Background: Guidelines for the safe administration of drugs through enteral feeding tube (EFT) are an important tool to minimise the risk of errors. This study aimed to investigate knowledge of these guidelines among staff of residential care facilities (RCF) for people with ID. Method: Knowledge was assessed using a 13-item self-administered…

Introduction: The readability of prescription drug labels has been found to be faster with labels attached to flat surfaces compared to round surfaces, in persons with visual impairment. This study extends this finding by examining the readability of drug labels, as measured by speed and accuracy, as they interact with factors of age and vision…

Background: Caregiver skill training and support programs are traditionally offered to adult caregivers, leaving out the over 1 million children and youth who provide care ("young caregivers"). Skill building and support programs are critical to caregiver and patient well-being and can be informed by the knowledge of current caregiver…

The capacity to learn new visuomotor associations is fundamental to adaptive motor behavior. Evidence suggests visuomotor learning deficits in Parkinson's disease (PD). However, the exact nature of these deficits and the ability of dopamine medication to improve them are under-explored. Previous studies suggested that learning driven by large and…

The purpose of this study was to 1) help novice students scaffold problem-solving and engage safely in the deliberate practice of diagnostic reasoning and medical decision-making in real time; 2) assess how accurately students gather and apply data in medical reasoning and treatment during high-fidelity patient simulations (HFPSs); 3) identify…

Background: Children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are characterised by developmentally inappropriate levels of hyperactivity, impulsivity and/or inattention and are particularly impaired when performing tasks that require a high level of cognitive control. Methylphenidate (MPH) and motivational incentives may help improve…

Background: India's National AIDS Control Programme calls for, among other things, targeted behavioral interventions that address determinants contributing to new infections among men who have sex with men (MSM) and hijras (transgender women). Aim: To determine if the information-motivation-behavioral skills model was transferable to an Indian…

Prescribing pharmacotherapy for older individuals with an intellectual disability (ID) is a complex process, possibly leading to an increased risk of prescription errors. The objectives of this study were (1) to determine the prevalence of older individuals with an intellectual disability with at least one prescription error and (2) to identify…

Learning to select optimal behavior in new and uncertain situations is a crucial aspect of living and requires the ability to quickly associate stimuli with actions that lead to rewarding outcomes. Mathematical models of reinforcement-based learning to select rewarding actions distinguish between (1) the formation of stimulus-action-reward…

Objective: Bipolar disorder (BD) and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) are often comorbid or confounded; therefore, we evaluated emotional face identification to better understand brain/behavior interactions in children and adolescents with either primary BD, primary ADHD, or typically developing controls (TDC). Method: Participants…

This dissertation proposes and tests a theory explaining how people make decisions to achieve a goal in a specific task environment. The theory is represented as a computational model and implemented as a computer program. The task studied was primary care physicians treating patients with type 2 diabetes. Some physicians succeed in achieving…

Increased variability in reaction time (RT) has been proposed as a cardinal feature of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD). Increased variability during sustained attention tasks may reflect inefficient fronto-striatal and fronto-parietal circuitry; activity within these circuits is modulated by the catecholamines. A disruption to…

Background: Heightened error and conflict monitoring are considered central mechanisms in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and are associated with anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) function. Pediatric obsessive-compulsive patients provide an opportunity to investigate the development of this area and its associations with psychopathology.…

Background: There is increasing recognition of major depressive disorder (MDD) in adolescence. In adult MDD, abnormalities of fronto-striatal and fronto-cingulate circuitries mediating cognitive control functions have been implicated in the pathogenesis and been related to problems with controlling negative thoughts. No neuroimaging studies of…

Many students require prescription and nonprescription medication to be administered during the school day for chronic and acute illnesses. School office staff members are typically delegated this task, yet these individuals are unlicensed assistive personnel without medical training. Five school nurses developed and participated in a medication…