Knowledge, skills, and training of community health workers to contribute to interprofessional education: a scoping review.

A scoping review of 32 publications was conducted with the aim of mapping literature to determine what is known about the knowledge, skills, and training of community health workers that could contribute to interprofessional education. Interprofessional education, as a pedagogical approach, prepares health professions students to serve patients in collaboration with other health professionals to improve patient outcomes. All over the world, the role of community health workers is vital for its support of community service and community health outcomes. However, no evidence could be found on the knowledge, skills, and training of community health workers that contribute to interprofessional education. The knowledge that community health workers need to contribute to interprofessional education, as reported by the literature, relates to case management, communication, health education, recordkeeping and referrals. Skills, such as critical thinking, interprofessional collaboration, and various clinical procedures, were noted. Training approaches reported included the use of technology such as mobile phones and web-based learning. The scoping review improved our understanding of the knowledge, skills, and training of community health workers that could contribute to interprofessional education. Applying a fit-for-purpose approach, and building on existing knowledge, skills, and training, could fast-track the contribution of community health workers to interprofessional education.

The learning experiences of mentees and mentors in a nursing school's mentoring programme.

BACKGROUND: A School of Nursing supports third-year undergraduate students (mentees) by means of a mentoring programme in which critical-care nursing students (mentors) are involved. However, the programme designers needed to find out what gaps were evident in the programme. OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the study were to explore and describe the learning experiences of the mentees and mentors and to obtain recommendations for improving the programme. METHOD: An action-research method was used to develop and to refine the student-mentoring programme and to identify student needs. However, for the purposes of this article a descriptive design was selected and data were gathered by means of a nominal-group technique. Fourteen mentees and five mentors participated in the research. RESULTS: The findings indicated that attention should be paid to the allocation and orientation of both mentors and mentees. Amongst the positive experiences was the fact that the mentees were reassured by the mentor's presence and that a relationship of trust developed between them. In consequence, the mentees developed critical thinking skills, were able to apply their knowledge and improved their ability to integrate theory and practice. Not only did the mentees gain respect for the mentors' knowledge and competence, but they also lauded the mentoring programme as a memorable and vital experience. CONCLUSION: The findings indicated that several changes would be needed to improve the structure of the mentoring programme before a new group of mentees could be placed in critical-care units.

A preliminary study of lateralized processing in attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with deficits in spatial and sustained attention processes normally linked to the right parietal and frontal lobes. However, data on lateralization changes in attention processes are sparse. Little research has addressed whether the problems may reflect a more widespread lateralization disorder or whether there are lateralization changes over time. To address these issues, the authors examined several tasks, each using a lateralized process largely localized to a particular lobe and 2 age ranges (11-14 and 18-26 years) of unmedicated ADHD participants and control participants. ADHD children bisected lines significantly more rightward compared with control children, indicating an altered spatial attention process normally localized to the right parietal lobe. This problem was absent in young adults, suggesting a developmental resolution. The authors observed sustained attention decrements at both ages appearing earlier in the left hemisphere during a vigil. Finally, in these preliminary data, ADHD-related problems appeared specific to attention processes.

Spirituality and resilience in families in which a parent has died.

This preliminary study explored the prevalence of spirituality in family resilience in the adaptation process after the loss of a parent. Twenty-five families who lost a parent between one and six years previously were identified by four postgraduate students in their respective neighborhoods in Cape Town, South Africa. Each of the single parents (M age=48.3 yr., SD=7.7), 19 women and six men, were asked to indicate verbally in what way spirituality or religion had contributed to family adaptation after the death of the spouse. The semistructured interviews supplied evidence that a relationship between spirituality and family resilience does indeed exist.