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Introduction Given the aging population and the benefits of comprehensive geriatric assessment to this subset of patients, an interprofessional education training approach may be advantageous for learners from a number of different health professions. Methods Through intercollegiate collaborations involving seven different colleges, an interprofessional simulation using standardized patients was developed and instituted for learners in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, occupational therapy, physical therapy, dental hygiene, and dietitian programs. Herein, we describe the design of the simulation experience and examine its impact on students, as assessed primarily via written reflective comments provided via exit slips at the conclusion of the activity. Results Of the 340 student participants, 83% submitted exit slips describing something gained from the interprofessional session that would not have occurred if students had completed the activity with only students from their own discipline. Three key themes were identified from these reflections: new understanding of roles and responsibilities of other disciplines, new knowledge or skills pertaining to geriatric assessments, and the value of teamwork. Discussion Reflective comments from students regarding the interprofessional experience are evidence of this initiative's benefits, which include increasing knowledge of geriatric medical and allied health-provided care and attainment of interprofessional competencies.

Summary This study describes the development of the Staff Implementation Observation Form, an instrument to assess staff competence delivering an intervention to youth in group home care with behavioral or emotional disorders. This instrument assesses staff skill at implementing the key treatment components, including building relationships with youth, teaching skills to youth, implementing a token economy, and establishing a youth self‐government system. The pilot study, observing 92 staff members, found that the instrument possesses promising psychometric qualities, including adequate inter‐rater agreement, internal scale consistency, and predictive validity. A cluster analysis identified groups of staff that had low, average, and high implementation. The instrument allows administrators to examine item‐level implementation of residential staff to identify specific training needs within each subscale.

Malignant ovarian epithelial tumors have been shown to have decreased inhibin production relative to activin production compared with normal ovarian surface epithelial (OSE) cells and nonmalignant ovarian tumors. Activin stimulates proliferation of many ovarian cancer cell lines. Inhibin antagonizes the action of activin, and inhibin-deficient mice develop gonadal tumors, suggesting that inhibin may be a tumor suppressor. However, its effects on OSE and ovarian cancer cells are unknown. We hypothesize that activin and inhibin are important regulators of biological activity in ovarian cancers. We found that inhibin A decreased murine OSE proliferation, whereas activin A had no effect. Activin A increased the proliferation of four of eight ovarian cancer cell lines (SKOV3, OCC1, OVCAR3, and A2780-s). Inhibin A decreased the proliferation of SKOV3, A2780-s, and OVCAR3 but had no effect on OCC1, ES-2, HEY, A2780-cp, and OVCA429 cells. When injected into nude mice, the inhibin-resistant cancer cell lines resulted in shorter survival time compared with the inhibin-responsive cells. Further investigations on SKOV3 and OCC1 cells showed that activin A increased invasion through Matrigel. Inhibin A decreased both basal and activin-induced proliferation and invasion of SKOV3 but had no effect on OCC1 cells. Reverse transcription-PCR analyses showed that the SKOV3 and OCC1 cells produced activin, but only SKOV3 produced inhibin. Analysis of the activin/inhibin signaling pathways indicated that Smad anchor for receptor activation was elevated in SKOV3 and OCC1 cells and that an up-regulation of the activin receptor expression may explain the inhibin resistance of OCC1 cells. Our results suggest that activin responsiveness may be gained during transformation of OSE cells and that inhibin resistance may contribute to the aggressive behavior of ovarian cancer cells.

Food insecurity adversely affects diet quality, physical, mental and social wellbeing and the capacity to act on health advice recommended by primary healthcare providers. In this article, an overview of the neglected issue of food insecurity in urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is provided. Policy and action on food security for urban Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is reviewed, and it is argued that for primary health care to better address food insecurity, an evidence base is needed to understand the experiences of individuals and households and how to work effectively to support food insecure clients.