Browsing by Subject "policy"

Now showing 1 - 10 of 14
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    Abstinence-Only-Until-Marriage: An Updated Review of U.S. Policies and Programs and Their Impact
    (Elsevier, 2017-09) Santelli, John S.; Kantor, Leslie M.; Grilo, Stephanie A.; Speizer, Ilene S.; Lindberg, Laura D.; Heitel, Jennifer; Schalet, Amy T.; Lyon, Maureen E.; Mason-Jones, Amanda J.; McGovern, Terry; Heck, Craig J.; Rogers, Jennifer; Ott, Mary A.; Pediatrics, School of Medicine
    Adolescence is marked by the emergence of human sexuality, sexual identity, and the initiation of intimate relations; within this context, abstinence from sexual intercourse can be a healthy choice. However, programs that promote abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) or sexual risk avoidance are scientifically and ethically problematic and—as such—have been widely rejected by medical and public health professionals. Although abstinence is theoretically effective, in actual practice, intentions to abstain from sexual activity often fail. Given a rising age at first marriage around the world, a rapidly declining percentage of young people remain abstinent until marriage. Promotion of AOUM policies by the U.S. government has undermined sexuality education in the United States and in U.S. foreign aid programs; funding for AOUM continues in the United States. The weight of scientific evidence finds that AOUM programs are not effective in delaying initiation of sexual intercourse or changing other sexual risk behaviors. AOUM programs, as defined by U.S. federal funding requirements, inherently withhold information about human sexuality and may provide medically inaccurate and stigmatizing information. Thus, AOUM programs threaten fundamental human rights to health, information, and life. Young people need access to accurate and comprehensive sexual health information to protect their health and lives.
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    Advancing Faculty Diversity Through Self-Directed Mentoring
    (2017) Dutton, Yvonne M.; Ryznar, Margaret; Shaver, Lea
    Mentoring is widely acknowledged to be important in career success, yet may be lacking for female and minority law professors, contributing to disparities in retention and promotion of diverse faculty. This Article presents the results of a unique diversity mentoring program conducted at one law school. Mentoring is often thought of as something directed by the mentor on behalf of the protégé. Our framework inverts that model, empowering diverse faculty members to proactively cultivate their own networks of research mentors. The studied intervention consisted of modest programming on mentorship, along with supplemental travel funds to focus specifically on travel for the purpose of cultivating mentors beyond one’s own institution. Participants were responsible for setting their own mentorship goals, approaching mentors and arranging meetings, and reporting annually on their activities and progress. Both quantitative and qualitative evidence demonstrate that the program has been effective along its measurable goals in its first year. Participants report growing their networks of mentors, receiving significant advice on research and the tenure process, and being sponsored for new opportunities. The authors conclude that this type of mentoring initiative, if more broadly applied, could have a significant impact on reducing disparities in retention and promotion in the legal academy. To facilitate such replication, the Article describes both the process of designing the program and the actual operation of the program as carried out at one school. In sum, the Article offers a concrete starting point for discussions at any law school interested in advancing faculty diversity through improved mentoring.
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    "An Institution Can Have Good Intentions and Still Be Atrocious": Transgender and Gender Expansive Experiences in Social Work Education
    (WMU, 2023) Kinney, M. Killian; Cosgrove, Darren; Swafford, Tayon R.; Brandon-Friedman, Richard A.; School of Social Work
    Educational settings have been found to be challenging arenas for transgender and gender expansive (TGE) youth and young adults due to misgendering, lack of affirming bathrooms, systemic exclusion (e.g., legal names and lack of inclusive gender identity demographic options), and frequent silence or avoidance related to TGE issues. Though studies of TGE adult experiences in higher education are emerging, most explore disaffirming experiences. Social work education focuses on diversity, equity, and inclusion, along with how to promote social justice, which suggests more affirming environments for TGE individuals. However, little is known about the experiences of TGE students and even less about faculty in social work education. To help fill this gap, the researchers interviewed 23 TGE social work students and faculty to explore their experiences of gender-related affirmation and challenges in social work educational programs. The findings from a thematic analysis identified examples of affirming and disaffirming experiences and recommendations for improving gender affirmation and inclusion in social work programs. Social work is in a strategic position to serve the needs and impact the social welfare of TGE individuals, starting with educational settings.
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    Future Directions for Transforming Kinesiology Implementation Science Into Society
    (Human Kinetics Journals, 2023) Alamilla, Rafael A.; Keith, NiCole R.; Hasson, Rebecca E.; Welk, Gregory J.; Riebe, Deborah; Wilcox, Sara; Pate, Russell R.
    Physical activity policy can play a crucial role in ensuring that individuals, communities, and societies can obtain the wide range of health benefits associated with regular physical activity participation. Policies such as Title IX, the Americans With Disabilities Act, and state physical education laws have all increased opportunities for millions of Americans to participate in physical activity. With that said, how policies are developed and implemented vary considerably. The purpose of this manuscript is to contrast an academic conceptual framework with a pragmatic approach for policy implementation. In an ideal world, polices would be developed from foundational knowledge, scaled up to community-level interventions, and implemented in a sequential fashion. However, policy implementation is a disorderly process that requires a practical methodology. The National Physical Activity Plan encompasses strategies and tactics across 10 key societal sectors—and highlights the disorderly process of policy implementation across the various sectors.
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    Hospitals’ adoption of intra-system information exchange is negatively associated with inter-system information exchange
    (Oxford Academic, 2018-09) Vest, Joshua R.; Simon, Kosali; Health Policy and Management, School of Public Health
    Introduction U.S. policy on interoperable HIT has focused on increasing inter-system (ie, between different organizations) health information exchange. However, interoperable HIT also supports the movement of information within the same organization (ie, intra-system exchange). Methods We examined the relationship between hospitals’ intra- and inter-system information exchange capabilities among health system hospitals included in the 2010-2014 American Hospital Association’s Annual Health Information Technology Survey. We described the factors associated with hospitals that adopted more intra-system than inter-system exchange capability, and explored the extent of new capability adoption among hospitals that reported neither intra- or inter-system information capabilities at baseline. Results The prevalence of exchange increased over time, but the adoption of inter-system information exchange was slower; when hospitals adopt information exchange, adoption of intra-system exchange was more common. On average during our study period, hospitals could share 4.6 types of information by intra-system exchange, but only 2.7 types of information by inter-system exchange. Controlling for other factors, hospitals exchanged more types of information in an intra-system manner than inter-system when the number of different inpatient EHR vendors in use in health system is larger. Conclusion Consistent with the U.S. goals for more widely accessible patient information, hospitals’ ability to share information has increased over time. However, hospitals are prioritizing within-organizational information exchange over exchange between different organizations. If increasing inter-system exchanges is a desired goal, current market incentives and government policies may be insufficient to overcome hospitals’ motivations for pursuing an intra-system-information-exchange-first strategy.
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    Innovations in Opioid Law and Policy Interventions Workshop: Summary of Proceedings
    (Indiana University, 2018-08-31) Terry, Nicolas P.; Silverman, Ross D.; Hoss, Aila; Beukema, Emily
    In 2017, Indiana University, in cooperation with Indiana Governor Eric Holcomb and community partners, launched the Grand Challenge: Responding to the Addictions Crisis initiative, a university-wide effort to advance interdisciplinary research and interventions in response to the substance abuse crisis affecting Indiana and the nation. The “Legal and Policy Best Practices in Response to the Substance Abuse Crisis” project is one of sixteen funded under Phase 1 of the Grand Challenge. In July 2018, and as part of this project, the research team convened a group of national experts to discuss legal and policy innovations to respond to the opioid use disorder (OUD) crisis. This report summarizes the proceedings of this workshop and updates some of the recommendations made by the team in their March 2018 Preliminary Report. During the workshop, experts answered targeted questions relating to the challenges in implementing law and policy recommendations to respond to the addiction crisis, as well as identified gaps in the current research. Participants provided examples of innovative interventions to respond to this crisis across four primary topic categories: (1) Criminalization; (2) Public Health; (3) Treatment; and (4) Effectuating Change.
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    Measuring Impacts of Marine Aquaculture Partnerships
    (2012-11) Calanni, John; Siddiki, Saba; Weible, Christopher; Leach, William; Vince, Scott
    The authors performed a survey of aquaculture partnership participants to understand their perceptions of problems associated with the expansion of U.S. marine aquaculture, as well as the impacts of partnerships on these problems. The partnerships indicated positive impacts on such important problems as dissemination of misinformation as well as insufficient policies regarding leases, licenses and permits. They reported little to no impacts on issues such as financing of startup operations and research.
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    Policies and Perceptions: Using the Institutional Grammar Tool to Assess Policy Design, Appropriateness, and Coerciveness
    (2013-01-14) Siddiki, Saba
    A necessary pursuit in public policy scholarship is better understanding of the language of policies intended to structure behavior and the implications thereof. Currently lacking in this literature are methodological approaches that yield micro-level depictions of the linguistic elements constituting policies, while at the same time supporting analyses of macro-level governance questions, such as (i) what is the perceived appropriateness of policies; and (ii) are there differences between actual and perceived policy coerciveness? In this paper, these questions are answered in the context of U.S. aquaculture. Data were obtained through a coding of state level aquaculture policies in Virginia and Florida using the institutional grammar tool (IGT) and semi-structured interviews involving a Q-Sort exercise with thirty members of the aquaculture communities in the two study states. Overall, the findings from this research indicate that policies are likely to be perceived as being less coercive than they really are when policy directives are ambiguous, when they are perceived as being inappropriate, and when enforcement of policies is non-stringent. Further, another finding from this research is that perceptions of policy coerciveness vary based on the substantive focus of policy directives.
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    Reimagining the research-practice relationship: policy recommendations for informatics-enabled evidence-generation across the US health system
    (Oxford Academic, 2019-01-16) Embi, Peter J.; Richesson, Rachel; Tenenbaum, Jessica; Kannry, Joseph; Friedman, Charles; Sarkar, Indra Neil; Smith, Jeff; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Abstract. The widespread adoption and use of electronic health records and their use to enable learning health systems (LHS) holds great promise to accelerate both evidence-generating medicine (EGM) and evidence-based medicine (EBM), thereby enabling a LHS. In 2016, AMIA convened its 10th annual Policy Invitational to discuss issues key to facilitating the EGM-EBM paradigm at points-of-care (nodes), across organizations (networks), and to ensure viability of this model at scale (sustainability). In this article, we synthesize discussions from the conference and supplements those deliberations with relevant context to inform ongoing policy development. Specifically, we explore and suggest public policies needed to facilitate EGM-EBM activities on a national scale, particularly those policies that can enable and improve clinical and health services research at the point-of-care, accelerate biomedical discovery, and facilitate translation of findings to improve the health of individuals and populations.
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    Reimagining the research-practice relationship: policy recommendations for informatics-enabled evidence-generation across the US health system
    (Oxford Academic, 2019-01-16) Embi, Peter J.; Richesson, Rachel; Tenenbaum, Jessica; Kannry, Joseph; Friedman, Charles; Sarkar, Indra Neil; Smith, Jeff; Medicine, School of Medicine
    Abstract. The widespread adoption and use of electronic health records and their use to enable learning health systems (LHS) holds great promise to accelerate both evidence-generating medicine (EGM) and evidence-based medicine (EBM), thereby enabling a LHS. In 2016, AMIA convened its 10th annual Policy Invitational to discuss issues key to facilitating the EGM-EBM paradigm at points-of-care (nodes), across organizations (networks), and to ensure viability of this model at scale (sustainability). In this article, we synthesize discussions from the conference and supplements those deliberations with relevant context to inform ongoing policy development. Specifically, we explore and suggest public policies needed to facilitate EGM-EBM activities on a national scale, particularly those policies that can enable and improve clinical and health services research at the point-of-care, accelerate biomedical discovery, and facilitate translation of findings to improve the health of individuals and populations