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Background: The involvement of speech and language therapists (SLTs) within paediatric palliative care (PPC) settings has been recognized within the extant literature. However, there is little understanding of SLT's specific roles and practices when working with this vulnerable cohort of children and their families. As part of a larger body of work to develop consensus‐based recommendations for SLTs working in PPC, it is important to investigate demographic and caseload characteristics. Aims: This exploratory study aimed to gather previously undocumented international demographic data pertaining to SLT service provision, caseload and training in PPC. Additionally, it sought to ascertain the current treatment and assessment approaches of SLTs, and if variations exist in beliefs and practices. Methods & Procedures: An anonymous cross‐sectional survey was designed and reported according to the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E‐Surveys (CHERRIES). The online survey consisted of 40 items spanning four domains: (1) demographic information, (2) caseload information, (3) service provision and (4) training and education. SLTs from Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the UK, Ireland and the United States were recruited using a purposive snowball sampling approach. Descriptive analysis of closed‐ended survey responses and content analysis of open‐ended responses are presented. Outcomes & Results: A total of 52 respondents completed the survey. SLTs worked in a variety of PPC settings, with patients of varying age and disease groups. Over 50% of participants reported working in PPC for ≤ 4 years. Genetic disorders (34%), oncology (27%) and neurological conditions (21%) made up a significant portion of respondents' caseloads. Reported treatments and assessment approaches used by SLTs are not unique to a PPC population. Barriers and enablers for practice were identified. A portion of participants did not feel trained and prepared to assess (19.2%) or treat (15.4%) PPC clients. Conclusions & Implications: This study confirms that SLTs internationally have a role in the management of communication and swallowing impairments in a PPC context. However, whether current training and resources adequately support SLTs in this role remains questionable. This paper helps to provide SLTs, administrators, professional associations and tertiary institutions with foundational data to help inform workforce planning, advocacy efforts and training priorities. What this paper addsWhat is already known on the subjectThe published multidisciplinary literature has identified that SLTs have a role in PPC. However, there has been no targeted research investigating the professional characteristics of clinicians in this context, nor any detailed information regarding associated clinician beliefs or management approaches.What this paper adds to existing knowledgeThis study is a snapshot of attributes, practice patterns and beliefs of SLTs who work with a PPC population. It highlights SLT perspectives of education and training, as well as meta‐perceptions of themselves within the multidisciplinary team.What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?Data presented in this paper will help to enable SLTs, organizations and associations to augment service provision and determine future professional development priorities within the field of PPC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background/aim The successful development and maintenance of professional identity is associated with professional development and retention in the health workforce. This paper explores students' perspectives on the ways pre-entry experiences and curricula content shape professional identity. Methods An online cross-sectional survey was sent to students enrolled in the final year of entry-level programmes in five countries. Descriptive statistical analyses of data were completed. Results The results reflect the perceptions of 319 respondents from five countries. Respondents identified professional education (98%) and professional socialisation during placement (92%) as curricula components with the greatest influence on professional identity formation. Discipline-specific knowledge such as, occupation-focussed models and occupational science were ranked lower than these aspects of practice. The students' length of programme and level of entry-level programme did not impact on these results. Conclusion When designing curricula educators need to be mindful that students perceive practice education and professional socialisation have the greatest affect on professional identity formation. The findings reinforce the need for curricula to provide students with a range of practice experiences, which allow the observation and application of occupation-based practices. It highlights a need for educators to provide university-based curricula activities, which better prepare students for a potential dissonance between explicit occupation-based curricula and observed practice education experiences. The study indicates the need for further research into the role curricula content, and in particular practice education, plays in the multidimensional formation of professional development within entry-level programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Lifestyle and dietary modification are effective in the prevention and management of Type 2 diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). However, South Asian (SA) populations living in Western countries have low adherence rates to healthcare advice and experience poor diabetes control and clinical outcomes compared with the general population. This systematic review aimed to summarise the barriers and facilitators of dietary modification within people from South Asian (SA) ethnicity with T2DM or pre‐diabetes. Methods: A systematic search of PubMed, Web of Science and Scopus generated 3739 articles, of which seven were included. Qualitative and quantitative data were inputted utilising COVIDENCE. Qualitative data were analysed by thematic analysis. Results: Thematic analysis identified three facilitators: (1) cultural sensitivity, (2) health education and (3) support networks. Barriers include (1) healthcare inequity, (2) cultural insensitivity, (3) social pressures, (4) misconceptions and (5) time constraints. Good access to health care and motivation were the most common facilitators discussed. Misconceptions on T2DM management and cultural insensitivity contributed to the majority of barriers discussed. Conclusions: Culturally tailored interventions could improve adherence to diet modification in people with T2DM from SA ethnicity. Interventions involving the application of social media to challenge intergenerational stigmas and misinformation, distributing culturally appropriate resources and providing diets tailored to the SA palate could help. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Implementing task specific training is a commonly reported challenge for less experienced therapists. A potential method to improve the ability of recent graduate and student therapists is to upskill regarding task specific training via an online education resource. Purpose: To evaluate the use and acceptability of the TRAIN program as an online learning resource for physiotherapists. Methods: Data from Google Analytics was sourced to determine use of the program and details about the users. Users of the TRAIN program were also invited to complete two surveys; prior to beginning and upon completion of the program. The surveys collected information about the demographics of the users, perceptions of usefulness of the online resource and overall sentiment. Results: Almost 6000 new users interacted with the TRAIN modules during the 15‐months study period. The surveys indicated a high level of usability (mean score 9/10, SD 1.5) and clinical utility (mean score 8.8/10, SD 1.6) of the TRAIN program. Perceived knowledge and user confidence in implementing task‐specific training was higher for those users completing the post compared to those completing the pre‐module survey (knowledge 1.9 and confidence 1.7 out of 10 points higher). Recurring comments in the open‐ended feedback pertained to the usefulness, clarity, and ease of use of the TRAIN program. Discussion and Conclusion: This study provides preliminary evidence supporting the use and acceptability of the TRAIN program as an online learning resource for physiotherapists. This further contributes to the growing body of literature indicating online learning is generally a well‐received teaching tool for physiotherapists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Research activities related to social informatics (SI) are expanding, even as community fragmentation, topical dispersion, and methodological diversity continue to increase. Specifically, the different understandings of SI in regional communities have strong impacts, and each has a different history, methodological grounding, and often a different thematic focus. The aim of this article is to connect three selected perspectives on SI—intellectual (regional schools of thought), methodological, and thematic—and introduce a comparative framework for understanding SI that includes all known approaches. Thus, the article draws from a thematic and methodological grounding of research across schools of thought, along with definitions that rely on the extension and intension of the notion of SI. The article is built on a paralogy of views and pluralism typical of postmodern science. Because SI is forced to continually reform its research focus, due to the rapid development of information and communication technology, social changes and ideologies that surround computerization and informatization, the presented perspective maintains a high degree of flexibility, without the need to constantly redefine the boundaries, as is typical in modern science. This approach may support further developments in promoting and understanding SI worldwide. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: High‐quality research is the foundation of occupational therapy and physical therapy/physiotherapy. A bibliometric study on the research productivity of occupational therapy and physical therapy/physiotherapy scholars in different Western and Asian countries/regions could provide a snapshot of current research achievement in rehabilitation science. Method: On the basis of an understanding of the leading role of rehabilitation research in Western countries and a recognition of achievements made by Asian occupational therapy and physical therapy/physiotherapy scholars, the current bibliometric study examined the research productivity of occupational therapy and physical therapy/physiotherapy professors and associate professors from four Western countries (Australia, Canada, the United States and the United Kingdom) and five Asian countries/regions (Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore and South Korea). The h‐indices of these scholars were retrieved online and aggregated to quantify the research productivity of institutions and countries/regions. Results: Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and the United States were identified as countries/regions with higher research productivity in occupational therapy and physical therapy/physiotherapy. The institutions were ranked on the basis of the median h‐indices of their professors and associate professors; the top 20 productive institutions with occupational therapy programmes had a median h‐index of 17.5 or higher, whereas the benchmark of the top 20 institutions with physical therapy/physiotherapy programmes was 25. Conclusion: Professors and associate professors in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong and the United States are productive in occupational therapy and physical therapy/physiotherapy research. The number of faculty members and university connections are regarded as important for research achievement. Recommendations for various levels of collaboration are provided. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reports an international study of research data management (RDM) activities, services, and capabilities in higher education libraries. It presents the results of a survey covering higher education libraries in Australia, Canada, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, and the UK. The results indicate that libraries have provided leadership in RDM, particularly in advocacy and policy development. Service development is still limited, focused especially on advisory and consultancy services (such as data management planning support and data-related training), rather than technical services (such as provision of a data catalog, and curation of active data). Data curation skills development is underway in libraries, but skills and capabilities are not consistently in place and remain a concern. Other major challenges include resourcing, working with other support services, and achieving "buy in" from researchers and senior managers. Results are compared with previous studies in order to assess trends and relative maturity levels. The range of RDM activities explored in this study are positioned on a "landscape maturity model," which reflects current and planned research data services and practice in academic libraries, representing a "snapshot" of current developments and a baseline for future research. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patients with heart failure and preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) have a poor prognosis, and no therapies have been proven to improve outcomes. It has been proposed that heart failure, including HFpEF, represents overlapping syndromes that may have different prognoses. We present an exploratory study of patients enrolled in the Irbesartan in Heart Failure with Preserved Ejection Fraction Study (I-PRESERVE) using latent class analysis (LCA) with validation using the Candesartan in Heart failure: Assessment of Reduction in Mortality and morbidity (CHARM)-Preserved study to identify HFpEF subgroups.Methods and Results: In total, 4113 HFpEF patients randomized to irbesartan or placebo were characterized according to 11 clinical features. The HFpEF subgroups were identified using LCA. Event-free survival and effect of irbesartan on the composite of all-cause mortality and cardiovascular hospitalization were determined for each subgroup. Subgroup definitions were applied to 3203 patients enrolled in CHARM-Preserved to validate observations regarding prognosis and treatment response. Six subgroups were identified with significant differences in event-free survival (P < 0.001). Clinical profiles and prognoses of the six subgroups were similar in CHARM-Preserved. The two subgroups with the worst event-free survival in both studies were characterized by a high prevalence of obesity, hyperlipidaemia, diabetes mellitus, anaemia, and renal insufficiency (Subgroup C) and by female predominance, advanced age, lower body mass index, and high rates of atrial fibrillation, valvular disease, renal insufficiency, and anaemia (Subgroup F).Conclusion: Using a data-driven approach, we identified HFpEF subgroups with significantly different prognoses. Further development of this approach for characterizing HFpEF subgroups is warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]