Low development in Thailand primarily affects reading, writing, and math skills. The current study aimed to provide support to the children, who have been impacted by the skip generation, in their educational studies. Eight students in the Nong Sang Village School, that were classified as having learning disabilities, took part in this mentorship program. The students were matched with a mentor who excels in the subject areas that they need help in. The mentors filled out satisfaction surveys, which showed that they believed the mentorship program was effective. Mentees satisfaction surveys were skewed, likely due to their inability to read. A qualitative assessment of the social relationships component of the intervention included students completing the bingo game with most students filling above ten squares, indicating that they had learned 10 fun facts about each other. Students worked together at the workbooks station during the interactive block and playdough activities, and students participated in the social games. These results suggest that the intervention was effective. In order to promote academic success, this intervention should be continued and extended in other rural areas of Thailand. 

Couple communication about contraceptive use has been shown to be strongly correlated with reproductive behavior. In Rwanda, where contraceptive use has increased dramatically over a short period, understanding the role of couple communication about family planning can help inform programs designed to further increase the use of family planning. This study utilized qualitative methods in 2018, specifically 32 in-depth interviews with current users of modern contraceptive methods and eight focus group discussions with family planning providers. Respondents were from the districts with the highest and lowest modern contraceptive use, respectively, to explore the role of spousal communication about family planning in Rwanda. Findings demonstrate that spousal communication about family planning use prior to, and during, is very common and that some male partners even find ways to support their wife’s use of contraception beyond verbal communication. Male partners were motivated to support their wife’s use of family planning primarily due to their financial concerns related to the management of the family. With the level of communication occurring among Rwandan couples, the outlook for sustained, and even enhanced, family planning use in Rwanda is promising. Other nations with low contraceptive prevalence might try encouraging more male involvement in family planning by using some of the strategies that have been successful in Rwanda to increase contraceptive use.
 

Arising from the first outbreak at the 1967 American Legion Convention, to re-occurring incidents across the nation, Legionnaires Disease (LD) is a dangerous strain of pneumonia. Derived from the Legionella pneumophila bacteria, LD has persistence and resistance built into its cellular code. Classified as an Opportunistic Premise Plumbing Pathogen (OPPP), Legionella’s ecological growth begins in plumbing, stagnation of water, drinking water treatment plants, and with exposure to contaminated aerosols. Analysis of LD requires study of the cyclic nature of Legionella pneumophila as well as the examination of environmental and other factors that may potentially increase risk of infection in susceptible populations. Previously unnoticed, distinguishable characteristics of LD have been identified from the rapid increase of reported outbreaks and their correlation to demographic factors. Particularly, analysis of LD cases from local, state, and national-level surveillance reports from 2000 to 2016 show not only an increased incidence of total cases of LD in the United States, but also a heightened incidence within socioeconomically, racially, and infrastructurally disadvantaged communities. The objective of this literature review is to explore the relevant social determinants of health, environmental and other associated factors to better understand and address disparities in the incidence of LD.