The Impact of Online Schooling due to the Covid-19 Pandemic on the Mental and Socioeconomic Well-being of Parents and Guardians of Primary School Students

• COVID-19 caused extensive economic recession and Trinidad is no exception. Whilst lockdown slowed the spread of COVID-19, it also resulted in the closure of schools and retrenchment of workers. • Therefore, it was imperative that the parental population be investigated to determine the impact of this pandemic on their livelihood, since challenges they encountered impacted the quality of education received by their children. • Many families faced financial constraints in purchasing electronic devices and internet connectivity to facilitate their children's online learning. This overwhelming stress coupled with lack of technological competence had the possibility of increasing the prevalence of psychiatric disorders such as generalized anxiety and depression

Spirometry quality control: man versus machine

OBJECTIVE: To compare the efficacy of local quality control (QC) of BOLD (Burden of Obstructive Lung Disease) Trinidad and Tobago study with spirometer machine quality grades as well as with BOLD Pulmonary Function Reading Centre QC standards at Imperial College, London. METHODOLOGY: Quality of the randomly chosen two hundred spirometries was independently assessed by the local team based on the 2005 ATS/ERS spirometry standards. Central QC quality assessment results were blinded to the local team. However, the machine quality grades were readily available to both the central and local teams during interpretation. Local and machine QC performances were correlated with the central QC which was taken as the gold standard for this study. RESULTS: According to central QC, 17.5% of the spirometries were declared as unacceptable. The noted common errors were prolonged peak expiratory flow time(14.5%), submaximal blasts (11.5%), variable efforts (11%) and poor reproducibility (10%). Cronbach’s alpha assessment revealed an overall reliability of 0.82 and a correlation of 0.73 between central and local QC. The correlation between central and machine QC was poor(0.548). Local QC exhibited 89.1% sensitivity and 94.3% specificity relative to the central QC. Though the machine QC displayed a better sensitivity (97.6%), its specificity was significantly lower 45.7%). CONCLUSION: Local QC was effective when compared with the central QC and executed better performance than the machine’s QC. This expertise can now be utilized for the future spirometry based local research studies. Due to limitations in identifying various errors, machine QC should not solely be used as the determinant of acceptability.

Inventory management and forecasting methods in the parish of St. Catherine, Jamaica

This study was carried out among different categories of government health professionals who are responsible for the forecasting of supplies to perform their duties. The study investigated some basic aspects of inventory management and forecasting practices. Fifteen public health nurses, 13 staff nurses, 8 pharmacists, 6 dentist and 5 supplies officers from 2 hospitals, 26 health centres and 12 satellite clinics answered a slf administered questionnaire. The results indicate that there are various inventory management and forecasting practices among those health workers. Knowledge and formal training in inventory management was low for some professionals. There was a lack of involvement in the budgetary process for the supplies. Taking into account the findings of this study, it is suggested that there is a need for the improvement of the inventory management and forcasting system including the revision of the VEN/drug list and to encourage the health professionals to adhere to the VEN/drug list (AU)

Material resources in Jamaica's primary health care centres

A national study of management aspects of the primary health care services in Jamaica provided data on material resources (facilities, utilities, furniture, equipment and supplies) available at health centres. It was postulated that a description of resources and of their relationship to output could be useful, and the study set out to develop composite indices to measure material resource levels. Staff at a sample of 92 health centres, in all parishes, were interviewed to provide objective statements of resources present and subjective assessments of their adequacy and condition. Results showed that certain basic material resource items were present in a relatively high proportion of health centres but others, perhaps less crucial, were scarce. The lower level health centres were less well supplied with resource items than the others, even after standardising for their different needs. The data provided evidence that output by personnel was related to level of material resource inputs. Experimenting with formulation of composite indices of material resources, considerations of sensitivity, simplicity and creditability led to the conclusion that indices based on objective statements were as appropriate as the more complicated ones based on subjective assessments. Use of indices based on objective data showed that the South-Eastern and Western health areas had higher levels of resource than the North-Eastern and Southern areas. It was concluded that composite indices based on simple statements and calculations can be useful in monitoring levels of material resources, and that material resources probably have an effect on output from health centres (AU)

Indices to measure material resources in Jamaica's health centres - abstract

Jamaica's primary health care system was developed and implemented in the 1970's. Many new health centres were built and many equipped according to defined standards. Resources became more scarce in the 1980s. As part of a management study, instruments were devised to measure 'Facilities and Utilities', Equipment and Furniture', 'Condition of Equipment' and 'Drugs and Supplies' proved too complex to handle in practice and had a low completion rate. The other three instruments proved feasible. Indices such as these could be used to monitor changing levels of resources of make comparisons of any kind. The low levels of the indices were in accordance with the low levels of resources known to exists (AU)

Equipment schedules: development master plan: Kingstown Hospital St. Vincent

Lists equipment needed for the various facilities of the Kingstown General Hospital, and gives their cost in pounds sterling

Form of tender and conditions of contract for the installation of medical gases / Form of tender and conditions of contract for the installation of medical gases

Provides instructions for tenderers as regards the conditions of contract for the installation of medical gases at the Kingstown General Hospital

A device for spectrofluorimetry

Spectrofluorimetric methods are of considerable clinical importance. A device is described in which the Unicam SP 500 spectrophotometer and SP 900 flame spectrophotometer are combined into a spectrophotofluorimeter with high sensitivity and selectivity. 0.3 micrograms/100ml. of riboflavin can be detected (AU)