This article features the Target Community and Educational Services program, a salaried arrangement that allows students at McDaniel College to complete their studies while living with, and managing, clients with developmental disabilities. In what is believed to be the only arrangement of its kind in the U.S., full-time graduate students agree to…

Purpose: This study examines the potential relationship between loss of local obstetrical services and pregnancy outcomes. Methods: Missouri Hospital Association and Missouri Department of Health birth certificate records were used as sources of information. All member hospitals of the Missouri Hospital Association that were located in cities of…

Purpose: Residents in rural communities in the United States, especially ethnic minority group members, have limited access to primary and specialty health care that is critical for diabetes management. This study examines primary and specialty medical care utilization among a rural, ethnically diverse, older adult population with diabetes.…

In Washington, D.C., the vast majority of children have health insurance. Yet District children often lack sufficient access to medical care and face significant health threats from chronic conditions and risk factors such as exposure to violence in schools and neighborhoods. These findings emerged from an assessment of children's health in…

Introduction: To explore the relationship between self-directed learning (SDL) needs, patterns, barriers, and outcomes among nonacademic general surgeons. Methods: Participants dictated details of SDL episodes associated with cancer patient management from October 2007 to March 2008. Transcripts were coded thematically. Frequencies were calculated…

Purpose: To assess whether people in the rural Southeast perceive that there is an adequate number of physicians in their communities, assess how these perceptions relate to county physician-to-population (PtP) ratios, and identify other factors associated with the perception that there are enough local physicians. Methods: Adults (n = 4,879) from…

The Delta Society defines animal-assisted therapy as "a goal-directed intervention in which an animal is incorporated as an integral part of the clinical healthcare treatment process." Unlike other animal-assisted activities, animal-assisted therapy, or AAT, is led by a professional such as a physical therapist, occupational therapist,…

Context: Skin diseases are common occupational illnesses for migrant farmworkers. Farmworkers face many barriers in accessing health care resources. Purpose: Framed by the Health Behavior Model, the purpose of this study was to assess health care utilization for skin disease by migrant Latino farmworkers. Methods: Three hundred and four migrant…

We report demographic and clinical characteristics of children reported to the US Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) as having autism or another developmental disorder after vaccination. We completed 124 interviews with parents and reviewed medical records for 31 children whose records contained sufficient information to evaluate the…

Purpose: Although caregivers desire specific information about hospice programs, there is little descriptive information available. We characterized agencies that provide formal or informal hospice care in the United States according to four types of services considered important by caregivers: medications and treatments; rehabilitative care;…

The Three Assistances and One Alleviation Plan issued in 2006 is an expansion of the Western China Program issued in 2003. Voluntary services in agricultural, educational, and medical areas by college graduates are organized through the implementation of this policy. The plan aims to recruit 20,000 graduates per year and has provided more detailed…

This article explores the issues surrounding medical amnesty policies in higher education beginning with the background of such policies, a summary of the current debate regarding the policies, and a discussion of research related to helping behaviors among college students. Due to the negative consequences of alcohol misuse, many student affairs…

A focus group study was conducted with individuals with developmental disabilities to understand their perspectives on their health status, health promotion behaviors, and health care services they receive. The majority of participants reported good to excellent health, and all had some form of medical insurance. However, participants reported…

Clinicians are often asked to evaluate older individuals for their capacity to make decisions regarding their medical care, often referred to as "medical decision-making capacity" (MDMC). However, the degree to which clinicians have the necessary knowledge to properly evaluate MDMC is uncertain. To assess the level of training and knowledge that…