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The CellCheck dry cow consult (DCC) was developed by the CellCheck Technical Working Group to enable farmers to engage with their nominated veterinarian to develop farm-specific selective dry cow therapy (SDCT) plans, where appropriate. This study evaluated the effect of the DCC on farmer decision-making around dry cow therapy, and the udder health effects of implementing SDCT, in study herds over the 2019 and 2020 dry periods. The DCC was a 3-h consult, delivered and funded as part of the Targeted Advisory Service on Animal Health. Herds that completed a DCC were invited to register for a dry cow review the following year. The combined dataset for analysis across both years comprised 439 herds and 25,357 cows. Herd size ranged from 25 to 800. The median SCC of cows dried off with teat sealant only was 47,000 cells/mL before drying off in 2019 and 48,000 cells/mL at first milk recording in 2020, and 43,000 cells/mL before drying off in 2020 and 39,000 cells/mL at first milking recording in 2021. Following both the 2019 and 2020 dry periods, cows tended to converge toward a similar median SCC early in the following lactation, irrespective of prior dry cow treatment strategy. The uptake of SDCT was greater in review herds, with 21% of cows receiving teat sealant only in 2020, compared with 16.3% of cows in herds participating in a consult for the first time in 2020. At an individual cow level, in both years dry period new infection rate (NIR) was approximately 2.7% higher for cows treated with teat sealant only, than for those treated with both dry cow antibiotic tubes and teat sealant, and 1.2% higher than cows treated with antibiotic only. Regardless of treatment, a significant association was detectable between increasing parity and the risk of a dry period new infection. Increasing herd size had a significant effect on the risk of dry period NIR. At a herd level, no significant increase in NIR occurred when SDCT was used compared with herds where blanket dry cow therapy was used. Though not without risk, SDCT can be successfully implemented in Irish herds; however, constant attention to hygiene and management is essential. Despite the challenges, facilitating continued farmer education and engagement with professional guidance will be important., (The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. on behalf of the American Dairy Science Association®. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).)

Milk recording is a critical tool in dairy farming, providing individual cow information. When used effectively, this data contributes to on-farm productivity, herd health management decisions and supports prudent veterinary prescribing of antimicrobials. Although an industry and government priority, uptake has been relatively slow in Ireland. This multi-methods, three-part study aimed to gain a comprehensive understanding of the benefits to farm performance, and factors driving uptake of milk recording on Irish dairy farms. It involved an economic analysis of N=516 farms from 2008-2019, a workshop with N=26 stakeholders and an online survey of N=197 non-milk-recording farmers. Quantitative and qualitative data were analysed using econometric models and thematic analysis respectively. Results were synthesised using the COM-B model to gain a deeper understanding of what drives the target behaviour. The study revealed that agricultural education, farm location, farm specialisation in dairy and membership of a farmer discussion group were the main factors influencing uptake of milk recording. Milk recording was associated with a €39.04/cow increase in gross margin, a 177.58 litres/cow increase in milk yield and a reduction of 13,450 cells/ml in bulk milk tank somatic cell count readings. Infrastructural constraints, cost, lack of benefits and workload were the most reported perceived barriers to milk recording by farmers. The Behaviour Change Wheel illustrates how to utilise findings and systematically develop future interventions to increase milk recording uptake. This study highlights the importance of a multi-methods approach to agricultural technology adoption and the need for evidence-based methodology when developing behaviour change interventions., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2024 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Background/aim: There is a growing body of research to support the role of occupational therapy in dementia care. However, little is known about the extent to which this research is translated into occupational therapy practice. This study addresses this gap by considering current occupational therapy practice in the field of dementia care in Ireland., Methods: A cross-sectional online survey was used to gather data about current practice. Convenience sampling and snowball recruitment techniques were used to recruit occupational therapists. Data were analysed using a combination of descriptive statistics and content analysis., Results: Forty-seven therapists responded to the survey. The majority of respondents worked in primary care and provided services for people with early stage or mild dementia. Assessment practices were primarily focussed on cognitive screening and functional performance. Limited attention was paid to occupational participation. Interventions typically addressed environmental modification, assistive devices and compensatory strategies. The ability of therapists to apply research evidence to practice appears to be strongly constrained by practice and organisational demands., Conclusion: There is a need for a global occupational therapy strategy to support knowledge translation in dementia care. At present although occupational therapists are aware of research evidence they face significant barriers in applying this evidence in practice., (© 2013 Occupational Therapy Australia.)

Purpose: To explore occupational therapists' perspectives on addressing sexuality in the context of rehabilitation services for older people., Method: A qualitative exploratory design was used. Data were collected using a series of focus groups (n = 5) among occupational therapists (n = 22) working with older people. Data were analysed using content analysis., Results: Occupational therapists in this study rarely addressed sexuality in the context of rehabilitation services for older people. Three major categories emerged in relation to barriers which influence therapists' practice in this area: (i) the influence of culture on decisions regarding whether or not to address sexuality, (ii) perceived competence and confidence to address sexuality and (iii) the impact of resources regarding the inclusion or exclusion of sexuality from rehabilitation., Conclusions: Although sexuality is increasingly considered an important and relevant aspect of successful ageing the extent to which healthcare professionals are prepared to address sexual concerns identified by older people is less clear. If new expectations of healthy ageing are to be met, healthcare professionals must acknowledge the importance of sexuality and be prepared to be involved in sexual health management. Implications for Rehabilitation Healthcare professionals continue to be reluctant to respond to older peoples' concerns relating to sexuality. Occupational therapists in Ireland identified socio-cultural norms relating to sexuality, perceived professional competence and confidence and prioritization of resources as key barriers. Education is needed to improve therapists' perceived competence and confidence in addressing sexuality with older adults. Policy change is required to consider the underlying assumptions about sexuality, ageing and disability.

This study investigated the impact of service learning on healthcare students, educators, and community partners in Ireland. Using a qualitative approach with focus groups and interviews, 38 participants' perceptions of the impact of service learning were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed. The findings in relation to the students reflected previous research: service learning had the capacity to support personal development, enhance academic performance, and increase civic awareness. The primary impacts for the community partners involved accessing students and services. The educators appreciated the opportunities to link academic theory to practice and to engage with the community partners. The results identified that the evaluation of learning outcomes was challenging because of both the evolving nature and breadth of learning achieved by all the stakeholders. However, our findings suggested that some impacts of service learning are consistent between Ireland and the USA. Further research is needed to explore whether the impacts of service learning are comparable across other cultures and contexts., (© 2011 Blackwell Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.)

E-learning is regularly promoted in higher education settings as a way of fostering more flexible approaches to learning. It has been argued however that the 'potential benefits of new information and communication technology instruments in education' have not been subjected to critical scrutiny (Debande, O., 2004. ICTs and the development of e-learning in Europe: the role of the public and private sectors. European Journal of Education 39 (2), 191-208, p. 192). This paper outlines a multi-method evaluation of an e-learning innovation designed to teach clinical skills to student nurses. Responding to the challenges of teaching clinical skills to large class sizes, we developed a set of instructional videos for one undergraduate skills-based module, which are now integral to the module and available online to students on a continuous basis. Evaluation suggests that students' performance outcomes are unchanged. The students view the flexible and self-management aspects of this method of learning positively, with some attitudinal differences between male and female, and mature and non-mature students. However, it is best used to complement rather than replace lecturer demonstration, lending support to a 'blended' model (Collis, B., van der Wende, M., 2002. Models of Technology and Change in Higher Education: An International Comparative Survey on The Current and Future Use of ICT in Higher Education, University of Twente, Center for Higher Education Policy Studies, The Netherlands).