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Determine the temporal and spatial characteristics of stairs versus elevator use in a university residence hall to inform future physical activity promotion efforts. All residents and visitors for a single, four-story residence hall dormitory building located on a college campus in Orange, CA. Smart mat systems capable of detecting pedestrian traffic were placed in front of the stairs and elevators on each floor plus a basement. Generalized additive mixed models (GAMMs) were used to compare stair versus elevator usage at different times of the day and on different floors. Stair versus elevator use varied much more throughout the day on floors nearest to the ground floor, with stair use most common in the morning. Overall, the elevator was used more frequently on higher floors, with less variation throughout the day. To be most effective, future stair promotion interventions should target residents on higher floors and in the morning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Medical assistants (MAs) have seen their roles expand as a result of team-based primary care models. Unlike their physician counterparts, MAs rarely receive financial incentives as a part of their compensation. This exploratory study aims to understand MA acceptability of financial incentives and perceived MA control over common population health measures.Methods: We conducted semistructured focus groups between August and December of 2019 across 10 clinics affiliated with 3 institutions in California and Utah. MAs' perceptions of experienced and hypothetical financial incentives, their potential influence on workflow processes, and perceived levels of control over population health measures were discussed, recorded, and qualitatively analyzed for emerging themes. Perceived levels of control were further quantified using a Likert survey; measures were grouped into factors representing vaccinations, and workflow completed in the same day or multiple days (multiday). Mean scores for each factor were compared using repeated 1-way ANOVA with Tukey-Kramer adjustment.Results: MAs reported little direct experience with financial incentives. They indicated that a hypothetical bonus representing 2% to 3% of their average annual base pay would be acceptable and influential in improving consistent performance during patient rooming workflow. MAs reported having greater perceived control over vaccinations (P <.001) and same-day measures (P <.001) as compared with multiday measures.Conclusions: MAs perceived that relatively small financial incentives would increase their motivation and quality of care. Our findings suggests target measures should focus on MA work processes that are completed in the same day as the patient encounter, particularly vaccinations. Future investigation is needed to understand the effectiveness of MA financial incentives in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Teachers and school nurses partner together to help ensure students stay healthy and engaged in school. The purpose of this study is to generate a deeper understanding of teachers’ perceptions on the benefits and challenges of working with full- or part-time school nurses. We conducted a qualitative analysis of open-ended survey responses from 129 teachers in nine low-income, ethnically diverse urban schools. These schools were part of a multiyear project that placed full-time nurses in four schools, while five schools with part-time nurses were used as a comparison group. Findings indicate that teachers had strong appreciation for the wide range of responsibilities undertaken by the school nurse. Teachers’ level of satisfaction was linked to the number of hours the nurse is on-site, where teachers reported greater satisfaction with nurses who worked on campus full time. Results point to factors that may improve working relations between teachers and nurses. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]