Laura Andrea Fava

The native cultures through Raíces: A video game as a didactic-cognitive resource

The inclusion of Information Communication Technologies (ICT) in education is something that has been working from different initiatives worldwide. Concern is on how these resources can enhance the teaching-learning process. Video games are an alternative, given that they present an opportunity to work on different themes in a motivating way. Children and young people can access the different contents by critically analyzing the information presented and acting accordingly. The video game Raíces is an innovative tool in social sciences, offering a ludic environment, making the learning process more attractive and motivating than with traditional methods. This article describes the experience of using Raíces in the primary school classroom. We hope that Raíces will help to spread knowledge and to become aware of the problems of native people, seeking to strengthen the conception of Argentina as a multiethnic country.

A Patient Referral and Counter-Referral Management System for Hospitals

The increasing demand for superior medical attention, in addition to the low amount of resources in many of our country’s health care institutions, has made patient referral and counter-referral an important administrative process that begins with a referral from a lower capacity institution to one with more complex assistance and diagnoses, and ends with a counter-referral to the original institution, with a specific diagnosis, information on the services administered and indications for further assistance. Poor communication among hospital professionals can sometimes result in unnecessary costly referrals and late transfers that can prove deadly. This article presents an informatic system developed with Free Open Source Software technology that encourages an efficient usage of Dr. Noel H. Sbarra Specialized Hospital services, to improve the interaction among professionals of the health care network, in order to increase the capacity of the primary health care center and, thus, avoid the unnecessary transfer of younger patients.