Impact of a personal emergency response system on hospital utilization by community-residing elders.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether use of a 24-hour personal emergency response system (PERS) might be associated with selected hospital utilization rates among community-residing users. Utilization rates of 106 patients were reviewed for 1 year before and 1 year after enrollment in the PERS. Self-paired analyses were conducted on number of visits to an emergency department (ED), number of hospital inpatient admissions, and number of inpatient days. During the 1-year follow-up period, those subscribers using the PERS had a statistically significant decrease in per person hospital admissions and inpatient days. No significant differences occurred in ED visits. When indicated, a PERS may be an appropriate environmental prescription.

Scholarly productivity of geriatrics senior faculty members and faculty trainees compared with that of other health professions educators.

To compare the scholarly productivity levels of senior geriatrics educators and faculty trainees, and to compare their productivity with those of other faculty groups, the authors analyzed questionnaires completed in 1988 by 97 senior staff members of geriatrics education centers nationwide and in 1985-1989 by 91 faculty enrollees in the year-long professional development program of the Texas Consortium of Geriatric Education Centers. The chief difference between the two groups was that more senior educators (75%) than enrollees (40%) had published in the three years previous to completing the questionnaire. The authors conclude that the productivity levels of the two groups compare favorably with previously reported productivity levels of health sciences faculties in general.

Scholarly productivity: a regional study of physical therapy faculty in schools of allied health.

A study of the scholarly activities of physical therapy faculty members in selected schools of allied health was conducted through a mailed questionnaire survey. The analysis of the data provided by the respondents (N = 127; 97.6%) revealed the following: 1) the respondents' primary scholarly activity was authorship of referred journal articles; 2) a majority of the respondents presented a paper at a professional meeting during the past three years; 3) only a small percentage of the respondents had directed extramurally funded projects; 4) the majority of the respondents indicated that their own academic preparation was the primary factor that encouraged their scholarly pursuits and that heavy teaching and administrative responsibilities were the primary discouraging factors; and 5) the respondents indicated that faculty scholarly activities are, and will continue to be, important considerations in academic promotion decisions. Comparison of the data provided by these respondents with data from the 1983 American Physical Therapy Association physical therapy faculty survey suggests modest gains in scholarly productivity. The implications of these findings are that faculty development programs are warranted and physical therapy administrators and faculty should join forces in finding more effective ways to involve faculty in research activities.

The scholarly productivity of occupational therapy faculty members: results of a regional study.

A study of the scholarly activities of 66 occupational therapy faculty members at selected academic health centers was conducted through a mailed survey. An analysis of the responses showed that (a) the respondents' primary scholarly activities were reporting research findings in refereed journal articles and presenting papers at professional meetings and (b) only a small percentage of the respondents had directed extramurally funded projects. In addition, the level of scholarly productivity of the occupational therapists was significantly lower than that of their allied health colleagues. The majority of the respondents indicated that their own academic preparation was the primary factor that encouraged their scholarly pursuits and that heavy teaching responsibility was the primary discouraging factor. The respondents indicated also that faculty scholarly activities are, and will continue to be, important considerations in academic promotion decisions.

A study of the scholarly activities of allied health faculty in southern academic health science centers.

A study of the scholarly activities of 942 allied health faculty members in southern academic health centers was conducted through a mailed survey. The analysis of the responses from respondents (N = 780; 82.8%) found that (1) the scholarly activities of the respondents were primarily refereed journal articles through which they reported research findings; to a much lesser extent, the respondents authored books, chapters in books, monographs, and other publications; (2) less than a majority (46%) of the respondents presented a paper at a professional meeting over the past three years; (3) only a small percentage of respondents (29%) had directed extramurally funded projects; (4) the majority of the respondents (56%) indicated that their own academic preparation was the primary factor that encouraged their scholarly pursuits, and heavy teaching responsibility was the primary discouraging factor (62%); and (5) the respondents believed that faculty scholarly activities are, and will continue to be, important considerations in academic promotion decisions.

The training of multicompetent allied health professionals using a combined-fields method.

With the advent of DRGs, quality and cost have become the chief considerations of care providers and institutional managers; as a result, persons who can perform competently in crossover fields may be more employable and valuable than their single-credentialed counterparts. In academic health centers with more than one health-related school, opportunities exist to combine degree programs that result in educating multicompetent health care providers (MCHCP). In lieu of thinking about interdisciplinary education in the traditional sense, the training of MCHCPs can be achieved by simply combining one or more aspects of their respective curricula. Three methods--intra-, across-, and extra-field combinations--of melding two historically separate fields are described. An example of an across-field combination--the Baylor College of Medicine Physician Assistant/Perfusion Technology Program--is given.

Training allied health professionals to deliver breast-feeding services to women in the pre- and postnatal periods.

Results of a recently completed project at Baylor College of Medicine suggest that schools of allied health could incorporate a breast-feeding education program into existing allied health curricula. The need for such programs is the medical indication for the increased use of human milk for all segments of the population, especially for infants in the lower socioeconomic strata because of their higher risk to nutritionally related problems and infectious diseases. Paradoxically, increases in breast-feeding are occurring almost exclusively in the middle and upper classes. The benefits of breast-feeding to both mother and child are great: lower incidence of certain disease processes, enhanced psychological adjustment, and increased economic savings. Training allied health professionals in breast-feeding could help alleviate the problem of higher risks of nutritional deficiencies and infectious diseases among groups that do not traditionally breast-feed their infants.

Dental technology program administrators' attitudes toward credentialing health manpower.

The purpose of this study was to identify the attitudes of administrators of dental technology programs toward health manpower credentialing. A survey instrument was developed by allied health professionals knowledgeable in the credentialing process. The instrument contained 32 items that were categorized into three subscales and sought information about academic program accreditation, certification, and the licensure of dental technicians. The survey was sent to the directors of the 57 dental technology programs accredited by the American Dental Association, Usable returns totaled 49, or 86 percent. The data indicated that dental technology program administrators support the concept and practice of health manpower credentialing. The data also indicated that these administrators felt that academic program accreditation was of value in meeting demands for quality assurance in dental technology, and that certification of technicians, while beneficial, had been of little value in terms of rewards (recognition and economic gains) for the credential holder. In addition, licensure of dental technicians was found to be desirable.

Preparing faculty for the allied health professions: a follow-up study of a program's graduates.

Since 1972, Baylor College of Medicine, the University of Houston and Texas A&M University have jointly offered a graduate Program in Allied Health Teacher Education and Administration. The purpose of the program is to prepare faculty and administrative leaders for allied health education programs. As of December 1978, a total of 94 allied health professionals had completed master's or doctoral degrees and most of them are currently pursuing academic careers. This article describes the results of a follow-up study of these graduates to determine their current activities, locations and job satisfaction and to make decisions regarding the success of the program in raching its goals.