Health extension in new Mexico: an academic health center and the social determinants of disease.

The Agricultural Cooperative Extension Service model offers academic health centers methodologies for community engagement that can address the social determinants of disease. The University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center developed Health Extension Rural Offices (HEROs) as a vehicle for its model of health extension. Health extension agents are located in rural communities across the state and are supported by regional coordinators and the Office of the Vice President for Community Health at the Health Sciences Center.

Using the ICF to address needs of people with disabilities in international development: Cambodian case study.

International development work is designed to help developing countries strengthen their economies, infrastructure, healthcare systems and educational systems in order to decrease poverty and to improve the quality of life for citizens. However, people with disabilities often miss out on the benefits of development efforts because international organizations and donors do not know how to include them. The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) could serve as a model for understanding disability from a population perspective, and has the potential to guide disability mainstreaming in international development.

Factors in recruiting and retaining health professionals for rural practice.

Context: Rural communities, often with complex health care issues, have difficulty creating and sustaining an adequate health professional workforce.

Purpose: To identify factors associated with rural recruitment and retention of graduates from a variety of health professional programs in the southwestern United States.

Methods: A survey collecting longitudinal data was mailed to graduates from 12 health professional programs in New Mexico.

Interdisciplinary health education and career choice in rural and underserved areas.

Purpose: To assess the association between an educational rural health interdisciplinary programme (RHIP) and subsequent practice in US rural and underserved locations.

Methods: We carried out a longitudinal cohort study of RHIP students and randomly selected classmate controls for the years 1990-2001, using a mailed survey.

Outcomes: Main outcome measures were first rural, any rural, first underserved and any underserved practice locations.

Occupational concerns of women who are homeless and have children: an occupational justice critique.

SUMMARY The purpose of this exploratory study was to describe the occupational goals and concerns of women who are homeless with children. Twenty-seven women with children living in homeless shelters completed interviews using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM). Occupational issues and concerns were identified for each participant, and then they were pooled.

Student-developed problem-based learning cases: preparing for rural healthcare practice.

Introduction: The need for health professionals is acute throughout rural communities worldwide. The Rural Health Interdisciplinary Program (RHIP) successfully trains health professional students for practice in rural USA. Student-developed problem-based learning (PBL) cases are a central feature of the RHIP and an important educational focus of learning.

Occupational goals of mothers of children with disabilities: influence of temporal, social, and emotional contexts.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to describe the occupational concerns and goals of mothers who care for children with disabilities.

Method: Retrospective data collected from 38 mothers of children with disabilities using the Canadian Occupational Performance Measure (COPM) were analyzed qualitatively.

Results: Six themes emerged: (I) doing and being alone: taking care of my own health and well-being; (II) doing and being with others: expanding my social life; (III) improving my child's quality of life; (IV) household management: organizing time and resources; (V) balancing work, home, and community responsibilities; and (VI) sharing the workload.

Promoting professional reflection through problem-based learning evaluation activities.

SUMMARY To become competent occupational therapy practitioners, students must develop the ability to reflect upon their current and future professional development. This paper presents one curriculum's approach (the University of New Mexico) to using evaluation activities in problem-based learning to enhance students' cultivation of professional reflection skills. A description of these evaluation activities and accompanying tools is provided along with a critique of their strengths and limitations.

Outcomes of an occupational therapy program for mothers of children with disabilities: impact on satisfaction with time use and occupational performance.

Objective: This experimental research study evaluated the impact of an 8-week psychosocial occupational therapy intervention program for mothers who have children with disabilities.

Method: Thirty-eight mothers of children with disabilities were randomly assigned to participate either in the treatment or the control group (19 in each). The occupational therapy intervention was designed to facilitate increased perceptions of satisfaction with time use and occupational performance, thereby positively affecting maternal and family well-being.