allied health providers; for defining
episodic care; or for monitoring the quality and outcomes of
allied health provider interventions. A result, third party funders
tend to allocate allied health services by establishing a ceiling on
the number of appointments allowed, or “capping care”
regardless of the condition or patient need. This paper reports on
the effect of the monitoring systems by a third party funder to
introduce more patient centred funding models. Aim: To
evaluate a system of monitoring allied health service provision,
quality and outcomes. Method: A large third party funder piloted
the introduction of a comprehensive care planning tool to
investigate the potential for post-payment monitoring of service
quality. The tool was evaluated through interviews, focus groups,
file audit and documentary analysis. Results: Practitioner
perceptions of provider quality were quite different from what
was measured and audited. The heterogeneity of allied health
services means that no standardised classification system of
interventions is appropriate for service benchmarking. There
were large variations in service provision, within and between
practitioners. Conclusions: Ongoing monitoring should include
easily auditable measures, such as occasions of service mapped
against broad indicators of type of appointment. There is a need
for ongoing systems of quality improvement to ensure the quality
of patient care is optimised.

- by Susan Nancarrow
- •
- Primary Health Care, Health insurance, Public Health, Allied Health

Leadership behaviors are an important aspect of athletic training and are needed within all allied health care disciples. A two-phase, exploratory, non-experimental research study using a Delphi technique and a randomly selected sample of athletic trainers (n = 161) was conducted to determine leadership competencies perceived to be important for athletic training practice and education. The Delphi technique (phase one) resulted in the Leadership Development in Athletic Training instrument (LDAT). In the national survey (phase two), respondents used the LDAT to rate the importance of leadership competencies for athletic training practice and for athletic training education. Coefficient alphas ranged from α = 0.83 to 0.97 and provided satisfactory estimates of internal consistency. Concurrent, construct, and convergent validity were established. Forty-nine leadership competencies were rated important for practice and 48 for education (M = 1.5, p ≤ 0.001). Exploratory factor analysis r...

- by Matthew Kutz
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- Communication, Personality, Leadership, Allied Health

OBJECTIVE To describe perceptions of patient safety culture (PSC) among US vascular interventional technologists (VIR). METHODS A letter to complete The Hospital Survey on Patient Safety Culture online was distributed in the US to all full-time American Registry of Radiologic Technologists (ARRT)-registered technologists with a primary discipline of cardiac-interventional or vascular interventional (n=3,184). Mean scores on each PSC dimension and overall outcome measures were calculated. RESULTS The response rate was 13.7% (n=437) for the entire universe of ARRT-registered VIR technologists working full-time. Overall, respondents ranked the following dimensions as supporting patient safety within their respective institution: supervisor/manager promotion of patient safety, staffing, hospital handoffs/transitions, and teamwork within units. Neutral perceptions focused on teamwork across hospital units, hospital management's support for patient safety, and nonpunitive response to ...

- by Jeffrey Legg
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- Perception, Patient Safety, Allied Health, Humans

Education of health professionals is costly to the general community and more specifically the educational sector. The increasing need for speech and language therapy (SLT) services, coupled with poor employment retention rates, poses serious cost-benefit considerations. The poor job retention rates among speech and language therapists are associated with high levels of job dissatisfaction. One factor known to influence job satisfaction is the congruence between one's career motivation and actual career experience. The current study sought to explore (1) why students choose to embark on an SLT degree, (2) what factors are important to maintain their long-term employment in SLT, and (3) how long they predicted they would remain in the workforce practicing in SLT. Students from two tertiary SLT courses, one in Australia (n=67) and one in the United Kingdom (n=84), completed an online questionnaire targeting these issues. Students' responses were consistent across cohorts, so t...

- by Kathryn M Hird
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- Mechanical Engineering, Speech Language Pathology, Australia, Job Satisfaction

Protection of patient data has become a critical part of the scope of practice of all healthcare professionals. Routine data breaches underscore the importance of training clinical employees in protecting these data. However, beyond exposure to HIPAA regulations, little is done to educate the healthcare student about the risks and vulnerabilities of the online environment as it pertains to health data. Most individuals receive training upon employment, and compliance with regulations and policies is problematic. This article supports the belief that educating the student prior to entering into the profession may result in improved compliance with state and federal regulations and local policies, thus providing better protections to their patients. We propose a curriculum for both undergraduate and graduate healthcare students to prepare them for understanding and complying with institutional policies once they begin their clinical rotations or are hired as employees. This curriculum...

- by Marci J Swede
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- Allied Health, Cyber Security, Healthcare Education

Dry Needling (also known as Trigger Point Dry Needling) is a technique that has quickly become an increasingly popular treatment modality in the manual physical therapy field. Many physical therapists from different health care backgrounds including Physiotherapists, Myotherapists, Osteopaths and Sports Medicine Physicians are using Dry Needling for the clinical management of musculoskeletal conditions and dysfunctions relating to myofascial pain and trigger points. With the growing popularity of Dry Needling in recent times there are now further clinical studies being published to better understand and establish the pain science behind its use and its role in manual physical therapy rehabilitation.

- by Judith Hough
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- Evidence Based Practice, Staff Development, Self Efficacy, Allied Health

This study reports findings of an online survey of 139 health professionals. Health professionals were asked about the degree and type of workplace stress they encountered, as well as general perceived stress, psychological distress, and life satisfaction. The sample comprised social workers, psychologists, occupational therapists, physiotherapists, speech pathologists, and a small number of other allied health professionals. The allied health professional groups were remarkably similar in terms of workplace stress, life satisfaction, perceived stress outside the workplace, and the depression, anxiety, and stress subscales of the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale. There were no significant differences in these variables between those working in hospital and community settings. Compared with expectations based on normative data, more people in the present sample had Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale depression scores in the mild, moderate, severe, or very severe range. The single...

- by Lynne Harris
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- Mechanical Engineering, Mental Health, Depression, Australia
- by Sheila Keane
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- Health Services Research, Allied Health

Using a primary sample of medical technologists (MTs) and a second validation sample, the results of this study showed initial support for a three-factor measure of cyberloafing. The three scales were labeled browsing-related, non-work-related e-mail, and interactive cyberloafing. MTs who perceived unfair treatment in their organization (i.e., lower organizational justice) were more likely to exhibit all three types of cyberloafing. MTs who did not care as much about punctuality and attendance (i.e., higher time abuse) were more likely to display browsing-related and non-work-related e-mail cyberloafing. Finally, MTs who perceived an inability to control their work environment (i.e., powerlessness) were more likely to display interactive cyberloafing. Study limitations and suggestions for future research are discussed.

- by Gary Blau
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- Mechanical Engineering, Job Satisfaction, Employment, Allied Health
- by Sheila Keane
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- Health Services Research, Allied Health

Student learning style modality preferences, in preclinical classes, were assessed using the visual-aural-read/write-kinesthetic (VARK) inventory. Preferences were assessed for 137 preclinical students, including those in nursing, physician's assistant, physical therapy, athletic training, and natural science programs using the online VARK inventory. All classes contained a majority of multimodal and a significantly high proportion of kinesthetic learners. No correlations were noted between modality preference strength and assessment performance in general biology classes; significant correlations were discovered for kinesthetic preference among the same cohort in subsequent human anatomy (negative correlation) and general physiology (positive correlation) classes. Assessment performance of nursing students in an anatomy and physiology class resulted in correlations with aural (negative correlation) and visual (positive correlation) preference strengths. Study findings are used ...

- by Domenic D'Amore
- •
- Learning, Allied Health, Humans, Patient Preference

The primary purpose of this study was to characterize job satisfaction with opportunities for advancement, job satisfaction with pay and benefits, and intent to leave the EMS profession among Nationally Registered EMT-Basics and EMT-Paramedics. A secondary data analysis was performed on the National Registry of EMTs Longitudinal Emergency Medical Technician Attributes and Demographic Study Project (LEADS) 2005 core survey. We used chi-square and multiple logistic regression analyses to test for differences in job satisfaction with opportunities for advancement, job satisfaction with pay and benefits, and intent to leave the EMS profession across years of experience and work location. Among 11 measures of job satisfaction, NREMT-Basics and NREMT-Paramedics were least satisfied with opportunities for advancement and pay and benefits (67.8 and 55.2%, respectively). Nearly 6% of respondents reported intentions of leaving the profession within 12 months. In univariate analyses, job satis...

- by Gary Wingrove
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- Job Satisfaction, Intention, Allied Health, Humans

Effective interprofessional collaboration is an important factor in addressing health care needs and priorities. Educators and health care practitioners have argued that interprofessional education (IPE) is necessary to equip students with the knowledge, skills, attitudes, and behaviors to work collaboratively and ultimately deliver enhanced patient/client care. The University of Toronto has implemented an introductory IPE session for approximately 1000 health science students that focuses on teamwork. This session provides students with an opportunity to be sensitized to the client's perspective and become familiar with roles and perspectives of different professions. A mixed method pre/post research design was developed to examine changes in students' perceptions and attitudes regarding IPE following their participation in this session. This study also endeavored to explore the pedagogic effectiveness of this large-scale IPE session. Students completed pre and post surveys...

- by Andrea Cameron and +3
- •
- Trust, Allied Health, Humans, Patient Care Team

It is increasingly difficult to provide adequate clinical training for new dietetics graduates. Dietetic students obtain clinical experience by visiting patients and viewing their charts in hospital settings but rarely counsel them. To examine the change in nutrition and dietetic students' perceived readiness to practice after completing three Objective Structured Clinical Examinations (OSCE). 37 students (mean age 26.6±5.4 yrs, 95% female) from the Schools of Public Health and Allied Health Professions enrolled in a medical nutrition therapy course. Using a pre-post test design, 37 students completed the first 3 weeks of the laboratory section of the course at the medical center, followed by 3 weeks of OSCE. OSCE stations included reviewing a chart, counseling a standardized patient, and discussing findings with other healthcare professionals. Students answered the Perceived Readiness for Dietetic Practice questionnaire before and after the OSCE. OSCE significantly improved stu...

- by Nancy Heine
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- Environmental Studies, Allied Health

The benefits of tantric meditation in action for mental and emotional health during COVID times. Karma Yoga in the Kashmiri Gita provides novel approaches to meditation in action that harness intense complex thoughts and emotions to elevate consciousness and can assist maintain balance of mind and body during times of uncertainty, loss and chaos.

- by sarah gates
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- Mental Health, Spirituality, Yoga Philosophy, Holistic Health
- by Dianne Boxall
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- Management, Allied Health Sciences, Participatory Action Research, Action Research
- by Susan Nancarrow
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- Allied Health Sciences, Primary Care, Capacity Building, Literature Review
- by Susan Nancarrow and +1
- •
- Allied Health Sciences, Podiatry, Allied Health, Sociology of the Professions

Objectives: “Intention to leave” (ITL) has been used interchangeably with the more positive construct “intention to stay” (ITS). The implicit assumption appears to be that both constructs represent different sides of the same coin. This study challenges this assumption. The objectives were (i) to test whether these constructs were similar measures of the same construct, and (ii) to assess the strength of the relationship between ITL and ITS with work-related outcomes. Methods: The Workforce Dynamics Questionnaire (WDQ) was administered to 298 staff. The WDQ included two items on ITL and was supplemented with three items on ITS. Structural equation modelling (SEM) was used. Results: The response rate was 43%. The correlation between the two constructs was negative and quite high (r= -0.84), indicating potential issues with discriminant validity. However, the constructs behaved differently in relation to job satisfaction and job integration. ITS was a strong predictor (0.95, p<0.001), whereas ITL was not significantly related (0.34, p=0.195) to JS. The direct effects of JI on ITS was 0.30 and on ITL was -0.42. The indirect effects of JI were more contrasting, being 0.56 for ITS and -0.30 for ITL, via job satisfaction. Conclusions: This is the first study amongst British health and social care workers that has demonstrated that ITS and ITL are not measuring the same constructs. While there is overlap, care should be taken when using these constructs interchangeably, particularly when measuring these concepts in organizations and when developing retention programs, policies, or activities to modify ITS and ITL.

This report describes the outcomes of extensive discussions surrounding clinical education and practice placement issues undertaken by an international group of allied health educators (in audiology, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, and speech pathology) who have met since 2001 as part of Universitas 21 Health Sciences annual meetings. The report outlines key issues associated with clinical education and practice placements from an international perspective and across these four allied health professions. The allied health practice context is described in terms of the range of allied health educational programs in Universitas 21 and recent changes in health and tertiary education sectors in represented countries. Some issues and benefits related to supervision during allied health students' practice placements are addressed. A new approach is proposed through partnership such that frameworks for the provision of practice placements can be created to facilitate student learni...

- by Gillian Webb
- •
- Mechanical Engineering, Accreditation, Allied Health, Humans
- by Susan Nancarrow
- •
- Allied Health Sciences, Podiatry, Allied Health, Assistant Practitioners
- by Shelley Brundage
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- Speech Language Pathology, Educational Measurement, Teaching, Allied Health

It is generally speculated that the ongoing changes in the health care system may increase the incidence of burnout among health care providers. The purposes of this cross-sectional study were to determine (1) the prevalence of burnout among physical therapists (PTs) and occupational therapists (OTs), (2) sociodemographic and work-related factors associated with emotional exhaustion (EE), depersonalization (DP), and personal achievement (PA) traits of PTs and OTs. In fall 1998, 169 PTs and 138 OTs employed in various clinical settings in New York City completed the survey. Part I of the research questionnaire solicited sociodemographic and work-related information such as age, marital status, number of children (NC), religious affiliation (RA), exercise habits, level of support from supervisor (LSS), and level of support from colleagues (LSC). Part II of the questionnaire contained the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI). From the MBI, each subject's EE, DP, and PA scores were obtai...

- by Adetoyeje Oyeyemi
- •
- Mechanical Engineering, Demography, Occupational Therapy, Occupational Health

The projected growth of new technologies, increasing use of automation, and continued consolidation of health-related services suggest that continued study of job insecurity is needed for health care professionals. Using a sample of 178 medical technologists over a 5-year period, this study's findings extend earlier work by Blau and Sharp (2000) and suggest that job loss insecurity, human capital job feature insecurity, and work condition job feature insecurity are related but distinct types of job insecurity. A seven-item measure of job loss insecurity, a four-item measure of human capital job feature insecurity, and a four-item measure of work condition job feature insecurity were analyzed. Confirmatory factor analysis using a more heterogeneous sample of 447 working adults supported this three-factor structure. Using correlation and path analysis, different significant relationships of antecedent variables and subsequent organizational withdrawal cognitions to these three typ...

- by Lidia Dobria
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- Mechanical Engineering, Unemployment, Job Satisfaction, Social Support
- by Lynette Goldberg
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- Evidence Based Practice, Allied Health, Humans, United States
- by Pamela Enderby and +1
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- Psychology, Allied Health Sciences, Nursing, Discrete Choice Modeling

Communications strategies are central to the planning and execution of interprofessional education (IPE) programs. The diversity of telecommunications-based tools and platforms available for IPE is rapidly expanding. Each tool and platform has a potentially important role to play. The selection, testing, and embedding of tools, such as social networking platforms, within education programs can be very challenging. The goal was to create, in Phoenix, a "command-and-control" video conferencing center (the "T-Health Amphitheater" or "Telehealth Amphitheater") in which tele-consultation patients, located physically at one of the affiliated tele-clinics around the state, could be presented electronically to interprofessional teams of faculty members from the University of Arizona Colleges of Medicine, Nursing, Pharmacy, and Public Health, as well as those from the allied health colleges of other universities in Arizona, for interprofessional team training in...

- by Ronald Weinstein and +1
- •
- Mechanical Engineering, Educational Technology, Health Professional Education, Interdisciplinary Studies
- by Gretchen Seif
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- Communication, Educational Measurement, Teaching, Learning

It is a goal of the state government to ensure that every person in Western Australia (WA) has equitable access to health care. Given the vastness of the state, this goal presents an ongoing challenge to the Department of Health (DoH) and other health care providers. One aspect of this challenge is the provision of allied health services to people in rural and remote communities. Therapy assistants, who are health workers who assist one or more therapists in their clinical duties, have been one strategy used to address this challenge.
Currently there is no single comprehensive model of therapy assistant delivery service operating in WA. There are a variety of regulatory standards from the different professional bodies and legislation, along with local standards promoted by the service provider, which therapists may choose to draw upon. These standards have not, however, been adopted or applied by all therapists. Furthermore, therapists are not specifically trained to work with therapy assistants, thus amongst therapists there exists a wide range of abilities and experience in the training, supervision and delegation of tasks to therapy assistants. Among therapy assistants themselves, there is a wide range of training, experience and abilities and an equally wide variety of duties they are expected to perform depending upon their employer. The lack of standardized requirements for: specified minimum training; a generic Job Description Form (JDF); performance indicators; and standards for ongoing monitoring may have contributed to this situation.
As a result of this project and, as a first step to creating a comprehensive therapy assistant service delivery model, a set of values were created to guide therapy assistants in their work. A generic JDF was also created to assist therapists in assessing minimal requirements, training and appropriate tasks for therapy assistants. In addition, thirteen recommendations were developed. These recommendations fall under the following categories: standards of practice; training; implementation and management issues; and monitoring and evaluation.

Background: Drug dosage adjustment is essential for chronic kidney
disease patients (CKD) patients. If it is not done properly, this will lead to
an increase in toxicity and a decrease in the effectiveness of therapy. The
objective of the present study was to assess whether appropriate dosage
adjustments were made in hospitalized CKD patients.
Methods: A descriptive cross-sectional study was carried out among
80 CKD patients with stage II to V admitted in the nephrology ward of
Chitwan Medical College Teaching Hospital, Nepal between 1st August to
30th November 2018. All patients with renal clearance ≤90 ml/min/1.73
m2 were included for the analysis. Data concerning patient’s clinical,
medications and dosages, laboratory findings were extracted from the
medical record section.
Results: Total of 81 numbers of prescribed drugs was found in eighty
hospitalized CKD patients. Twenty-seven were found requiring dose
adjustment. Dose adjustment according to renal function was judged as
necessary in 27 dose adjustment required drugs. Among these, 11 (40.7%
of 27) drugs were considered appropriate in dosing, whereas 16 (59.3%)
were found to be inappropriate. A total of 13 (81.3%) number of drugs
were inappropriately adjusted in stage V patients.
Conclusion: Dosing errors were the most frequently observed challenge
in the patient hospitalized with CKD. This study also intensified the need
for strong monitoring of drug therapy which will bear in achieving the
better therapeutic outcomes that improve the quality of life and decrease
the various problems associated with dosing error.

- by EJMS Europasian Journal of Medical Sciences
- •
- Allied Health

The experience of pain in the aged population involves complexities that are unique to the older adult demographic. Accordingly, critical discussions of pain management and monitoring in geriatric medicine must be approached with a framework that takes into account the broader factors that influence pain in the aged. Of key concern is the fact that “Pain may be underreported as some elderly patients incorrectly believe that pain is a normal process of aging” (Kaye et al., 2010, p. 179). Due to this perception, pain in the aged population must be diligently monitored and understood as something to be treated rather than an inevitability. Stoicism and non-verbal communication of pain in the aged are complicated by social factors that impact how aged individuals communicate their pain to those around them. A number of different non-verbal pain behaviour scales have been developed in order to measure pain in non-verbal patients with dementia with limited to severely limited ability to communicate pain.

- by Mariana Podesta-Diverio
- •
- Geriatrics, Diagnostic Radiography, Gerontology, Pain Management

The objective of this study was to examine undergraduate health science students' attitudes toward interprofessional learning using a web-based interprofessional education package. A before and after study of student attitudes toward a web-based interprofessional education package was conducted using the 17-item Readiness for Interprofessional Learning Scale (RIPLS). Students completed the RIPLS before and after the educational package. Forty-six students commenced the study with 2 students failing to complete. The group contained mostly females with a mean age of 22.6 yrs. A statistically significant change was found for RIPLS subscale one, "shared learning," p=0.035. This study demonstrated that a web-based interprofessional education package did appear to have an impact on undergraduate students' attitudes toward interprofessional learning.

- by Liz Molloy
- •
- Health Professional Education, Educational Measurement, Learning, Allied Health

The increased growth of interdisciplinary education programs in the allied health professions has presented the need for alternate forms of assessment that go beyond basic performance indicators. These assessments would gauge professionally oriented perceptions and related affective domains for participants in such programs. The present study describes the design and validation of an Interdisciplinary Education Perception Scale (IEPS) to meet that added assessment need. In addition to presenting the instrument and its scoring procedures, this study also offers cross-disciplinary normative data and statistical power estimates for appropriate use of the IEPS in evaluative and related research settings.

- by Richard Luecht
- •
- Mechanical Engineering, Psychometrics, Allied Health, Clinical Sciences

This study was intended to compare and contrast young adults' perceptions of an ideal career versus their perceptions of six health professions: medical laboratory science, nursing, pharmacy, physical therapy, radiation technology, and respiratory therapy. The study used a survey developed by May et al., which was modified and tested for application to the allied health workforce. The instrument measures 17 parallel items on a five-point Likert scale and has been assessed for reliability (coefficient a, 0.81-0.84) and content validity by a panel of experts. Analysis included descriptive statistics and paired t tests, with Bonferroni adjusted a significance set at p < 0.0028. The study used a convenience sample of 720 young adults aged 18 to 24 yrs who were recruited between January and September 2005 at job fairs and community events in one urban area and two adjacent rural communities in a northeastern U.S. state. All six health professions were perceived as significantly le...

- by Shelly Naud and +1
- •
- Mechanical Engineering, Perception, Adolescent, Allied Health

Determining admission criteria that will predict successful student outcomes is a challenging undertaking for newly established health professional programs. This study examined data from the students who entered a medical radiation sciences program in September 2002. By analyzing the correlation between undergraduate GPA, grades in undergraduate science courses, performance in program coursework, and post-graduation certification examination results, the authors determined admission criteria that were linked to successful student outcomes for radiological technology and radiation therapy students.

- by Daniel julius
- •
- Mechanical Engineering, Law, Education, Higher Education

An increasing number of extended-scope practitioner roles for nurses and allied health professionals can be found within the national health services in the UK. There has been little specific research into the facilitators and barriers for engagement with continuing professional development (CPD) of this group of health care professionals. This paper presents a review of the issues surrounding participation in, and influencing factors of, continuing professional development for nurses and allied health professionals. These findings are summarised in a conceptual model relevant to service planning and delivery for health care professionals and their managers. Literature databases were searched using the key term "continu* professional development," "clinical competence," and "professional competence" for relevant papers published in English from 2006 to 2010. From over 900 papers that were identified, 133 were selected and are presented in a narrative sy...

- by Jo Adams
- •
- Allied Health, Continuing Medical Education, Humans, Theoretical Models

BAKGROUND: To date, there are no standard sets of admission criteria identifying an applicant's ability to succeed in an entry-level doctor of physical therapy (DPT) program. The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship existed between preadmission variables and academic success, as measured by the physical therapy GPA in the basic sciences after the first professional year (PY1GPA). The sample consisted of 63 students from three consecutive classes admitted to an entry-level DPT Program from fall 2002 through fall 2004. The preadmission variables included age, gender, degree status, pre-cumulative GPA, and prerequisite course GPA. The preadmission factors were correlated with the dependent variable of PYIGPA. In a second analysis, the resulting significant correlations (p < 0.05) were entered into a forward multiple regression analysis to determine the best predictors. The Spearman rho correlation coefficient indicated that the pre-cumulative GPA correlated p...

- by Genevieve Zipp
- •
- Graduate Education, Allied Health, Humans, Female
- by Kristie P Koenig and +1
- •
- Mechanical Engineering, Occupational Therapy, Psychometrics, Higher Education