The debate about mental illness and the importance of good mental health especially in the classroom has surged. Promoting child mental health is a global priority, and educators have an important role to play in mitigating this public health crisis. Early identification, accurate diagnosis, and effective treatment of mental health disorders can…

Background: Long-term care planning (LTCP) is critical for individuals with intellectual/developmental disabilities. Objectives of this study were to investigate progression through LTCP, and associations between social support and: (1) LTCP and (2) burden among family caregivers. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was distributed to caregivers of…

Background: Long-term care services are funded primarily by Medicaid long-term services and support in the United States, where eligibility is based on care needs of the individual with intellectual and developmental disability alone. Impact of Medicaid waiver services on self-reported caregiver needs is not well understood. Method: Caregivers (n…

Critical thinking skills remain one of the top requirements for nurses in order to adequately deal with patients diagnosed with growing comorbidities, all to improve quality of care. Critical thinking skills are now considered a core competency for all educational nursing programs in the United States. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive…

Background: Before the COVID-19 pandemic, telemedicine for healthcare delivery was uncommon. Medicare restricted routine fee-for-service reimbursements for rural patients, with payments made under restricted circumstances. In response to the pandemic, the Department of HHS amended the Coronavirus Preparedness and Response Supplemental…

The United States continues to grow in both population and diversity. The trigger for this project was the dramatic increase in patient diversity in Texas and the lack of adequate cultural competency training for providers at a Texas oncology clinic network. Clinicians must increase their self-awareness and knowledge to provide culturally…

Objective: To investigate influenza vaccination rates and perceptions underlying vaccine noncompliance. Participants: Participants included undergraduate students (N = 365) at a rural, medium-sized university in Texas. Methods: Students were anonymously surveyed in the spring of 2018 on demographics, insurance status, perceived barriers of…

LGBTQ + young people of color manage societal marginalization related to their LGBTQ + and racial/ethnic identities, which can shape health challenges. Despite their elevated need for responsive health services, cultural competence among service providers has largely focused on race/ethnicity, rather than LGBTQ + status, resulting in a lack of…

This study compared the different services and types of disorders Oklahoma and Texas K-12 SLP's provided through teletherapy as compared to face-to-face therapy before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. A Google forms survey was available to SLPs from June through October, 2021, assessing three age groups of children: elementary (5-10 years),…

Competency mapping in higher education is not a new technique for curriculum development. Competency-based curriculum in health care administration programs has appeared in the literature every few years. Texas State University has taught a bachelor's in health administration (BHA) and a master's in health administration (MHA) for decades and…

Correctional systems in several U.S. states have entered into partnerships with academic medical centers (AMCs) to provide healthcare for persons who are incarcerated. One AMC specializing in the care of incarcerated patients is the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston (UTMB), which hosts the only dedicated prison hospital in the U.S.…

Poor nursing documentation of patient care was identified in daily nurse visit notes in a health care setting. This problem affects effective communication of patient status with other clinicians, thereby jeopardizing clinical decision-making. The purpose of this evidence-based project was to determine the impact of a retraining program on the…

Purpose: Applied behavior analysis (ABA) interventions are considered an evidence-based practice for individuals with autism spectrum disorder. With the recent COVID-19 pandemic, behavior analytic professionals quickly pivoted ABA therapy to the telehealth modality to ensure continuity of services. In particular, this modality has been reported to…

Teacher morale declined over the course of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, highlighting the importance of the quality of the workplace conditions that teachers experience and how those conditions might influence well-being and retention. In response to widespread concerns about teacher shortages, many states are focusing on…

Teacher morale declined during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic, and teachers reported worse wellbeing than other working adults. Interventions to restore teacher well-being could improve job performance, job satisfaction, engagement, and retention. Although it is known that working conditions are related to well-being among other teachers…