Rick Houser

Rebuilding Sustainable Communities for Children and Families After Disaster: Recommendations from Symposium Participants in Response to the April 27th, 2011 Tornadoes

Tuscaloosa, Alabama experienced a significant disaster, an EF4 tornado with 190 mile an hour winds on April 27, 2011. Fifty-two people were killed and more than 5,000 homes were severely damaged. Twelve percent of the city was destroyed and 7,000 people were immediately unemployed. This was a disaster of significant proportion and impacted everyone in the community of over 80,000. In an effort to address the needs of the community after this disaster a symposium was organized with a focus on helping children and families. More than 40 professionals and community members attended the symposium which was led by an international expert on disaster. Recommendations were established and distributed to the community and governmental organizations. The process for planning and implementing the symposium also may serve as a model for addressing future disasters.

Enhancing statistical calculation with transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) to the left intra-parietal sulcus (IPS)

Abstract Researchers have focused only minimally on cognitive enhancement using low current brain stimulation, transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), in attempting to improve math performance. In this study we administered the low current brain stimulation followed by instruction.Thirty-two participants completed the study, the participants were randomly assigned to one of three groups: control, 1xa0mA, or 2xa0mA. The experimental group participants received low current brain stimulation, tDCS for 20xa0min. After administration of the tDCS each group viewed an instructional video showing calculations for a non-parametric statistics, Kruskal–Wallis. Upon completion of viewing the video participants completed calculation of a problem requiring using a Kruskal–Wallis. We found that both experimental groups performed significantly better than the control group on calculating the statistic, Kruskal–Wallis. We used time spent completing the calculation as a covariate. The use of low current brain stimulation combined with instruction show promise in enhancing math/statistics performance.

Reintegration of Military Nurse Veterans

ABSTRACT This research focuses on how measures of mindfulness, spirituality, and storytelling affect the reintegration of 159 military nurses after service in a combat zone. Chief nurses of all branches of service forwarded a survey link to nurses who had served in Iraq or Afghanistan during Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and regression analyses. Findings suggest that spirituality, mindfulness, and storytelling strategies may mitigate the effects of war on deployed nurses. Nurses used a variety of strategies that made their time during deployment less stressful and their reintegration after deployment less traumatic.