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Higher education plays a significant role in promoting human and societal well-being and developing India as envisioned in its constitution. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 discusses how to equip future teachers with transforming the teaching--learning process and innovative pedagogy. A teacher is the central figure in the formal teaching--learning process, and students' future depends on them. The aim of this paper is to provide strategic recommendation for transforming the faculty/teachers of higher education institutes according to the guidelines of NEP 2020 supported with the literature. The critical points for teacher transformation considered are multidisciplinarity, student engagement, leadership, lifelong learning, technology, and faculty as a curriculum designer scientist. Using the keywords "NEP 2020, teacher, transformation, curriculum, and higher education," literature was searched in scientific databases. Relevant literature information related to the key teacher-related sections in NEP 2020 was compiled, grouped, and discussed accordingly. The proposed strategic recommendations are as follows: NEP 2020 is a roadmap for the future; the teachers should train students in multi-disciplinary environment; Student-centric education and supporting self-directed learning should be promoted; teacher to transform as mentor or guide; faculty to be trained in leadership skills; blend learning and life long learning to be promoted; faculty to be trained in digital technology and to take a new role as curriculum designer scientist. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper briefly discusses the necessity to stop working in silos for the research community and clinical practitioners. The need of the hour is to create a research clinical practice ecosystem that is a dynamic, interconnected, complex, and integrated system where all the stakeholders (researchers, policymakers, industry, academia, independent clinical associations, clinicians with academic attachment, clinicians, and patients) are well linked. Steps must be taken for knowledge translation with an effective communicative strategy targeted toward the clinicians to undertake evidence-based practice and for the consumer (patient and caregiver) to acquire knowledge about their health condition and become responsible for their health. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The steady increase of the greying population globally is causing a demographic transition. Oral health intricately associated with an individual's general health and overall well-being is evolving with ageing. The ageing population has diverse and complex dental needs, which are challenging to achieve. This review aims to compile information and evidence available in the literature about geriatric oral health concerns and care, which will be immensely useful for medical professionals, geriatric physicians and dental clinicians while treating elderly patients. This review includes different aspects of oral health, namely: dentate elderly and associated oral health concerns, edentulous elderly and associated oral health concerns, biological changes in the oral mucosa with ageing, geriatric oral health and systemic diseases, geriatric oral health and falls, geriatric oral health concerns and depression, comprehensive geriatric care and need of the hour. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In India, 14.6% of adolescents are currently using tobacco in any form and tobacco control is a major public health challenge. The objective of this systematic review is to analyze all the existing literature and evaluate the effectiveness of school-based tobacco use prevention programs for adolescents in India. The review protocol was registered in PROSPERO (CRD42020159535). Studies were selected using database search, manual search, gray literature, reference chasing, and contacting the authors. All randomized controlled trials, cluster-randomized trials, quasi-experimental, and non-randomized studies reporting school-based tobacco use preventive interventions for adolescents in India; articles published in English (other languages where it can be translated to English) published between January 2000 till May 2020 were included. Data was independently extracted by two reviewers. The Risk of bias (RoB) and quality of the study were assessed using appropriate tools. Among 7972 identified articles, only 13 studies met the inclusion criteria. Each study implemented a unique intervention and measured distinct outcomes. Postintervention, all the studies reported improvements in the study group with respect to the reduction of tobacco use and change in the knowledge, attitude, practices, and/or behavior outcome parameters. Twelve study results were based on short-term assessment. Overall, a 5.17-17.0% tobacco use reduction rate was noted. RoB was high for six studies. Key methodological problems related to study design, duration, outcome parameter, follow-up time, type of intervention, and attrition were identified. School-based tobacco use prevention programs for adolescents in India might have shown positive outcomes but are associated with significant limitations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: The objective of this study is to assess the smokeless tobacco (SLT) use among online‑app based cab drivers in Pune city and recommended measures for tobacco cessation from the literature. Materials and Methods: A descriptive, cross‑sectional survey was conducted during February 2019 to October 2019 among the morning shift cab drivers in Pune city. A total of 360 drivers using SLT were recruited for the study. A standard checklist was used to collect the information such as the time of use of SLT, reasons for the use of SLT, and reason for the cessation of the habit. Approval was obtained from the Scientific and Institutional Ethics committee before starting. Results: Majority 62.8% (n = 226) of the drivers used SLT while driving, followed by 14.4% (n = 52) who preferred it only before driving and 8.9% (n = 32) used anytime during the day. Among the major reasons for the use of SLT, 80.3% (n = 289) reported it helps to improve concentration, whereas 67.5% (n = 243) used it under peer pressure. Participants (n = 90) declared that they have attempted to quit the habit and the main reason for quitting of the habit was burning sensation in the mouth among 64.4% (n = 58) followed 26.7% (n = 24) by self‑motivation. Conclusion: This study serves as an evidence to plan and execute the cessation programs for the driver cohort by its company. It is proposed that the successful tobacco cessation measures from the literature can be implemented and evaluated for its effectiveness in the future studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: The study was undertaken to evaluate the effect of instructed tooth brushing on plaque and oral hygiene among the visually impaired children from a residential blind school in Pune. Materials and Methods: An interventional study was conducted for 30 days at a residential Blind School for boys. Twenty-four blind children were recruited for the study. Baseline data were recorded using the modified patient hygiene performance (PHP) index and oral hygiene index-simplified (OHIS). Oral prophylaxis was undertaken. Oral health instruction pamphlet in Braille script was given to them. Supervised tooth brushing twice daily as per the musical audio instructions was performed for 30 days. Postintervention, the indices scores were recorded again. Paired t-test was used for comparison of pre and postintervention scores. Results: The modified PHP score pre and postintervention were 4.19 ± 0.54 and 1.81 ± 0.87, respectively, and the difference was statistically significant. The OHIS scores pre and postintervention were 3.31 ± 0.88 and 1.04 ± 0.54 and were also statistically significant. Conclusion: The present study revealed that the instructed tooth brushing program, along with oral prophylaxis and oral hygiene instructions in Braille for the visually impaired children for maintaining their oral hygiene is an effective method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]