Introduction: Community-Academic Partnerships in Research and Public Health.

This symposium includes twelve personal narratives from individuals and teams who have been engaged in community-academic partnerships in research and public health. This issue also includes four commentaries on these narratives by experts in patient and research subject advocacy, healthcare and biomedical ethics, social science, and health education funding. While much has been written about community-academic partnerships, what appears in the literature does not include in-depth, personal reflection on the challenges and obstacles faced in these partnerships.

Power, Professional Naiveté and Environmental Icebergs: Navigating the Bioethics Ecosystem.

Doing bioethics in the public arena of healthcare, government, business or academia takes courage and stamina. The effort involved must be greater than just supporting clients through disciplined arguments and an ongoing process of clarification. Beyond the argument, for ethicists to be of value, they must understand the importance of navigating power structures within the bioethics ecosystem and to recognize their own professional naiveté.

TALK NERDY TO ME: THE ROLE OF INTELLECTUAL STIMULATION IN THE SUPERVISOR-EMPLOYEE RELATIONSHIP.

This study investigates (1) if communication with one's supervisor is related to empowerment through establishing perceptions of leader integrity, and (2) the extent to which the relationship between leader integrity and empowerment is moderated by intellectual stimulation. Due to the dynamic nature of today's organizational environment, understanding the nuances among these variables is vital to effective performance at the individual and organizational level. Hierarchical multiple regression tests were performed with a sample of 259 nurses in two regional healthcare facilities in the Midwestern United States.

Active engagement in health services administration survey courses through problem-based learning.

Problem-based learning (PBL) seeks to engage students in an active process of individual and cooperative learning of interrelated themes. As applied, it has been shown to develop better reasoning processes, critical thinking, communication skills, and an increased motivation to learn. A PBL learning modality, with a unique content approach, was incorporated into an introductory healthcare delivery systems course geared toward freshman and sophomore students.

The practicality of employee empowerment: supporting a psychologically safe culture.

In times of workforce shortages and increasing pressures to compete, health care organizations need to advance and ameliorate their resources to ensure organizational success. Other industries have maximized empowerment initiatives as a strategy to retain and develop employees as primary stakeholders of its mission. While the notion of employee empowerment is by itself noble, for it to succeed, health care organizations must promote a culture of psychological safety to ensure a genuine commitment exists in its mission and strategies.

Cost offset effect strategies for the provision of mental health care services.

This analysis examines what is currently known about the financial efficacy of mental health services in relation to the cost offset effect in health care. Moreover, it suggests that the provision of mental health services should be intertwined with cost offset strategies in regard to its practice, research, and promotion. In doing so, policy decisions and ethical practices of care concerning mental health care delivery may be shaped within an adequate cost structure.