Dual-language testing improves bilinguals' verbal scores.

Objective: Research demonstrates that college educated, English language dominant bilinguals underperform relative to English speaking monolinguals on tests of verbal ability. We investigated whether accepting responses in their two languages would reveal improved performance in bilinguals, and whether such improvement would be of sufficient magnitude to demonstrate the same performance level as monolinguals. Method: Participants were college students attending the same university. Spanish-English bilinguals were compared to English speaking monolinguals on the Bilingual Verbal Ability Tests (BVAT), which include Picture Vocabulary, Oral Vocabulary, and Verbal Analogies. Results: When given the opportunity to respond in Spanish to items failed in English, bilinguals obtained significantly higher scores on all three subtests, and their performance matched that of monolinguals on Oral Vocabulary and Verbal Analogies. Conclusion: An "either-language" scoring approach may enable optimal measurement of verbal abilities in bilinguals. We provide normative data for use in applying the either-language scoring approach on subtests of the BVAT. We discuss the findings in the context of clinical assessment.

Quantitative revenue estimates and qualitative assessments of innovative fundraising sources for treating rare diseases in Colombia.

Background: Like many developing countries, Colombia faces difficulties in financing health-care services as well as programs for health promotion and health education and there is evidence that its health-care system is underperforming. Objective: To provide evidence-based estimates of potential funding levels and assess the strengths, weaknesses, and viability of innovative funding mechanisms with a focus on treating rare diseases in Colombia. Methods: The strategy involved evidence-based projections of potential funding levels and a qualitative viability assessment using an expert panel. Results: Crowdfunding, corporate donation, and social impact bonds (SIBs) were deemed to be the most viable of numerous potential strategies. Expected funding levels over 10 years for rare diseases in Colombia from crowdfunding, corporate donations, and SIBs were roughly $7,200, $23,000, and $12,400, respectively. Conclusions: Based on the combination of projected funding potential along with expert consensus regarding viability and operability, crowdfunding, corporate donations, and SIBs, especially in combination, have the potential to substantially improve funding for vulnerable patient populations in Colombia.