Bipolar Disorder Symptoms, Medical Management, History and Risk Factors - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2563 Downloads: 3 Date added: 2019/08/12 Category Medicine Essay Level High school Tags: Bipolar Disorder Essay Did you like this example? While studying and researching the progression, signs of symptoms, medical management, history and risk factors, medical interventions, diagnosis, and tests of bipolar disorder, a reader or patient will find some fascinating information about this disorder. This case study will reflect on many factors of bipolarism and will provide great information on prevention and physical therapy for this disease. This study will also address some support resources for this disorder, and talk about coverage of this disease process. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Bipolar Disorder: Symptoms, Medical Management, History and Risk Factors" essay for you Create order Bipolar disorder can start out at early stages of life. A person could spend months or even years with this disorder but never have received a diagnosis, or any treatment for this problem. Progression of this disease can be initiated by many factors in life, and symptoms can be very serious if the patient is not diagnosed early in the stages. There are many symptoms of bipolar disorder, and there is also two different types of this disease. The first type of this disease is bipolar one, this is the serious type of disorder because it is the kind where people can be extraordinarily manic, psychotic, or might even need to be hospitalized. In this type of disease, the patients mood will oscillate back and forth from depressions and manias. The second type of bipolarism is bipolar two, also called hypomania. This type of disease is far less severe than bipolar one, but still does not need to be left unheard. A person with bipolar two will have a little bit of mania; they might also have increased energy and decreased need for sleep. If these two types of bipolarism are not treated at early stages, it could lead to serious harm to other people of the even to the patient themselves. Bipolar disorder can be caused by many different things. It could be caused by psychosocial stresses from society, or it can be passed down genetically from previous generations. The progression of this disease is severe enough that we the people should be looking for symptoms from people in our family, friends, and community. We must find these symptoms at early stages to prevent people from committing suicide from progressed depression, or prevent people from hurting others through abuse and other actions. Bipolarism can also progress into dysphoric mania, which is when manic patients become very uncomfortabl e, anxious, or overdriven. It is estimated that two-thirds of women might have dysphoric mania, and if people are using substances or being abused, they are also more likely to become dysphoric over time. Other signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder could be categorized into two different sections of depression, or manic episodes. Symptoms of depression could be diminished interest or pleasure throughout the day, significant weight loss or loss of appetite, insomnia or hypersomnia nearly all day, psychomotor agitation, feeling worthless and always thinking about death. The other side of bipolarism is the manic episodes. This person would have symptoms like inflated self-esteem, feel persistently elevated in their mood, be easily agitated, become more talkative than usual, or have distractibility. There are ways to coping and treating bipolarism. One way is to first get a psychiatrist and get evaluated. Before tests become available, or for urgent reasons, the patient may be prescribed mood stabilizers or other forms of drugs that would treat bipolarism. Once the patient becomes available for testing he/she would have a CT scan or a MRI done. A patient might also have an EEG done for further evaluation. Since bipolarism not only affects the patient, but the family too, it is important that the familys physician and psychiatrist creates an effective and collaborative connection with the family and patient. The family and patient will have many meetings together with their family physician and psychiatrist to further cope and overall get the patient w ell again to be independent and self-driven once again. Once the patient becomes more stable he or she will not need to see the psychiatrist as often, but will still have to meet for follow-ups to view their course of illnesses. In addition, counseling and family therapy are important components of management and may be rendered by the family physician, or psychiatrist. There are many risk factors when it comes to bipolar disorder. It can depend on your genetics, environment, and also your brain structure. There is no one specific risk factor that will make you have bipolarism, but it is the act of many risk factors working together to give you this disorder. Bipolar disorder tends to run within families. Children with a parent or relative that has bipolar disorder are at a greater chance of getting this disease, rather than a child with no bipolarism throughout their family history. It is likely that your genes and the environment have the biggest factor when it comes to your chance of getting bipolar disorder. Sometimes it is the case that a major life change or a traumatic event can trigger bipolarism within a person. An example could be a loss of a loved one, or an onset medical problem. This could lead to major depression which is one of the categories of bipolarism. Drug abuse could also be the reason that a person has bipolarism. An estimated sixty percent of individuals with bipolar disorder are dependent on drugs or alcohol(Herndon). Aslo people with seasonal depression and anxiety disorders also have an increased risk for bipolarism. These types of risk factors show that the environment can have a huge risk of people getting bipolar disorder. Risk factors do not just come from the environment though, it also can come from your brain structure. Functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) and positron emission technology (PET) are types of scans that can be used to detect bipolar disorder. These two types of technology can scan your brain to detect if there are any findings that can relate to bipolarism. More research is still being conducted on this technology to see how these findings can specifically impact bipolarism, and what this means for treatment and diagnosis. Diagnosing a patient for bipolar disorder can be a hard thing to do. Doctors have come a long way in fully understanding different moods in this disease, and have also improved in making more accurate diagnoses to patients. Unlike the past, doctors can now distinguish bipolarism from many other disorders, such as unipolar depression or schizophrenia. With the greater acknowledgment of many other disorders today, doctors can now identify signs and symptoms of bipolar disorder, such as bipolar depression, hypomania, and mania. Now with most cases too, doctors can now treat the disorder safely and effectively with bipolar medication. In the medical field today, lab tests, also known as blood tests, cannot specifically determine if a patient has bipolarism or not. In fact, the best way to test for bipolar disorder is to sit down with your doctor and talk face to face about your mood swings, behaviors, or lifestyle habits. Then the doctor can start learning about your personality and dete rmine if you could have bipolarism or not. Most of the time the doctor can determine if you have bipolar disorder by knowing what your symptoms might be. Like if your overall state of health is good, if you are on a good sleeping schedule, and your appetite is appropriate. The doctor might also want to know if you have mood swings throughout the day and if you are depressed a substantial amount of time during the day. In the making of a persons bipolar diagnosis, the psychiatrist will ask questions about the patients family history of bipolarism, mental illnesses, or other mood disorders. Because of the big importance in the genetics of this disease, family history is a huge factor of diagnosing a person with bipolarism. A doctor will put the patient through a couple of tests to see if the patient has bipolar disorder. First, the doctor will ask the patient to fill out a questionnaire or checklist about his or hers daily lifestyles, to help guide the patient through a clinical review of symptoms the patient may have. In, addition the doctor may schedule a blood or urine test for the patient to rule out certain causes or symptoms. The doctor will also run various test to see if the patient is on drugs or alcohol, because people that abuse substances or alcohol are at a higher risk or bipolar disorder than someone that is not. The blood tests will also check for thyroid issues because depression can be directly correlated to bad thyroid function. Overall, the doctor will put a patient through many tests and screenings to determine if the patient may, or may not have bipolar disorder. People might be wondering what they can do as a pre-diagnosis prevention. In other words, the patient may want to know what he or she can do before going to see a doctor before screening and tests. First, it is very helpful to write down the symptoms that the patient is having. Such as if you have a loss of appetite or insomnia, if the patient might be easily triggered by certain things, or if the patient has severe depression. Focus on what you have noticed changes in like mood, sleep, appetite, energy, thinking skills, and social behavior. It might also be useful to have an in-depth look at your family history to see if any relatives, or close family members might have had this disorder or anything close to it, such as depression or manic events. This could also help in prescribing appropriate treatments to try to cure or limit your disease. In addition, a patient might want to bring a close friend or family member to the doctors appointment with them because they might know some s ymptoms that the patient is unaware of. Before a patients visit to the doctor, he or she will want to make a list symptoms and signs that they are currently having like mental and physical health concerns, unusual behaviors, past illnesses, medications, natural dietary supplements, causes of stress, and sleep and lifestyle habits. These are some things that patient might need or be aware of before an appointment for bipolar disorder diagnosis. There are many appropriate interventions for people who have bipolar disorder. The number one method for treating this disorder is medications. There are three main classes of medication for this disease, antidepressants, mood stabilizers, and antipsychotics. Typically, while taking some forms of these medications, a person will also be receiving psychotherapy. Psychotherapy is for people usually with depression or other forms of mood disorders. Research has shown that when a person is receiving psychotherapy combined with medication, they have a greater ability to cope with there illnesses rather than not using these treatments combined together. The most widely used drugs for the treatment of bipolar disorder include lithium carbonate and valproic acid (also known as Depakote or generally as Divalproex) (Understanding Bipolar Disorder). Lithium has many contributing factors to treat bipolar disorder. It can reduce mania and prevent the recurrence of depression, also it is often giv en with other medications like mood stabilizers because it is a form of an antidepressant. Overall, medications and psychotherapy are the major factors used to treat people with bipolarism. Many people with bipolar disorder, or someone who may think they have it, will want to know how to treat it using therapy. The best therapy to treat this disease is psychotherapy. There are many subcategories of psychotherapy, such as behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy, interpersonal therapy, and social rhythm therapy. Behavioral therapy mainly focuses on stress. Stress is a big part of bipolar disorder, and with a build up of stress could cause a person to lash out or explode in rage or anger. If a therapist can teach a person with bipolarism on how to control their stress, it could prevent a person from having a manic episode. The point of behavioral therapy is to teach a person how to calm themselves, think about the happy things in their life, and control their anger when they feel themselves lashing out at someone or something. Cognitive therapy focuses on controlling a persons mood swings and shifts. If the therapist can teach the patient on how to find their thinking patter ns and what controls their mood, the patient can pick out the happy things in life and control their own mood in a positive attribute. Interpersonal therapy focuses on relationships in the patients life. The therapist will talk to the patient and become familiar with their family members and spouses, and then the therapist can pick out what strains the patients life and what could cause stress or hardships to the patient. Once the therapist can pick out the hardships in the patients life, they can teach the patient how to control their strains in life and overall decrease what or who makes them stressed or depressed. The final psychotherapy category is social rhythm, this category focuses on the patients daily routine in life, and sleep schedule. If a person with bipolarism can get in a life routine, then he or she can decrease their stresses or strains in life. Once a patient with bipolar disorder has been diagnosed and treated, the patient needs to know what needs to be done at home to prevent future episodes and potentially physical lash outs. The first post-op prevention the patient should know is not to stop their medications. Sometimes a patient will skip a dosage or just think they are not useful anymore, but they are still very beneficial to the patients behavioral and cognitive decisions. Another thing the patient should do after diagnosis is to join a support group. A support group can be very beneficial because socialization with other people with bipolarism can decrease your chances of having another manic episode. Talking and hearing stories of other people with bipolarism can really make the patient think about themselves as a whole, and consider what their life purposes are. Another thing a patient post diagnosis should do is find recreational activities, or get active with others. If a person can channel their energy positive ly they can focus on the better purposes of life, and they will have a decreased chance of having depression in their life. Other ways to prevent post complications is finding fun hobbies that you might like doing. Being active and social in life can make a person have a decrease in depression and stress. The final prevention method is to stay focused on your goals. You have to have a want to to manage your bipolarism, it is not just going to be given. The patient must try really hard to cope with stress and depression in life, and find activities that make them feel happy and feel like they are worth something. In conclusion, this study focused on the progression, signs of symptoms, medical management, history and risk factors, medical interventions, diagnosis, and tests of bipolar disorder. This discussion has also reflected on the importance of intervention, the complete disease process, and the physical therapy process of bipolar disorder. Overall, the process of bipolar disorder can very long and stressful, but anybody can get through it with determination, and being focused throughout the whole process of diagnosis and therapy. Being consistent throughout the whole treatment and post-diagnosis is key to having a stress free and manic episode free life.

Evaluation Of A Clinical Skills Essay - 1417 Words

This essay will discuss a clinical skill in which I have become competent in practicing. I will use a reflective model to discuss how I have achieved the necessary level of competence in my nurse training programme. The reflective model I have chosen to use is Gibbs model (Gibbs 1988). Gibbs model of reflection incorporates the following: description, feelings, evaluation, analysis, conclusion and an action plan (Gibbs 1988). The model will be applied to the essay to facilitate critical thought, relating theory to practice where the model allows. Discussion will include the knowledge underpinning practice and the evidence base for the clinical skill. A conclusion to the essay will then be given which will discuss my reflection skills, acknowledge my competence and show my personal and professional development. The clinical skill I have chosen to reflect on within this essay is the administration of Intramuscular (IM) injections. 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Troubles in the Proctor Household free essay sample

Run High in Proctor Household In the beginning of Act II of Arthur Miller’s play, The Crucible, the story presents an interaction between John Proctor and his wife, Elizabeth. The interaction between the couple emphasizes that their relationship is anything but normal than that of a married couple. The main cause of their awkward relationship stems from Johns wandering lust. John Proctor has conflicting emotions towards Elizabeth because both of them are trying to avoid the huge fact that he committed adultery. The conflicting emotions are present when John Proctor tries to avoid confrontations with his wife, the small talk between them where John constantly tries to please Elizabeth, and the lack of mutual agreement between them. Throughout the scene, John Proctor tried very hard in order to avoid altercations with his wife. In a patriarchal society of the 1600’s, it would be very common for a woman to be subservient towards her husband. We will write a custom essay sample on Troubles in the Proctor Household or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page In the Proctor household, it is no different since Elizabeth quietly questions her husband’s authority because she â€Å"fear(s) to anger him† although she has all the leverage she needs in an argument by simply stating the fact that he cheated on her (Miller 53). However, John displays the complete opposite behavior of what is expected of a male in a patriarchal society. Firstly, when John comes home and tastes the soup his wife prepared, he is â€Å"not quite pleased† with it for it was not seasoned well (Miller 49). After adding more salt himself, John notices that Elizabeth is intently watching him taste the soup. Instead of being a typical husband back in the 1600s by criticizing such a small mistake about how his food is seasoned, he compliments on how good-tasting the soup is while knowing that it was the product of his handy-work. By holding his tongue, he avoids a confrontation between him and his wife over a very small issue of not putting enough salt in the soup. Additionally, John seems not to be the typical male in his society when he, â€Å"as gently as he can† asks for some cider (Miller 51). It is clear that this is not what his normal behavior would be because, as Elizabeth is fetching him his cider, she feels â€Å"a sense of reprimand†¦for having forgot† (Miller 51). Because Elizabeth felt as if she did something to wrong her husband, she expects that John will make a huge fuss over the issue. However, John casually brushes off her mistake by just changing the subject to him tending to the fields. His careful behavior towards Elizabeth makes him adopt the tone of a husband that has done something to immensely displease his wife and is trying not to anger her. Clearly, it shows that John has conflicting emotions towards his wife because he wants to act as a typical husband back in the 1600s, but he remembers the heinous crime he committed and tries to avoid confrontation and the possibility of the two of them talking about his mistake. John Proctor’s entire conversation with Elizabeth is mostly saying things to please her in an attempt to make-up for his affair. For example, while eating his meal he makes constant remarks about their farm being extremely big and the reason for coming home so late was because he was busy â€Å"planting far out to the forest edge† (Miller 49). In this obvious attempt to please Elizabeth, John hints at the fact that he has worked very hard on their farm. By hinting at this, he hopes to show Elizabeth that he is working for the greater good of the family and that he is not spending time with Abigail. Furthermore, John wants to make sure that Elizabeth sees all his hard work when he suggests that on â€Å"Sunday†¦ (they’ll) walk the farm to together† (Miller 51). The above passage clearly shows how much John is trying to please Elizabeth because he openly said that they would go explore the farm on Sunday which is supposed to be dedicated to a day of prayer where no one is supposed to do any work and if an individual skips church service, they would get in trouble. Secondly, John tries to please Elizabeth with material wealth when he breaks the awkward silence between them by explicitly saying that â€Å"if the crop is good I’ll buy George Jacob’s heifer. How would that please you? † (Miller 50). By asking Elizabeth her opinion on what she thinks about his decision to buy a heifer shows an atypical relationship between a husband and wife back in the 1600s since the male usually does not ask for their wife’s opinion on their decisions and that John is also trying hard to please his wife. The typical male attitude toward women voicing their opinions on things is also present in John’s demeanor when he explodes at the slight thought that Elizabeth â€Å"has lost all faith in him† due to the fact that he â€Å"faltered slightly† at the thought of hurting Abigail’s reputation (Miller 54). The constant battle in John’s demeanor to act as the man of the house as well as the caring husband act he is struggling to put up in order to make up for his mistake is an example of the conflicting emotions he is experiencing while dealing with his wife.

Poverty In The United States Has Long Been A Social, Political, And Hu

Poverty in the United States has long been a social, political, and human rights issue. Few people would say that it is not our moral duty, as social human beings to take care of those less fortunate than ourselves, to the best of our ability. I say few because there are some people out there who believe that we have no moral obligation to do anything outside of ourselves. These types of people have what is called a libertarian viewpoint. There is really no specific definition of libertarian, but it is associates justice with liberty andliberty itself with the absence of interference by other persons. In relation to the matter at hand, specifically poverty in America, libertarians are against taxing the affluent or forcing people to aid the starving and poor. One of the most influential libertarians of our time is Professor Robert Nozik. His theory of justice begins with the premise that all people have Lockean rights, which require that we refrain from interfering with others. Other than this we have no obligation to do anything positive for anyone else, and likewise, they have no obligation towards us. These rights are natural or inalienable because all humans have them and they do not come from any social or political institutions. These rights forbid us from interfering with a persons liberty even if it would promote some general good, or prevent anothers rights from being violated. Overall, the general idea is that people have the liberty to live a life free from intervention of others, and can lead their life however they so choose. In addition, he says that if a person acquired their fortune or possessions without harming, defrauding, or violating the rights of any others, then it is morally permissible to use those things however one wishes. This includes wasting, willing, or endowing the possessions to someone else. Even though many people are dying from starvation and malnutrition, Noziks theory of justice states that one has no obligation to help those people. The previous premise comes to form Noziks entitlement theory. Simply put, this theory states that people are entitled to their belongings and may use them as they wish, as long as they have fairly acquired them and have not violated anothers Lockean rights in the process. His theory is summarized as follows: 1. A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice in acquisition is entitled to that holding. 2. A person who acquires a holding in accordance with the principle of justice in transfer, from someone else entitled to the holding, is entitled to the holding. 3. No one is entitled to a holding except by (repeated) applications of 1 and 2. Relating to poverty, libertarians feel that no matter how the actual distribution of economic holdings may look, if all involved are entitled to the holdings they possess, then the distribution is just. In addition, libertarians would be against government intervention in a society to either improve the social situation or economic situation. They feel that to tweak the economy, so to speak, would involve violating someones liberty, and therefore would make it morally unacceptable. By definition, libertarianism requires that market relations are totally unrestricted. This means that interfering with uncoerced and non-fraudulent transactions or exchanges between consenting adults is strictly forbidden. For example, a libertarian would be against government regulation of wages, since the matter of earnings should be decided between an employer and employee. Likewise, a libertarian would be against providing the poor with welfare, food stamps, and subsidized housing, because such programs are in direct contrast with their beliefs about liberty. Why is this? To them, liberty means being free in terms of the aforementioned theory of rights. All forms of public aid by definition are funded by the taxation of a countrys citizens, regardless of whether an individual wishes to support the programs or not. We, as Americans, essentially have no control over what the government funds with our tax dollars. Those supported by such aid have no right to entitlement, since they have not earned the right to the holdings by any means. Personally, I find the libertarians preference for private charity over public welfare quite disheartening. Although I do believe that the public aid

Should You Drop A Class Does It Look Bad Why

Should You Drop A Class Does It Look Bad Why SAT / ACT Prep Online Guides and Tips Are you struggling in a class or simply not enjoying it and wondering if you should drop it?Are you worried about how this might look to colleges and future employers? Should you drop a class? Read this guide to learn about the benefits and drawbacks to dropping and how to decide whether or not you should drop a class. What Does It Mean to Drop a Class? Dropping a class means that you have chosen to unenroll in that course. In order toofficially drop a class, you often have to visit your academic counselor or the school office and fill out a form thatmay need to be signed by the teacher of that class. Many high schools only allow students to drop a class before a certain deadline. This deadline varies by high school and can sometimes be a month into the semester, halfway through the semester, or a different cutoff date.If you’re thinking about dropping a class, first make sure it’s still an available option. Ask your academic counselor or look at your school’s student handbook to find information on drop deadlines. Once you have dropped a class, you no longer have to attend it, and you will no longer receive a grade in that course. Instead, there will usually be a â€Å"W† (for â€Å"Withdrawn†) next to the course’s name, instead of a letter grade, on your transcript.This â€Å"W† will not affect your GPA.If you drop the class early enough, usually within the first few weeks, your transcript may not even show the dropped class. However, if you miss this deadline, your transcript will show that you withdrew from the course, even if you sign up for a new course in its place. If you drop a class and later decide to retake it, you will have to retake the entire course, no matter how far along the course was when you dropped it.Also, your transcript will usually show that this wasn’t your first time enrolling in the class and that you retook it (sometimes with an â€Å"R† next to the letter grade received). After you drop a class, you may need to enroll in a new course to take the place of the one you droppedin order to have enough credits to graduate on time, but this isn't always required. Your advisor will explain if this is something you need to do. Why Might You Want to Drop a Class? There are a number of reasons a student may want to drop a class, including: You signed up for too many honors or AP courses and don't have enough time to devote to all of them. The course you signed up for is not what you expected it to be, and you no longer find it interesting or useful. You signed up for too many classes above the normal high school course load and need to drop one. You don't like the way the class is being taught and feel you won't learn much from it. The class you signed up for is too challenging, and you don't think you'll be able to pass it or get a good grade in it. Your interests or future college major changed, and you decided to take classes in a different field. The class you're in is too easy, so you are dropping it and changing to a more advanced version of the class or the next course in the sequence. Why Might Dropping a Class Be Bad? Students often worry that dropping a class will hurt their chances of getting into their top colleges. They may think that colleges will see them as quitters or not intelligent if their transcript shows that they dropped a class or classes. Students may also worry that dropping a class will prevent them from graduating high school on time because they won't be taking enough credits that semester. Why Might Dropping a Class Be Good? Dropping a class is much better for your GPA than failing a class or getting a C or D in it isbecause a dropped class does not affect your grade point average. Dropping a class may also raise your GPA because itcan allow you to spend more time on other classes and raise your grades in them. If you are really struggling with a class, dropping it can also significantly reduce your stress and anxiety. Should You Drop a Class? Clearly thereare positives and negatives to dropping a class. So when does it look bad to drop a high school class?Read through the next section, asking yourself the seven questions listed below, to help you decide whether it would be best to drop a class or stick with it. Consideration 1: What Grade Are You Getting in the Class? If you believe you will fail the class or get a low grade no matter what you do, it is usually better to drop it, because getting a C, D or F can significantly hurt your GPA and usually looks worse to colleges than dropping a class does.If you just happened to get a low score on one test or project, you may want to talk to the teacher about the probability of improving your grade before dropping the class. It could have been just an exceptionally difficult assignment, and there will be chances to raise your grade in the future. If you are trying to get a perfect or close to perfect GPA and are worried that one somewhat low grade on your GPA will hurt your chances of getting into top colleges, it is generally OK to drop one class for that reason, but colleges would prefer to see a few B’s on your transcript rather than a lot of dropped classesbecause the latter may cause them to think you have difficulties completing things. Consideration 2:How Have You Tried to Raise Your Grade? If you are thinking about dropping a class because you are not getting a good grade, first ask yourself if you have tried to improve your grade.This can include studying more, setting aside more time to work on the class, and speaking to the teacher about ways to improve your grade.If you have already tried to raise your grade but are still close to failing, it is usually better to drop the class. If you think there are ways you can raise your grade, you may want to try those methods and see if they improve your grade before dropping the class.However, be aware of how much time is left in the semester. It’s much easier to raise your grade three weeks into a class than when the class is more than halfway over. Consideration 3:Is the Class Affecting Other Areas of Your Life? If the class you are considering dropping is so challenging or time-consuming that it is causing your grades in other classes to suffer, it’s better to drop the class.This will strengthen your transcript in the long run because, after dropping the class, you’ll have a better chance of getting good grades in the rest of your classes. The same is also true if you find a class so overwhelming that it causes you a lot of stress, anxiety, or worry. Feeling this way can cause other areas of your life to suffer, and that isn’t worth it just to stick with one class. Want to build the best possible college application? We can help. PrepScholar Admissions is the world's best admissions consulting service. We combine world-class admissions counselors with our data-driven, proprietary admissions strategies. We've overseen thousands of students get into their top choice schools, from state colleges to the Ivy League. We know what kinds of students colleges want to admit. We want to get you admitted to your dream schools. Learn more about PrepScholar Admissions to maximize your chance of getting in. Consideration 4:Do You Need to Know the Material the Class Covers for Future Classes? Will the information you learn in this class be used for future high school or college classes?Not understanding the material well now, even if you pass the class, could hurt your future grades. If you are taking a class that is important to your academic and professional future but feel like you don'tunderstand the material, it may be better to drop the class and take it again in the future if you think things will be better the next time.This is a key consideration. Don’t expect to retake a class again and get a higher grade or understand the material better if the only change is the semester you took it. Potential changes that could justify retaking the class a different semester include: having the class taught by a different teacher, having more time to focus on the class because your other classes or extracurriculars will be less time-consumingthan they are now, or knowing thatyou’ll study the subject between now and the time you retake the classso that you start the class with an introductory knowledge of the material. Consideration 5:What Other Class Options Are There? Are there other similar options for the class, such as taking it at a regular level instead of honors or AP?If so, this may make it easier to drop the class and switch to a less demanding variation of it. This is an especially good option if you need the class in order to graduate because it allows you to complete the requirement, but usually with a higher grade than you would have received if you’d stayed in the original class.Colleges also prefer that you take a lower level course and get a good grade than take an advanced level with a very low grade. Consideration 6:Will Your Transcript Show That You Dropped a Class? Many high schools offer a period (often up to the first two weeks or month of class) when students can drop a class without it showing up on their transcript at all.This allows students to try out classes in a low-risk way. If this is the case for you, and you find yourself in a class you either don’t like or can’t manage during this add/drop period, you should feel free to drop the class.There will be no mark on your transcript, so colleges won’t ever see or know that you dropped the class.If you drop a class early on in the semester, try to add another class in its place so you still have a full schedule and can be sure of meeting the number of credits required for graduation. If this is a class you are required to take but found too challenging, be sure to be more prepared the next time you take it.Talk to the teacher about materials you can review before you retake the class so that the information is more familiar and you have a head start. Consideration 7:Have You Dropped Other Classes Before? Is this the first class you have dropped? If so, it is usually fine to drop the class if you find it overwhelming or not what you thought it would be, even if the dropped course shows up on your transcript.Having one dropped class on your transcript will almost never have an effect on your chances of getting accepted to colleges. College admissions officers are generally very understanding, and they know that if a student dropped one class in high school, they may have simply taken on too much or misjudged what a class would cover. However, if you have dropped more than two classes, this may be concerning to colleges because it may show a habit of giving up or not seeing things through.If you have dropped multiple classes before, try to figure out if there’s an underlying reason. Do you sign up for too many classes and find yourself overwhelmed? Do sign up for honors or AP classes but find them too challenging? Figure out why you have dropped multiple classes and work to end the cycle, whether it’s by taking fewer classes, taking more introductory classes before moving on to advanced levels, or another method. If you are worried about multiple dropped classes on your transcript affecting your college applications, you can attach a note to your application, explaining the situation and the work you’ve done to stop the pattern and improve since then.If you are an underclassman thinking about dropping a class, be aware that students often find the classes they take their junior and senior years to be more difficult, so if you drop a class or two as an underclassman, it may make deciding whether to drop an additional class later on a more challenging decision because your transcript will already show that you have dropped classes before. Summary: Should You Drop a Class? So, if you're struggling with a class or just really not enjoying it, is it OK to drop it? As mentioned above, in most cases it's OK to drop a class, especially if you haven't dropped a class before. Colleges understand that sometimes circumstances change, and having one dropped class on your transcript won't hurt your college applications. However, there are still some considerations to keep in mind. First, if you drop your class too late, you may get a low or failing grade for it, which could really hurt your GPA. Second, dropping a required class could mean you need to retake it during the summer or risk not graduating on time. And, finally, if you've dropped multiple classes already, that could negatively impact your college applications since schools may think you're not capable of following through with things you started. If you're still struggling to decide whether to drop a class, set up an appointment with your guidance counselor or academic advisor. They'll be able to look at your complete situation and help you make the best decision. What's Next? Wondering what colleges look for on high school transcripts and how strong yours is? Read our guide to learn what a transcript includes and why it’s often the most important part of your college application. Trying to decide how strong your GPA is? Learn what a good GPA is, what a bad GPA is, and where yours stands. Wondering which classes you should take in high school?We have a guide that lays out the high school classes you should take in every major subject area,as well as electives, in order to impress colleges. Want to improve your SAT score by 160 points or your ACT score by 4 points?We've written a guide for each test about the top 5 strategies you must be using to have a shot at improving your score. Download it for free now:

Advances in Research on Instruction essays

Advances in Research on Instruction essays After reading this article I decided that I would keep this and refer to it every time I felt that I was not reaching my students. I found it to be very helpful. I think that as we get older, we forget how children learn. We might even forget how we ourselves learn material. Everything comes so natural to us and we forget that we go through many different processes in order to understand new material. I thought back to some of the teachers I have had and I realized that the teachers whom I learned the most from followed the guidelines set forth in the article. With this, I found some very important key components to teaching material to children. They are presenting new information in small steps with cognitive strategies and lots of practice and review, providing help for student processing, and, helping students organize their knowledge, Presenting information in small steps seems so common sense; yet, people forget how crucial it is. All people remember information better when it is split into chunks and practiced before moving one to something else. For example, I feel that one of the reasons that some children dont like math is because they were not given enough time to understand the basic foundations. More than likely, they were taught a lesson, did the homework wrong, handed the homework in and before they even got their homework back, were taught a new lesson. The cycle would start all over again because the student had to understand the last lesson before they could do the next. Teaching in small steps will help the student and the teacher. The students gain a better understanding bigger, more complex information and the teacher can assess each student before moving on. This way the teacher can see exactly what step the child didnt process and re-teach it before its too late and the child is left behind. Helping students process information is just a ...

African American history 1600-1877 Research Paper

African American history 1600-1877 - Research Paper Example The events that shaped African American history and converted the blacks from being slave to free people were forced transportation of black people for slave trade,American Revolution,the Great Awakening,the very famous war of 1812 and the civil war.Slave trade is the first incident that shows the deprivation of Black population of their basic human rights as blacks were transported to other lands for labour purposes Second in line is the event of Great Awakening, which helped people to recognize their existence according to their religion, as Great Awakening resulted in unity of Americans and Christianity faith. Third important event is the American Revolution that started in 1775 as clash between the Great Britain and the thirteen British colonies in America. During American Revolution, blacks wanted their rights and human treatment from Americans. British unwillingness to sign the commercial agreement, British support to Indians on American frontiers and failure of British army to withdraw from American territories were the causes of irritation for Americans due to which, the war of 1812 was there. Civil War is the last important event that helped the blacks in gaining freedom as at the end of civil war, formal identity was given to black people as Americans. AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY (1600-1877) African American history revolves around arrival of African American or black American ethnic groups in US. Migration of black people from Carrabin and transportation of slaves in 16th century changed the history of the region. Five very influential events took place from 1600 to 1877. The events that shaped African American history and converted the blacks from being slave to free people were forced transportation of black people for slave trade, American Revolution, the Great Awakening, the very famous war of 1812 and the civil war. Slave trade leads the other events in the African American history. In 1619, first slave was brought to Jamestown as a servant. This e vent opened the doors for bringing non-Christian black people as servants in the US. Number of slaves rose to 25000 in 1700 in American colonies1. Next in order was â€Å"Great Awakening†, known as watershed period in American life. Great Awakening swept the colonies by having greater social and religious effects on the people’s life. Period of 1730-1740 is known as revivalism period that spread throughout in American colonies2. Individual spiritual experiences got importance over the routine church proceedings. After the period of Great Awakening, the next mega event in African American history is American Revolution. It began in 1775 due to conflict between Great Britain and thirteen colonies. After the end of revolution in 1783, another mega event is the war of 1812. War was fought between America and Great Britain from 1812 to 1815 but peace treaty for ending the war was signed in 1814. Than the reconstruction period started in which black people were granted Ameri can citizenship with full rights. Mid eighteenth century saw a big shift in American policies towards black and black people also shifted to south for living the lives as per their own wishes3. The impact of all the events on African American history 1600-1877 shall be discussed in detail in this paper. Great emphasis shall be laid on the war of 1812, because of events taking place during this period. Spanish and Portuguese settlers brought Africans with them in the new world. About 2,75,000 Africans were brought to south and north America at the start of 16th century. First African slave was brought to Jamestown in1619. More Africans were then brought to those areas having good land for cultivation but labour was short. Many slaves used to die during transportation due to inadequate food and medical treatment. Earlier the differences in treating European and African slaves were almost negligible but soon they started differentiating whites from black people in 27th century. Virgini a

The film Captain Phillips, Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words

The film Captain Phillips, - Essay Example Storming is characterized by competition and conflicts in the personal relations. The third stage is norming where interpersonal relations are characterized by cohesion. Performing is the next stage but not all groups attain this stage. Here there is true interdependence in interpersonal relations while at the same time members can act independently in their subgroups. The final stage is adjourning which entails terminating task activities and disengaging from the relationships. Richard Phillips, the captain of unarmed MV Maersk Alabama, and his crewmen exhibit the above mentioned stages of group development. Wary of Piracy activities in Somali coastline, the team conducts drills that clearly portray the unity and dependency that members have on each other. Storming stage sets in soon afterwards as some crewmen are engaged in conflicts with both Phillips and among themselves. It is apparent that they might not work in unity for long. However, this stage does not last for so long. It appears to have been triggered by the eminent pirate attack and the groups once again state acting cohesively. Performing, a stage characterized by true interdependence and members working independently sets in afterwards. Captain Phillips risks his life to engage with the pirates. On the other hand, one of the crewmen turns off the power of one of the rooms as a strategy to shield themselves. The last stage is adjourning after the capture of the pirates and the group terminates the task at hand as well as disengage from established

Piaget and Vygotsky Essay Example for Free

Piaget and Vygotsky Essay In this Essay I will compare and contrast the theories of Piaget and Vygotsky. They both were influential in forming a more scientific approach to analyzing the cognitive processes of the child active construction of knowledge. They both developed their own ideas of child development and they believed cognitive development in children took place in stages. However they were distinguished by different styles of thinking. Piaget thought that children actively construct their own cognitive worlds and they adapt their thinking to include new ideas because additional information furthers understanding. He stressed that to make sense of our world we organize our Schemata or experiences. We connect one idea to another. We also adopt new ideas. Adaptation is by assimilation, which occurs when individuals incorporate new information into their existing knowledge into an existing pattern of behavior of schemata (example). Piaget refers to Schemata or schemas to the way we organize our knowledge. We can think our knowledge as units and each of them related to aspects of the world including actions, objects etc. (referencing ) Accommodation occurs when individuals adjust to new information. Piaget thought that equilibrium occurs when is a balance between assimilation and accommodation. He believed equilibrium schema is both the category of knowledge as well as the process of acquiring that knowledge. As experiences happen and new information is presented, new schemas are developed and old schemas are changed or modified. An example is, say a child sees a crow and a pigeon in the sky, and is told that they are birds. The child then forms a bird schema defined as something that flies. The next day, he goes out and sees a seagull, which easily fits into his existing bird schema. This is called assimilation, when we take new experiences/knowledge and put them in our existing schemas (or categories). The next day, a child goes out and sees a plane in the sky. Whilst this fits the definition of something that flies, it seems to be quite different than the other birds he has seen, and he is told that this is not a bird. To explain this, the child forms one large category of flying things, with two sub-categories; birds and planes. This process is called accommodation, where we change our existing knowledge structures to account for new information that doesnt fit. Piaget also believed that we go thought four stages in understanding the world. Each stage is aged related and consist of a distinct way of thinking, a different way of understanding the world. This theory is known as Piaget’s Stage Theory because it deals with four stages of development, which are sensorimotor, preoperational, concrete operational and formal operational. ( referencing ) On the other hand, Vygotsky believed that children actively construct their knowledge. He gave social interaction and culture far more important roles in cognitive development than Piaget did. Vygotsky socio cultural cognitive theory emphasizes how cultural and social interactions guide cognitive development. He portrayed the child development as inseparable from social and cultural activities. Vygotsky argued, learning is a necessary and universal aspect of the process of developing culturally organized, specifically human psychological function (1978, p. 90). In other words, social learning tends to precede development. He believed that the development of memory, attention and reasoning involves learning to use the inventions of society, such as language, mathematical systems and memory strategies.( referencing) Piaget believed that development had to come before learning; Vygotsky believed that development and learning worked together though socialization and language. Vygotsky gave language a huge role in development. For vygotsky Language plays two critical roles in cognitive development. First language is the main means by which adults transmit information to children. Secondly, Language itself it is a very powerful tool of intellectual adaptation. Vygotsky believed that language develops from social interactions, for communication purposes. Later language ability becomes internalized as thought and â€Å"inner speech†. Thought is the result of language. Piaget thought that there was a connection between biological and cognitive development. Vygotsky believed that knowledge from social interactions spurred cognitive growth and development. Even they had really big differences; they both believed that social interactions played an irreplaceable role in cognitive development. Piaget thought that cognitive development is influenced by social transmission (learning from others). Vygotsky believed that social interactions were an instrument in development and that it heavily influenced thoughts and language. Piaget strongly considered that the developmental ages of students determined where they should be in the learning process. Vygotsky took that idea further by comparing the learner’s actual development to their potential development. He called this area of â€Å" zone of proximal development. ZPD is the range of tasks that one cannot yet perform independently, but can accomplish with the help of a more competent individual. For example, a child might not be able to walk across a balance beam on her own, but she can do so while holding her mothers hand. Since children are always learning new things, the ZPD changes as new skills are acquired. Piaget stages are hierarchical. Each of Piaget’s stages must be complete before moving to the next one. Vygotsky’s theory does not depend on time. Piaget stages imply that children cognitively develop on their own, without the help of someone or something. Vygotsky concentrates more on social interactions and aide given to a child when develops. Vygotsky Scaffolding is the kind of help, assistance and support that enables a child to do a task which they cannot quite manage yet alone and which it will help them in the future to be able to make that task or similar on their own. For example: In a school laboratory science class, a teacher might provide scaffolding by first giving students detailed guides to carrying out experiments, then giving them brief outlines that they might use to structure experiments, and finally asking them to set up experiments entirely on their own. ‘What the child can do with assistance today she will be able to do by herself tomorrow’ (Vygotsky, 1978, p.87). Both these educators contributed to the present day ideas of constructivist learning. Both offer some incredible insight into possible ways children learn and byusing there theories it is possible to create a more conductive learning environment for the child.

Software Patent and Copyright Laws in India :: Technology Computers Essays

Software Patent and Copyright Laws in India This Midterm Paper investigates the Intellectual Property Rights (IPR), primarily Copyrights and Patents in India. The Paper performs a Legal as well as Ethical Analysis of the Indian IPR Laws. It recommends improvements; especially regarding Global Issues related to Software Patents and IPR over the Net by substantiating evidence from the Embassy of India Policy Statements and from a reputed magazine in India, called India Today. The author fully acknowledges citations from all the references. Intellectual Property Rights in India There is a well-established statutory, administrative and judicial framework to safeguard intellectual property rights in India, whether they relate to patents, trademarks, copyright or industrial designs. Well-known international trademarks have been protected in India even when they were not registered in India. The Indian Trademarks Law has been extended through court decisions to service marks in addition to trademarks for goods. Computer software companies have successfully curtailed piracy through court orders. Computer databases have been protected. The courts, under the doctrine of breach of confidentiality, accorded an extensive protection of trade secrets. Right to privacy, which is not protected even in some developed countries, has been recognized in India. [1] Protection of intellectual property rights in India continues to be strengthened further. The year 1999 witnessed the consideration and passage of major legislation with regard to protection of intellectual property rights in harmony with international practices and in compliance with India's obligations under TRIPS. As regards the aspect enforcement, Indian enforcement agencies are now working very effectively and there has been a notable decline in the levels of piracy in India. In addition to intensifying raids against copyright infringers, the Government has taken a number of measures to strengthen the enforcement of copyright law. Special cells for copyright enforcement have been set up in 23 States and Union Territories. In addition, for collective administration of copyright, copyright societies have been set up for different classes of works. Copyright Protection in India India has one of the most modern copyright protection laws in the world. Major development in the area of copyright during 1999 was the amendment to the Copyright Act of 1957 to make it fully compatible with the provisions of the TRIPS Agreement. Called the Copyright (Amendment) Act, 1999, this amendment was signed by the President of India on December 30, 1999 and came into force on January 15, 2000. The earlier 1994 amendment to the Copyright Act of 1957 had provided protection to all original literary, dramatic, musical and artistic works, cinematography, films and sound recordings.

Maternal Mortality in Somalia

II. Global Public Health Issue Somalia is a country that has suffered from many issues since the collapse of any sort of centralized government. The Somali people have suffered from countless diseases, poverty, conflict, environmental disasters, and constant displacement. For almost an entire generation the country has been without an effective central government, which in turn had major effects on the country’s health system. The Somali health system consists primarily of fragmented and privatized services that are insufficient and unequally distributed. The country’s public health system has very little central governance or management.Due to these factors most of the population do not have access to the most basic health services and definitely do not have access to higher level of services if needs arises. The lack of an overall adequate health system that is controlled by a centralized government has crippled the progress of reproductive health. Giving birth in Som alia is extremely dangerous and very unpredictable. Somali woman are among the highest risk women in the world with a Maternal Mortality (MMR) of 1,044-1,400 per 100,000 live births compared to a 12 per 100,000 in the United States. Even after a mother survives all these risks and delivers her baby, both mother and child continue to face constant risks. The under-five infant mortality rate is 225 per 1,000 live births2 compared to 8 per 1,000 live births in the US3, putting infants in Somalia in the highest risk category worldwide. A woman’s health and behavior during pregnancy affects the health of her unborn baby. A poor diet, certain environmental exposures, illnesses, medication, and other factors affect the baby’s development. Prenatal and antenatal care is extremely important in order to ensure the health of the baby and the mother.In Somalia only one out of every four pregnant woman gets antenatal care and for those lucky few that do, the service isn’t ev en good enough and they do not receive vital interventions. 4This missed opportunity to catch any complications that would arise contributes to the high MMR and IMR in Somalia. The lack of adequate antenatal care also increases the chances of pregnant women developing eclampsia during their pregnancy, a complication that is one of the major causes of maternal mortality in the country and could be easily prevented with a simple blood or urine test.Interestingly the amount of women that receive antenatal care differs across the region. Somaliland, a northwestern region of Somalia that has declared itself a sovereign state and enjoys a higher level of stability and governance, has the highest antenatal care coverage percentage according to the last survey done by MICS in 2006. Somaliland had 32% of its population receiving at least four antenatal visits, followed by Puntland that has 26% of antenatal care coverage. The lowest coverage in the country was recorded in the central south re gion, a pattern that is the same for most other health disparities in the country. Aside from the lack of proper antenatal care during pregnancy, traditional beliefs that are held by the Somali population affects the maternal mortality rate in the country. Most Somali mothers do not believe in prenatal health precautions, such as taking vitamins and attending checkups. They take on the motto of, â€Å"if one isn’t experiencing pain or bleeding there is no need to see a doctor until birth. The rest should be left to god†. This type of behavior greatly contributes to the high MMR. Infections due to unattended and unhygienic deliveries also contribute to the high maternal mortality rate in the country.For all the births that take place in Somalia only a mere 2% of births take place in a health care facility that is attended by skilled staff6. Most rural women do not have the resources or access to deliver in facilities with staff that are trained in child delivery. By the time they go into labor most are alone or with untrained family members and neighbors. They resort to unsafe traditional methods of delivery, using equipment that is unsanitary or harmful to the mother and child. These methods mostly result in postpartum hemorrhaging; a major cause of maternal mortality in Somalia.Also with the high number of deliveries outside of maternal facilities, the attentions that mothers would have received if complications arise are not available. Prolonged and obstructed labor leads to the death of the mother or infant, and in some cases the death of both. Aside from those mothers who do not deliver in health facilities, the few that do are not that much better off. Due to the high personal risk in Somalia aggravated by the violence, most hospital staff do not come to work in fear for their own personal safety. The health care system in the country uffers from poor healthcare workers retention, lack of medical supplies, lack of neonatal facilities, and ex treme lack of trained personnel on duty. For those mothers that do give birth at a facility most do not have access to an emergency obstetric referral care. A pregnancy complication called postpartum hemorrhaging is treated in emergency obstetric referral care. Most mothers that are suffering from this excessive bleeding only have a one to two hour window to be treated or else they die due to blood loss. Unfortunately many mothers lose their life in this timeframe in Somalia.Some other factors that also contribute to maternal mortality is a custom practiced by many Somali woman in the country. Female genital mutilation (FGM) is the process of partial or total removal of the external female genitalia for whatever purpose that is not a medically prescribed surgery. It is a painful process that many young girls go through and most experience infections and in some worse cases death. During pregnancy women that went through FGM experience complications and have to go through a de-infibu lation process in order for her to even deliver vaginally.If this process of infibulation is not done properly and the woman attempts to do it without specific precaution, the death of the baby and the mother can easily results. Many young mothers, especially those that live in rural and nomadic areas, do not have access to health care facilities that can do this procedure and they are forced to do this procedure with unsanitary equipment and methods. Moving beyond the pregnancy and birth, mothers and children that survive this risky situation, have to deal with a lot more.According to the Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey (MICS) that was taken in 2006 the infant mortality rate (IMR) is at 86 per 1,000 live births. A survey collected by UNICEF in 2008 calculated the under five child mortality rate (U-5MR) to be at 135 per 1,000 live births. The lack of proper supplies and vaccination contributes to infants passing away due to polio or malaria. Subsequently since most mothers do not give birth in facilities and opt to delivering at home, infants do not receive postnatal care at all, exposing them to a deadly world with no defense mechanisms.Diarrhoea, disease-related dehydration, and respiratory infections are also the highest reason for more than half of infant death. The major reason for the contraction of Diarrhoea being the lack of safe water and poor food hygiene a child experiences during pregnancy or after birth. The countries harsh weather conditions and natural disasters in Somalia also affect maternal mortality rates and infant mortality rates in the country. Harsh famines that occur leave pregnant mothers and infants extremely malnourished with no access to food, clean water, or medication.Pregnant woman sometimes have to deal with no food or water for many days while they walked in the harsh weather to the nearest shelter. This results in miscarriages and stillbirths. Infants that are born into these situations mostly die of malnutrition and disease since they have no access to food, water, or medicine. Subsequently environmental health in Somalia is extremely lacking and services are concentrated in small towns and wherever security conditions allow. After the collapse of a centralized government, public health and environmental health services became almost non-existent.Due to the lack of regulation and monitoring by a strong government, the environmental and public health situation has declined tremendously. Somaliland and Puntland seem to have at least some adequate levels of public health and environmental services, but they too are only focused on small densely populated areas. As you travel out into the rural parts of these regions, any sort of health services becomes minimal. South and Central Somalia seems to be suffering the most, with large populations going without much health care and environmental services.One of the biggest environmental risks in Somalia is access to safe drinkable water. Only 29% of the populat ion has access to safe drinking water7. In the urban areas people depend on wells that are located on private property and are dependent on the purchase of water. In the villages people and animals use the same water source, sometimes causing the water to become contaminated. The situation has been worsened with the constant and massive movement of the population from rural areas to more stable cities, cities that do not have the capacity to provide safe water for their steady population rise.To aggravate the situation even more, due to the lack of national environmental services, most Somali households live in a situation where they do not have proper means to dispose of waste and excreta. This is felt more in places where people live close to one another and have their waste near where they dwell. Due to the poor hygiene and sanitary precautions, outbreaks such as cholera between woman and children become extremely common. Lack of a garbage collection system also affects environme ntal health and contributes to water pollution.Since there is not regulation to where garbage is dumped or any garbage collection system, it is normal to see trash everywhere. Whether it is the streets, inside buildings, or even in bodies of water, it is not uncommon to see garbage lying around. The smell that neglected garbage emits and the health risk it brings, not to mention the unsafe animals it attracts, is something that the population is left to deal with. III. Public Health Impact and Policy Reducing maternal mortality rates in Somalia has had a global affect on the public health world. Many campaigns were launched in order to reduce this staggering high MMR in the country.Whether big or small, each campaign primarily focuses on ways to support the pregnant women during pregnancy and transition her and her newborn into the world. One of the larger and more global campaigns Somalia is a part of is the launch of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). At a sit down that occu rred at the end of he 20th century, governments from across the world came up with a set of goals for all developing countries known as the MDGs. These goals, which would be completed by the year 2015, would help cut world poverty in half, improve health standards across the world, and save millions of lives.The MDGs are time sensitive and have a set and pre-determined outcome. With connection to the MDGs pertaining to Somalia’s maternal issues, MDG1, 2,3,and 7 are closely related to reproductive health. While some progress has been made with some of the goals, most of the goals pertaining to maternal and infant health have seen little to no progress thus far. Somalia has shown a commitment to achieve all the MDGs, and has submitted the first report this year on the status of the MDGs since the campaign was launched.Although it is recognized that the progress reached is not as high as expected, with a country like Somalia that is extremely suffering in all categories, any pro gress is welcomed. In order to fully reach all the goals set by the MDGs, a commitment by the government to create a strong national health system with strong policies that will lead stakeholders in providing quality services is needed. Globally the MDGs pertaining to maternal health are showing a positive result. According to a report produced by the United Nations, the number of woman dying during pregnancy or childbirth has halved in the twenty years this program was launched.The report they submitted, called Trends in Maternal Mortality: 1990 to 2010, show that between 1990 and 2010 the number of maternal deaths decline 47% annually. Even though progress has been made, many countries that are mostly in sub-Saharan Africa will not make the MDG goal of minimizing maternal death by 75% at the end of 2015. Thirty-six of the forty countries that have the highest maternal death rate are in sub-Saharan Africa. Ten countries have already reached the MDG goal of 75% reduction in maternal mortality. Those countries are Belarus, Bhutan, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Iran, Lithuania, Maldives, Nepal, Romania, and Viet Nam. Recently in 2010 at a UN Leaders Summit for the Millennium Development Goals, a Global Strategy for Women’s and Children’s Health was launched with a total of US 40 billion for funding. The MDGs that are at target are MDGs 4 & 5; those that are aimed to reduce child mortality and improve maternal health. In Somalia the National Reproductive Health Strategy is aimed to reach the highest possible reproductive health for Somalis and reduce the amount of women and children that die from easily preventable diseases and complications. With just three years left till 2015, initiatives have to intensify in order to reach satisfactory progress.Malaysia and Sri Lanka are an example of successful implementation of the policies set by the MDGs. Both countries have succeeded in reducing maternal mortality to levels that are comparable to industrial c ountries. In Sri Lanka female literacy was expanded and with Malaysia’s strong economic performance, both succeeded in a steady decline of their MMR. All it took from them was a steady and modest investment in poverty reduction, providing maternal health services that were accessible, and improving access to quality emergency obstetric care. Both countries took step to remove inancial obstacles that pregnant woman face in order to receive maternal care. Both countries success was also aided with their increased skilled birth attendants that were vigorously trained in the art of child delivery. The more accessible skilled birth attendants and emergency obstetric care that a country has, the more chances for pregnant woman to have successful deliveries. Culture can either take on a role of aiding or impeding the implementation of public health practices. In the case of Somalia, the widespread practice of FGM in the past has caused great harms to public health practices.The repe rcussion FGM has caused to woman health is immeasurable. Even though FGM is so deeply woven into the Somali culture and has been practiced almost since the establishment of the Somali people, Somali woman have been working hard to eradicate it as early as 1977. The Somali Women’s Democratic Organization (SWDO) was formed in 1977, to become the implementation agency for the eradication of FGM. In 1988 a campaign was launched to eliminate the practice of FGM under the premise that it was unhealthy and completely unreligious.Shortly after a research center was opened solely to focus on the harmful affects of FGM and ways to eradicate this practice. Unfortunately, the fall of Siad Barre’s regime and the countries collapse in 1991 halted all progress made. Since 1996 UNICEF in Somalia funded series of awareness seminars attended by women organizations, religious leaders, government officials, and health professionals. In 1997, Somaliland’s government with the help of UNICEF organized a national seminar on FGM and established committee to develop policies in order to eliminate this practice.UNICEF also sponsored workshops in Mogadishu, Galgaddud, and Mudug regions in 1999-2000. Religious leaders have also been doing their own work informing the public that FGM is not a religious practice and is in fact prohibited by Islam. On November 1999, the Parliament of the Puntland administration approved legislation making the practice of FGM completely illegal. Since then there is no real evidence that this law is being enforced 9. Through many campaigns and initiative people across Somalia are actively talking about the discontinuation of FGM. More and more women are joining he fight against this practice, a feat that in of itself is huge. Talking about this topic publicly was a taboo for such a long time, and it is a huge progress for people to just be talking about it. Changes are gradually being seen in the Somali community. Recently, with the collab oration of an NGO called TOSTAN, UNICEF, and Somali community leaders, an awareness programme was launched in Somalia. This programme is aimed to create community awareness around many issues including FGM. So far a total of eighty-four communities already have been engaged and of those eighty-four, twenty-eight have declared abandonment of FGM10.IV. Costs: Economic and Societal â€Å"There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women. † This quote was said by the former General Secretary of the United Nations, Kofi Annan. In this simple sentence Kofi Annan explained the importance of women in our society. Women play a key role in improving the health, education, and economic productivities of their families and communities. Yet strangely, even though the health of woman is so essential to the wellbeing our society, they are the poorest and most vulnerable people in the world. out of every 10 women dies in childbirth. All public health professionals and frankly everyone around the world should be very concerned about maternal mortality. When a mother dies she most likely leaves behind children. Those children become neglected because it is the mother who really takes care of the kids, ensures they are fed, well educated, and medically well. If those children lose their mother they either pass away themselves, or become unfit members of their community. A child that could have become a positive asset to his or her community is now part of the chain of poverty.Keeping mothers alive is essential part of helping end the chain of poverty. Most mothers that die during pregnancy or childbirth die due to an easily preventable disease or complication. In the case of Somalia where maternal mortality rate is at an all time high, most complications could have been easily preventable. Mothers face economic hardship, no access to healthcare services, and face harsh environmental risks. Also due to the lack of stability and a strong central government that has equally strong public health policies and procedures, their chances of survival while pregnant or giving birth is very slim.Major stakeholders on this public health issue in Somalia are: private sectors, NGOs, United Nations, Ministry of Health of Somalia, and Regional Ministry of Health in Puntland and Somaliland. Unfortunately, the Ministry of Health of Somalia has no real power due to lack of financing and resources. Its regional counterparts (Somaliland & Puntland) may fare a little better by they too have no major resources. That leaves this issue to heavily depend on private sector and Non Governmental Organizations. Groups such as UNICEF and WHO have launched many great campaigns, but the greatest challenge they face is in security.Due to the threat posed by Al-Shabaab and its terroristic activities, aid worker’s lives are at a constant risk when performing within the country. This forces these organizations to either work outside the country or wai t until conditions become more favorable. Working outside the country entails using local leaders an workers to implement projects, and due to the chaos in governance, corruption is inevitable. V. Proposed Resolutions In order to reduce MMR in Somalia there has to be many steps taken.Somalia must first develop and maintain a strong healthcare system that supports maternal health. There must be universal access to antenatal and prenatal care by every pregnant woman, with consistent checkups. These facilities should also be created in rural and urban areas where there is little to none in order to ensure the health of pregnant woman in those areas. Abundant supply of Trained Birthing Attendants need to be established that are skilled and have gone through training in safe and sanity birthing, and are equipped with all the supplies they need to carry out this procedure.Emergency Obstetric Referral Care must be developed and made accessible. Programme in family planning, use of contrace ptives, and reproductive health should be developed for woman and families to go through. Policies should be implemented for families that cannot afford maternal care, through free services or vouchers. Vaccinations and other preventatives measure must be taken during and after pregnancy to ensure the health of both mother and child. Campaign to eliminate cultural practices that bring harm to mothers must be created and advanced.Sexual health education programme should be provided to young girls in order to prevent young pregnancies. Somalia is a war torn country with little no to none stable governmental structure, and lacking in a strong health care system. All proposed solutions require a functioning government to implement and monitor these solutions. Until Somalia can develop this, it will be extremely hard to lower the maternal mortality rate. 1 http://www. unicef. org/somalia/health_53. html 2 http://www. unicef. org/infobycountry/somalia_865. html 3 http://www. unicef. rg/in fobycountry/usa_statistics. html 4 http://www. unicef. org/somalia/SOM_ReproductiveHealthReport-WEB. pdf 5 http://www. childinfo. org/mics/mics3/archives/somalia/survey0/outputInformation/reports. html 6 http://ethnomed. org/clinical/mother-and-infant-care/perinatal-profile-for-patients-from-somalia 7 http://intersos. org/en/countries/africa/somalia/somalia? page=1 8 http://www. un. org/apps/news/story. asp? NewsID=42013&Cr=maternal&Cr1= 9 http://www. asylumlaw. org/docs/somalia/usdos01_fgm_Somalia. pdf 10 http://www. unicef. org/somalia/reallives_7723. html

Comparison of How it happened and The Signalman Essay

The atmosphere in How it happened is full of mystery and energy. The plot moves very quickly, imitating the speed of the automobile as in the story it is said the automobile has a horse power of thirty, ‘Then I remember the big motor, with its glaring headlights and litter of polished brass, waiting for me outside. It was my thirty-horse-power Robur, which had only been delivered that day.’ It also emphasises the lack of control the driver has over it. Whereas the atmosphere in The Signalman creates both suspense and mystery. The appearances of the spirit help to create suspense as we anticipate them to lead us to the climax. However, we find out at the end of the story that the signalman was getting premonitions of his own death. The appearances are really red herrings as it is the signalman himself who dies. Whereas the biggest red herring in How it happened is how the narrator speaks from memory in the first person, fooling us into believing he must still be alive. This makes the twist at the end so much more powerful. The difference of experience between the first time reader, who is fooled into believing the narrator must still be alive and the 2nd time reader who is able to pick out things that are ironic, for example, ‘ I can live it again.’ The 2nd time reader knows he’s dead when he’s saying it. Dickens creates a strong atmosphere through the characterisation of his characters as well as his long complex sentences that can be difficult to understand. This is because of the 150 year cultural gap of reading the story. This makes differences with the way we read the story. For example, ‘The monstrous thought came into my mind, as I perused the fixed eyes and the saturnine face, that this was a spirit, not a man.’ The word ‘monstrous’ meant abnormal in 1866. This also shows Dickens’s effort to create psychological state. He also describes things very ambiguously, for example, ‘ I resumed my downward way, and stepping out upon the level of the railroad, and drawing nearer to him, saw that he was a dark sallow man, with a dark beard and rather heavy eyebrows. His post was in as solitary and dismal a place as ever I saw.’ The words underlined make the signalman difficult to imagine because if everything is dark, you would not be able to make out his features. The title How it happened is deliberately allusive to draw the reader in. But, it does immediately introduce suspense as we wonder what it refers to. Whereas the title The Signalman conveys urgency. The characterisation created in How it happened is that the narrator characterises himself as a risk taker, admitting ‘one often does foolish things’ to the reader. This adds to his sense of honesty but also makes us question his decision taking. Also, it provides tension between two ways of behaving which should interest us. Whereas the characterisation created in The Signalman is a bit different because both the characters remain shrouded in mystery and this adds to the sense of curiosity that surrounds the story. We don’t know the protagonist intimately to picture him in our mind. The themes in The Signalman include death, the supernatural and reason. Dickens sometimes uses the convention of quotation marks and sometimes does not. This reflects the contrasts of rationality and supernatural goings on. The narrator tries to give reasons to the visions that the signalman has, yet the final image of the story is of the narrator seeing the image of the signalman and the ghost himself. Dickens cleverly manipulates tension to give the final image the haunting effect. Whereas in How it happened, Arthur Conan Doyle was an apparent rationalist and he believed that after your death, you could continue to live on as a spirit. It was also believed that these spirits could communicate with the living through people known as ‘mediums’. This belief is present in the story where the narrator has survived his death in order to tell us how it happened. This idea is given more credit when we know that the story originally started with the line, ‘This story was told to me by a medium’. The story How it happened was written in 1918 and involves a high-powered automobile. This suggests to us the story must have been written about the present at the time. It is also set in London. At that time, London was still the centre of an empire and this important as the story involves aspects of modernism. Whereas the setting of The Signalman is important as Dickens goes to a lot of effort to make the story seem ghostly and surreal. Dickens was writing this story involving trains because they were the biggest and finest machines at the time and by writing the story to do with railway system he is challenging it. Dickens was also in a famous train crash. The Signalman’s job is a job of life and death. The one in the story has a reputation for being good at the job. The signalman works in a cutting and that the descent into this place is described as if one is descending to the underworld of Greek Mythology. The ‘clammy stone’ and that fact that it becomes ‘oozoer’ and ‘wetter’ helps create this sense. They key aspect of the cutting is its remoteness. The tunnel as well is described as having ‘wet stains’, suggesting that this is a place you would not want to visit. This helps to make an eerie atmosphere and makes it easier for us to imagine spirits and other ghostly aspects. The story is an intensely human story about psychological differences between two people whereas How it happened is about dealing with the physical and spirit world. The narrative voice in How it happened is in the first person and we tend to trust its honesty about the first person. This is because the narrator admits to not remembering everything clearly. ‘I can remember some things upon that evening most distinctly, and others are like some vague, broken dreams. This is what makes it so difficult to tell a connected story.’ This openness suggests we are going to hear the truth. He also blames neither the car nor Perkins for events but himself. ‘I also remember asking Perkins, my chauffeur, how she had gone, and his saying that he thought she was excellent.’ The ways he says, ‘Perkins, my chauffeur’ tell us social standing and class of narrator. The narrator gains a ghostly aspect at the end, when we find out he is dead, and this introduces the idea of Spiritualism that is key to the story. Whereas the narrative voice in The Signalman is also in the first person and we find that until the end of the story we are not sure if we can totally trust it. This is because of the ambiguities in the description of things as well as the lack of information about the narrator himself. But we can tell the visitor is a sceptic. He chooses not to believe that the bell was rung by a ghost without proof. ‘I caught at that. Did it ring your bell yesterday evening when I was here, and you went to the door?’ As readers, we side with the sceptic. The skill of the story is that most people will not agree the bell rang without sound. There is also an additional piece of irony, the sceptic doesn’t believe in the ghost but he says the same things the ghost said like ‘Halloa!’ Although he does tell us that he is ‘a man who had been shut up within narrow limits’ until ‘at last set free’. But it is difficult to understand this because we don’t know if he’s referring metaphorically to something else or talking as if he has spent a long time in prison.

Current Event Related To Health Policy

Current Event Related To Health Policy Introduction Many current health events have given emphasis on the importance of having a global Millennium Development Health plan. This involves Health Policies that are intended to be a vehicle for the exploration and discussion of health issues.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Current Event Related To Health Policy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More The main aim of global Millennium Development Health plan is to enhance communication between health policy researchers, legislators, decision-makers and professionals concerned with developing, implementing, and analyzing health issues (Weaver, 2011, May 3). The plan is a guide for the overall health improvement internationally and not just for specific countries. Main Body The global Millennium Development Health plan is guided by the international Health Policy Framework. This policy framework is based on the analysis of international health situation to provide guid ance on the policy objectives that the sector needs in order to achieve goals of complete physical, mental and social wellbeing of mankind (Ricciardelli, 2009). The global Millennium Development Health plan has its strategic theme as ‘Investing in health’. Its overall stated goal is ‘To promote and Improve the health of all people internationally through the deliberate restructuring of the health sectors in different countries and make all health services more effective, accessible and affordable’ (Ricciardelli, 2009). This information can always be found in the current health events related to international Health Policy. In some African countries, strategic imperatives have been identified as the key policy objectives in their health sector. They will also work towards the achievement of the global Millennium Development Health plan. These imperatives are: To ensure equitable allocation of resources for involved countries in order to reduce disparities i n health status. To Increase the cost effectiveness and the cost efficiency of their resource allocation and use. The countries involved will be required to control their population growth. The above policy objectives will form the basis for prioritization of strategic objectives in the subsequent strategic plans which will specifically focus on defining strategies for;Advertising Looking for essay on health medicine? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More Strengthening governance. Improving resource allocation. Decentralisation of health services and management. Shifting of resources from curative to preventive. However, it is expected that the overall implementation may not manage to make a breakthrough in terms of transforming the critical health sector interventions and operations towards meeting the most significant targets and indicators of health as expected by the plan (Ricciardelli, 2009). Nevertheless the glob al Millennium Development Health plan has its goals to contribute to the reduction of health inequalities and to reverse the downward trend in health related impact and outcome indicators. Its strategic objectives in this case will be; To increase equitable access to health services. To improve quality and the responsiveness of services in Health. To improve the efficiency and effectiveness of service delivery for international Health. The global Millennium Development Goals are signed up to guide prioritization of countries as they move towards improvement and development in their health sectors. Scaling up universal access to cost effective interventions that tackle key causes of ill health and death are also being polished (Villegas, 2010, May 13). Interventions addressing the burden of disease due to malaria, TB, HIV, immunization amongst others have been scaled up significantly particularly in the past 10 years but still they need to be improved. Conclusion For the global Mil lennium Development Health plan to work out well, a strong guide line is needed for the process towards its generation. This process involves both qualitative and quantitative methods to generate and apply information. Qualitative methods involve group interview techniques that generate perceptions of clients, service providers and managers on key aspects that will be analyzed. The Quantitative methods on the other hand will involve desk reviews of key reports and data available for different aspects being analyzed. References Ricciardelli, M. (2009) Health Law and Policy Program. Health reform watch, 9, 10.Advertising We will write a custom essay sample on Current Event Related To Health Policy specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Villegas, A. (2010, May 13) Public Health Policy. Science daily, 06. 13-18. Weaver, C. (2011, May 3) Global Millennium Development Health plan. The standard news, pp. 21.