BACKGROUND

With childhood overweight and obesity becoming widespread in the Philippines, there is an increased risk of developing non-communicable diseases at a younger age. The school environment, found to be associated with body mass index, offers an avenue to address and prevent school-aged obesity. However, the lack of data on the current school environment poses a barrier to improving these conditions.

This study aimed to describe the physical, political, and sociocultural environment characteristics of primary schools in the Municipality of Pateros (Philippines) that affect nutrition and physical activity of school-aged children. 

Self-administered questionnaires for key school personnel and observational checklists were used to examine available resources, policies, and current practices for obesity prevention in five public schools in a municipality. The role perceptions of all school personnel on childhood obesity prevention were also gathered. Descriptive statistics was used to describe the number and categories of food items, functional spaces and equipment for physical activity, policies and scores of attitude toward obesity prevention. Data were collected in May to June 2019 and were analyzed descriptively.

Majority of the schools serve food items that contain high amounts of saturated fat, sugar, or salt, provide excess calories, and are not recommended to be sold at school canteens based on guidelines by the Department of Education. While all schools have areas and functional equipment for physical activity, students have limited access to these. Policies and guidelines for nutrition were present but sparse for physical activity and obesity prevention. Positive attitude towards childhood obesity prevention was seen across all school personnel respondents.

Participant primary schools are eager to address childhood obesity, however, the physical, political, and sociocultural environments do not seem to enable this. This situation may promote, rather than prevent, overweight and obesity among school children. This points to the need of reorientation and implementation of policies on obesity prevention to the schools as well as developing the skills of both teaching and non-teaching personnel in healthy eating and physical activity to students. School-based healthcare workers like school nurses and doctors would have critical roles in supporting schools in this regard.

It is just fitting for the oldest medical school in the Philippines, the UST Faculty of Medicine & Surgery, which just celebrated its sesquicentennial year, to initiate this trailblazing stethoscope tagging ceremony for 418 second-year medical students belonging to USTFMS Batch 2026. This activity is aligned with enhancing the Thomasian identity (one of the strategic directional areas [SDA 2] of the university) once they graduate, the Thomasian Physician identity. The stethoscope remains the symbolic representation of physician and patient care. The innovative and pivotal activity, completely different from other international medical schools’ rite of passage, was marked with meaningful symbolisms unique to USTFMS. This rite also involved a pledge to the patroness of the Department of Medicine, Mary Untier of Knots, who would thus qualify for a robust faith formation program of the university (key result area [KRA 1]). Indeed, this would be the beginning of an annual celebration of strengthening faith, hope, and charity (patient care advocacy), TRIA HAEC, the three virtues of St. Paul that comprise the core values of Thomasian education.
Schools, Medical ; Students, Medical ; Stethoscopes ; Patient Care

A school visit is defined as a process wherein a person with specific expertise and preparation goes to a school for a limited period of time and gathers information on how a student is functioning within that setting. Aside from giving thorough guidelines for conducting a school visit, the 5P Stairs Model presents five (5) steps that can establish a better working relationship among the stakeholders, motivated by one main goal: to support the child’s performance within the school setting. The model presents the 5P’s: a) Preparation, which focuses on the delivery of consent and request letters upon identifying the need for a visit; b) Pre-observation for the briefing, focusing on the collaboration between the therapist and the teacher on how the process could mutually benefit them and the child; c) Observation Proper which includes taking note of relevant observations using a checklist; d) Post-observation for debriefing is where feedback to the teacher takes place; and e) Planning and Partnership which includes providing recommendations and necessary interventions, through the continuous collaboration among the therapist, family, and school. Furthermore, supplemental materials such as template letters, a questionnaire, and an observation form were developed to facilitate the aforementioned steps. The framework’s processes and steps serve as a guide and are not meant to be prescriptive. A pilot study on the 5P Stairs Model’s processes and supplemental files is recommended to help establish its usefulness, validity, and effectiveness.
Schools ; Education ; Occupational Therapy

The establishment of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology can be traced back to the foundation of the University of the Philippines College of Medicine, then called the Philippine Medical School. Obstetrics was originally a separate department, whereas Gynecology was part of the Department of Surgery. This article highlights the Department's history, evolution, and fresh beginnings as it responds to the changing needs of the country.
Obstetrics ; Gynecology ; Schools, Medical ; Philippines

BACKGROUND

The medical curriculum is one of the most stressful academic curricula worldwide. Studies indicate that great levels of stress, that encompass academics to personal life, may be connected to a number of worrying statistics for the mental health of Philippine medical students.

To develop a validated stressor-coping style scale for students in a public medical school.

The study employed a sequential mixed-methods design. An open-ended questionnaire was used to determine the common stressors and coping styles through convenience sampling. A scale was constructed from this data and was statistically tested for concurrent validity and reliability from a random sample.

Following thematic analysis, an initial six stressor domains and eleven coping mechanisms were identified. However, after item analysis and principal component analysis of responses, the scale was transformed to seven stressor domains and five coping mechanism domains. All of which are deemed internally consistent (α>0.6). Scores from the scale were also convergent with the scores of Brief COPE (r=0.5 to 0.9).

The developed stressor-coping style scale for medical students is a reliable and valid tool for Filipino medical students in a public medical school.

Acupuncture and moxibustion has certain advantages in the treatment of post-stroke spastic paralysis，but the treatment methods and diagnosis and treatment ideas are complicated. This paper sortes out the representative contemporary acupuncture and moxibustion schools in the treatment of post-stroke spastic paralysis, analyzes their academic origins，summarizes and compares the theory，acupoint selection and technique characteristics of different schools in the diagnosis and treatment of this disease，so as to provide some references for guiding optimal treatment schemes selection in clinic.
Humans ; Moxibustion ; Muscle Spasticity/therapy* ; Acupuncture Therapy ; Schools ; Acupuncture Points ; Stroke/therapy*

According to the systematic review of text and opinion(SrTO) developed by the Joanna Briggs Institute(JBI), this study integrated the evidence of the medical cases, papers, medical experience, and other related research of famous experts and schools on the treatment of chronic renal failure in the field of traditional Chinese medicine(TCM) nephropathy, analyzed the academic characteristics and influencing factors from the aspects of the principle, method, recipe, and medicines, and explored the internal logic and law of inheritance and innovation in TCM nephropathy. A total of 36 famous TCM experts and 4 schools were included. The work areas are concentrated in North and South China. 94.0% of the famous TCM experts have experienced master-disciple teaching. 27.8% have studied TCM through family succession. 38.9% have been taught by multiple famous teachers. And 5.6% have not experienced master-disciple teaching. In terms of principle, method, recipe, and medicines, many innovations have been made, with 30.6% of famous TCM experts proposing new theories, 11.1% advocating staged treatment of chronic renal failure, and 47.2% summarizing the treatment methods. The formation of the academic thoughts of contemporary famous TCM experts and schools on the treatment of chronic renal failure is closely related to the learning mode, era, and work area. Contemporary famous TCM experts and schools have the academic characteristics of combining classical and clinical theories and paying more attention to TCM with western medicine supplemented. The field of TCM nephropathy has the characteristics of simultaneous inheritance and innovation. On the basis of inheriting the classical theories of TCM, it absorbs modern medical theories, combines clinical diagnosis with the syndrome and treatment law of contemporary diseases, and makes innovations in principle, method, recipe, and medicines, which has significant clinical efficacy in the treatment of chronic renal failure.
Humans ; Medicine, Chinese Traditional ; Schools ; China ; Kidney Failure, Chronic/drug therapy* ; Drugs, Chinese Herbal/therapeutic use*

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the characteristics of auditory processing (AP) in preschool children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) using Preschool Auditory Processing Assessment Scale (hereafter referred to as "auditory processing scale"). METHODS: A total of 41 children with ADHD and 41 typically developing (TD) children were assessed using the auditory processing scale, SNAP-IV rating scale, and Conners' Kiddie Continuous Performance Test (K-CPT). The auditory processing scale score was compared between the TD and ADHD groups. The correlations of the score with SNAP-IV and K-CPT scores were assessed. RESULTS: Compared with the TD group, the ADHD group had significantly higher total score of the auditory processing scale and scores of all dimensions except visual attention (P<0.05). In the children with ADHD, the attention deficit dimension score of the SNAP-IV rating scale was positively correlated with the total score of the auditory processing scale (r_s30=0.531, P<0.05; r_s27=0.627, P<0.05) as well as the scores of its subdimensions, including auditory decoding (r_s=0.628, P<0.05), auditory attention (r_s=0.492, P<0.05), and communication (r_s=0.399, P<0.05). The hyperactivity-impulsivity dimension score of the SNAP-IV rating scale was positively correlated with the hyperactivity-impulsivity dimension score of the auditory processing scale (r_s=0.429, P<0.05). In the children with ADHD, the attention deficit dimension score of the K-CPT was positively correlated with the total score (r_s30=0.574, P<0.05; r_s27=0.485, P<0.05) and the hyperactivity-impulsivity dimension score (r_s=0.602, P<0.05) of the auditory processing scale. CONCLUSIONS Preschool children with ADHD have the risk of AP abnormalities, and the auditory processing scale should be used early for the screening and evaluation of AP abnormalities in children.
Child, Preschool ; Humans ; Attention Deficit Disorder with Hyperactivity ; Schools ; Auditory Perception

Lack of self-care has strongly been associated with stress and burnout among nurse educators. It has long been a silent battle as they struggle with academia, clinical practice, and research. Challenges identified that contribute to lack of self-care are heavy workloads, limited facilities for instruction, lack of support for professional advancement, and limited self-care facilities. In support of the Alma Ata declaration in empowering and assisting individuals to obtain knowledge, skills, and resources to preserve health, this paper advocates the need to foster and establish a self-care culture for nurse educators in the Philippines through the Reflect, Recharge, Revive Program. The program framework of Reflect through self-assessment and self-reflection, Recharge through self-care education and training, and Revive for sustainability are collected from various programs already used by some nursing schools that have been proven effective in their respective organizations. Its integration into the current policies and guidelines, including policy frameworks of nursing institutions, will help address stress and burnout associated with a lack of self-care among nurse educators. As a healthy policy, it is believed to positively affect nursing education, especially in decreasing faculty turnover and increasing job performance and self-fulfillment in teaching.
Self Care ; Schools, Nursing ; Burnout, Psychological ; Policy

Background: With the COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, toddlers had significantly reduced environmental stimulus, leading to missed opportunities for learning and play, evidenced by declining developmental assessment scores. Objectives: This was the first study in the Philippines to describe the prevalence of toddlers at risk for developmental delay during the COVID- 19 pandemic. Using the Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) Checklist, factors correlated with increased risk of developmental delay were identified. Methods: A descriptive cross sectional study was done among toddlers aged 12 to 36 months. The ECCD Checklist was administered to determine the children's risk of developmental delay. Chi-square and Multiple Logistic Regression were used to identify factors correlated with risk of developmental delay. Results: 145 toddlers (u=25.28±7.078 months) were included in the study, and among which, 25.5% (n=145) were noted to be at risk for delays in one or more developmental domains, with prevalence odds increased by two-fold among those with daily screen time of an hour or longer (p=0.033, OR=3.055). It was also found that 73.1% (n=145) of toddlers had daily screen time of an hour or longer, contrary to AAP recommendations. Conclusion During the COVID-19 pandemic, more toddlers were found to be at risk for developmental delay, with prevalence odds increased with longer screen time. Findings may guide educational sectors in formulating interventions to prevent developmental delays as the country moves through the new normal.
Schools ; COVID-19