76 FR 23621 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-04-27

...] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River (California) restoration...

75 FR 10501 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-03-08

...] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River (California) restoration...

76 FR 34248 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-06-13

...] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River (California) restoration...

75 FR 51284 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-19

...] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River (California) restoration...

Working on the Edge: Stresses and Rewards of Work in a Front-line Mental Health Service.

PubMed

Bowden, Gillian Elaine; Smith, Joanna Christina Elizabeth; Parker, Pamela Anne; Boxall, Matthew James Christian

2015-01-01

This study sought to investigate frontline mental health professionals' perceptions of work stress and the rewards and demands associated with their work. Locally known as 'linkworkers', and from a variety of professional backgrounds, these staff worked mainly in general practice settings. Individual interviews were conducted with nine linkworkers, and the interview transcripts were analysed thematically. The main themes identified were the following: demands, coping, individual resilience, ownership and creativity, boundaries, secure base and service philosophy and ethos. Themes, categories and sub categories were presented and discussed with seven of the linkworkers in two focus groups. Focus group transcripts were analysed, and additional themes of recognizing limitations, disillusionment and the dilemma of setting boundaries were identified. These themes overlapped with those previously identified but were associated with service changes over time. The themes of ownership and creativity and service philosophy and ethos are significant, not only in relation to their impact on individual linkworkers but also in terms of their relevance for establishing and maintaining morale, engagement and a reflective culture within a service. The relevance of this work to accessible and newly developing mental health services is considered. Supporting and listening to staff and allowing time for informal contact are valued by staff and enable the provision of empathic, compassionate services. Without space for reflection, staff groups may be vulnerable to the development and effects of unhelpful organizational defences, which reduce the effectiveness, quality and efficiency of caring services and increase perceived workplace stress. Services which foster staff engagement, ownership and creativity and employ "bottom up" approaches to service development are valued by staff and appear to increase staff morale and capacity to cope adaptively to change. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Injuries in the military: a review and commentary focused on prevention.

PubMed

Jones, B H; Perrotta, D M; Canham-Chervak, M L; Nee, M A; Brundage, J F

2000-04-01

In November 1996, the Armed Forces Epidemiological Board (AFEB) Injury Prevention and Control Work Group issued a report that cited injuries as the leading cause of morbidity and mortality among military service members. This article reviews the types and categories of military morbidity and mortality data examined by the AFEB work group and the companion Department of Defense (DoD) Injury Surveillance and Prevention Work Group. This article further uses the injury data reviewed to illustrate the role of surveillance and research in injury prevention. The review provides the context for discussion of the implications of the AFEB work group's findings for the prevention of injuries in the military. The AFEB work group consisted of 11 civilian injury epidemiologists, health professionals and scientists from academia, and other non-DoD government agencies, plus six military liaison officers. Injury data from medical databases were provided to the civilian experts on the AFEB work group by the all-military DoD Injury Surveillance and Prevention Work Group. The AFEB work group assessed the value of each database to the process of prevention and made recommendations for improvement and use of each data source. Both work groups found that injuries were the single leading cause of deaths, disabilities, hospitalizations, outpatient visits, and manpower losses among military service members. They also identified numerous data sources useful for determining the causes and risk factors for injuries. Those data sources indicate that training injuries, sports, falls, and motor vehicle crashes are among the most important causes of morbidity for military personnel. While the work group recommends ways to prevent injuries, they felt the top priority for injury prevention must be the formation of a comprehensive medical surveillance system. Data from this surveillance system must be used routinely to prioritize and monitor injury and disease prevention and research programs. The success of injury prevention will depend not just on use of surveillance but also partnerships among the medical, surveillance, and safety agencies of the military services as well as the military commanders, other decision makers, and service members whose direct actions can prevent injuries and disease.

Breadth of Scientific Activities and Network Station Specifications in the International GPS Service (IGS)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, A. W.; Neilan, R. E.; Springer, T. A.; Reigber, Ch.

2000-01-01

A strong multipurpose aspect of the International GPS Service (IGS) is revealed by a glance at the titles of current projects and working groups within the IGS: IGS/BIPM Time Transfer Project; Ionosphere Working Group; Troposphere Working Group; International GLONASS Experiment; Working Group on Low-Earth Orbiter Missions; and Tide Gauges, CGPS, and the IGS. The IGS network infrastructure, in large part originally commissioned for geodynamical investigations, has proved to be a valuable asset in developing application-oriented subnetworks whose requirements overlap the characteristics of existing IGS stations and future station upgrades. Issues encountered thus far in the development of multipurpose or multitechnique IGS projects as well as future possibilities will be reviewed.

77 FR 50155 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-20

...-FF08EACT00] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River (California...

77 FR 45370 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-31

...-FF08EACT00] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River (California...

77 FR 30314 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-05-22

...-FF08EACT00] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River (California...

77 FR 10766 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-02-23

...-FF08EACT00] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River (California...

77 FR 74203 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-12-13

...-FF08EACT00] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group AGENCY: Fish and Wildlife Service, Interior. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: The Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG) affords stakeholders the opportunity to give policy, management, and technical input concerning Trinity River (California...

One service, many voices: enhancing consumer participation in a primary health service for multicultural women.

PubMed

Lee, Susan K; Thompson, Sandra C; Amorin-Woods, Deisy

2009-01-01

Consumer participation in primary health care is important in providing quality consumer-focused care, but challenging when working with disadvantaged groups of diverse cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Women's Health Services (WHS) works with women from over 60 different nationalities, including many newly arrived migrants and refugees. New arrivals access a wide range of WHS programmes including medical services, counselling, information, community talks and workshops, referral, and outreach, but few ethnic women attended the alcohol and other drug (AOD) services offered by the organisation. To establish an active consumer reference group to assist understanding and reducing the barriers to AOD services for a heterogeneous disadvantaged group that includes individuals from different cultural, language and educational backgrounds. Leaning heavily on experiences from the mental health field, WHS overcame many practical and philosophical considerations which included: agreeing upon the purpose of the group and how it would operate within the structure of the organisation; the level of English language required by participants for the group to function; issues of resourcing the group; and ensuring an appropriate, workable demographic mix in terms of age, language, and migration experiences. The process and the outcome of establishing a consumer reference group (CRG) in a primary healthcare setting has been valuable for consumers' and health service providers within the organisation.

Key performance indicators for Australian mental health court liaison services.

PubMed

Davidson, Fiona; Heffernan, Ed; Greenberg, David; Butler, Tony; Burgess, Philip

2017-12-01

The aim of this paper is to describe the development and technical specifications of a framework and national key performance indicators (KPIs) for Australian mental health Court Liaison Services (CLSs) by the National Mental Health Court Liaison Performance Working Group (Working Group). Representatives from each Australian State and Territory were invited to form a Working Group. Through a series of national workshops and meetings, a framework and set of performance indicators were developed using a review of literature and expert opinion. A total of six KPIs for CLSs have been identified and a set of technical specifications have been formed. This paper describes the process and outcomes of a national collaboration to develop a framework and KPIs. The measures have been developed to support future benchmarking activities and to assist services to identify best practice in this area of mental health service delivery.

Breadth of Scientific Activities and Network Station Specifications in the IGS

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Moore, A. W.; Springer, T. A.; Reigber, Ch.

1999-01-01

This presentation provides a brief overview of the scientific activities of the International GPS Service (IGS). This was an approved activity of the International Association of Geodesy (IAG) with official start of service on 1 Jan 1994. The mission of the IGS is "To provide a service to support geodetic and geophysical research activities, through GPS data and data products." The presentation explains the concept of the IGS working group, and pilot projects, and reviews the current working groups and pilot projects.

Putting the Pieces Together: Effective Communities for Children and Families. Report of the Working Group on Comprehensive Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Department of Education, Washington, DC.

Noting evidence that many American children and youth are at risk, this report suggests ways to build effective communities through effective partnerships and services that are coordinated across systems and aligned across levels of government. The report discusses the efforts of the Working Group formed to consider how federal, state, and local…

The Effect of Group Works and Demonstrative Experiments Based on Conceptual Change Approach: Photosynthesis and Respiration

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Cibik, Ayse Sert; Diken, Emine Hatun; Darcin, Emine Selcen

2008-01-01

The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of the use of group works and demonstration experiments based on conceptual change approach in the elimination of misconception about the subject of photosynthesis and respiration in plants in pre-service science teachers. This study was conducted with 78 pre-service science teachers including…

78 FR 35312 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group; Public Meeting, Teleconference and Web-Based Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-06-12

...-FF08EACT00] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group; Public Meeting, Teleconference and Web-Based Meeting... Service, announce a public meeting, teleconference and web-based meeting of the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG). DATES: Public meeting, Teleconference, and web-based meeting: Tuesday June...

78 FR 49281 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group; Public Meeting, Teleconference and Web-Based Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-13

...-FF08EACT00] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group; Public Meeting, Teleconference and Web-Based Meeting... Service, announce a public meeting, teleconference, and web-based meeting of the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG). DATES: Public meeting, Teleconference, and web-based meeting: Tuesday...

78 FR 17226 - Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group; Public Meeting, Teleconference and Web-Based Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-03-20

...-FF08EACT00] Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group; Public Meeting, Teleconference and Web-Based Meeting... Service, announce a public meeting, teleconference and web-based meeting of the Trinity Adaptive Management Working Group (TAMWG). DATES: Public meeting, Teleconference, and web-based meeting: Monday April...

Unit-level voluntary turnover rates and customer service quality: implications of group cohesiveness, newcomer concentration, and size.

PubMed

Hausknecht, John P; Trevor, Charlie O; Howard, Michael J

2009-07-01

Despite substantial growth in the service industry and emerging work on turnover consequences, little research examines how unit-level turnover rates affect essential customer-related outcomes. The authors propose an operational disruption framework to explain why voluntary turnover impairs customers' service quality perceptions. On the basis of a sample of 75 work units and data from 5,631 employee surveys, 59,602 customer surveys, and organizational records, results indicate that unit-level voluntary turnover rates are negatively related to service quality perceptions. The authors also examine potential boundary conditions related to the disruption framework. Of 3 moderators studied (group cohesiveness, group size, and newcomer concentration), results show that turnover's negative effects on service quality are more pronounced in larger units and in those with a greater concentration of newcomers.

Work Values of Poor versus Nonpoor Service Workers.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Klein, Freda; Trione, Verdun

1981-01-01

Discusses an assessment instrument measuring work values appropriate for use with minimally skilled, economically or educationally deficient clients. The scale surveyed work values of (N=238) poor versus nonpoor service workers. More similarities than differences were found between the two groups. Seven significant value differences were…

Sickness absence trends after loss control management

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Tabaluyan, T.; Kuswadji, S.

1996-12-31

To assess the influence of loss control management programs applied in an oil and gas company to sickness absence trends. After the implementation of loss control management programs in 1990, sickness absence records in 1991, 1992 and 1993 were studied. International Safety Rating System (ISRS) management elements were audited each year. Absence parameter used were sickness frequency, mean sickness days examined by employee group age, length of service, work schedule and work location. Although frequency of sickness absences remain unchanged, there was a marked decrease of mean days per absence for certain worker groups. The effects were true among agemore » group 40-49 years, service group 15-19 years, service group 20-24 years and office workers. Shorter sickness absences among certain group of employees was noted following implementation of loss control management programs.« less

The effectiveness of empowering in-service training programs for foreign nurse aides in community-based long-term care facilities.

PubMed

Wu, Li-yu; Yin, Teresa J C; Li, I-chuan

2005-01-01

The objective of the study was to examine the effectiveness of empowering in-service training programs for foreign nurse aides working in community-based long-term care (LTC) facilities. The design was a pretest and post-test design with experiment and control groups. The sample consisted of purposeful sampling from 10 LTC facilities in the Shihlin and Peitou areas of Taipei. A total of 35 foreign nurse aides participated in this study; 16 in the experimental group and 19 in the control group. The experimental group attended the training program for a 3-month period, whereas the control group did not receive any training. The research findings reveal that the training program was effective in increasing the work stress of workload/scheduling (Z = 2.01, p

The effect of day and night shifts on oxidative stress and anxiety symptoms of the nurses.

PubMed

Ulas, T; Buyukhatipoglu, H; Kirhan, I; Dal, M S; Eren, M A; Hazar, A; Demir, M E; Aydogan, T; Karababa, F; Uyanikoglu, A; Kurkcuoglu, I C

2012-05-01

Oxidative stress is believed to have a role in the development of chronic diseases. It is also known that long-term night and shift work in nurses might be associated with many health-related problems like fatigue, sleep problems, anxiety and difficulties in maintaining regular lifestyles. In this study, we aimed to evaluate the changes of oxidative stress parameters and anxiety indexes of the nurses on day and night shifts. One hundred and twenty nurses in ordinary service and intensive care unit (ICU) were enrolled to the study. Subjects were divided into 2 groups; group 1 (n = 60) consisted of nurses working in a day shift and group 2 (n = 60) as working in the night shift. Further, both groups were divided in to 2 groups again; group la and 2a (both n = 30) who working in the ICU, group 1b and 2b (both n = 30) in the ordinary service. Just before and the end of the shifts, blood samples were obtained to measure total antioxidant status (TAS) and total oxidant status (TOS). Oxidative stress index (OSI) was calculated. Anxiety index were determined at the end of the shift using State-Trait Anxiety Inventory index. Oxidative stress parameters were increased in all nurses at the end of the day and night shifts (p < 0.05). However, both in service and ICU nurses TAS, TOS, and OSI levels were not significantly different at the beginning and the end of the shifts (p > 0.05). Anxiety indexes of each ordinary service and ICU nurses were found to be similar (p > 0.05). Ordinary service and ICU nurses' oxidative stress parameters and anxiety indexes were not different and all nurses suffer the similar effects of the shifts both in day and night.

Application of the resource-based relative value scale system to pediatrics.

PubMed

Gerstle, Robert S; Molteni, Richard A; Andreae, Margie C; Bradley, Joel F; Brewer, Eileen D; Calabrese, Jamie; Krug, Steven E; Liechty, Edward A; Linzer, Jeffrey F; Pillsbury, Julia M; Tuli, Sanjeev Y

2014-06-01

The majority of public and private payers in the United States currently use the Medicare Resource-Based Relative Value Scale as the basis for physician payment. Many large group and academic practices have adopted this objective system of physician work to benchmark physician productivity, including using it, wholly or in part, to determine compensation. The Resource-Based Relative Value Scale survey instrument, used to value physician services, was designed primarily for procedural services, leading to current concerns that American Medical Association/Specialty Society Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) surveys may undervalue nonprocedural evaluation and management services. The American Academy of Pediatrics is represented on the RUC, the committee charged with maintaining accurate physician work values across specialties and age groups. The Academy, working closely with other primary care and subspecialty societies, actively pursues a balanced RUC membership and a survey instrument that will ensure appropriate work relative value unit assignments, thereby allowing pediatricians to receive appropriate payment for their services relative to other services.

The political and economic context of home care work in California.

PubMed

Delp, Linda; Muntaner, Carles

2010-01-01

California's primarily female, ethnically diverse home care workforce is at the intersection of the public and private spheres of work and at the front line of recurring policy and budget debates targeting government-funded long-term care services. The convening of a Home Care Research Working Group in 2001 has led to collaborative action research initiatives and advocacy for policies to improve working conditions and home care services. The study reported here demonstrates that: 1) current long-term care policy is inadequate to ameliorate home care stressors such as physical and emotional demands, schedule conflicts, financial strain, and job insecurity; 2) workers' experience of home care differs by gender and by race or ethnic group; and 3) a union that actively engages workers is a viable avenue to provide individual support and empowerment as well as collective advocacy for home care services, critical in an era of attacks against health and social service programs.

Culture-sensitive counselling, psychotherapy and support groups in the Orthodox-Jewish community: how they work and how they are experienced.

PubMed

Loewenthal, Kate Miriam; Rogers, Marian Brooke

2004-09-01

There is political and scientific goodwill towards the provision of culture-sensitive support, but as yet little knowledge about how such support works and what are its strengths and difficulties in practice. To study groups offering culture-sensitive psychological and other support to the strictly orthodox Jewish community in London. Semi-structured interviews with service providers, potential and actual users from the community, and professionals serving the community. Interviews asked about the aims, functioning and achievements of 10 support groups. Thematic analysis identified seven important themes: admiration for the work of the groups; appreciation of the benefits of culture-sensitive services; concerns over confidentiality and stigma; concerns over finance and fund-raising; concerns about professionalism; the importance of liaison with rabbinic authorities; need for better dissemination of information. The strengths and difficulties of providing culture-sensitive services in one community were identified. Areas for attention include vigilance regarding confidentiality, improvements in disseminating information, improvements in the reliability of funding and attention to systematic needs assessment, and to the examination of efficacy of these forms of service provision.

The net effects of the Project NetWork return-to-work case management experiment on participant earnings, benefit receipt, and other outcomes.

PubMed

Kornfeld, R; Rupp, K

2000-01-01

The Social Security Administration (SSA) initiated Project NetWork in 1991 to test case management as a means of promoting employment among persons with disabilities. The demonstration, which targeted Social Security Disability Insurance (DI) beneficiaries and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) applicants and recipients, offered intensive outreach, work-incentive waivers, and case management/referral services. Participation in Project NetWork was voluntary. Volunteers were randomly assigned to the "treatment" group or the "control" group. Those assigned to the treatment group met individually with a case or referral manager who arranged for rehabilitation and employment services, helped clients develop an individual employment plan, and provided direct employment counseling services. Volunteers assigned to the control group could not receive services from Project NetWork but remained eligible for any employment assistance already available in their communities. For both treatment and control groups, the demonstration waived specific DI and SSI program rules considered to be work disincentives. The experimental impact study thus measures the incremental effects of case and referral management services. The eight demonstration sites were successful in implementing the experimental design roughly as planned. Project NetWork staff were able to recruit large numbers of participants and to provide rehabilitation and employment services on a substantial scale. Most of the sites easily reached their enrollment targets and were able to attract volunteers with demographic characteristics similar to those of the entire SSI and DI caseload and a broad range of moderate and severe disabilities. However, by many measures, volunteers were generally more "work-ready" than project eligible in the demonstration areas who did not volunteer to receive NetWork services. Project NetWork case management increased average annual earnings by $220 per year over the first 2 years following random assignment. This statistically significant impact, an approximate 11-percent increase in earnings, is based on administrative data on earnings. For about 70 percent of sample members, a third year of followup data was available. For this limited sample, the estimated effect of Project NetWork on annual earnings declined to roughly zero in the third followup year. The findings suggest that the increase in earnings may have been short-lived and may have disappeared by the time Project NetWork services ended. Project NetWork did not reduce reliance on SSI or DI benefits by statistically significant amounts over the 30-42 month followup period. The services provided by Project NetWork thus did not reduce overall SSI and DI caseloads or benefits by substantial amounts, especially given that only about 5 percent of the eligible caseload volunteered to participate in Project NetWork. Project NetWork produced modest net benefits to persons with disabilities and net costs to taxpayers. Persons with disabilities gained mainly because the increases in their earnings easily outweighed the small (if any) reduction in average SSI and DI benefits. For SSA and the federal government as a whole, the costs of Project NetWork were not sufficiently offset by increases in tax receipts resulting from increased earnings or reductions in average SSI and DI benefits. The modest net benefits of Project NetWork to persons with disabilities are encouraging. How such benefits of an experimental intervention should be weighed against costs of taxpayers depends on value judgments of policymakers. Because different case management projects involve different kinds of services, these results cannot be directly generalized to other case management interventions. They are nevertheless instructive for planning new initiatives. Combining case and referral management services with various other interventions, such as longer term financial support for work or altered provider incentives, could produc

25 CFR 20.505 - What services are provided jointly with the Child Assistance Program?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-04-01

... aimed at strengthening the family's ability to provide for and nurture their child. These supportive services can include: (1) Social work case management; (2) Counseling for parents and children; (3) Group work, day care; and (4) Homemaker services, when necessary. (b) Protection of Indian children from...

Internet Services and Academic Work: An Australian Perspective.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bruce, Harry

1994-01-01

Describes a pilot study examining how Australian academics are using the Australian Academic and Research Network. Ten tables provide details on network services used in relation to academic role, importance of services used and relationship to academic work, and specific applications for e-mail, remote login, news groups and FTP (file transfer…

78 FR 52657 - Migratory Bird Hunting; Final Frameworks for Early-Season Migratory Bird Hunting Regulations

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-08-23

... Working Group conducted this assessment work, which included a thorough assessment of the harvest... Potential Working Group indicated that additional opportunity could be provided for blue-winged teal and...; thus, a small technical group comprised of members from the Flyway Councils and Service should be...

To work or not to work: motivation (not low IQ) determines symptom validity test findings.

PubMed

Chafetz, Michael D; Prentkowski, Erica; Rao, Aparna

2011-06-01

Social Security Disability Determinations Service (DDS) claimants are seeking compensation for an inability to work (Chafetz, 2010). These usually low-functioning claimants fail Symptom Validity Tests (SVTs) at high rates (Chafetz, 2008), typically over 40%. In contrast, claimants for the Rehabilitation Service in Louisiana (LRS) are seeking to work. Individuals referred by the Department of Child and Family Services (DCFS) are seeking reunification with their children. All three groups consisted of equivalently low-IQ claimants when considering only those who passed SVTs. Only the DDS group failed SVTs at high rates, whereas LRS claimants failed at minimal rates and DCFS claimants did not fail. Thus, intrinsic motivation explains effort in this particular study of low-functioning claimants: those seeking to work or to look good to reunify with their children pass SVTs at high rates.

Employment services utilization and outcomes among substance abusing offenders participating in California's proposition 36 drug treatment initiative.

PubMed

Evans, Elizabeth; Hser, Yih-Ing; Huang, David

2010-10-01

California drug treatment programs may use funds to address barriers to work faced by Proposition 36 offenders, most of whom are not working at treatment entry, but employment services utilization and related behavioral outcomes have never been studied. This study examined primary data collected on 1,453 offenders by 30 programs during 2004 to explore the characteristics, employment services utilization, and outcomes of those who did and did not receive employment services while in drug treatment. One-year outcomes were mostly similar across groups, however, increases in the proportion of offenders employed, receiving income from employment and family or friends, and being paid for work were significantly greater among the received-employment-services group, and a greater proportion of this group also completed drug treatment. Employment services utilization was less likely for persons recruited from outpatient settings and more likely with greater severity of family/social problems and desire for services. Odds of employment one-year post-treatment entry were higher for those of Hispanic race/ethnicity (vs. White) and for those with treatment completion/longer retention but lower for those who were older, lived in specific counties, had greater employment problem severity at intake, and received other income-related services. Strategies for improving employment services utilization and outcomes among Proposition 36 offenders are discussed.

Service Learning in Schools: Training Counselors for Group Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bjornestad, Andrea; Mims, Grace Ann; Mims, Matthew

2016-01-01

The purpose of the study was to explore the experiences of counselors-in-training via student reflection journals as part of a service-learning project in a group counseling course. The counselors-in-training facilitated psychoeducational groups at an alternative high school. The Objective, Reflective, Interpretive, Decisional model was utilized…

75 FR 62399 - Public Meeting To Solicit Input for a Strategic Plan for Federal Youth Policy

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-08

... that the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs solicit input from young people, State children's... Services, in its role as the Chair of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, is announcing a... site for the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs at http://www.FindYouthInfo.gov for...

75 FR 69084 - Public Meeting To Solicit Input for a Strategic Plan for Federal Youth Policy

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-10

... Working Group seeks to promote achievement of positive results for at-risk youth through the following... Services, in its role as the Chair of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, is announcing a.... FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Visit the Web site for the Interagency Working Group on Youth...

75 FR 48690 - Public Meeting To Solicit Input for a Strategic Plan for Federal Youth Policy

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-08-11

... directing the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs to solicit input from young people, State children... Services, in its role as the Chair of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, is announcing a... site for the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs at http://www.FindYouthInfo.gov for...

Drama and Role Playing in Teaching Practice: The Role of Group Works

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Çerkez, Yagmur; Altinay, Zehra; Altinay, Fahriye; Bashirova, Elnara

2012-01-01

The research study aims to explore the essence of group work in drama and role playing for teaching practice inline with the nature of collaborative learning process. This research study has qualitative nature by capturing experiences of volunteer ninety pre-service teachers about group works, gained skills from drama and role playing in their…

Continuing Education of Health Personnel. Report on a Working Group (Dublin, Ireland, October 18-21, 1976).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

World Health Organization, Copenhagen (Denmark). Regional Office for Europe.

Twenty-two members, drawn from different sectors of health service and educational systems of seventeen countries, comprised a working group of the World Health Organization (WHO) which was organized to consider the development of national systems of continuing education for the health professions. The working group first set out to define…

A multidisciplinary TBI inpatient rehabilitation programme for active duty service members as part of a randomized clinical trial.

PubMed

Braverman, S E; Spector, J; Warden, D L; Wilson, B C; Ellis, T E; Bamdad, M J; Salazar, A M

1999-06-01

To design and describe an effective rehabilitation programme for use in an ongoing trial on the efficacy of multidisciplinary brain injury rehabilitation for moderately head injury military service members. Treatment arm of a randomized control trial. US military tertiary care hospital inpatient rehabilitation programme. Sixty seven active duty military with moderate to severe TBI who were randomized to the treatment arm of the protocol. Eight week rehabilitation programme combining group and individual therapies with an inpatient milieu-oriented neuropsychological focus. Group therapies included fitness, planning and organization, cognitive skills, work skills, medication, and milieu groups, and community re-entry outings. Individual therapy included neuropsychology, work therapy, occupational therapy, and speech and language pathology. Successful return to work and return to duty. At 1 year follow-up, 64 patients returned to work (96%) and 66% (44/67) returned to duty. The described rehabilitation programme demonstrates one successful effort to rehabilitate active duty military service members with TBI who have the potential to return to duty.

European initiative for the application of the International Classification of Service Organization in Health-related Rehabilitation (ICSO-R).

PubMed

Kiekens, Carlotte; Meyer, Thorsten; Gimigliano, Francesca; Baffone, Cristiana; Gutenbrunner, Christoph M

2017-04-01

The International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) should be used as the framework for the development of a clinical assessment schedule for clinical quality management of health-related rehabilitation services. For the description of rehabilitation services a working group of the ISPRM-WHO-Liaison Committee proposed an instrument called "International Classification System for Service Organization in Health-related Rehabilitation" or ICSO-R. To test the applicability and feasibility of ICSO-R to describe rehabilitation services and to propose further improvements. A workshop was held. SPF (Swiss Paraplegic Research) in Nottwil, January 2016. Six working groups, composed of delegates from UEMS PRM (Physical and Rehabilitation Medicine Section and Board of the European Union of Medical Specialists) and experts from other rehabilitation professions. Each working group selected an existing service of a predefined category (one acute, three post-acute and two long-term rehabilitation services). The instructions were: 1) make a narrative description of an exemplary service; 2) describe the exemplary service using the dimensions and categories of ICSO-R; 3) comment on feasibility of the ICSO-R table, on shortcomings, and make suggestions for improvement. The narrative and ICSO-R descriptions were analyzed and compared, and recommendations were made for modification of ICSO-R. The narratives were very heterogeneous and none comparable. ICSO-R use was feasible and significantly increased precision and comparability of the descriptions of existing rehabilitation services. Proposals for improvement were made, for example the addition of lacking categories. Suggestions were made for clarification of a number of characteristics, including a taxonomy with value sets. The UEMS PRM workshop on the description of health-related rehabilitation services for use in a clinical quality management schedule clearly demonstrated feasibility and applicability of ICSO-R, showing more precise and comparable descriptions as compared to the narratives. However, in a next version some modifications should be made to improve clarity. It is recommended to use ICSO-R to describe and compare existing as well as model rehabilitation services for benchmarking and implementation into health systems worldwide. The ISPRM-WHO Liaison committee working group will further modify and improve ICSO-R.

Implementing groupwork in primary care to meet client need.

PubMed

Newcombe, Teresa; Gledstone, Pam

Hertsmere health visitors are successfully using groupwork to target patient groups who may not traditionally access services. This includes working with clients in environments such as a homeless family hostel and an English as a second language group. The health visitors have incorporated national service framework targets and important health promotion advice into sessions, and work with a range of other professionals. The result is a modernised, family-centred public health role.

Work-Related CBT versus Vocational Services As Usual for Unemployed Persons with Social Anxiety Disorder: A Randomized Controlled Pilot Trial

PubMed Central

Himle, Joseph A.; Bybee, Deborah; Steinberger, Edward; Laviolette, Wayne T.; Weaver, Addie; Vlnka, Sarah; Golenberg, Zipora; Levine, Debra Siegel; Heimberg, Richard G.; O’Donnell, Lisa A.

2014-01-01

We designed and pilot-tested a group-based, work-related cognitive-behavioral therapy (WCBT) for unemployed individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD). WCBT, delivered in a vocational service setting by vocational service professionals, aims to reduce social anxiety and enable individuals to seek, obtain, and retain employment. We compared WCBT to a vocational services as usual control condition (VSAU). Participants were unemployed, homeless, largely African American, vocational service-seeking adults with SAD (N=58), randomized to receive either eight sessions of WCBT plus VSAU or VSAU alone and followed three months post-treatment. Multilevel modeling revealed significantly greater reductions in social anxiety, general anxiety, depression, and functional impairment for WCBT compared to VSAU. Coefficients for job search activity and self-efficacy indicated greater increases for WCBT. Hours worked per week in the follow-up period did not differ between the groups, but small sample size and challenges associated with measuring work hours may have contributed to this finding. Overall, the results of this study suggest that unemployed persons with SAD can be effectively treated with specialized work-related CBT administered by vocational service professionals. Future testing of WCBT with a larger sample, a longer follow-up period, and adequate power to assess employment outcomes is warranted. PMID:25461793

Service Learning in an Undergraduate Social Work Research Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Postlethwait, Ariana

2012-01-01

The current study examined student experiences (n = 111) in an undergraduate social work (BSW) research seminar in which a service learning (SL) project was the primary focus. Student groups of approximately six or seven worked with local agencies to develop a research plan for the agency. Students found the SL project to be a positive experience.…

Reparation by Proxy: Experiences of Working with Pregnant Teenagers and Adolescent Mothers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hurley, Anne

2010-01-01

This paper describes brief work with pregnant teenagers, adolescent mothers, their infants and their wider families, a group who would not ordinarily seek treatment in child and adolescent mental health services. The work takes place in a community context in London and includes a home visiting service for young people unable to attend…

Social Maturation: Work Group Proceedings.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Resnick, Michael D.; And Others

1985-01-01

Each of the seven factors that affect adolescent social development is presented together with a description of potentially important research, service, and policy initiatives within each topic area. The factors are self-esteem, peer group, parenting, family, services, enforced dependency, and positive sexual socialization. (CT)

75 FR 62400 - Public Meeting To Solicit Input for a Strategic Plan for Federal Youth Policy

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-08

... directing the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs to solicit input from young people, State children... Services, in its role as the Chair of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, is announcing a... the Web site for the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs at http://www.FindYouthInfo.gov for...

75 FR 69085 - Public Meeting To Solicit Input for a Strategic Plan for Federal Youth Policy

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-11-10

... Services, in its role as the Chair of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, is announcing a.... FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Visit the Web site for the Interagency Working Group on Youth... Working Group on Youth Programs help desk, by telephone at 1-877-231-7843 [Note: this is a toll-free...

Group Occupational Health Service in a Developing Country

PubMed Central

de Glanville, H.

1970-01-01

In 1967 an experimental group occupational health service was set up in Dar es Salaam to provide direct service to industrial firms. Larger companies were visited by a doctor, smaller firms in rotation by auxiliaries. After three years 65 companies had joined with over 15,000 employees, and workers were attending the group dispensaries at a rate of over 250,000 visits a year. Such an approach through direct service to the working community appears to be more appropriate to a developing country than a purely advisory central occupational health unit. PMID:5483327

The Climate Services Partnership (CSP): Working Together to Improve Climate Services Worldwide

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Zebiak, S.; Brasseur, G.; Members of the CSP Coordinating Group

2012-04-01

Throughout the world, climate services are required to address urgent needs for climate-informed decision-making, policy and planning. These needs were explored in detail at the first International Conference on Climate Services (ICCS), held in New York in October 2011. After lengthy discussions of needs and capabilities, the conference culminated in the creation of the Climate Services Partnership (CSP). The CSP is an informal interdisciplinary network of climate information users, providers, donors and researchers interested in improving the provision and development of climate services worldwide. Members of the Climate Services Partnership work together to share knowledge, accelerate learning, develop new capacities, and establish good practices. These collaborative efforts will inform and support the evolution and implementation of the Global Framework for Climate Services. The Climate Services Partnership focuses its efforts on three levels. These include: 1. encouraging and sustaining connections between climate information providers, users, donors, and researchers 2. gathering, synthesizing and disseminating current knowledge on climate services by way of an online knowledge management platform 3. generating new knowledge on critical topics in climate service development and provision, through the creation of focused working groups on specific topics To date, the Climate Services Partnership has made progress on all three fronts. Connections have been fostered through outreach at major international conferences and professional societies. The CSP also maintains a website and a monthly newsletter, which serves as a resource for those interested in climate services. The second International Conference on Climate Services (ICCS2) will be held in Berlin in September. The CSP has also created a knowledge capture system that gathers and disseminates a wide range of information related to the development and provision of climate services. This includes an online-searchable database that allows users to see what climate services activities are underway in what locations, to gather and analyze information. As part of the knowledge capture system, more than 10 CSP members are currently developing case studies to describe specific climate services activities; in a few cases, this involves in-depth evaluations of the service in question. Finally, the Economics Working Group of the Climate Services Partnership is analyzing previous methods to economically value climate services in hopes of generating knew knowledge regarding the methods are best suited to assessing the benefits associated with various climate services. Other groups are working to develop guidance materials for the development and use of climate information to support decision and policy-making. The Climate Services Partnership is an open, informal network that builds on activities that are already underway and works to create synergies to improve the provision and development for climate services. Its members currently number more than 50 organizations; it seeks new participants and new initiatives.

Pilot study in the development of an interactive multimedia learning environment for sexual health interventions: a focus group approach.

PubMed

Goold, P C; Bustard, S; Ferguson, E; Carlin, E M; Neal, K; Bowman, C A

2006-02-01

In the UK there are high rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies amongst young people. There is limited and contradictory evidence that current sexual health education interventions are effective or that they improve access to appropriate sexual health services. This paper describes the outcome of focus group work with young people that was undertaken to inform the design of an Interactive Multimedia Learning Environment that incorporates message framing, intended for use in sexual health promotion. The focus group work addressed sexual attitudes, behaviour, risk perception, and knowledge of sexual health and sexual health services in Nottingham. The results provided new insights into young peoples' sexual behaviour, and their diversity of knowledge and beliefs. Common themes expressed regarding sexual health services included concerns about confidentiality, lack of confidence to access services and fear of the unknown. The results showed that while the adolescents are reasonably knowledgeable about infection, they do not know as much about the relevant services to treat it. This work emphasizes the need for user involvement throughout the design and development of a sexual health intervention, and will form the basis of the next part of the project.

Technical note: Harmonizing met-ocean model data via standard web services within small research groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Signell, R. P.; Camossi, E.

2015-11-01

Work over the last decade has resulted in standardized web-services and tools that can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of working with meteorological and ocean model data. While many operational modelling centres have enabled query and access to data via common web services, most small research groups have not. The penetration of this approach into the research community, where IT resources are limited, can be dramatically improved by: (1) making it simple for providers to enable web service access to existing output files; (2) using technology that is free, and that is easy to deploy and configure; and (3) providing tools to communicate with web services that work in existing research environments. We present a simple, local brokering approach that lets modelers continue producing custom data, but virtually aggregates and standardizes the data using NetCDF Markup Language. The THREDDS Data Server is used for data delivery, pycsw for data search, NCTOOLBOX (Matlab®1) and Iris (Python) for data access, and Ocean Geospatial Consortium Web Map Service for data preview. We illustrate the effectiveness of this approach with two use cases involving small research modelling groups at NATO and USGS.1 Mention of trade names or commercial products does not constitute endorsement or recommendation for use by the US Government.

Geriatric mental health services research: Strategic Plan for an Aging Population: Report of the Health Services Work Group of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry.

PubMed

Borson, S; Bartels, S J; Colenda, C C; Gottlieb, G L; Meyers, B

2001-01-01

In November 1999, a working group of the American Association for Geriatric Psychiatry (AAGP) convened to consider strategic recommendations for developing geriatric mental health services research as a scientific discipline. The resulting consensus statement summarizes the principles guiding mental health services research on late-life mental disorders, presents timely and topical priorities for investigation with the potential to benefit the lives of older adults and their families, and articulates a systematic program for expanding the supply of well-trained geriatric mental health services researchers. The agenda presented here is designed to address critical questions in provision of effective mental health care to an aging population and the health policies that govern its delivery.

Pre-Service Teachers: An Analysis of Reading Instruction in High Needs Districts Dual Language Classrooms

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Whitacre, Michael; Diaz, Zulmaris; Esquierdo, Joy

2013-01-01

Pre-service teachers need opportunities to apply theory and connect to best practices as they teach in classroom settings be it, whole or small group. For many pre-service teachers often times their experience is limited to simply watching instruction or working with small groups of students (Pryor & Kuhn, 2004). The student teaching…

‘Working the system’. Achieving change through partnership working: an evaluation of cancer partnership groups

PubMed Central

Richardson, Alison; Sitzia, John; Cotterell, Phil

2005-01-01

Abstract Aims and objectives  To investigate the characteristics and achievements of cancer partnership groups – collaborative service improvement groups formed of NHS staff and service users – in the 34 cancer networks in England, and in particular to explore the influence that such groups had on local cancer services. Design  A qualitative approach employing a structured telephone survey, face‐to‐face interviews and documentary analysis. Participants and setting  Thirty cancer networks in England with an active Partnership Group completed the telephone survey. From these 30 networks, six networks were subsequently selected from which service users and NHS professionals involved in partnership groups and NHS professionals who were non‐members were recruited to take part in face‐to‐face interviews. Results and conclusions  Partnership groups were established in the majority of cancer networks. Typically, these groups were at network level, been established for less than a year, met once every 2 months, and were populated with both service users and health‐care professionals. Five common activities and achievements were identified: establishment of the group itself; acting as a ‘reference’ group for consultation; networking and representation on other groups; patient information and communication and proactive influencing. Activities progressed in scale and complexity as groups evolved. Groups had learnt the basics of change management and some identified a more sophisticated understanding of change processes in the NHS as essential for the group's motivation and survival. When gauging the impact of involvement strategies it would seem important to subscribe to broad indicators of success that include both process and outcome measures. PMID:16098151

Continuing professional development: issues raised by nurses and allied health professionals working in musculoskeletal settings.

PubMed

Haywood, Hannah; Pain, Helen; Ryan, Sarah; Adams, Jo

2013-09-01

Nurses and allied health professionals (AHPs) are required to evidence their engagement in continuing professional development (CPD) in order to retain their professional registration. Many challenges to CPD are reported, but little literature has explored pertinent CPD issues for clinicians with specialist roles or working in specialist services. No literature to date has explored the perceptions of CPD held by patients who receive these specialist services. Three focus groups and two conference calls were conducted with nurses, physiotherapists, podiatrists and occupational therapists who work in musculoskeletal (MSK) services; managers of these services; and people who use MSK services. These focus groups aimed: to explore the CPD needs and issues for this group of clinicians; to explore the perceptions of CPD held by people who have MSK conditions; and to compare the above with current literature to discern any factors specific to MSK settings. The focus groups and conference calls were audio-recorded. The recordings were coded by the researchers using a priori and inductive coding. The main issues discussed were: funding and time for CPD, providing examples of ways to provide CPD in spite of the challenges faced; that CPD needs changed with level of experience; initiatives by clinical specialists to reduce professional isolation; and future trends in CPD, including concerns about succession planning. The views of people with MSK conditions demonstrated an emphasis on communication skills that was seldom raised by managers and clinicians. Sufficient time, funding and provision of study leave were key to facilitating CPD activity for nurses and AHPs working in MSK services. People with MSK conditions particularly valued health professionals who combined good listening and communication skills with an attempt to understand what it was like to live with their condition. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

[Association between sense of coherence and occupational stress of workers in modern service industry in Shanghai, China].

PubMed

Lu, X Y; Dai, J M; Wu, N; Shu, C; Gao, J L; Fu, H

2016-10-20

Objective: To investigate understand the current status of the sense of coherence and occupational stress in modern service workers, and to analyze the association between occupational stress and the sense of coherence. Methods: From March to April, 2016, 834 modern service workers from 3 companies in Shanghai, China (in air transportation industry, marketing industry, and travel industry) were surveyed by non-ran-dom sampling. The self-completion questionnaires were filled out anonymously given the informed consent of the workers. The occupational stress questionnaire was used to evaluate occupational stress, and the Chinese version of the Sense of Coherence Scale (SOC-13) was used to assess the mental health. Results: The mean score for the sense of coherence of the respondents was 61.54±10.46, and 50.1% of them were self-rated as having occupational stress. There were significant differences in SOC score between groups with different ages, marital status, positions, lengths of service, family per capita monthly income, and weekly work hours ( P <0.05). The occupational stress score differed significantly across groups with different marital status, lengths of service, and weekly work hours ( P <0.05). The scores for working autonomy, social support, and occupational stress differed significantly between groups with different SOC levels ( P< 0.05). There were significant differences in SOC score and the distribution of low-SOC respondents between groups with different levels of working autonomy, social support, and occupational stress. High SOC is a protective factor for occupational stress ( OR =0.39, 95% CI 0.26~ 0.59). Conclusion: Modern service workers in Shanghai have high SOC and moderate occupational stress. Therefore, improving SOC may reduce occupational stress.

Delivering an effective outpatient service in gynaecology. A randomised controlled trial analysing the cost of outpatient versus daycase hysteroscopy.

PubMed

Marsh, Fiona; Kremer, Christian; Duffy, Sean

2004-03-01

To examine the cost implications of outpatient versus daycase hysteroscopy to the National Health Service, the patient and their employer. Randomised controlled trial. The gynaecology clinic of a large teaching hospital. Ninety-seven women with abnormal uterine bleeding requiring investigation. Women were randomly allocated to either outpatient or daycase hysteroscopy. They were asked to complete diaries recording expenses and time off work. The National Health Service costs were calculated for a standard outpatient and daycase hysteroscopy. Costs to the National Health Service, costs to the employer, loss of income, childcare costs and travel expenses. The outpatient group required significantly less time off work compared with the daycase group (0.8 days vs 3.3 days), P < 0.001. Of those women who lost income due to the hysteroscopy, the average loss of income was twice as much in the daycase group ( pound 20.40 in the outpatient group vs pound 50.60 in the daycase group). The average cost of childcare required to cover the time spent in hospital undergoing the hysteroscopy was similar in both groups, however, the number of women requiring childcare was small. Travel costs incurred by the women were 74% more in the daycase group compared with the outpatient group-with an average cost of pound 3.46 in the outpatient group and pound 6.02 in the daycase group. Daycase hysteroscopy costs the National Health Service approximately pound 53.88 more per patient, than performing an outpatient hysteroscopy. Purchasing the hysteroscopes necessary to perform an outpatient hysteroscopy is a more expensive outlay than those required for daycase hysteroscopy. However, there are so many other savings that only 38 patients need to undergo outpatient hysteroscopy (even with a 4% failure rate) rather than daycase hysteroscopy in order to recoup the extra money required to set up an outpatient hysteroscopy service. Outpatient hysteroscopy offers many benefits over its traditional counterpart including faster recovery, less time away from work and home and cost savings to the woman and her employer and the National Health Service. Resources need to be made available to rapidly develop this service across the UK in order to better serve both patient and taxpayer.

Employment-related information for clients receiving mental health services and clinicians.

PubMed

King, Joanne; Cleary, Catherine; Harris, Meredith G; Lloyd, Chris; Waghorn, Geoff

2011-01-01

Clients receiving public mental health services and clinicians require information to facilitate client access to suitable employment services. However, little is known about the specific employment-related information needs of these groups. This study aimed to identify employment-related information needs among clients, clinicians and employment specialists, with a view to developing a new vocational information resource. Employment-related information needs were identified via a series of focus group consultations with clients, clinicians, and employment specialists (n=23). Focus group discussions were guided by a common semi-structured interview schedule. Several categories of information need were identified: countering incorrect beliefs about work; benefits of work; disclosure and managing personal information; impact of earnings on welfare entitlements; employment service pathways; job preparation, planning and selection; and managing illness once working. Clear preferences were expressed about effective means of communicating the key messages in written material. This investigation confirmed the need for information tailored to clients and clinicians in order to activate clients' employment journey and to help them make informed decisions about vocational assistance.

The big picture: how social work can effectively utilize photographs.

PubMed

Marshall, Heather L; Craun, Sarah W; Theriot, Matthew T

2009-10-01

Social work has struggled with image problems and misperceptions of the profession and the types of services it provides. Photography is a medium that has been used effectively by other professions to change attitudes and perceptions. The present study examined the potential of photographs to change the image of available social services--namely, an adult day care program. Participants were divided into two groups: (1) a control group that only completed a survey on attitudes about adult day care services and (2) an experimental group that viewed photographs showing positive images of clients engaged in program activities before taking the survey. A multivariate regression demonstrated that those who saw the photographs before taking the survey had more positive attitudes about adult day care services. In fact, the variable representing the presentation of the photographs had the strongest effect on attitudes. Such findings suggest that photography is a potentially powerful tool to promote positive attitudes about social services programs. The implications of these results are discussed.

Staff regard towards working with substance users: a European multi-centre study.

PubMed

Gilchrist, Gail; Moskalewicz, Jacek; Slezakova, Silvia; Okruhlica, Lubomir; Torrens, Marta; Vajd, Rajko; Baldacchino, Alex

2011-06-01

To compare regard for working with different patient groups (including substance users) among different professional groups in different health-care settings in eight European countries. A multi-centre, cross-sectional comparative study. Primary care, general psychiatry and specialist addiction services in Bulgaria, Greece, Italy, Poland, Scotland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain. A multi-disciplinary convenience sample of 866 professionals (physicians, psychiatrists, psychologists, nurses and social workers) from 253 services. The Medical Condition Regard Scale measured regard for working with different patient groups. Multi-factor between-subjects analysis of variance determined the factors associated with regard for each condition by country and all countries. Regard for working with alcohol (mean score alcohol: 45.35, 95% CI 44.76, 45.95) and drug users (mean score drugs: 43.67, 95% CI 42.98, 44.36) was consistently lower than for other patient groups (mean score diabetes: 50.19, 95% CI 49.71, 50.66; mean score depression: 51.34, 95% CI 50.89, 51.79) across all countries participating in the study, particularly among staff from primary care compared to general psychiatry or specialist addiction services (P<0.001). After controlling for sex of staff, profession and duration of time working in profession, treatment entry point and country remained the only statistically significant variables associated with regard for working with alcohol and drug users. Health professionals appear to ascribe lower status to working with substance users than helping other patient groups, particularly in primary care; the effect is larger in some countries than others. © 2011 The Authors, Addiction © 2011 Society for the Study of Addiction.

Duty of care and autonomy: how support workers managed the tension between protecting service users from risk and promoting their independence in a specialist group home.

PubMed

Hawkins, R; Redley, M; Holland, A J

2011-09-01

In the UK those paid to support adults with intellectual disabilities must manage two potentially conflicting duties that are set out in policy documents as being vital to their role: protecting service users (their duty of care) and recognising service users' autonomy. This study focuses specifically on the support of people with the genetically determined condition, Prader-Willi syndrome (PWS). Due to the behaviours associated with PWS, the support of this group of people vividly illustrates the tension between respect for autonomy and duty of care. This article explores how support workers working in a residential group home managed their competing duties of managing risk and promoting independence in practice. An ethnographic study, comprising of qualitative observations, semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis, was undertaken to investigate the work of support workers in a UK residential group home specialising in the support of adults diagnosed with PWS. The study focused on how support workers attempted to reconcile the tension between protecting service users from the risks associated with the syndrome and acknowledging service users' autonomy by enabling independence. Findings demonstrate that risk was central to the structure of care delivery at the group home and support workers often adhered to standardised risk management procedures. The organisation also required support workers to promote service users' independence and many thought acknowledging service users' autonomy through the promotion of their independence was important. To manage tensions between their differing duties, some support workers deviated from standardised risk management procedures to allow service users a degree of independence. There is a tension between the duty of care and the duty to recognise autonomy at the level of service delivery in residential homes. Support workers attempt to manage this tension; however, further work needs to be done by both residential services and policy makers to facilitate the reconciliation of the duty of care with the duty to recognise service users' autonomy in practice. © 2011 The Authors. Journal of Intellectual Disability Research © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Results of a multisite randomized trial of supported employment interventions for individuals with severe mental illness.

PubMed

Cook, Judith A; Leff, H Stephen; Blyler, Crystal R; Gold, Paul B; Goldberg, Richard W; Mueser, Kim T; Toprac, Marcia G; McFarlane, William R; Shafer, Michael S; Blankertz, Laura E; Dudek, Ken; Razzano, Lisa A; Grey, Dennis D; Burke-Miller, Jane

2005-05-01

National probability surveys indicate that most individuals with schizophrenia and other severe mental illnesses are not employed. This multisite study tested the effectiveness of supported employment (SE) models combining clinical and vocational rehabilitation services to establish competitive employment. We randomly assigned 1273 outpatients with severe mental illness from 7 states in the United States to an experimental SE program or to a comparison or a services-as-usual condition, with follow-up for 24 months. Participants were interviewed semiannually, paid employment was tracked weekly, and vocational and clinical services were measured monthly. Mixed-effects random regression analysis was used to predict the likelihood of competitive employment, working 40 or more hours in a given month, and monthly earnings. Cumulative results during 24 months show that experimental group participants (359/648 [55%]) were more likely than those in the comparison programs (210/625 [34%]) to achieve competitive employment (chi(2) = 61.17; P<.001). Similarly, patients in experimental group programs (330/648 [51%]) were more likely than those in comparison programs (245/625 [39%]) to work 40 or more hours in a given month (chi(2) = 17.66; P<.001). Finally, participants in experimental group programs had significantly higher monthly earnings than those in the comparison programs (mean, US 122 dollars/mo [n=639] vs US 99 dollars/mo [n=622]); t(1259) = -2.04; P<.05). In the multivariate longitudinal analysis, experimental condition subjects were more likely than comparison group subjects to be competitively employed, work 40 or more hours in a given month, and have higher earnings, despite controlling for demographic, clinical, work history, disability beneficiary status, and study site confounders. Moreover, the advantage of experimental over comparison group participants increased during the 24-month study period. The SE models tailored by integrating clinical and vocational services were more effective than services as usual or unenhanced services.

SSP Plus at 36 Months: Effects of Adding Employment Services to Financial Work Incentives.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Lei, Ying; Michalopoulos, Charles

A study examined effects of the Self-Sufficiency Project (SSP) Plus program. A small group of long-term income assistance (IA) recipients in New Brunswick was offered an earnings supplement and employment services (SSP Plus); a second group was offered the regular SSP earnings supplement only; and a third group was offered neither supplement nor…

75 FR 21179 - Endangered and Threatened Wildlife and Plants; Reclassification of the Oregon Chub From...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-04-23

... permit application included a proposed Programmatic Safe Harbor Agreement between ODFW and the Service... foster greater understanding of the Oregon chub and its place in the natural environment of the... Conservation Measures The Oregon Chub Working Group (Working Group) was formed in 1991. This group of Federal...

Alaska Interagency Ecosystem Health Work Group

USGS Publications Warehouse

Shasby, Mark

2009-01-01

The Alaska Interagency Ecosystem Health Work Group is a community of practice that recognizes the interconnections between the health of ecosystems, wildlife, and humans and meets to facilitate the exchange of ideas, data, and research opportunities. Membership includes the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium, U.S. Geological Survey, Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation, Alaska Department of Health and Social Services, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Alaska Sea Life Center, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

Acute care surgery: impact on practice and economics of elective surgeons.

PubMed

Miller, Preston R; Wildman, Elizabeth A; Chang, Michael C; Meredith, J Wayne

2012-04-01

The creation of an acute care surgery service provides a rich operative experience for acute care surgeons. Elective surgeons typically have concerns about whether their practice volume will be restored with elective cases. Acute care surgery has financial implications for both groups. The aim of this project is to examine the impact in terms of work relative value units (wRVUs), collections, and cases in both groups with creation of an acute care surgery service at our institution. Work RVUs, collections, and case volume were examined from departmental records for 2 groups before and after acute care surgery service creation. The service began on September 1, 2008. Before this time, emergency surgical consults went to the general surgeon on call. After this date, all emergency consults were seen by acute care surgeons. The number of operations performed by the acute care surgery group increased significantly when the mean of the 2 years after institution of acute care surgery were compared with the mean of the 2 years preceding the service creation (1,639 vs 790/year; p = 0.007). There was no change in total operations done by the elective surgery group (2,763 vs 2,496/year: p = 0.13). Elective caseload, however, did increase by 23% in the elective surgery group. In the acute care surgery group, wRVUs increased by 140% and elective surgery group wRVUs decreased by 8%. Collections increased in both groups (acute care surgery 129%, elective surgery 7%) and the combined collections of the groups increased by $2,138,00 in the year after service creation. Acute care surgery service creation took emergency business from the elective surgery group, but this was almost immediately replaced with elective cases. This resulted in higher collections for both groups and a resultant significant increase in collections in aggregate. Copyright © 2012 American College of Surgeons. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Work-related CBT versus vocational services as usual for unemployed persons with social anxiety disorder: A randomized controlled pilot trial.

PubMed

Himle, Joseph A; Bybee, Deborah; Steinberger, Edward; Laviolette, Wayne T; Weaver, Addie; Vlnka, Sarah; Golenberg, Zipora; Levine, Debra Siegel; Heimberg, Richard G; O'Donnell, Lisa A

2014-12-01

We designed and pilot-tested a group-based, work-related cognitive-behavioral therapy (WCBT) for unemployed individuals with social anxiety disorder (SAD). WCBT, delivered in a vocational service setting by vocational service professionals, aims to reduce social anxiety and enable individuals to seek, obtain, and retain employment. We compared WCBT to a vocational services as usual control condition (VSAU). Participants were unemployed, homeless, largely African American, vocational service-seeking adults with SAD (N = 58), randomized to receive either eight sessions of WCBT plus VSAU or VSAU alone and followed three months post-treatment. Multilevel modeling revealed significantly greater reductions in social anxiety, general anxiety, depression, and functional impairment for WCBT compared to VSAU. Coefficients for job search activity and self-efficacy indicated greater increases for WCBT. Hours worked per week in the follow-up period did not differ between the groups, but small sample size and challenges associated with measuring work hours may have contributed to this finding. Overall, the results of this study suggest that unemployed persons with SAD can be effectively treated with specialized work-related CBT administered by vocational service professionals. Future testing of WCBT with a larger sample, a longer follow-up period, and adequate power to assess employment outcomes is warranted. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

[Influence of the shift work on circadian-rhythms compare survey on health service employees and policemen].

PubMed

Santorek-Strumiłło, Edyta; Zawilska, Jolanta B; Misiak, Piotr; Jabłoński, Sławomir; Kordiak, Jacek; Brocki, Marian

2012-01-01

It has been estimating that about 20% working persons works in the shift system. It concerns health service employees and policemen among others. The shift work causes permanent conflict "of biological clock" with required working hours. The work in the night hours is less effective, it is held with greater expensive and triggering the increased tiredness.The aim of overtaken by the authors questionnaire survey amongst the population working in shifts, was to determining the influence of the shift work on the length and the quality of the dream and the tiredness and the sleepiness during day in comparison to group working only on the day shift. The survey was conducted in the group of employees of the Health Service (30 persons) and policemen (20 persons) working in shifts. Healthy volunteers working in the system of the daily work constituted the control group (30 persons). The examination consisted of questionnaire forms which were filled in anonymously, the duration of examining one person lasted 4 weeks. Age and sex of the examined and control group were similar. In the examined period of time the number of night shift was averaged 6. During holidays 47 persons had night changes. Average time of dream was approximately 7 hours, for those who was working only at daily shift. On the following day after the night shift examined slept additionally average about 3 hours. Those who didn't work in shifts slept average 7.5 hour/24. Clinically significant sleeplessness was developed: examined group--18 persons, control group--3 persons. Amongst respondents we measured level of sleepiness during night shift using carolain scale of the sleepiness. Increase of sleepiness and decrease of activity appeared between 2:00 and 6:00 a.m. In the process of the examination a measurement of appearing the indications of exaggerated sleepiness and tiredness was also conducted using the ATS scale. The frequency of appearing was two or even three times bigger in the examined group. In examined group most common was reduction of psychophysical activity and difficulty in maintaining opened eyes. We have noted most often reduction of psychophysical activity and the problem with concentrating the eyesight on the object in the examined group. 1. The shift work is connected with a substantial effect to the clinical insomnia. 2. Insufficiency of sleep is a frequent occurrence in those who works in shifts especially having above 6 night shift monthly and also having children below 7 years.

Technical Note: Harmonizing met-ocean model data via standard web services within small research groups

USGS Publications Warehouse

Signell, Richard; Camossi, E.

2016-01-01

Work over the last decade has resulted in standardised web services and tools that can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of working with meteorological and ocean model data. While many operational modelling centres have enabled query and access to data via common web services, most small research groups have not. The penetration of this approach into the research community, where IT resources are limited, can be dramatically improved by (1) making it simple for providers to enable web service access to existing output files; (2) using free technologies that are easy to deploy and configure; and (3) providing standardised, service-based tools that work in existing research environments. We present a simple, local brokering approach that lets modellers continue to use their existing files and tools, while serving virtual data sets that can be used with standardised tools. The goal of this paper is to convince modellers that a standardised framework is not only useful but can be implemented with modest effort using free software components. We use NetCDF Markup language for data aggregation and standardisation, the THREDDS Data Server for data delivery, pycsw for data search, NCTOOLBOX (MATLAB®) and Iris (Python) for data access, and Open Geospatial Consortium Web Map Service for data preview. We illustrate the effectiveness of this approach with two use cases involving small research modelling groups at NATO and USGS.

Technical note: Harmonising metocean model data via standard web services within small research groups

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Signell, Richard P.; Camossi, Elena

2016-05-01

Work over the last decade has resulted in standardised web services and tools that can significantly improve the efficiency and effectiveness of working with meteorological and ocean model data. While many operational modelling centres have enabled query and access to data via common web services, most small research groups have not. The penetration of this approach into the research community, where IT resources are limited, can be dramatically improved by (1) making it simple for providers to enable web service access to existing output files; (2) using free technologies that are easy to deploy and configure; and (3) providing standardised, service-based tools that work in existing research environments. We present a simple, local brokering approach that lets modellers continue to use their existing files and tools, while serving virtual data sets that can be used with standardised tools. The goal of this paper is to convince modellers that a standardised framework is not only useful but can be implemented with modest effort using free software components. We use NetCDF Markup language for data aggregation and standardisation, the THREDDS Data Server for data delivery, pycsw for data search, NCTOOLBOX (MATLAB®) and Iris (Python) for data access, and Open Geospatial Consortium Web Map Service for data preview. We illustrate the effectiveness of this approach with two use cases involving small research modelling groups at NATO and USGS.

Governance - Alignment and Configuration of Business Activities Task Group Report

DTIC Science & Technology

2006-05-01

governance level and the Enterprise Model as a way of ensuring integration at the management and work/execution levels 3. Ensure shared services (i.e...Management Framework o QDR Organizational Model o Secretary of Defense 2006-2008 Priorities o Shared Services Defense Business Board...support for horizontal and vertical organizations • Move “supporting” organizations to shared services model May 2006 "Team Defense" 18 Task Group

Professional efficiencies for diagnostic imaging services rendered by different physicians: analysis of recent medicare multiple procedure payment reduction policy.

PubMed

Duszak, Richard; Silva, Ezequiel; Kim, Angela J; Barr, Robert M; Donovan, William D; Kassing, Pamela; McGinty, Geraldine; Allen, Bibb

2013-09-01

The aim of this study was to quantify potential physician work efficiencies and appropriate multiple procedure payment reductions for different same-session diagnostic imaging studies interpreted by different physicians in the same group practice. Medicare Resource-Based Relative Value Scale data were analyzed to determine the relative contributions of various preservice, intraservice, and postservice physician diagnostic imaging work activities. An expert panel quantified potential duplications in professional work activities when separate examinations were performed during the same session by different physicians within the same group practice. Maximum potential work duplications for various imaging modalities were calculated and compared with those used as the basis of CMS payment policy. No potential intraservice work duplication was identified when different examination interpretations were rendered by different physicians in the same group practice. When multiple interpretations within the same modality were rendered by different physicians, maximum potential duplicated preservice and postservice activities ranged from 5% (radiography, fluoroscopy, and nuclear medicine) to 13.6% (CT). Maximum mean potential duplicated work relative value units ranged from 0.0049 (radiography and fluoroscopy) to 0.0413 (CT). This equates to overall potential total work reductions ranging from 1.39% (nuclear medicine) to 2.73% (CT). Across all modalities, this corresponds to maximum Medicare professional component physician fee reductions of 1.23 ± 0.38% (range, 0.95%-1.87%) for services within the same modality, much less than an order of magnitude smaller than those implemented by CMS. For services from different modalities, potential duplications were too small to quantify. Although potential efficiencies exist in physician preservice and postservice work when same-session, same-modality imaging services are rendered by different physicians in the same group practice, these are relatively minuscule and have been grossly overestimated by current CMS payment policy. Greater transparency and methodologic rigor in government payment policy development are warranted. Copyright © 2013 American College of Radiology. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

75 FR 60756 - Public Meeting to Solicit Input for a Strategic Plan for Federal Youth Policy

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-01

... Services, in its role as the Chair of the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs, is announcing a... FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Visit the Web site for the Interagency Working Group on Youth Programs at http://www.FindYouthInfo.gov for information on how to register, or contact the Interagency Working...

ATM over hybrid fiber-coaxial cable networks: practical issues in deploying residential ATM services

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Laubach, Mark

1996-11-01

Residential broadband access network technology based on asynchronous transfer modem (ATM) will soon reach commercial availability. The capabilities provided by ATM access network promise integrated services bandwidth available in excess of those provided by traditional twisted pair copper wire public telephone networks. ATM to the side of the home placed need quality of service capability closest to the subscriber allowing immediate support for Internet services and traditional voice telephony. Other services such as desktop video teleconferencing and enhanced server-based application support can be added as part of future evolution of the network. Additionally, advanced subscriber home networks can be supported easily. This paper presents an updated summary of the standardization efforts for the ATM over HFC definition work currently taking place in the ATM forum's residential broadband working group and the standards progress in the IEEE 802.14 cable TV media access control and physical protocol working group. This update is fundamental for establishing the foundation for delivering ATM-based integrated services via a cable TV network. An economic model for deploying multi-tiered services is presenting showing that a single-tier service is insufficient for a viable cable operator business. Finally, the use of an ATM based system lends itself well to various deployment scenarios of synchronous optical networks (SONET).

The gift of employee dissatisfaction.

PubMed

Edge, Roberta M

2002-01-01

Through an employee survey administered at Kaweah Delta Health Care District (KDHCD) in Visalia, Calif., several sources of dissatisfaction were noted, including communication, equipment, staffing and rapid growth. Perceiving no real movement toward resolving these issues, employees vented their frustrations to administration. As director of imaging services, I enlisted the help of two inside consultants, KDHCD's director of education and the director of the Employee Assistance Program (EAP). We initiated a process that is ongoing, to move the department toward working together as a team to solve problems within their control. We three directors decided to work with a leadership group to: assess the history of the department clarify the current reality create a vision of the future learn the Covey Habit 4, "Think Win-Win" capture agreements that lead staff and managers to work in self-motivated, self-directed work teams have the director of education present the work to the staff at large, and encourage the leadership team to continue to learn tools that would help the group to improve. The two inside consultants held a series of training meetings with the leadership group of 15, which included a staff member from each modality, site and support service. Participation was optional, and all who were asked agreed to participate. The meetings were held weekly for four weeks for two hours before regular work hours. At the conclusion of the training, the group agreed to continue to meet weekly. After the first four meetings, a summary of the training was presented at a meeting of the full imaging staff plus the vice president of professional services at KDHCD. Through this program, imaging services staff members at KDHCD have achieved an increased sense of cohesion in the group, learned that we have control over some things and not others, and are learning to hold each other accountable with kindness. We are giving each other the benefit of the doubt. We have not achieved perfection, however we have renewed hope for a brighter future.

Information and Health. Report on a Working Group (Luxembourg, Belgium, November 4-7, 1980).

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

World Health Organization, Copenhagen (Denmark). Regional Office for Europe.

A Working Group, convened by the World Health Organization (WHO), proposed a clearer definition of the essential role of health information and suggested the most appropriate means of communication between governments and the mass media, between the media and health services, and between patients and doctors. The Group urged all WHO Member States…

Project Group Work: An Innovative Approach to Counseling in Schools.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Piechowski, Philip A., Ed.; Ciha, Thomas E., Ed.

This monograph begins with an overview of Project Group Work, a school counseling approach designed to enhance services to at-risk students and to further develop the skills of school social workers, psychologists, and other school personnel through the use of group counseling in the schools. It contains seven chapters. "Types of School Based…

Effects of a performance and quality improvement intervention on the work environment in HIV-related care: a quasi-experimental evaluation in Zambia.

PubMed

Bazant, Eva; Sarkar, Supriya; Banda, Joseph; Kanjipite, Webby; Reinhardt, Stephanie; Shasulwe, Hildah; Mulilo, Joyce Monica Chongo; Kim, Young Mi

2014-12-20

Human resource shortages and reforms in HIV-related care make it challenging for frontline health care providers in southern Africa to deliver high-quality services. At health facilities of the Zambian Defence Forces, a performance and quality improvement approach was implemented to improve HIV-related care and was evaluated in 2010/2011. Changes in providers' work environment and perceived quality of HIV-related care were assessed to complement data of provider performance. The intervention involved on-site training, supportive supervision, and action planning focusing on detailed service delivery standards. The quasi-experimental evaluation collected pre- and post-intervention data from eight intervention and comparison facilities matched on defence force branch and baseline client volume. Overall, 101 providers responded to a 24-item questionnaire on the work environment, covering topics of drugs, supplies, and equipment; training, feedback, and supervision; compensation; staffing; safety; fulfilment; and HIV services quality. In bivariate analysis and multivariate analyses, we assessed changes within each study group and between the two groups. In the bivariate analysis, the intervention group providers reported improvements in the work environment on adequacy of equipment, feeling safe from harm, confidence in clinical skills, and reduced isolation, while the comparison group reported worsening of the work environment on supplies, training, safety, and departmental morale.In the multivariate analysis, the intervention group's improvement and the comparison group's decline were significant on perceived adequacy of drugs, supplies, and equipment; constructive feedback received from supervisor and co-workers; and feeling safe from physical harm (all P <0.01, except P <0.04 for equipment). Further, the item "provider lacks confidence in some clinical skills" declined in the intervention group but increased in the comparison group (P = -0.005). In multivariate analysis, changes in perceived quality of HIV care did not differ between study groups. Provider perceptions were congruent with observations of preparing drugs, supplies, equipment, and in service delivery of prevention of mother-to-child transmission of HIV and antiretroviral therapy follow-up care. The performance and quality improvement intervention implemented at Zambian Defence Forces' health facilities was associated with improvements in providers' perceptions of work environment consistent with the intervention's focus on commodities, skills acquisition, and receipt of constructive feedback.

Creative Strategies to Foster Pre-Service School Counselor Group Leader Self-Efficacy

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Springer, Sarah I.; Schimmel, Christine J.

2016-01-01

Counselor education programs accredited by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs are charged with the important task of providing pre-service school counselors with didactic information and experiential opportunities that prepare students for the realities of group work in the school setting. It is important…

A Psychological Service Contribution to Nurture: Glasgow's Nurturing City

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

March, Sam; Kearney, Maura

2017-01-01

This article details the work undertaken in Glasgow to develop a range of nurturing approaches across establishments. Glasgow Psychological Service (GPS), in conjunction with Glasgow education colleagues, used the nurture group principles as developed by the Nurture Group Network, and extended and adapted these to give more detail and direction as…

The 2017 International Joint Working Group White Paper by INDUSEM, the Emergency Medicine Association and the Academic College of Emergency Experts on Establishing Standardized Regulations, Operational Mechanisms, and Accreditation Pathways for Education and Care Provided by the Prehospital Emergency Medical Service Systems in India

PubMed Central

Sikka, Veronica; Gautam, V.; Galwankar, Sagar; Guleria, Randeep; Stawicki, Stanislaw P.; Paladino, Lorenzo; Chauhan, Vivek; Menon, Geetha; Shah, Vijay; Srivastava, R. P.; Rana, B. K.; Batra, Bipin; Kalra, OP.; Aggarwal, P.; Bhoi, Sanjeev; Krishnan, S. Vimal

2017-01-01

The government of India has done remarkable work on commissioning a government funded prehospital emergency ambulance service in India. This has both public health implications and an economic impact on the nation. With the establishment of these services, there is an acute need for standardization of education and quality assurance regarding prehospital care provided. The International Joint Working Group has been actively involved in designing guidelines and establishing a comprehensive framework for ensuring high-quality education and clinical standards of care for prehospital services in India. This paper provides an independent expert opinion and a proposed framework for general operations and administration of a standardized, national prehospital emergency medical systems program. Program implementation, operational details, and regulations will require close collaboration between key stakeholders, including local, regional, and national governmental agencies of India. PMID:28855780

No matter how large or how small, oilwell servicing firms work safely

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Lyle, D.

1995-07-01

In working safely, the size of the company doesn`t matter as much as the dedication of the people in maintaining a safe workplace. Poe Servicing Inc. of Oberlin, Kan., earned the 1994 Association of Oilwell Servicing Contractors (AOSC) gold safety award for smaller companies that put in 10,000 to 50,000 man-hours of work. AOSC`s group one. The employees watch out for each other, and they use common sense. The common sense part of the program means the company knows new people are most susceptible to accidents, so they send them out to observe before putting them to work.

WORK INTEREST AS A PREDICTOR OF COMPETITIVE EMPLOYMENT: POLICY IMPLICATIONS FOR PSYCHIATRIC REHABILITATION

PubMed Central

Macias, Cathaleene; DeCarlo, Lawrence T.; Wang, Qi; Frey, Jana; Barreira, Paul

2015-01-01

Consumers with serious mental illness (N=166) enrolling in two community-based mental health programs, a vocational Program of Assertive Community Treatment and a clubhouse certified by the International Center for Clubhouse Development (ICCD), were asked about their interest in work. About one third of the new enrollees expressed no interest in working. Equivalent supported employment services were then offered to all participants in each program. Stated interest in work and receipt of vocational services were statistically significant predictors of whether a person would work and how long it would take to get a job. Two thirds of those interested in work and half of those with no initial interest obtained a competitive job if they received at least one hour of vocational service. Once employed, these two groups held comparable jobs for the same length of time. These findings demonstrate the importance of making vocational services continuously available to all people with serious mental illness, and the viability of integrating these services into routine mental health care. PMID:11577655

Work interest as a predictor of competitive employment: policy implications for psychiatric rehabilitation.

PubMed

Macias, C; DeCarlo, L T; Wang, Q; Frey, J; Barreira, P

2001-03-01

Consumers with serious mental illness (N = 166) enrolling in two community-based mental health programs, a vocational Program of Assertive Community Treatment and a clubhouse certified by the International Center for Clubhouse Development (ICCD), were asked about their interest in work. About one third of the new enrollees expressed no interest in working. Equivalent supported employment services were then offered to all participants in each program. Stated interest in work and receipt of vocational services were statistically significant predictors of whether a person would work and how long it would take to get a job. Two thirds of those interested in work and half of those with no initial interest obtained a competitive job if they received at least one hour of vocational service. Once employed, these two groups held comparable jobs for the same length of time. These findings demonstrate the importance of making vocational services continuously available to all people with serious mental illness, and the viability of integrating these services into routine mental health care.

Managing a work-life balance: the experiences of midwives working in a group practice setting.

PubMed

Fereday, Jennifer; Oster, Candice

2010-06-01

To explore how a group of midwives achieved a work-life balance working within a caseload model of care with flexible work hours and on-call work. in-depth interviews were conducted and the data were analysed using a data-driven thematic analysis technique. Children, Youth and Women's Health Service (CYWHS) (previously Women's and Children's Hospital), Adelaide, where a midwifery service known as Midwifery Group Practice (MGP) offers a caseload model of care to women within a midwife-managed unit. 17 midwives who were currently working, or had previously worked, in MGP. analysis of the midwives' individual experiences provided insight into how midwives managed the flexible hours and on-call work to achieve a sustainable work-life balance within a caseload model of care. it is important for midwives working in MGP to actively manage the flexibility of their role with time on call. Organisational, team and individual structure influenced how flexibility of hours was managed; however, a period of adjustment was required to achieve this balance. the study findings offer a description of effective, sustainable strategies to manage flexible hours and on-call work that may assist other midwives working in a similar role or considering this type of work setting. Copyright 2008 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Is the Diagnosis of Physical Abuse Changed when Child Protective Services Consults a Child Abuse Pediatrics Subspecialty Group as a Second Opinion?

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Anderst, James; Kellogg, Nancy; Jung, Inkyung

2009-01-01

Objectives: To characterize the changes regarding the diagnosis of physical abuse provided to Child Protective Services (CPS) when CPS asks a Child Abuse Pediatrics (CAP) specialty group for a second opinion and works in concert with that CAP group. Methods: Subjects were reported to CPS for suspected physical abuse and were first evaluated by a…

Learning at Air Navigation Services after Initial Training

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Teperi, Anna-Maria; Leppanen, Anneli

2010-01-01

Purpose: This study aims to find out the means used for individual, group and organizational learning at work at one air navigation service provider after the initial training period. The study also aims to find out what practices need to be improved to enhance learning at work. Design/methodology/approach: The data for the study were collected…

Cultural competence in mental health care: a review of model evaluations

PubMed Central

Bhui, Kamaldeep; Warfa, Nasir; Edonya, Patricia; McKenzie, Kwame; Bhugra, Dinesh

2007-01-01

Background Cultural competency is now a core requirement for mental health professionals working with culturally diverse patient groups. Cultural competency training may improve the quality of mental health care for ethnic groups. Methods A systematic review that included evaluated models of professional education or service delivery. Results Of 109 potential papers, only 9 included an evaluation of the model to improve the cultural competency practice and service delivery. All 9 studies were located in North America. Cultural competency included modification of clinical practice and organizational performance. Few studies published their teaching and learning methods. Only three studies used quantitative outcomes. One of these showed a change in attitudes and skills of staff following training. The cultural consultation model showed evidence of significant satisfaction by clinicians using the service. No studies investigated service user experiences and outcomes. Conclusion There is limited evidence on the effectiveness of cultural competency training and service delivery. Further work is required to evaluate improvement in service users' experiences and outcomes. PMID:17266765

Mental health nurses' and allied health professionals' perceptions of the role of the Occupational Health Service in the management of work-related stress: how do they self-care?

PubMed

Gibb, J; Cameron, I M; Hamilton, R; Murphy, E; Naji, S

2010-11-01

Higher rates of stress-related sickness are found in health care professionals when compared with other sectors. The annual direct cost of absence to the National Health Service is £1.7 billion. Increased clinical demand, long hours, low staffing and a lack of support from colleagues and management are contributing to absenteeism, somatic complaints and mental health problems. Mental health work is inherently stressful and levels of work stress experienced by mental health nurses are especially high. The study investigated mental health nurses' and allied health professionals' (AHPs) awareness and knowledge of the service provided by the Occupational Health Service (OHS) and identified work-related stress and self-care strategies within these two groups. Nurses and AHP staff employed in mental health services in a Scottish healthboard area were invited to complete an anonymous questionnaire. Results demonstrated that staff found their contact with the OHS to be a positive experience. They considered direct patient care to be less stressful than the organizational constraints they work under, and they reported a lack of support from both their peer groups and management. There should be recognition of the increased stress that hospital-based nurses and AHPs experience. These areas should be scrutinized and reviewed further to support staff within these environments in accordance with organizational objectives. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing.

The effectiveness of skills training for improving outcomes in supported employment.

PubMed

Mueser, Kim T; Aalto, Steve; Becker, Deborah R; Ogden, John S; Wolfe, Rosemarie S; Schiavo, Diane; Wallace, Charles J; Xie, Haiyi

2005-10-01

This study evaluated whether a supplementary skills training program improved work outcomes for clients enrolled in supported employment programs. Thirty-five recently employed clients with severe mental illness who were receiving supported employment services at a free-standing agency were randomly assigned to participate in either the workplace fundamentals program, a skills training program designed to make work more "successful and satisfying," or treatment as usual. Knowledge of workplace fundamentals (for example, identifying workplace stressors, problem solving, and improving job performance) was assessed at baseline and at nine months; employment outcomes and use of additional vocational services were tracked for 18 months. Clients in the workplace fundamentals group (N=17) improved more in knowledge of workplace fundamentals than those in the control group (N=18) at the nine-month follow-up, but the two groups did not differ in the number of hours or days worked, salary earned, or receipt of additional vocational services over the 18-month period. In general, clients in this study had higher educational levels and better employment outcomes than clients in most previous studies of supported employment, making it difficult to detect possible effects of the skills training intervention on work. Supplementary skills training did not improve work outcomes for clients who were receiving supported employment.

75 FR 66125 - Federal Land Managers' Air Quality Related Values Work Group (FLAG)

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-10-27

... DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR National Park Service Federal Land Managers' Air Quality Related Values... Public Comments document. The Federal Land Managers' Air Quality Related Values Work Group (FLAG) was... (the Agencies), to evaluate air pollution effects on their air quality related values (AQRVs); and (2...

The effect of quality circles on job satisfaction and quality of work-life of staff in emergency medical services.

PubMed

Hosseinabadi, Reza; Karampourian, Arezou; Beiranvand, Shoorangiz; Pournia, Yadollah

2013-10-01

Quality circles, as a participatory management technique, offer one alternative for dealing with frustration and discontent of today's workers. This study was conducted to investigate the effect of implementation of quality circles on nurses' quality of work-life and job satisfaction. In this study, two emergency medical services (EMS) of Hamedan province were selected and randomly assigned as the experimental and control groups. After the experimental group was trained and quality circles were established in this group, the levels of quality of work-life and job satisfaction were measured in the two groups. Then, the statistical analyses were performed using t-test. After the intervention, the results showed significant differences between the scores of motivational factors (p=0.001), the total scores of job satisfaction (p=0.003), and the scores of some quality of work life (QWL) conceptual categories including the use and development of capacities (p=0.008), the total space of life (p=0.003), and the total scores of QWL (p=0.031) in the experimental group compared to those in the control group. This study confirms the effectiveness of quality circles in improving quality of work-life and job satisfaction of nurses working in EMS, and offers their application as a management method that can be used by EMS managers. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Service Learning as a Mechanism for Change in Attitudes and Perceptions of Human Services Students toward Substance-Dependent Mothers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hogan, Sean R.; Bailey, Caroline E.

2010-01-01

The purpose of the study was to explore the potential effectiveness of service learning as a pedagogical technique for providing substance abuse education to human services/social work students. Using a quasi-experimental design, the authors assigned 38 human services undergraduate students to experimental and comparison groups on the basis of…

Organizing urban ecosystem services through environmental stewardship governance in New York City

Treesearch

James J. Connolly; Erika S. Svendsen; Dana R. Fisher; Lindsay K. Campbell

2013-01-01

How do stewardship groups contribute to the management of urban ecosystem services? In this paper, we integrate the research on environmental stewardship with the social-ecological systems literature to explain how stewardship groups serve as bridge organizations between public agencies and civic organizations, working across scales and sectors to build the flexible...

Does competitive employment improve nonvocational outcomes for people with severe mental illness?

PubMed

Bond, G R; Resnick, S G; Drake, R E; Xie, H; McHugo, G J; Bebout, R R

2001-06-01

The authors examined the cumulative effects of work on symptoms, quality of life, and self-esteem for 149 unemployed clients with severe mental illness receiving vocational rehabilitation. Nonvocational measures were assessed at 6-month intervals throughout the 18-month study period, and vocational activity was tracked continuously. On the basis of their predominant work activity over the study period, participants were classified into 4 groups: competitive work, sheltered work, minimal work, and no work. The groups did not differ at baseline on any of the nonvocational measures. Using mixed effects regression analysis to examine rates of change over time, the authors found that the competitive work group showed higher rates of improvement in symptoms; in satisfaction with vocational services, leisure, and finances; and in self-esteem than did participants in a combined minimal work-no work group. The sheltered work group showed no such advantage.

Linkages between organization climate and work outcomes: perceptual differences among health service professionals as a function of customer contact intensity.

PubMed

Scotti, Dennis J; Harmon, Joel

2014-01-01

The delivery of high-quality service, rendered by health service professionals who interact with customers (patients), increases the likelihood that customers will form positive evaluations of the quality of their service encounters as well as high levels of customer satisfaction. Using linkage theory to develop our conceptual framework, we identify four clusters of variables which contribute to a chain of sequential events that connect organization climate to personal and operational work outcomes. We then examine the perceptual differences of service professionals, grouped by intensity of customer contact, with respect to these variables. National data for this project were obtained from multiple sources made available by the Veterans Healthcare Administration (VHA). Cross-group differences were tested using a series of variance analyses. The results indicate that level of customer-contact intensity plays a significant role in explaining variation in perceptions of support staff, clinical practitioners, and nurses at the multivariate and univariate levels of analysis. Contact intensity appears to be a core determinant of the nature of work performed by health service professionals as well as their psychological responses to organizational and customer-related dynamics. Health service professionals are important resources because of their specialized knowledge, labor expense, and scarcity. Based on findings from our research, managers are advised to survey employees' perceptions of their organizational environment and design practices that respond to the unique viewpoints of each of the professional groups identified in this study. Such tailoring should help executives maximize the value of investments in human resources by underwriting patient satisfaction and financial sustainability.

Exploring the influence of service user involvement on health and social care services for cancer.

PubMed

Attree, Pamela; Morris, Sara; Payne, Sheila; Vaughan, Suzanne; Hinder, Susan

2011-03-01

Service user involvement in health and social care is a key policy driver in the UK. In cancer care it is central to developing services which are effective, responsive and accessible to patients. Cancer network partnership groups are set up to enable joint working between service users and health care professionals and to drive service improvements. The aim of this study was to explore the influence of the cancer network partnership groups' service user involvement activities on cancer care. This was a qualitative study involving documentary analysis and in-depth case studies of a sample of partnership groups. Five partnership groups were purposively selected as case studies from Macmillan regions across the UK; documents were collated from a further five groups. Forty people, including core group members and key stakeholders in cancer services, were interviewed. The evidence from this study suggests that cancer network partnership groups are at their most influential at 'grass roots' level - contributing to patient information resources, enhancing access to services, and improving care environments. While such improvements are undoubtedly important to patients, the groups' aim is to influence strategic changes, for example in cancer care commissioning or macro-level policy decision-making. The evolution of open, participatory relationships between service users and professionals, and recognition of the value of experiential knowledge are seen as key factors in influencing cancer care. The provision of dedicated resources to strengthen service user involvement activities is also vital. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Evaluation of an Organisational Intervention to Promote Integrated Working between Health Services and Care Homes in the Delivery of End-of-Life Care for People with Dementia: Understanding the Change Process Using a Social Identity Approach

PubMed Central

Amador, Sarah; Mathie, Elspeth; Nicholson, Caroline

2016-01-01

In the United Kingdom, approximately a third of people with dementia live in long-term care facilities for adults, the majority of whom are in the last years of life. Working arrangements between health services and care homes in England are largely ad hoc and often inequitable, yet quality end-of-life care for people with dementia in these settings requires a partnership approach to care that builds on existing practice. This paper reports on the qualitative component of a mixed method study aimed at evaluating an organisational intervention shaped by Appreciative Inquiry to promote integrated working between visiting health care practitioners (i.e. General Practitioners and District Nurses) and care home staff. The evaluation uses a social identity approach to elucidate the mechanisms of action that underlie the intervention, and understand how organisational change can be achieved. We uncovered evidence of both (i) identity mobilisation and (ii) context change, defined in theory as mechanisms to overcome divisions in healthcare. Specifically, the intervention supported integrated working across health and social care settings by (i) the development of a common group identity built on shared views and goals, but also recognition of knowledge and expertise specific to each service group which served common goals in the delivery of end-of-life care, and (ii) development of context specific practice innovations and the introduction of existing end-of-life care tools and frameworks, which could consequently be implemented as part of a meaningful bottom-up rather than top-down process. Interventions structured around a Social Identity Approach can be used to gauge the congruence of values and goals between service groups without which efforts to achieve greater integration between different health services may prove ineffectual. The strength of the approach is its ability to accommodate the diversity of service groups involved in a given area of care, by valuing their respective contributions and building on existing ways of working within which practice changes can be meaningfully integrated. PMID:27616969

Evaluation of an Organisational Intervention to Promote Integrated Working between Health Services and Care Homes in the Delivery of End-of-Life Care for People with Dementia: Understanding the Change Process Using a Social Identity Approach.

PubMed

Amador, Sarah; Goodman, Claire; Mathie, Elspeth; Nicholson, Caroline

2016-06-03

In the United Kingdom, approximately a third of people with dementia live in long-term care facilities for adults, the majority of whom are in the last years of life. Working arrangements between health services and care homes in England are largely ad hoc and often inequitable, yet quality end-of-life care for people with dementia in these settings requires a partnership approach to care that builds on existing practice. This paper reports on the qualitative component of a mixed method study aimed at evaluating an organisational intervention shaped by Appreciative Inquiry to promote integrated working between visiting health care practitioners (i.e. General Practitioners and District Nurses) and care home staff. The evaluation uses a social identity approach to elucidate the mechanisms of action that underlie the intervention, and understand how organisational change can be achieved. We uncovered evidence of both (i) identity mobilisation and (ii) context change, defined in theory as mechanisms to overcome divisions in healthcare. Specifically, the intervention supported integrated working across health and social care settings by (i) the development of a common group identity built on shared views and goals, but also recognition of knowledge and expertise specific to each service group which served common goals in the delivery of end-of-life care, and (ii) development of context specific practice innovations and the introduction of existing end-of-life care tools and frameworks, which could consequently be implemented as part of a meaningful bottom-up rather than top-down process. Interventions structured around a Social Identity Approach can be used to gauge the congruence of values and goals between service groups without which efforts to achieve greater integration between different health services may prove ineffectual. The strength of the approach is its ability to accommodate the diversity of service groups involved in a given area of care, by valuing their respective contributions and building on existing ways of working within which practice changes can be meaningfully integrated.

Networking to support suicide survivors.

PubMed

De Fauw, Nico; Andriessen, Karl

2003-01-01

This paper is the first report on a national program for increasing bereavement support for suicide survivors in the Flemish region in Belgium. A Working Group consisting of representatives of a wide variety of mental health institutions, social programs, and suicide survivor groups in the area determined that a program developing networks between the services seems to hold the greatest promise for both an increase in the number of services available and an improvement in the quality of services offered.

Ethics reflection groups in community health services: an evaluation study.

PubMed

Lillemoen, Lillian; Pedersen, Reidar

2015-04-17

Systematic ethics support in community health services in Norway is in the initial phase. There are few evaluation studies about the significance of ethics reflection on care. The aim of this study was to evaluate systematic ethics reflection in groups in community health (including nursing homes and residency), - from the perspectives of employees participating in the groups, the group facilitators and the service managers. The reflection groups were implemented as part of a research and development project. A mixed-methods design with qualitative focus group interviews, observations and written reports were used to evaluate. The study was conducted at two nursing homes, two home care districts and a residence for people with learning disabilities. Participants were employees, facilitators and service managers. The study was guided by ethical standard principles and was approved by the Norwegian Social Science Data Services. We found support for ethics reflection as a valuable measure to strengthen clinical practice. New and improved solutions, more cooperation between employees, and improved collaboration with patients and their families are some of the results. No negative experiences were found. Instead, the ethics reflection based on experiences and challenges in the workplace, was described as a win-win situation. The evaluation also revealed what is needed to succeed and useful tips for further development of ethics support in community health services. Ethics reflection groups focusing on ethical challenges from the participants' daily work were found to be significant for improved practice, collegial support and cooperation, personal and professional development among staff, facilitators and managers. Resources needed to succeed were managerial support, and anchoring ethics sessions in the routine of daily work.

CCSDS SOIS Subnetwork Services: A First Reference Implementation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gunes-Lasnet, S.; Notebaert, O.; Farges, P.-Y.; Fowell, S.

2008-08-01

The CCSDS SOIS working groups are developing a range of standards for spacecraft onboard interfaces with the intention of promoting reuse of hardware and software designs across a range of missions while enabling interoperability of onboard systems from diverse sources. The CCSDS SOIS working groups released in June 2007 their red books for both Subnetwork and application support layers. In order to allow the verification of these recommended standards and to pave the way for future implementation onboard spacecrafts, it is essential for these standards to be prototyped on a representative spacecraft platform, to provide valuable feed back to the SOIS working group. A first reference implementation of both Subnetwork and Application Support SOIS services over SpaceWire and Mil-Std-1553 bus is thus being realised by SciSys Ltd and Astrium under an ESA contract.

The production deployment of IPv6 on WLCG

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bernier, J.; Campana, S.; Chadwick, K.; Chudoba, J.; Dewhurst, A.; Eliáš, M.; Fayer, S.; Finnern, T.; Grigoras, C.; Hartmann, T.; Hoeft, B.; Idiculla, T.; Kelsey, D. P.; López Muñoz, F.; Macmahon, E.; Martelli, E.; Millar, A. P.; Nandakumar, R.; Ohrenberg, K.; Prelz, F.; Rand, D.; Sciabà, A.; Tigerstedt, U.; Voicu, R.; Walker, C. J.; Wildish, T.

2015-12-01

The world is rapidly running out of IPv4 addresses; the number of IPv6 end systems connected to the internet is increasing; WLCG and the LHC experiments may soon have access to worker nodes and/or virtual machines (VMs) possessing only an IPv6 routable address. The HEPiX IPv6 Working Group has been investigating, testing and planning for dual-stack services on WLCG for several years. Following feedback from our working group, many of the storage technologies in use on WLCG have recently been made IPv6-capable. This paper presents the IPv6 requirements, tests and plans of the LHC experiments together with the tests performed on the group's IPv6 test-bed. This is primarily aimed at IPv6-only worker nodes or VMs accessing several different implementations of a global dual-stack federated storage service. Finally the plans for deployment of production dual-stack WLCG services are presented.

Vulnerability and agency: beyond an irreconcilable dichotomy for social service providers working with young refugees in the UK.

PubMed

O'Higgins, Aoife

2012-01-01

Many young refugees face significant difficulties in securing support from social services providers. This study invited 21 young refugees aged 16 to 21 to take part in focus groups and follow-up interviews about their experiences of accessing this support. The findings reveal that young refugees may deliberately conform to expectations about their vulnerability in order to benefit from greater support from service providers. Social workers may fail to consider young refugees' abilities and understand the ways in which each individual is vulnerable. The study suggests that group work may be an effective way to engage young refugees to overcome this. Copyright © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc., A Wiley Company.

Resurrecting Pragmatism as a Philosophical Frame for Understanding, Researching, and Developing Performance in the Small District Superintendency

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ivory, Gary; McClellan, Rhonda; Hyle, Adrienne E.

2009-01-01

In this article, the authors propose that pragmatism is a perspective with great promise for understanding and researching the work of small district superintendents and developing the abilities of both pre-service students and in-service practitioners to do that work. They maintain, based on their reading of focus group interviews with small…

Bridging the Skills Gap. Working Paper Part II: High Technology and Related Occupations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kaplan, Christine E.

This part of a 2-part working paper identifies and describes major occupational groups that are characteristic of high technology manufacturing and service industries as well as employment sectors that use high technology products in their provision of goods and services. The paper is based on a review of a wide range of employment projections…

Moving from the Classroom to the Workplace: A Service-Learning Case Study of a Media Production Capstone Course

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Giese, Mark

2013-01-01

This is a case study of how a capstone course, Producing and Directing, evolved into a service-learning course designed to provide graduating students with real-world workplace experience. It will examine issues including course structure, grading issues, course and client logistics, unaddressed skill sets, group work, and work-product quality…

Creating a library holding group: an approach to large system integration.

PubMed

Huffman, Isaac R; Martin, Heather J; Delawska-Elliott, Basia

2016-10-01

Faced with resource constraints, many hospital libraries have considered joint operations. This case study describes how Providence Health & Services created a single group to provide library services. Using a holding group model, staff worked to unify more than 6,100 nonlibrary subscriptions and 14 internal library sites. Our library services grew by unifying 2,138 nonlibrary subscriptions and 11 library sites and hiring more library staff. We expanded access to 26,018 more patrons. A model with built-in flexibility allowed successful library expansion. Although challenges remain, this success points to a viable model of unified operations.

Extending software repository hosting to code review and testing

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gonzalez Alvarez, A.; Aparicio Cotarelo, B.; Lossent, A.; Andersen, T.; Trzcinska, A.; Asbury, D.; Hłimyr, N.; Meinhard, H.

2015-12-01

We will describe how CERN's services around Issue Tracking and Version Control have evolved, and what the plans for the future are. We will describe the services main design, integration and structure, giving special attention to the new requirements from the community of users in terms of collaboration and integration tools and how we address this challenge when defining new services based on GitLab for collaboration to replace our current Gitolite service and Code Review and Jenkins for Continuous Integration. These new services complement the existing ones to create a new global "development tool stack" where each working group can place its particular development work-flow.

Perspectives of Therapist's Role in Care Coordination between Medical and Early Intervention Services

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ideishi, Roger I.; O'Neil, Margaret E.; Chiarello, Lisa A.; Nixon-Cave, Kim

2010-01-01

This study explored perspectives of therapist's role in care coordination between early intervention (EI) and medical services, and identified strategies for improving service delivery. Fifty adults participated in one of six focus groups. Participants included parents, pediatricians, and therapists working in hospital and EI programs. Structured…

Collocation in Regional Development--The Peel Education and TAFE Response.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goff, Malcolm H.; Nevard, Jennifer

The collocation of services in regional Western Australia (WA) is an important strand of WA's regional development policy. The initiative is intended to foster working relationships among stakeholder groups with a view toward ensuring that regional WA communities have access to quality services. Clustering compatible services in smaller…

Challenges in Implementing Wellness Approaches in Childhood Disability Services: Views from the Field

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Breen, Lauren; Wildy, Helen; Saggers, Sherry

2011-01-01

Despite increasing demand for wellness approaches from disability advocates and consumer groups, they are not implemented routinely in childhood disability services. Interviews were conducted with 23 allied health therapists and managers working within four Australian childhood disability services. They described attempts to embed wellness…

Work Organization, Technology, and Performance in Customer Service and Sales.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Batt, Rosemary

1999-01-01

Performance data on 223 customer-service and sales representatives showed that participation in self-managed teams correlated with significant improvement in service quality and 9.3% sales increase. New technology helped teams increase sales 17.4%. Total-quality management did not affect performance. Results show that group collaboration fosters…

76 FR 12117 - Call for Comments on the Draft Report of the Adult Immunization Working Group to the National...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-03-04

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Call for Comments on the Draft Report of the Adult Immunization Working Group to the National Vaccine Advisory Committee on Adult Immunization: Complex Challenges..., national adult immunization program that will lead to vaccine-preventable disease reduction by improving...

Interagency Working Group on Ocean Social Science: Incorporating ecosystem services approaches into ocean and coastal decision-making and governance

EPA Science Inventory

The application of social science has been recognized as a priority for effective ocean and coastal management, driving much discussion and fostering emerging efforts in several areas. The Interagency Working Group on Ocean Social Science (IWG-OSS) is tasked with assisting the Su...

Collaborative Work and Language Learners' Identities When Editing Academic Texts

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Caviedes, Lorena; Meza, Angélica; Rodriguez, Ingrid

2016-01-01

This paper presents a qualitative case study that involved three groups of English as a foreign language pre-service teachers at a Colombian private university. Each group attended tutoring sessions during an academic semester. Along these sessions, students were asked to work collaboratively in the editing process of some chapters of their thesis…

76 FR 24892 - Office of the Director, National Institutes of Health; Notice of Closed Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-03

... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES National Institutes of Health Office of the Director... Committee to the Director, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Orientation Work Group. The meeting will be... Advisory Committee to the Director, NIH will be participating in an orientation work group meeting for the...

Men's health promotion interventions: what have we learned from previous programmes.

PubMed

Robertson, Steve; Witty, Karl; Zwolinsky, Steve; Day, Rhiannon

2013-11-01

Concern persists in health-related literature about men's reduced life expectancy and higher premature death rates; this is often linked to difficulties in engaging with men as a client group. However, some innovative projects and programmes, often led by health visitors or other community based nurses, have developed successful health promotion work with men. This article collates existing tacit knowledge (previous learning) about men's health interventions by integrating interview data from nine practitioners who have established such initiatives with data from 35 men's health project reports to consider 'what works'. Five themes stood out as being significant across the data reviewed: using the right setting (often outside statutory services); ensuring the right approach (drawing on male-specific interests and language); actively listening to what local men say; appropriate training (initial and ongoing) for those involved in such work; and partnership working with local community groups, businesses and statutory service providers. While not a panacea for working with any and all men, these themes form a good basis for successful engagement with men and align well with what a recent review of health visitor interventions suggest works in helping bridge service provision-uptake gaps.

Give Water a Hand. Home Site Action Guide. Organizing Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention Service Projects in Your Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Coll. of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Students grades 4-8 can use this guide to explore the topics of water and water conservation within the home while conducting an environmental community service project. Youth groups, led by a group leader, work with local experts from business, government, or environmental organizations to complete the project. Nine activity sections involve…

Give Water a Hand. Community Site Action Guide. Organizing Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention Service Projects in Your Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Coll. of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Students grades 4-8 can use this guide to explore the topics of water, and water conservation within a community, while conducting an environmental community service project. Youth groups, led by a group leader, work with local experts from business, government, or environmental organizations to complete the project. Nine activity sections involve…

Psychosocial work characteristics of personal care and service occupations: a process for developing meaningful measures for a multiethnic workforce.

PubMed

Hoppe, Annekatrin; Heaney, Catherine A; Fujishiro, Kaori; Gong, Fang; Baron, Sherry

2015-01-01

Despite their rapid increase in number, workers in personal care and service occupations are underrepresented in research on psychosocial work characteristics and occupational health. Some of the research challenges stem from the high proportion of immigrants in these occupations. Language barriers, low literacy, and cultural differences as well as their nontraditional work setting (i.e., providing service for one person in his/her home) make generic questionnaire measures inadequate for capturing salient aspects of personal care and service work. This study presents strategies for (1) identifying psychosocial work characteristics of home care workers that may affect their occupational safety and health and (2) creating survey measures that overcome barriers posed by language, low literacy, and cultural differences. We pursued these aims in four phases: (Phase 1) Six focus groups to identify the psychosocial work characteristics affecting the home care workers' occupational safety and health; (Phase 2) Selection of questionnaire items (i.e., questions or statements to assess the target construct) and first round of cognitive interviews (n = 30) to refine the items in an iterative process; (Phase 3) Item revision and second round of cognitive interviews (n = 11); (Phase 4) Quantitative pilot test to ensure the scales' reliability and validity across three language groups (English, Spanish, and Chinese; total n = 404). Analysis of the data from each phase informed the nature of subsequent phases. This iterative process ensured that survey measures not only met the reliability and validity criteria across groups, but were also meaningful to home care workers. This complex process is necessary when conducting research with nontraditional and multilingual worker populations.

Medico-legal reports and gatekeeping: one year of referrals to a forensic service.

PubMed

Gethins, E; Larkin, E; Davies, S; Milton, J

2002-01-01

Forensic psychiatrists and the services they provide have been subject to recent scrutiny and high public profile. This study examined part of the work of a regional and district forensic service by looking at a one-year cohort of referrals, and the factors contributing to patient admission, including requests for medico-legal reports. The sample consisted of all referrals to the East Midlands Centre for Forensic Mental Health, Leicester from 1 January 1998 to 31 December 1998. Information on referrals was collected retrospectively using a proforma to collate data from referral letters and the reports prepared by assessing clinicians. Two hundred and eighty referrals relating to 260 individuals were received. The sample characteristics were broadly similar to those reported in previous studies. The finding that 70% of those assessed were referred for medico-legal reports by courts or solicitors, and the fact that only 20% of this group finally entered the forensic service, led us to consider whether this work was legitimate use of National Health Service time. We examined this group more closely, and found that referral for a medico-legal report could be considered as a screening test for entry into the forensic services and there are good arguments for this work continuing.

Group Membership Based Authorization to CADC Resources

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Damian, A.; Dowler, P.; Gaudet, S.; Hill, N.

2012-09-01

The Group Membership Service (GMS), implemented at the Canadian Astronomy Data Centre (CADC), is a prototype of what could eventually be an IVOA standard for a distributed and interoperable group membership protocol. Group membership is the core authorization concept that enables teamwork and collaboration amongst astronomers accessing distributed resources and services. The service integrates and complements other access control related IVOA standards such as single-sign-on (SSO) using X.509 proxy certificates and the Credential Delegation Protocol (CDP). The GMS has been used at CADC for several years now, initially as a subsystem and then as a stand-alone Web service. It is part of the authorization mechanism for controlling the access to restricted Web resources as well as the VOSpace service hosted by the CADC. We present the role that GMS plays within the access control system at the CADC, including the functionality of the service and how the different CADC services make use of it to assert user authorization to resources. We also describe the main advantages and challenges of using the service as well as future work to increase its robustness and functionality.

Should I stay or should I go? Nurses' wishes to leave nursing homes and home nursing.

PubMed

Bratt, Christopher; Gautun, Heidi

2018-04-30

This study investigates the prevalence of nurses' wishes to leave work in elderly care services and aims to explain differences between younger and older nurses. Health-and-care services, and specifically elderly care services, experience problems recruiting and retaining nurses. A nationwide survey among nurses in Norway with 4,945 nurses aged 20-73 (mean age = 41.8), 95% female. Structural equation modelling was used, analysing the whole sample as well as analysing younger and older nurses as separate groups. Of the nurses surveyed, 25% wanted to work outside elderly care services and 25% were uncertain. The wish to leave was much more frequent among younger nurses. Reported working conditions were a strong predictor of the wish to leave, and a much stronger predictor among younger nurses than older nurses in nursing homes. Working conditions are a major predictor of nurses' wishes to leave elderly care services, especially among younger nurses in nursing homes. Attempts to reduce turnover in elderly care services need to address the working conditions for younger nurses, for instance by reducing the time young nurses work in isolation. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Nursing Management Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

The exhausting dilemmas faced by home-care service providers when enhancing participation among older adults receiving home care.

PubMed

Vik, Kjersti; Eide, Arne H

2012-09-01

Older adults wish to stay at home, participate in society and manage on their own as long as possible. Many older adults will, however, eventually become dependent on care and help to maintain their daily living. Thus, to enhance activity and participation also among older adults that receive home-based services, there is a strong need for development of knowledge-based practice regarding participation. The specific aim of this study is to explore how service providers perceive that their working conditions influence on their possibilities to promote participation among older adults, and more specifically, how they perceive the influence of their working conditions. A purposeful sampling strategy was applied, and six focus groups with professionals in two municipalities were conducted. The focus groups comprised four and six participants of varying ages, length of working experience and professions. A total of 30 service providers participated. The data were analysed by a constant comparative method following the guidelines from Grounded Theory. The analysis identified the categories 'encountering needs that cannot be met', 'expectations about participation', 'organisation of services' and 'professional standards' influencing the service delivery. During this analytical process, 'being on the verge' emerged as a core category that describes the service providers' experience of a stressful workday, i.e. when they had the feeling of working against their own professional standards and being pushed to their limits. The findings indicate how the professional standards of service providers on the whole are in line with health policy for in-home services. Policy objectives are, however, not always followed owing to different constraints at the level of service delivery. Along the path from political ideals to the practical execution of services, external circumstances related to the organisation of services are perceived as crucial. © 2012 The Authors. Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences © 2012 Nordic College of Caring Science.

The impact of relational norms on the effectiveness of health and human service teams.

PubMed

Amundson, Susan J

2005-01-01

This investigation examined the relationship between relational norms with the perceived effectiveness of an infrequently studied team-the health care and human service team. Twenty health care and human service teams and their team supervisors from 11 medical and social service centers participated. In separate team sessions, 85 health care and human service professionals completed the Group Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire, a team effectiveness scale, and a demographic form. Each team's supervisor also rated the team's performance. Based on a Model of Group Emotional Intelligence (ie, group interaction levels, relational norms), significant correlations were found between group emotional competence and member-perceived team effectiveness. No correlations were found between supervisor-perceived team effectiveness and team group emotional competence. The relational norms of creating an affirmative environment, demonstrating a caring orientation, and building relationships beyond the team predicted member-perceived team effectiveness. This study makes an important contribution to the theory and practice of teams in health care and human service organizations. The results of the study suggest that a positive, caring, and supportive work environment impacts a team's effectiveness within such an organization.

Service Modules for Coal Extraction

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Gangal, M. D.; Lewis, E. V.

1985-01-01

Service train follows group of mining machines, paying out utility lines as machines progress into coal face. Service train for four mining machines removes gases and coal and provides water and electricity. Flexible, coiling armored carriers protect cables and hoses. High coal production attained by arraying row of machines across face, working side by side.

HHS Archive Home Page

Science.gov Websites

Health and Human Service staff. HHS Blog Exit Disclaimer This collection includes HHS blog posts Safety Working Group* Indian Health Service (IHS) Indian Health Service* National Institutes of Health )* HealthIT.gov (ONC)* Office of Minority Health (ASH)* Public Health Emergency (ASPR)* Stopbullying.gov (ASPA

Outsourcing Cataloging, Authority Work, and Physical Processing: A Checklist of Considerations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kascus, Marie A., Ed.; Hale, Dawn, Ed.

Due to automation technology, financial restrictions, and resultant downsizing, library managers have increasingly relied on the services of contractors, rather than in-house staff, to accomplish different technical services operations. Contracted services may range from a small project for a selected group of materials to a large project for…

Educational Services for Home Day Caregivers. Final Report.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Colbert, Janice C.; And Others

The research project described in this report (Educational Services for Home Day Care Sub-Professionals) examines the education/training needs of a group of women who are licensed home day caregivers and who provide day care services to preschool children for a fee. This project represents an attempt undertaken by an urban university working in…

[Unseen Suffering - Therapy for Traumatized Refugee Children].

PubMed

Mattenschlager, Andreas; Nahler, Stefanie; Reisinger, Regine

2016-12-01

Unseen Suffering - Therapy for Traumatized Refugee Children In March 2015 the psychological counselling service (Psychologische Familien- und Lebensberatung) of Caritas Ulm initiated a psychotherapy project for traumatized minor refugees. Besides individual and group therapy, networking and qualification of qualified personnel and volunteers, in autumn 2015 we started offering our services on-site in a large collective accommodation for asylum seekers in Ulm. This was mainly because - in contrast to unaccompanied, mostly adolescent, minor refugees - our services appeared to reach children only by chance. In our opinion this is mostly due to the fact that children's suffering is often far less noticed. This paper describes our first year's project work, followed by reports on the use of psychodrama groups with refugee children and on the therapeutic work in a collective accommodation for asylum seekers.

Service and sales workers, are they vulnerable to smoking cessation?

PubMed

Cho, Youn-Mo; Myong, Jun-Pyo; Kim, Hyoung-Ryoul; Lee, HyeEun; Koo, Jung-Wan

2017-10-07

The aim of the present study was to evaluate the association between failed smoking cessation and occupation by age stratification among Korean males and provide quantitative evidence of factors associated with failed smoking cessation. The study comprised 3,127 male workers who had attempted smoking cessation during their life time. Data were obtained from the Korea National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 2010 to 2012. Participants were stratified by age into two subgroups comprising a younger group (19-40 yr) and an older group (41-60 yr). Multiple logistic regression analyses were used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for failed smoking cessation. In the younger group, failed smoking cessation was related to the occupational fields "service and sales" and "manual work" compared to "office work" (OR: 2.10, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.34-3.29; and OR: 1.47, 95% CI: 1.02-2.12, respectively). In the older group, the ORs of failed smoking cessation occupational categories "service and sales" and "manual work" [ref: office workers] were 0.58 (0.40-0.85) and 0.90 (0.66-1.24), respectively. Failed smoking cessation is associated with occupational categories and age stratification. Policy makers need to create tailored anti-smoking policy considering the occupation and the age of the subjects.

Give Water a Hand. Farm and Ranch Site Action Guide. Organizing Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention Service Projects in Your Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Coll. of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Students grades 4-8 can use this guide to explore the topics of water, and water conservation on a farm or ranch, while conducting an environmental community service project. Youth groups, led by a group leader, work with local experts from business, government, or environmental organizations to complete the project. Nine activity sections involve…

Give Water a Hand. School Site Action Guide. Organizing Water Conservation and Pollution Prevention Service Projects in Your Community.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wisconsin Univ., Madison. Coll. of Agricultural and Life Sciences.

Students grades 4-8 can use this guide to explore the topics of water, and water conservation at a school site, while conducting an environmental community service project. Youth groups, led by a group leader, work with local experts from business, government, or environmental organizations to complete the project. Nine activity sections involve…

Experiences as an embedded librarian in online courses.

PubMed

Konieczny, Alison

2010-01-01

Embedded librarianship gives librarians a prime opportunity to have a direct, positive impact in a clinical setting, classroom setting, or within a working group by providing integrated services that cater to the group's needs. Extending embedded librarian services beyond the various physical settings and into online classrooms is an exceptional way for librarians to engage online learners. This group of students is growing rapidly in numbers and could benefit greatly from having library services and resources incorporated into their classes. The author's services as an embedded librarian in fully online courses at a medium-sized university will be discussed, as will strategies, lessons learned, and opportunities for engaging in this realm. To develop a foundation of knowledge on embedded librarianship, an overview of this topic is provided.

Real nursing? The development of telenursing.

PubMed

Snooks, Helen A; Williams, Anne M; Griffiths, Lesley J; Peconi, Julie; Rance, Jaynie; Snelgrove, Sherrill; Snelgrove, Sharon; Sarangi, Srikant; Wainwright, Paul; Cheung, Wai-Yee

2008-03-01

This paper is a report of a study to understand the impact of telenursing from the perspective of nurses involved in its provision, and in more traditional roles. Nurse-led telephone helplines have recently been introduced across the United Kingdom, a major step in the development of nursing practice. A structured questionnaire was sent to all nurses working in the NHS Direct (National Health Service Direct) Wales telephone service (n = 111). Ninety-two completed questionnaires were returned (response rate 83 per cent). Two focus groups were conducted: one with telephone service nurses (n = 8) and one with other nurses (n = 5). The data were collected in 2002. Respondents represented a highly educated workforce from a range of healthcare specialties. They reported that they joined the telephone service for improved salary and flexible working. Two-thirds reported improved job satisfaction. All focus group participants reported that the development of nursing skills was affected by the use of decision support software and the remote nature of the consultation. Participants reported opportunities for skill development, although the role could be stressful. All agreed that the service was popular with callers, but the nurses from outside raised concerns about whether telenursing was 'real' nursing and about the evidence base for the service and access by disadvantaged groups. Differences between the groups reflect policy tensions between the need to develop new nursing skills, including the use of technology, to improve efficiency and recognition of the worth of hands-on nursing. These tensions must be addressed for the telephone service to function as part of an integrated healthcare system.

Women's experiences of participation in a feminist group for women with complex mental health issues.

PubMed

Clements Eaton, Emma Catherine; Cox, Rachel

2015-01-01

A sample of women (n = 5) participated in a qualitative service evaluation concerning an open-ended, therapeutic group for women only. Data analysis followed suggestions by Halcomb and Davidson (2006). Main themes derived from the evaluation included: 'Groups are different from individual work', 'Belonging/ not being alone', 'Performance in the group', 'The group as a safety net', 'Life improvements and hope for the future' and 'The extent of emotional despair felt'. In this paper, several sub-themes within the main themes and relevant theories and implications for theory and service provision are discussed.

[Enhancement of quality by employing qualification-oriented staff and team-oriented cooperation].

PubMed

Meyenburg-Altwarg, Iris; Tecklenburg, Andreas

2010-01-01

Taking three practical examples from a university hospital the present article describes how quality can be improved by linking deployment of qualification-oriented staff with team-oriented cooperation, especially with regard to the professional groups of physicians and nurses. In the first example, a cross-professional work group defined tasks which--in a legally acceptable manner--allow selected activities to be transferred from physicians to nurses, improving the work processes of all persons concerned. Work and duty profiles, training and modified work processes were created and implemented according to the PDCA circle-based process. The first evaluation took place after nine months using interviews, questionnaires (patients, physicians, and nurses) as well as CIRS. In the second example, emphasis was placed on offers of supplementary services for private patients resulting in a lightening of the workload on the nursing staff. These supplementary services are intended to enhance the wellbeing of the patients. Special external-service staff provide high standard hotel services. These services consistently receive high ratings from the patients. The methods used for introduction and evaluation are analogous to those used in the first example. The third example is concerned with the extension of nursing care and patient empowerment beyond the boundaries of ward and hospital. The guidelines were the implementation of the national expert standard for discharge management according to the DNQP. The methods of introduction were analogous to those used in example 1. For the evaluation interviews were conducted with all participating groups. In all examples actual quantitative measures (key ratios) are not yet available; however, the data collected from the interviews and questionnaires of all the participants are promising.

Working with Rural Employers: An Interagency Partnership.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bowman, Sally R.; Manoogian, Margaret; Driscoll, Debra Minar

2002-01-01

Oregon State University Extension and county partners, organized an employer development program in a rural community. Focus groups and evaluations identified hiring and retention challenges and outlined needed support and services. Employer training workshops and recruitment and orientation services were provided. (SK)

System-level change in mental health services in North Wales: An observational study using systems thinking.

PubMed

Evans, S; Huxley, P J; Maxwell, N; Huxley, K L S

2014-06-01

To describe changes to mental health services using systems thinking. Structured standardized quality of life assessment (Manchester Short Quality of Life Assessment: MANSA) was used to establish service user priorities for changes to service provision (part of a process known as check in systems thinking). Current service performance in these priority areas was identified, and changes to service arrangements were planned, implemented and monitored by task and finish (T&F) groups (making use of a process known as flow in systems thinking). 81 MANSA assessments were completed at the check stage (by NM). Work finances and leisure activities emerged as service user priority areas for change, and T&F groups were established with representation of all sectors and service users. Ways to make improvements were observed, planned and implemented by T&F groups (the flow stage). The systems approach reveals how services and quality of life have been changed for patients in Wrexham. Further generalizable research is needed into the potential benefits of using systems thinking in mental health service evaluation. © The Author(s) 2013.

[The profile and professional practice of nurses in a psychosocial care services].

PubMed

Dias, Cristiane Bergues; Aranha e Silva, Ana Luisa

2010-06-01

This qualitative study was performed with fourteen nurses of eleven psychosocial care services. The objectives of the study were the following: to characterize the professional profile of the nurses who work in community psychiatric services and to verify those nurses' practice according to the current model of mental health care. there was a prevalence of females; most had over 10 years since their graduation; their entrance in the mental health area is late and is associated with the lack of job opportunities and the fact that the service is close to their home. One part of the nurses found it difficult to define their work at an extra-hospital environment. On the other hand, another group of nurses believes that the nursing work in mental health services is flexible and it is shared with other workers of the multidisciplinary team. Low salaries, poor infrastructure and the lack of team member acknowledgement generate dissatisfaction at work. The Brazilian Psychiatric Reform is associated with dehospitalization.

Using Empowering Processes to Create Empowered Outcomes through the Family Development Credential Program: An Empirical Study of Change in Human Service Workers

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hewitt, Nicole M.

2010-01-01

This study employed a quasi-experimental non-equivalent control group design with pretest and posttest. Two waves of data were collected from a non-random sample of 180 human service professionals in Western and Central Pennsylvania using two research instruments: the Social Work Empowerment Scale and the Conditions of Work Effectiveness-II Scale.…

An epidemiological study of reproductive health in female civil aviation employees.

PubMed

Yang, Yue; Zhang, Weiyuan; Chan, Ada; Li, Chunling; He, Xiaoyan; Cui, Lei; Lv, Yuren; Liu, Juan; Guo, Xiuhua

2013-06-01

To investigate the correlations between occupational risk factors and reproductive health and to provide targeted healthcare services to female civil aviation employees based on surveys about menstrual and reproductive health status. Subjects were selected from flight attendants working for China Southern Airlines, Air China, and other airlines; employees of China Aviation Oil Limited, China TravelSky, and China Aviation Supplies Holding Company; and airport ground service crews. Data were collected using anonymous questionnaires. A total of 1175 valid questionnaires were recovered. The subjects were categorized into a flight attendant group and a ground service group, which contained 563 and 612 women, respectively. The prevalence of irregular menstruation, including abnormal cycles, severe dysmenorrhea, and hypomenorrhea or menorrhagia, was significantly higher in the flight attendant group (30.55%) than in the ground service group (13.40%); in concordance, the fertility rate was significantly lower in the flight attendant group (36.59%) than in the ground service group (43.95%). The spontaneous abortion rate in the flight attendant group (6.80%) was significantly higher than in the ground service group (2.97%). The rate of life-threatening abortions, preterm births, and low birth weight was significantly lower in the flight attendant group than in the ground service group. The impact of occupational risk factors on the reproductive health of female aviation workers should be evaluated and examined more thoroughly. Additional healthcare services such as routine menstruation healthcare and policies for workers planning to have a pregnancy are beneficial in monitoring reproductive health, reducing harmful exposures during early pregnancy, and preventing incapacitating gynecologic events.

Transferring information to an out-of-hours primary care service for patients with palliative care needs: an action research study to improve the use of handover forms.

PubMed

Asprey, Anthea; Richards, Suzanne H; Wright, Christine; Seamark, Clare; Seamark, David; Moxon, Jane

2013-01-01

To work with service users and providers to optimise the design and implementation of handover forms to support the transfer of information between daytime and out-of-hours primary care services for patients with palliative care needs. There is a need for improved informational continuity between daytime and out-of-hours primary care services for patients with palliative care needs. Research suggests that while handover forms are vital to ensure continuity of care, they remain underused for such patients. Audit work in an out-of-hours primary care service in South West England identified that their current system of handover forms was underused. An action research study consisting of two phases was undertaken. In phase one, the views of general practitioners and nurses working in the out-of-hours and daytime primary care services (29 health professionals) in Devon (population c.1.4 million) and patients with palliative care needs and their carers (8 participants) were investigated using qualitative interviews and focus group methods. Participants' views on the content and use of handover forms, and of the systems supporting their generation were sought. In phase two, additional feedback from the health professional stakeholder groups was collected and collaborative work undertaken with the out-of-hours service to implement recommendations emerging from the qualitative research. Findings Respondents identified variable use of handover forms and inconsistent practice in terms of: who was responsible for generating and updating forms; when and where they were discussed in primary care; the criteria used to define which patient needed a form; and the information forms should contain. There was uncertainty about how handover forms were used by the out-of-hours service and concerns about incomplete access to forms for certain groups of staff. An action plan to improve the existing system was developed. This included distribution of educational materials (desktop guide, newsletter) to key stakeholders, and the modification of information systems to facilitate the updating of messages and the accessibility of electronic records for previously under-served staff.

Active ingredients in anti-stigma programmes in mental health.

PubMed

Pinfold, Vanessa; Thornicroft, Graham; Huxley, Peter; Farmer, Paul

2005-04-01

This paper draws upon a review of the relevant literature and the results of the recent Mental Health Awareness in Action (MHAA) programme in England to discuss the current evidence base on the active ingredients in effective anti-stigma interventions in mental health. The MHAA Programme delivered educational interventions to 109 police officers, 78 adults from different community groups whose working lives involved supporting people with mental health problems but who had received no mental health training and 472 schools students aged 14-15. Each adult target group received two intervention sessions lasting two hours. The two school lessons were 50 minutes each. Knowledge, attitudes and behavioural intent were assessed at baseline and follow-up. In addition focus groups were held with mental health service users to explore the impact of stigma on their lives and facilitators of educational workshops were interviewed to provide expert opinion on 'what works' to reduce psychiatric stigma. Personal contact was predictive of positive changes in knowledge and attitudes for the school students but not the police officers or community adult group. The key active ingredient identified by all intervention groups and workshop facilitators were the testimonies of service users. The statements of service users (consumers) about their experience of mental health problems and of their contact with a range of services had the greatest and most lasting impact on the target audiences in terms of reducing mental health stigma.

Evaluation of Metacognitive Competence of Pre-Service Music Teachers in Terms of Some Variables

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hakan, Okay

2016-01-01

The purpose of the present research is to define pre-service music teachers' competence in using metacognitive activities in relation to academic achievement, gender, and class grade variables. The work-group consists of 131 pre-service music teachers, who study at Balikesir University Necatibey Faculty of Education, Programme of Music Teaching.…

Military Drill in the Service of American Hegemony over Hawaii

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Beyer, C. Kalani

2009-01-01

Recently, there has been an interest in investigating who have historically served in the American military, particularly during periods of war. These studies report that men from lower socio-economic groups tend to be over represented in military service, especially after voluntary service replaced the draft during the 1970s. Much work remains to…

76 FR 61747 - CompONE Services, LTD, Ithaca, NY; Notice of Negative Determination Regarding Application for...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-10-05

... that the service supplied by CompONE Services is being shifted to an affiliated facility in Vietnam... group seeking certification (or on whose behalf certification is being sought) must work for a ``firm... increased'' or ``a shift in production by such workers' firm or subdivision to a foreign country of articles...

Pre-Service Chemistry Teachers' Competencies in the Laboratory: A Cross-Grade Study in Solution Preparation

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Karatas, F. O.

2016-01-01

One of the prerequisites for chemistry teacher candidates is to demonstrate certain laboratory skills. This article aims to determine and discuss the competencies of pre-service chemistry teachers in a chemistry laboratory context working with solution chemistry content. The participants in this study consisted of a group of pre-service chemistry…

Ocean Drilling Program: Drilling Services

Science.gov Websites

Drilling operations team Material services team Development engineering team ODP/TAMU Science Operator Home Services department consists of three team-oriented project groups, which also work to improve the existing team. A member of this team sails with each cruise to provide expertise for the shipboard scientific

Creating an Environment for Pre-Service Teachers to Work with Learners with Special Needs

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burth, Jeanne Hager

2016-01-01

In this study, pre-service teachers were afforded the opportunity to participate in two on-campus activities for students with low-incidence disabilities. The project explores the attitudes and perceptions of a group of pre-service teachers before and after participating in two educational experiences with students with low-incidence special…

A Guide to Enhancing the Cultural Competence of Runaway and Homeless Youth Programs.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Johnson, Bassin, and Shaw, Inc., Silver Spring, MD.

In June 1993, the Family and Youth Services Bureau brought together a working group to help local programs for runaway and homeless youth better meet the needs of an increasingly diverse population of young people. Strategies developed by this working group are shared in this guide. The introductory chapter provides a framework within which local…

National estimates of soil loss on rangelands

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

Since 1995, an interagency group composed of the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Agricultural Research Service, and U.S. Geological Survey have worked together to develop a robust field approach for National Resource Inventory (NRI) on rangeland. The new NRI protocols are designed to detect ...

Open NASA Earth Exchange (OpenNEX): Strategies for enabling cross organization collaboration in the earth sciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Michaelis, A.; Ganguly, S.; Nemani, R. R.; Votava, P.; Wang, W.; Lee, T. J.; Dungan, J. L.

2014-12-01

Sharing community-valued codes, intermediary datasets and results from individual efforts with others that are not in a direct funded collaboration can be a challenge. Cross organization collaboration is often impeded due to infrastructure security constraints, rigid financial controls, bureaucracy, and workforce nationalities, etc., which can force groups to work in a segmented fashion and/or through awkward and suboptimal web services. We show how a focused community may come together, share modeling and analysis codes, computing configurations, scientific results, knowledge and expertise on a public cloud platform; diverse groups of researchers working together at "arms length". Through the OpenNEX experimental workshop, users can view short technical "how-to" videos and explore encapsulated working environment. Workshop participants can easily instantiate Amazon Machine Images (AMI) or launch full cluster and data processing configurations within minutes. Enabling users to instantiate computing environments from configuration templates on large public cloud infrastructures, such as Amazon Web Services, may provide a mechanism for groups to easily use each others work and collaborate indirectly. Moreover, using the public cloud for this workshop allowed a single group to host a large read only data archive, making datasets of interest to the community widely available on the public cloud, enabling other groups to directly connect to the data and reduce the costs of the collaborative work by freeing other individual groups from redundantly retrieving, integrating or financing the storage of the datasets of interest.

Earth Systems Field Work: Service Learning at Local and Global Scales

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Moore, A.; Derry, L. A.

2016-12-01

The Earth & Environmental Systems (EES) Field Program engages students in hands-on exploration along the boundaries of the living earth, solid earth, ocean, and atmosphere. Based on Hawaíi Island, the semester-length program integrates scientific study with environmental stewardship and service learning. Each year EES students contribute 3000 hours of service to their host community. Throughout the semester students engage in different service activities. Most courses includes a service component - for example - study of the role of invasive species in native ecosystems includes an invasive species removal project. Each student completes a 4-week service internship with a local school, NGO, state or federal agency. Finally, the student group works to offset the carbon footprint of the program in collaboration with local conservation projects. This effort sequesters CO2 emissions while at the same time contributing to reforestation of degraded native ecosystems. Students learn that expertise is not confined to "the academy," and that wisdom and inspiration can be found in unexpected venues. Much of the service learning in the EES Program occurs in collaboration with local partners. Service internships require students to identify a partner and to design a tractable project. Students work daily with their sponsor and make a formal presentation of their project at the end of the internship period. This includes speaking to a non-technical community gathering as well as to a scientific audience. For many students the opportunity to work on a real problem, of interest in the real world, is a highlight of the semester. Beyond working in support of local community groups, the EES Prograḿs C-neutral project engages students with work in service to the global commons. Here the outcome is not measurable within the time frame of a semester, yet the intangible result makes the experience even more powerful. Students take responsibility for an important issue that is not quantified in terms of an end-of-semester grade and without feedback from the academic or local community. By working through the process of calculating and offsetting their carbon footprint - entirely with their own labor - students learn that every individual has the tools and the ability to create change, and that they have the responsibility to do so.

An unreliable group arrival queue with k stages of service, retrial under variant vacation policy

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radha, J.; Indhira, K.; Chandrasekaran, V. M.

2017-11-01

In this research work we considered repairable retrial queue with group arrival and the server utilize the variant vacations. A server gives service in k stages. Any arriving group of units finds the server free, one from the group entering the first stage of service and the rest are joining into the orbit. After completion of the i th stage of service, the customer may have the option to choose (i+1)th stage of service with probability θi , with probability pi may join into orbit as feedback customer or may leave the system with probability {q}i=≤ft\\{\\begin{array}{l}1-{p}i-{θ }i,i=1,2,\\cdots k-1\\ 1-{p}i,i=k\\end{array}\\right\\}. If the orbit is empty at the service completion of each stage service, the server takes modified vacation until at least one customer appears in the orbit on the server returns from a vacation. Busy server may get to breakdown and the service channel will fail for a short interval of time. By using the supplementary variable method, steady state probability generating function for system size, some system performance measures are discussed.

Green Care Farms: An Innovative Type of Adult Day Service to Stimulate Social Participation of People With Dementia.

PubMed

de Bruin, Simone R; Stoop, Annerieke; Molema, Claudia C M; Vaandrager, Lenneke; Hop, Peter J W M; Baan, Caroline A

2015-01-01

Objective: To explore the value of day services at green care farms (GCFs) in terms of social participation for people with dementia. Method: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with people with dementia who attended day services at a GCF (GCF group, n = 21), were on a waiting list (WL) for day services at a GCF (WL group, n = 12), or attended day services in a regular day care facility (RDCF group, n = 17) and with their family caregivers. Results: People with dementia in the GCF and WL group were primarily males, with an average age of 71 and 76 years, respectively, who almost all had a spousal caregiver. People with dementia in the RDCF group were mostly females with an average age of 85 years, most of whom had a non-spousal caregiver. For both the GCF and RDCF groups, it was indicated that day services made people with dementia feel part of society. The most important domains of social participation addressed by RDCFs were social interactions and recreational activities. GCFs additionally addressed the domains "paid employment" and "volunteer work." Conclusion: GCFs are valuable in terms of social participation for a particular group of people with dementia. Matching characteristics of adult day services (ADS) centers to the preferences and capacities of people with dementia is of importance. Diversity in ADS centers is therefore desirable.

An interprofessional exploration of nursing and social work roles when working jointly with families.

PubMed

Bennett, Elaine; Hauck, Yvonne; Radford, Georgina; Bindahneem, Sakina

2016-01-01

Ngala, an early parenting not-for-profit organisation in Western Australia, has provided services to families with young children since 1890. Child health nurses and mothercraft nurses were the primary workforce until the 1980s when a social worker was employed and a new era of interprofessional collaboration began. Evidence to date has focused on nursing workforce, interprofessional education, and interprofessional teams. Little is known about the roles of nursing and social work when working jointly with families. A new service commenced in 2012 for families with children with developmental delays. Social workers and child health nurses were employed for this service model. Our study aim was to explore the perceptions of how nurses and social workers work together with a family providing psychosocial support across a new service. The study was conducted alongside implementation of this new service. An exploratory case study approach was adopted to generate an in-depth understanding of the roles of nurses and social workers. In total, 22 semi-structured interviews and one focus group across the first year of implementing the new service were undertaken. Analysis of these data revealed four major themes. Findings presented in this article will inform further reflection and consideration into the future interprofessional workforce priorities and requirements for Early Parenting Services.

Deployment of IPv6-only CPU resources at WLCG sites

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babik, M.; Chudoba, J.; Dewhurst, A.; Finnern, T.; Froy, T.; Grigoras, C.; Hafeez, K.; Hoeft, B.; Idiculla, T.; Kelsey, D. P.; López Muñoz, F.; Martelli, E.; Nandakumar, R.; Ohrenberg, K.; Prelz, F.; Rand, D.; Sciabà, A.; Tigerstedt, U.; Traynor, D.

2017-10-01

The fraction of Internet traffic carried over IPv6 continues to grow rapidly. IPv6 support from network hardware vendors and carriers is pervasive and becoming mature. A network infrastructure upgrade often offers sites an excellent window of opportunity to configure and enable IPv6. There is a significant overhead when setting up and maintaining dual-stack machines, so where possible sites would like to upgrade their services directly to IPv6 only. In doing so, they are also expediting the transition process towards its desired completion. While the LHC experiments accept there is a need to move to IPv6, it is currently not directly affecting their work. Sites are unwilling to upgrade if they will be unable to run LHC experiment workflows. This has resulted in a very slow uptake of IPv6 from WLCG sites. For several years the HEPiX IPv6 Working Group has been testing a range of WLCG services to ensure they are IPv6 compliant. Several sites are now running many of their services as dual-stack. The working group, driven by the requirements of the LHC VOs to be able to use IPv6-only opportunistic resources, continues to encourage wider deployment of dual-stack services to make the use of such IPv6-only clients viable. This paper presents the working group’s plan and progress so far to allow sites to deploy IPv6-only CPU resources. This includes making experiment central services dual-stack as well as a number of storage services. The monitoring, accounting and information services that are used by jobs also need to be upgraded. Finally the VO testing that has taken place on hosts connected via IPv6-only is reported.

Service failures and challenges in responding to people bereaved through drugs and alcohol: An interprofessional analysis.

PubMed

Valentine, Christine; McKell, Jennifer; Ford, Allison

2018-05-01

This article reports findings from the first two stages of a three-stage qualitative study which considered the role of services, including public, private and charitable organisations, in responding to the needs of adults bereaved following the drug and/or alcohol-related death of someone close. The study, the first of its kind to explore the landscape and role of services in substance use deaths, was conducted over two sites: south west England and Scotland. In stage 1 of the research, adopting both convenience and purposive sampling, data were collected via semi-structured interviews on experiences and support needs of bereaved individuals (n = 106). In stage 2, six focus groups were conducted with a purposive sample of practitioners (n = 40), including those working for the police, coroner's service, procurator fiscal depute (Scotland), health service, funeral service, press, clergy, Public Health England, Drugs Policy Unit, bereavement counselling/support and alcohol and drug treatment services, to investigate how services may better respond to this bereavement. Thematic analysis from both data-sets identified two overarching themes. The first, focusing on practitioner responses, captures how these bereaved people may meet with inadequate, unkind, and discriminatory responses from services. Having to navigate unfamiliar, fragmented, and time-consuming procedures compounds the bereaved's distress at an already difficult time, illustrated by a 'mapping' of relevant services. The second relates to challenges and opportunities for those responding. Service failures reflect practitioners' poor understanding of both substance use bereavement and the range of other practitioners and services involved. Those bereaved are a poorly understood, neglected and stigmatised group of service users. There is a need for services to respond without judgement or insensitive language, and provide information about, communicate and work closely with, other services despite differences in working practices and cultures. These recommendations could positively affect bereaved peoples' experiences, alleviating stress and overwhelm at a particularly vulnerable time.

[Performance of self-help groups and their economic evaluation].

PubMed

Engelhardt, H D; Trojan, A; Nickel, S

2009-01-01

Hoffmann von Fallersleben is quoted with the sentence "Self-help is worthwhile, because it does not demand anything from others". This sounds catchy; it is, however, wrong: Self-help groups ask for support, particularly for financial resources for the work of either individual, highly organized self-help associations or for general support of self-help groups via local contact and information centers ("contact points for self-help groups"). With this request for economic "investments" in self-help, the question arises whether this is profitable for the country, the local authority or the social health insurance. In principle, the initial answer to this is: yes, the work of self-help groups is worthwhile for a single person, but also for the larger community, as various kinds of services are provided by self-help groups and organizations. Despite many surveys of members or co-operation partners which show positive effects of self-help groups, the question remains whether services of self-help groups can be measured and economically evaluated. The socio- political question regarding funding is closely connected to the idea of an economic evaluation of self-help groups. The aim of this article is to summarize and discuss which empiric approaches and findings are available on this subject. The monetary value for the work done per member of self-help groups and year lies between approximately 700 and 900 EUR.

Definition of spacecraft standard interfaces by the NASA Space Assembly and Servicing Working Group (SASWG)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Radtke, Robert; Woolley, Charles; Arnold, Lana

1993-01-01

The purpose of the NASA Space Assembly and Servicing Working Group (SASWG) is to study enabling technologies for on-orbit spacecraft maintenance and servicing. One key technology required for effective space logistics activity is the development of standard spacecraft interfaces, including the 'Basic Set' defined by NASA, the U.S. Space Command, and industry panelists to be the following: (1) navigation aids; (2) grasping, berthing, and docking; and (3) utility connections for power, data, and fluids. Draft standards have been prepared and referred to professional standards organizations, including the AIAA, EIA, and SAE space standards committee. The objective of the SASWG is to support these committees with the technical expertise required to prepare standards, guidelines, and recommended practices which will be accepted by the ANSI and international standards organizations, including the ISO, IEC, and PASC.

Participatory Design With Seniors: Design of Future Services and Iterative Refinements of Interactive eHealth Services for Old Citizens

PubMed Central

2013-01-01

Background There is an increasing social isolation among the elderly today. This will be an even larger issue in the future with growing numbers of elderly and less resources, for example, in terms of economy and staff. Loneliness and social isolation can, however, be addressed in several ways using different interactive eHealth services. Objective This case study investigated novel eHealth services for the elderly, and their usage of a social interactive device designed especially for them. Methods In this work, we used an innovative mobile communication device connected to the television (TV), which worked as a remotely controlled large interactive screen. The device was tested by 8 volunteers who visited a senior center. They were between 65 and 80 years of age and lived in their own homes. Throughout the 1.5 year-long project, 7 design workshops were held with the seniors and the staff at the center. During these workshops, demands and preferences regarding existing and new services were gathered. At the end of the project the participants’ experience of the device and of the services was elaborated in 3 workshops to get ideas for improved or new meaningful services. During the data analyses and development process, what seniors thought would be useful in relation to what was feasible was prioritized by the development company. Results Regarding daily usage, the seniors reported that they mainly used the service for receiving information from the senior center and for communication with other participants in the group or with younger relatives. They also read information about events at the senior center and they liked to perform a weekly sent out workout exercise. Further, they played games such as Memory and Sudoku using the device. The service development focused on three categories of services: cognitive activities, social activities, and physical activities. A cognitive activity service that would be meaningful to develop was a game for practicing working memory. In the social activities category, the seniors wanted different quizzes and multi-player games. For physical activities, the seniors desired more workout exercises and suggestions for guided walking routes. A new category, “information and news”, was suggested since they lacked services like senior-customized global and local news. Conclusions This study showed the importance of input from a group of seniors when designing new services for elderly citizens. Besides input to interactive eHealth service development for seniors, this study showed the importance of a social context around such work. The seniors were very engaged throughout the project and workshops were frequently visited and the seniors became friends. The high amount of input from the seniors could be explained in terms of social inclusion; they belonged to a group and each member was considered important for the work. The friendly workshop atmosphere facilitated new ideas and redesign of the services. PMID:25075235

Participatory Design With Seniors: Design of Future Services and Iterative Refinements of Interactive eHealth Services for Old Citizens.

PubMed

Scandurra, Isabella; Sjölinder, Marie

2013-01-01

There is an increasing social isolation among the elderly today. This will be an even larger issue in the future with growing numbers of elderly and less resources, for example, in terms of economy and staff. Loneliness and social isolation can, however, be addressed in several ways using different interactive eHealth services. This case study investigated novel eHealth services for the elderly, and their usage of a social interactive device designed especially for them. In this work, we used an innovative mobile communication device connected to the television (TV), which worked as a remotely controlled large interactive screen. The device was tested by 8 volunteers who visited a senior center. They were between 65 and 80 years of age and lived in their own homes. Throughout the 1.5 year-long project, 7 design workshops were held with the seniors and the staff at the center. During these workshops, demands and preferences regarding existing and new services were gathered. At the end of the project the participants' experience of the device and of the services was elaborated in 3 workshops to get ideas for improved or new meaningful services. During the data analyses and development process, what seniors thought would be useful in relation to what was feasible was prioritized by the development company. Regarding daily usage, the seniors reported that they mainly used the service for receiving information from the senior center and for communication with other participants in the group or with younger relatives. They also read information about events at the senior center and they liked to perform a weekly sent out workout exercise. Further, they played games such as Memory and Sudoku using the device. The service development focused on three categories of services: cognitive activities, social activities, and physical activities. A cognitive activity service that would be meaningful to develop was a game for practicing working memory. In the social activities category, the seniors wanted different quizzes and multi-player games. For physical activities, the seniors desired more workout exercises and suggestions for guided walking routes. A new category, "information and news", was suggested since they lacked services like senior-customized global and local news. This study showed the importance of input from a group of seniors when designing new services for elderly citizens. Besides input to interactive eHealth service development for seniors, this study showed the importance of a social context around such work. The seniors were very engaged throughout the project and workshops were frequently visited and the seniors became friends. The high amount of input from the seniors could be explained in terms of social inclusion; they belonged to a group and each member was considered important for the work. The friendly workshop atmosphere facilitated new ideas and redesign of the services.

Advancing User Supports with a Structured How-To Knowledge Base for Earth Science Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shen, Suhung; Acker, James G.; Lynnes, Christopher S.; Beaty, Tammy; Lighty, Luther; Kempler, Steven J.

2016-01-01

It is a challenge to access and process fast growing Earth science data from satellites and numerical models, which may be archived in very different data format and structures. NASA data centers, managed by the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), have developed a rich and diverse set of data services and tools with features intended to simplify finding, downloading, and working with these data. Although most data services and tools have user guides, many users still experience difficulties with accessing or reading data due to varying levels of familiarity with data services, tools, and/or formats. A type of structured online document, data recipe, were created in beginning 2013 by Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). A data recipe is the How-To document created by using the fixed template, containing step-by-step instructions with screenshots and examples of accessing and working with real data. The recipes has been found to be very helpful, especially to first-time-users of particular data services, tools, or data products. Online traffic to the data recipe pages is significant to some recipes. In 2014, the NASA Earth Science Data System Working Group (ESDSWG) for data recipes was established, aimed to initiate an EOSDIS-wide campaign for leveraging the distributed knowledge within EOSDIS and its user communities regarding their respective services and tools. The ESDSWG data recipe group started with inventory and analysis of existing EOSDIS-wide online help documents, and provided recommendations and guidelines and for writing and grouping data recipes. This presentation will overview activities of creating How-To documents at GES DISC and ESDSWG. We encourage feedback and contribution from users for improving the data How-To knowledge base.

Advancing User Supports with Structured How-To Knowledge Base for Earth Science Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Shen, S.; Acker, J. G.; Lynnes, C.; Lighty, L.; Beaty, T.; Kempler, S.

2016-12-01

It is a challenge to access and process fast growing Earth science data from satellites and numerical models, which may be archived in very different data format and structures. NASA data centers, managed by the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), have developed a rich and diverse set of data services and tools with features intended to simplify finding, downloading, and working with these data. Although most data services and tools have user guides, many users still experience difficulties with accessing or reading data due to varying levels of familiarity with data services, tools, and/or formats. A type of structured online document, "data recipe", were created in beginning 2013 by Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC). A data recipe is the "How-To" document created by using the fixed template, containing step-by-step instructions with screenshots and examples of accessing and working with real data. The recipes has been found to be very helpful, especially to first-time-users of particular data services, tools, or data products. Online traffic to the data recipe pages is significant to some recipes. In 2014, the NASA Earth Science Data System Working Group (ESDSWG) for data recipes was established, aimed to initiate an EOSDIS-wide campaign for leveraging the distributed knowledge within EOSDIS and its user communities regarding their respective services and tools. The ESDSWG data recipe group started with inventory and analysis of existing EOSDIS-wide online help documents, and provided recommendations and guidelines and for writing and grouping data recipes. This presentation will overview activities of creating How-To documents at GES DISC and ESDSWG. We encourage feedback and contribution from users for improving the data How-To knowledge base.

Insights for conducting real-time focus groups online using a web conferencing service.

PubMed

Kite, James; Phongsavan, Philayrath

2017-01-01

Background Online focus groups have been increasing in use over the last 2 decades, including in biomedical and health-related research. However, most of this research has made use of text-based services such as email, discussion boards, and chat rooms, which do not replicate the experience of face-to-face focus groups. Web conferencing services have the potential to more closely match the face-to-face focus group experience, including important visual and aural cues. This paper provides critical reflections on using a web conferencing service to conduct online focus groups. Methods As part of a broader study, we conducted both online and face-to-face focus groups with participants. The online groups were conducted in real-time using the web conferencing service, Blackboard Collaborate TM . We used reflective practice to assess how the conduct and content of the groups were similar and how they differed across the two platforms. Results We found that further research using such services is warranted, particularly when working with hard-to-reach or geographically dispersed populations. The level of discussion and the quality of the data obtained was similar to that found in face-to-face groups. However, some issues remain, particularly in relation to managing technical issues experienced by participants and ensuring adequate recording quality to facilitate transcription and analysis. Conclusions Our experience with using web conferencing for online focus groups suggests that they have the potential to offer a realistic and comparable alternative to face-to-face focus groups, especially for geographically dispersed populations such as rural and remote health practitioners. Further testing of these services is warranted but researchers should carefully consider the service they use to minimise the impact of technical difficulties.

Increasing Career Self-Efficacy through Group Work with Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mitcham, Michelle; Greenidge, Wendy-lou; Bradham-Cousar, Michelle; Figliozzi, Jennifer; Thompson, Mary Ann

2012-01-01

Group counseling is a practical way for school counselors to deliver career services. School counselors face competing demands on their time coupled with the problematic student to counselor ratios that often exist in schools, group counseling thereby offers a pragmatic solution. This article provides implications for implementing group counseling…

Chinese cultural dimensions of death, dying, and bereavement: focus group findings.

PubMed

Yick, Alice G; Gupta, Rashmi

2002-01-01

The purpose of this qualitative study is to describe Chinese immigrants and Chinese Americans' attitudes and practices about death, dying, and bereavement. To this end, three focus groups were conducted with social work graduate students, pastors and religious leaders, and service providers working in the Chinese American community in New York City. The United States is becoming increasingly multicultural, and Chinese Americans are the most rapidly growing Asian American group. Findings from this study revealed that many Chinese attitudes and practices about death and dying are rooted in Asian cultural values such as filial piety, centrality of the family, and emphasis of hierarchy. In addition, strains of Confucianism, Buddhism, Taoism, and local folklore are embedded in these death attitudes and practices. Based on themes extrapolated from the focus groups, recommendations are delineated for service providers in order to implement culturally-sensitive bereavement practices.

Commission 5: Documentation and Astronomical Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Norris, Raymond P.; Ohishi, Masatoshi; Genova, Françoise; Grothkopf, Uta; Malkov, Oleg Yu.; Pence, William D.; Schmitz, Marion; Hanisch, Robert J.; Zhou, Xu

IAU Commission 5 deals with data management issues, and its working groups and task groups deal specifically with information handling, with data centres and networks, with technical aspects of collection, archiving, storage and dissemination of data, with designations and classification of astronomical objects, with library services, editorial policies, computer communications, ad hoc methodologies, and with various standards, reference frames, etc., FITS, astronomys Flexible Image Transport System, the major data exchange format, is controlled, maintained and updated by the Working Group FITS.

Earlybird in South Staffordshire: Reflections on an Innovative Model of Interagency Working to Deliver an Intervention for Families of Preschool Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorder

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Halpin, Julia; Pitt, Sally; Dodd, Emma

2011-01-01

In this article three education and health services professionals, Julia Halpin, Sally Pitt and Emma Dodd, describe and reflect upon the way in which a small group of professionals from health and education services worked in collaboration to meet the need to inform and empower parents of preschool children with a diagnosis of autistic spectrum…

Psychological and health impact of working with victims of sex trafficking.

PubMed

Kliner, Merav; Stroud, Laura

2012-01-01

The UK is a major destination country for trafficking for sexual exploitation, and so increasing numbers of victims of trafficking are managed within health and social services. This study aims to assess the psychological and physical impact on health and social care staff working with an identified sex-trafficked population in a Northern City within England and identify methods to assist staff to manage this complex population. This research is a qualitative study of 12 members of health and social care staff through semi-structured interviews. The subjects were identified using purposive sampling, and data were analyzed using thematic analysis. Staff found working with sex-trafficked populations more difficult than with other vulnerable groups. They frequently described burnout and other adverse effects on their psychological and physical health. In general, staff felt undersupported and undertrained by their organizations. This led to concerns about the quality and sustainability of the service. Working with victims of sex trafficking significantly impacts on the physical and psychological health of staff. Staff working with such vulnerable groups require training and high levels of support to ensure that they are not adversely affected by their work and to ensure that high quality services are maintained. Practices to promote occupational health must be instilled within workplace policy and the organizational culture to limit the impact on psychological and physical health in staff working with vulnerable populations.

Work in the Lives of Social Work Clients: Perspectives of Field Instructors

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Root, Lawrence S.; Choi, Y. Joon

2011-01-01

Although employment is central to the lives of social work clients, it is seldom a focus in social work education. The authors conducted a survey of field instructors in a large MSW program to assess the importance of work-related issues in the lives of those they serve in their social service agencies. This experienced group of practitioners…

The Choice Project: Peer Workers Promoting Shared Decision Making at a Youth Mental Health Service.

PubMed

Simmons, Magenta Bender; Batchelor, Samantha; Dimopoulos-Bick, Tara; Howe, Deb

2017-08-01

In youth mental health services, consumer participation is essential, but few implementation strategies exist to engage young consumers. This project evaluated an intervention implemented in an Australian youth mental health service that utilized peer workers to promote shared decision making via an online tool. All new clients ages 16-25 were invited to participate in this nonrandomized comparative study, which used a historical comparison group (N=80). Intervention participants (N=149) engaged with a peer worker and used the online tool before and during their intake assessment. Pre- and postintake data were collected for both groups; measures included decisional conflict, perceived shared decision making, and satisfaction. A series of paired t tests, analyses of variance, and multiple regressions were conducted to assess differences in scores across intervention and comparison groups and pre- and postintake assessments. Ratings of perceived shared decision making with intake workers were higher in the intervention group than in the comparison group (p=.015). In both groups, decisional conflict scores were significantly lower after the intake assessment (p<.001 for both groups). Both perceived shared decision making and lower decisional conflict were associated with satisfaction (p<.015). Young people who participated in an intervention that combined peer work and shared decision making reported feeling more involved in their assessment. Feeling involved and having lower decisional conflict after seeing an intake worker were important for client satisfaction. These findings demonstrate the importance of both peer work and shared decision making for promoting optimal outcomes in youth mental health services.

University of Arizona: College and University Systems Environment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

CAUSE/EFFECT, 1985

1985-01-01

The University of Arizona has begun to reorganize campus computing. Six working groups were formed to address six areas of computing: academic computing, library automation, administrative data processing and information systems, writing and graphics, video and audio services, and outreach and public service. (MLW)

Organization Development in Mental Health Services.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Glaser, Edward M.; Backer, Thomas E.

1979-01-01

The term "organization development" (OD) encompasses techniques developed to facilitate communication and collaborative problem solving in work groups. This discussion focuses on defining OD, describing its current use in mental health and human service organizations, and assessing potential payoffs and disadvantages of implementing OD programs in…

Chapter 3 The state of the land

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has used resource inventories for over 65 years to assess the Nation’s natural resources on non-Federal lands. Since 1995, an interagency group composed of the NRCS, Agricultural Research Service (ARS), and Geological Survey (USGS) have worked t...

IPv6 Security

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Babik, M.; Chudoba, J.; Dewhurst, A.; Finnern, T.; Froy, T.; Grigoras, C.; Hafeez, K.; Hoeft, B.; Idiculla, T.; Kelsey, D. P.; López Muñoz, F.; Martelli, E.; Nandakumar, R.; Ohrenberg, K.; Prelz, F.; Rand, D.; Sciabà, A.; Tigerstedt, U.; Traynor, D.; Wartel, R.

2017-10-01

IPv4 network addresses are running out and the deployment of IPv6 networking in many places is now well underway. Following the work of the HEPiX IPv6 Working Group, a growing number of sites in the Worldwide Large Hadron Collider Computing Grid (WLCG) are deploying dual-stack IPv6/IPv4 services. The aim of this is to support the use of IPv6-only clients, i.e. worker nodes, virtual machines or containers. The IPv6 networking protocols while they do contain features aimed at improving security also bring new challenges for operational IT security. The lack of maturity of IPv6 implementations together with the increased complexity of some of the protocol standards raise many new issues for operational security teams. The HEPiX IPv6 Working Group is producing guidance on best practices in this area. This paper considers some of the security concerns for WLCG in an IPv6 world and presents the HEPiX IPv6 working group guidance for the system administrators who manage IT services on the WLCG distributed infrastructure, for their related site security and networking teams and for developers and software engineers working on WLCG applications.

Self-reported illnesses and service utilisation among migrants working in small-to medium sized enterprises in Guangdong, China.

PubMed

Zou, G; Zeng, Z; Chen, W; Ling, L

2015-07-01

As one of the most vulnerable populations in China, many migrants work in the small-to-medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This study aims to describe the self-reported illnesses and service utilization of the migrants working in the SMEs in Pearl River Delta Areas (PRDA) of Guangdong province, China. Cross-sectional survey. We interviewed 856 migrants working in the SMEs of different manufacturing industries in 2012. Descriptive analysis was employed to report self-reported illnesses and service utilisation among migrants in the last two weeks and in the last year. Statistical tests such as χ2 test were used to explore factors influencing their service utilisation. In the last two weeks, 91(11%) of the respondents reported having any illness. The most reported illness was respiratory problem (69%), while 9.9%, 7.7% and 13% reported having digestive, skin and other problems respectively. The most important symptom was cough (39%). Thirty-seven percent of the respondents who reported any illness had visited health facilities. The lower income group were more likely to visit health facilities than the higher income group (P = 0.006). The most reported reason for not visiting health facilities was 'feeling not serious' (65%). In the last year, 13% reported having respiratory problems and 7.8% reported accidental injuries. Less than 3% received hospitalization care. The proportion of those without hospitalization to those who should have been hospitalized was 31%. Underuse of the health service among migrants working in the SMEs could be associated with the 'healthy migrant' effect. However, when assessed among the ill migrants in the SMEs, the utilisation rate was still low mainly due to their poor health awareness. Improving their risk perception and integration of occupational and general health service is crucial to improve the health conditions and utilisation of service among migrants in the SMES. Copyright © 2015 The Royal Society for Public Health. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Improving the interface between informal carers and formal health and social services: a qualitative study.

PubMed

McPherson, K M; Kayes, N K; Moloczij, N; Cummins, C

2014-03-01

Reports about the impact of caring vary widely, but a consistent finding is that the role is influenced (for better or worse) by how formal services respond to, and work with informal carers and of course the cared for person. We aimed to explore the connection between informal and formal cares and identify how a positive connection or interface might be developed and maintained. We undertook a qualitative descriptive study with focus groups and individual interviews with informal carers, formal care service providers and representatives from carer advocacy groups. Content analysis was used to identify key factors impacting on the interface between informal and formal carers and propose specific recommendations for service development. Community setting including urban and rural areas of New Zealand. Seventy participants (the majority informal carers) took part in 13 focus groups and 22 individual interviews. Four key themes were derived: Quality of care for the care recipient; Knowledge exchange (valuing carer perspectives); One size does not fit all (creating flexible services); and A constant struggle (reducing the burden services add). An optimum interface to address these key areas was proposed. In addition to ensuring quality care for the care recipient, specific structures and processes to support a more positive interface appear warranted if informal carers and services are to work well together. An approach recognising the caring context and carer expertise may decrease the additional burden services contribute, and reduce conflicting information and resultant confusion and/or frustration many carers experience. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

An occupational health study of emergency physicians in Japan: health assessment by immune variables (CD4, CD8, CD56, and NK cell activity) at the beginning of work.

PubMed

Okamoto, Hiroteru; Tsunoda, Tooru; Teruya, Koji; Takeda, Nobuo; Uemura, Takamoto; Matsui, Tomoko; Fukazawa, Shinji; Ichikawa, Kaoru; Takemae, Rieko; Tsuchida, Kosuke; Takashima, Yutaka

2008-01-01

This study was conducted to evaluate the occupational health of Japanese physicians in emergency medicine. Subjects participating in this study were eighty-nine physicians working at 12 medical facilities (10 critical care emergency centers) in Japan. Participants were asked to complete a questionnaire of work conditions and to provide blood samples for immune variable measurements (CD4, CD8, CD56 and natural killer cell (NK cell) activity) before commencing their work. The data collected from seventy-four of 89 participating physicians were analyzed. The traditional work group comprised of 39 emergency physicians, who were significantly overworked compared to other two groups: the shift work group and the day work group. Among these three groups, no immune variable was significantly different except lymphocyte, number of CD4, and NK cell activity; and the NK cell activity of the shift work group was significantly lower than those of the traditional work group (p<0.01) and the day work group (p<0.01) in terms of Bonferroni's multiple comparison, probably due to circadian rhythm. It was indicated that NK cell activity was significantly lower in samples collected at night versus in the morning (OR=8.34, 95%CI: 1.95-35.6, p<0.01) through multiple logistic regression analyses. NK cell activity was significantly lower in individuals taking 0-3 days off per month, as compared to those taking 4 or more days off (OR=4.65, 95%CI: 1.27-17.0, p=0.02), according to multiple logistic regression analyses. Therefore, the low NK cell activity appears to have reflected the extent of fatigue arising from physicians' overwork. Overwork would have been a potential risk for the physicians' health, resulting in a lower quality of Japanese emergency medical services than that which could have been achieved otherwise. This study suggests that it would be better for the Japanese emergency physicians to take 4 or more days off per month for their health and the quality of their services.

[Study on the occupational stress norm and it's application for the marketing group, public service/safety group and production laborer group].

PubMed

Yang, Xin-Wei; Wang, Zhi-Ming; Jin, Tai-Yi; Lan, Ya-Jia

2006-09-01

A study of the occupational stress norm and it's application for the marketing group, public service/safety group and production laborer group. In this study, cross-sectional study method is used, and a synthetic way of sorting and randomized sampling is adopted to deal with research targets (36 marketing group, 331 public service/safety group, 903 production laborer group). Descriptive statistics for OSI-R scale scores for the marketing group, public service/safety group and production laborer group were modulated. Scale raw score to T-score conversion tables derived from the OSI-R normative sample for marketing group public service/safety group and production laborer group were established. OSI-R profile from for marketing group, public service/safety group and production laborer group were established. For the ORQ and PSQ scales, scores at or above 70 indicate a strong levels of maladaptive stress and strain. Score in the range of 60 to 69 suggest middle levels of maladaptive stress and strain. Score in the range of 40 to 59 indicate normal levels of stress and strain. Score below 40 indicate a relative absence of occupational stress and strain. For the PRQ scales, score below 30 indicate a significant lack of coping resources. Score in the range of 30 to 39 suggest middle deficits in coping resources. Score in the range of 40 to 59 indicate average coping resources. Scores at or above 60 indicate a strong levels of coping resources. The authors combined subjective and objective environment match model of occupational stress. Different intervention measure should be take to reduce the occupational stress so as to improve the work ability.

Collaborative Processes in Species Identification Using an Internet-Based Taxonomic Resource

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kontkanen, Jani; Kärkkäinen, Sirpa; Dillon, Patrick; Hartikainen-Ahia, Anu; Åhlberg, Mauri

2016-01-01

Visual databases are increasingly important resources through which individuals and groups can undertake species identification. This paper reports research on the collaborative processes undertaken by pre-service teacher students when working in small groups to identify birds using an Internet-based taxonomic resource. The student groups are…

Justice Making in Groups for Homeless Adults: The Emancipatory Communitarian Way

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Brubaker, Michael D.; Garrett, Michael Tlanusta; Rivera, Edil Torres; Tate, Kevin A.

2010-01-01

The need for group counseling services for homeless adults is increasing with recent economic and natural disasters, representing crises that exacerbate the ongoing financial and social marginalization of this population. To address their needs, Emancipatory Communitarianism (EC; Prilleltensky, 1997) is suggested for group counselors working to…

[The acceptability of the NICE recommendations for schizophrenia in the Italian Departments of Mental Health. The SIEP-DIRECT'S Project on the discrepancy between routine practice and evidence].

PubMed

Semisa, Domenico; Lasalvia, Antonio; Miceli, Maurizio; Dall'Agnola, Rosa Bruna; Pucci, Cristina; Bissoli, Sarah; Visani, Enrico; Pismataro, Carmine Pasquale; Vanetti, Michele; Pioli, Rosaria; Ruggeri, Mirella; Lora, Antonio

2008-01-01

This paper aims at presenting the most significant results emerging from the work carried out by the focus groups of the multi-centre Project SIEP-DIRECT'S. The Project is aimed at assessing the existing discrepancies between the evidence-based NICE guidelines for schizophrenia and the usual practices of care given by Italian mental health services. Each focus group was requested to give an evaluation on: (a) appropriateness of the English NICE guidelines in the context of the Italian mental health services; (b) clarity and usefulness of the 103 indicators developed on the basis of the NICE recommendations to measure their level of application within the services. In each of the 19 mental health departments or psychiatric services participating in the Project there were organized "multidisciplinary" focus groups and "specialistic" focus groups. The former included, amongst others, professional operators of the mental health services, patients, their relatives, representatives of patient organizations and general practitioners. They examined the recommendations and indicators upon which the participants could express their opinion or judgment based on their knowledge, experience or information in their possession. The latter group, composed only of psychiatrists, examined the recommendations and indicators relative to pharmacological treatments that regarded the specific competences of their professional category. Most NICE recommendations seemed appropriate to the working context of the Italian services. However, some perplexity emerged as regards specific organizational models of the services, such as the specific services for psychotic onsets or the assertive outreach teams, which were believed not to be strictly pertinent to the traditional organization of mental health care in our Country. There were also some criticisms regarding the cognitive-behavioural treatments which the NICE Guidelines recommend as the principle psychotherapeutic option for patients with schizophrenia, since in many Italian services, when the use of psychological interventions are needed, the tendency is to prefer interventions based on psychodynamic theories. The SIEP indicators were generally held to be clear and acceptable. In the view of the focus groups, the NICE guidelines are on the whole useful and suitable for orientating the services in the choice of more efficacious practices in the treatment of patients with schizophrenia. Moreover, the results obtained legitimate the use of the set of SIEP indicators for the evaluation of good practices and the quality of care offered by Italian services. Finally, the use of focus groups delines to a different context as well as the verification of the comprehensibility and applicability of SIEP indicators.

Nursing Services Delivery Theory: an open system approach.

PubMed

Meyer, Raquel M; O'Brien-Pallas, Linda L

2010-12-01

This paper is a discussion of the derivation of the Nursing Services Delivery Theory from the application of open system theory to large-scale organizations. The underlying mechanisms by which staffing indicators influence outcomes remain under-theorized and unmeasured, resulting in a 'black box' that masks the nature and organization of nursing work. Theory linking nursing work, staffing, work environments, and outcomes in different settings is urgently needed to inform management decisions about the allocation of nurse staffing resources in organizations. A search of CINAHL and Business Source Premier for the years 1980-2008 was conducted using the following terms: theory, models, organization, organizational structure, management, administration, nursing units, and nursing. Seminal works were included. The healthcare organization is conceptualized as an open system characterized by energy transformation, a dynamic steady state, negative entropy, event cycles, negative feedback, differentiation, integration and coordination, and equifinality. The Nursing Services Delivery Theory proposes that input, throughput, and output factors interact dynamically to influence the global work demands placed on nursing work groups at the point of care in production subsystems. THE Nursing Services Delivery Theory can be applied to varied settings, cultures, and countries and supports the study of multi-level phenomena and cross-level effects. The Nursing Services Delivery Theory gives a relational structure for reconciling disparate streams of research related to nursing work, staffing, and work environments. The theory can guide future research and the management of nursing services in large-scale healthcare organizations. © 2010 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Report of Economics Work Group A.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Moyer, J.; And Others

1992-01-01

This summary of a seminar meeting on economics issues and the "blindness system" addresses the economics of four service delivery models (charity, medical, public provider, and business models) and points to consider in selecting a model (professional specialization, integration, and client roles). A chart compares service delivery principles…

76 FR 44602 - State of Arizona Resource Advisory Council Meetings

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-07-26

... Mineral Withdrawal Draft Environmental Impact Statement; presentation and RAC recommendations on the Red Rock Pass Program; RAC questions on District Managers' Reports; reports by the RAC working groups; and... Forest Service recreation fee proposals in Arizona. The RRAC will review the Forest Service's Red Rock...

Immigrants’ use of emergency primary health care in Norway: a registry-based observational study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Emigrants are often a selected sample and in good health, but migration can have deleterious effects on health. Many immigrant groups report poor health and increased use of health services, and it is often claimed that they tend to use emergency primary health care (EPHC) services for non-urgent purposes. The aim of the present study was to analyse immigrants’ use of EPHC, and to analyse variations according to country of origin, reason for immigration, and length of stay in Norway. Methods We conducted a registry based study of all immigrants to Norway, and a subsample of immigrants from Poland, Germany, Iraq and Somalia, and compared them with native Norwegians. The material comprised all electronic compensation claims for EPHC in Norway during 2008. We calculated total contact rates, contact rates for selected diagnostic groups and for services given during consultations. Adjustments for a series of socio-demographic and socio-economic variables were done by multiple logistic regression analyses. Results Immigrants as a whole had a lower contact rate than native Norwegians (23.7% versus 27.4%). Total contact rates for Polish and German immigrants (mostly work immigrants) were 11.9% and 7.0%, but for Somalis and Iraqis (mostly asylum seekers) 31.8% and 33.6%. Half of all contacts for Somalis and Iraqis were for non-specific pain, and they had relatively more of their contacts during night than other groups. Immigrants’ rates of psychiatric diagnoses were low, but increased with length of stay in Norway. Work immigrants suffered less from respiratory and gastrointestinal infections, but had more injuries and higher need for sickness certification. All immigrant groups, except Germans, were more often given a sickness certificate than native Norwegians. Use of interpreter was reduced with increasing length of stay. All immigrant groups had an increased need for long consultations, while laboratory tests were most often used for Somalis and Iraqis. Conclusions Immigrants use EPHC services less than native Norwegians, but there are large variations among immigrant groups. Work immigrants from Germany and Poland use EPHC considerably less, while asylum seekers from Somalia and Iraq use these services more than native Norwegians. PMID:22958343

The needs of parents of children with visual impairment studying in mainstream schools in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Lee, Florence M Y; Tsang, Janice F K; Chui, Mandy M Y

2014-10-01

This study attempted to use a validated and standardised psychometric tool to identify the specific needs of parents of children with visual impairment studying in mainstream schools in Hong Kong. The second aim was to compare their needs with those of parents of mainstream school children without special education needs and parents having children with learning and behavioural problems. Cross-sectional survey. Mainstream schools in Hong Kong. Parents of 30 children with visual impairment who were studying in mainstream schools and attended assessment by optometrists at Child Assessment Service between May 2009 and June 2010 were recruited in the study (visual impairment group). Parents of 45 children with learning and behavioural problems recruited from two parent support groups (learning and behavioural problems group), and parents of 233 children without special education needs studying in mainstream schools recruited in a previous validation study on Service Needs Questionnaire (normal group) were used for comparison. Participants were invited to complete a self-administered Service Needs Questionnaire and a questionnaire on demographics of the children and their responding parents. The visual impairment group was asked additional questions about the ability of the child in coping and functioning in academic and recreational activities. Needs expressed by parents of the visual impairment group were significantly higher than those of parents of the normal group, and similar to those in the learning and behavioural problems group. Parents of children with visual impairment expressed more needs for future education and school support than resources for dealing with personal and family stress. Service needs of children with visual impairment and their families are high, particularly for future education and school support. More study on the various modes of accommodation for children with visual impairment and more collaborative work among different partners working in the field of rehabilitation will foster better service for these children and their families.

The work of commissioning: a multisite case study of healthcare commissioning in England's NHS

PubMed Central

Shaw, Sara E; Smith, Judith A; Porter, Alison; Rosen, Rebecca; Mays, Nicholas

2013-01-01

Objective To examine the work of commissioning care for people with long-term conditions and the factors inhibiting or facilitating commissioners making service change. Design Multisite mixed methods case study research, combining qualitative analysis of interviews, documents and observation of meetings. Participants Primary care trust managers and clinicians, general practice-based commissioners, National Health Service trust and foundation trust senior managers and clinicians, voluntary sector and local government representatives. Setting Three ‘commissioning communities’ (areas covered by a primary care trust) in England, 2010–2012. Results Commissioning services for people with long-term conditions was a long drawn-out process involving a range of activities and partners. Only some of the activities undertaken by commissioners, such as assessment of local health needs, coordination of healthcare planning and service specification, appeared in the official ‘commissioning cycle’ promoted by the Department of Health. Commissioners undertook a significant range of additional activities focused on reviewing and redesigning services and providing support for implementation of new services. These activities often involved partnership working with providers and other stakeholders and appeared to be largely divorced from contracting and financial negotiations. At least for long-term condition services, the time and effort involved in such work appeared to be disproportionate to the anticipated or likely service gains. Commissioners adopting an incremental approach to service change in defined and manageable areas of work appeared to be more successful in terms of delivering planned changes in service delivery than those attempting to bring about wide-scale change across complex systems. Conclusions Commissioning for long-term condition services challenges the conventional distinction between commissioners and providers with a significant amount of work focused on redesigning services in partnership with providers. Such work is labour-intensive and potentially unsustainable at a time of reduced finances. New clinical commissioning groups will need to determine how best to balance the relational and transactional elements of commissioning. PMID:24014483

The applicability of the tetraclass model to the management of the patient satisfaction in the pharmacies

PubMed Central

Petrova, Guenka; Clerfeuille, Fabrice; Vakrilova, Milena; Mitkov, Cvetomir; Poubanne, Yannick

2008-01-01

The objective of this work is to study the possibilities of the tetraclass model for the evaluation of the changes in the consumer satisfaction from the provided pharmacy services during the time. Methods Within the same 4 months period in 2004 and 2006 were questioned at approximately 10 pharmacy consumers per working day. Every consumer evaluated the 34 service elements on a 5 points semantic-differential scale. The technique of the correspondence data analysis was used for the categorisation of the services. Results Most of the services have been categorized as basic ones. For the age group up to 40 years the access to pharmacy became a key element and external aspects became a secondary element in 2006 year. For the group of patients that are using the services of the pharmacy for more than 2 years, availability of phone connection, quality of answers and product prices move from plus to secondary element. The ratio quality/price moves from the group of basic to key services, visibility of the prices and hygiene became basic elements from secondary ones. During the two years period, all the service elements connected with the staff as availability, identification, good looking, confidence, dressing, advices, technical competence, explanation, and time spent with clients remain basic services. The confidentiality of the staff remains always a key element. Conclusion Our study shows that the tetraclass model allows taking more informed managerial decisions in the pharmacies, as well as, is providing information for the concrete area of services and possible measures. In case of a development of a simple statistical program for quick processing of the inquiry data, the method will became applicable and affordable even for small pharmacies. PMID:25147588

"It was the whole picture" a mixed methods study of successful components in an integrated wellness service in North East England.

PubMed

Cheetham, M; Van der Graaf, P; Khazaeli, B; Gibson, E; Wiseman, A; Rushmer, R

2018-03-22

A growing number of Local Authorities (LAs) have introduced integrated wellness services as part of efforts to deliver cost effective, preventive services that address the social determinants of health. This study examined which elements of an integrated wellness service in the north east of England were effective in improving health and wellbeing (HWB). The study used a mixed-methods approach. In-depth semi-structured interviews (IVs) were conducted with integrated wellness service users (n = 25) and focus groups (FGs) with group based service users (n = 14) and non-service users (n = 23) to gather the views of stakeholders. Findings are presented here alongside analysis of routine monitoring data. The different data were compared to examine what each data source revealed about the effectiveness of the service. Findings suggest that integrated wellness services work by addressing the social determinants of health and respond to multiple complex health and social concerns rather than single issues. The paper identifies examples of 'active ingredients' at the heart of the programme, such as sustained relationships, peer support and confidence building, as well as the activities through which changes take place, such as sports and leisure opportunities which in turn encourage social interaction. Wider wellbeing outcomes, including reduced social isolation and increased self-efficacy are also reported. Practical and motivational support helped build community capacity by encouraging community groups to access funding, helped navigate bureaucratic systems, and promoted understanding of marginalised communities. Fully integrated wellness services could support progression opportunities through volunteering and mentoring. An integrated wellness service that offers a holistic approach was valued by service users and allowed them to address complex issues simultaneously. Few of the reported health gains were captured in routine data. Quantitative and qualitative data each offered a partial view of how effectively services were working.

A Space Data System Standard for Telerobotic Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Mittman, David S.; Martinez, Lindolfo

2014-01-01

The Telerobotics Working Group of the Mission Operations and Information Management Services Area of the Consultative Committee for Space Data Systems is drafting a document that will help bound the scope of an eventual international standard for telerobotic operations services. This paper will present the work in progress and provide background for how the international community is beginning to define standards in telerobotic operations that will help ensure the success of complex missions to explore beyond Earth orbit.

NASA Satellite Laser Ranging Network

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Carter, David L.

2004-01-01

I will be participating in the International Workshop on Laser Ranging. I will be presenting to the International Laser Ranging Service (ILRS) general body meeting on the recent accomplishments and status of the NASA Satellite Laser Ranging (SLR) Network. The recent accomplishments and NASA's future plans will be outlined and the benefits to the scientific community will be addressed. I am member of the ILRS governing board, the Missions working group, and the Networks & Engineering working group. I am the chairman of the Missions Working and will be hosting a meeting during the week of the workshop. I will also represent the NASA SLR program at the ILRS governing board and other working group meetings.

[Costs and prices of laboratory services].

PubMed

Magid, E; Bartels, P D; Brandslund, I; Christensen, M S; Fahrenkrug, J; Hørder, M; Olsen, H; Pedersen, K O; Riber, E

1991-09-23

Cost accounting is performed in private and public laboratories. Guidelines for these activities are required and with this objective in mind, the Board of the Danish Society of Clinical Chemistry commissioned a working group to produce a position paper which is presented now in this report. The report discusses the objectives, the principles and the general requirements for cost accounting. The significance of information on costs for the clinicians' rational use of the laboratory is also illustrated. The working group points out that prerequisites for lucid and appropriate costing guidelines are clarification of which purposes information on costs are meant to serve, identification of the relevant cost centers and quality assurance of laboratory services to a defined extent. It is common practice to express laboratory costs as costs per test. The report advocates calculation of the cost per patient contact, i.e. the overall costs for laboratory service in a given investigative situation.

The analysis outlining the occurrence and consequences of accidents in the work environment of the firefighters employed by the State Fire Service in Poland in 2008-2013.

PubMed

Pawlak, Agata; Gotlib, Joanna; Gałązkowski, Robert

2016-01-01

Due to the specifics of their work and to being exposed to a wide range of hazards, firefighters working for the State Fire Service (SFS) face the risk of work-related accidents more often than members of other occupational groups. The aim of this paper is to analyze the occurrence and consequences of accidents in the work environment of the SFS officers in Poland between the years 2008-2013. The material analyzed is based on aggregate data collected by the Headquarters of the State Fire Service. Figures regarding accidents in the period between 1 January 2008 and 31 December 2013 show that 8518 work-related accidents occurred in that period and 8635 people were injured. The data shows that neither the number of accidents nor their frequency indicator underwent any significant fluctuations over the 6 years under consideration. The group that is most exposed to accidents on duty in the profession includes active firefighters serving in rescue and fire extinguishment divisions. According to the data, the greatest number of trauma incidents in the SFS between the years 2008-2013 occurred during sporting activities. The predominant cause of these was inappropriate behavior or the lack of proper care. The most frequent injuries sustained during the accidents were broken or fractured bones and sprained joints. Accidents on duty occur significantly more often when firefighters are at their stations, during sporting classes, exercises or maneuvers, than in the course of actual rescue operations. The firefighters of the State Fire Services are insufficiently prepared for their sporting activities. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

Living conditions and access to health services by Bolivian immigrants in the city of São Paulo, Brazil.

PubMed

Silveira, Cássio; Carneiro Junior, Nivaldo; Ribeiro, Manoel Carlos Sampaio de Almeida; Barata, Rita de Cássia Barradas

2013-10-01

Bolivian immigrants in Brazil experience serious social problems: precarious work conditions, lack of documents and insufficient access to health services. The study aimed to investigate inequalities in living conditions and access to health services among Bolivian immigrants living in the central area of São Paulo, Brazil, using a cross-sectional design and semi-structured interviews with 183 adults. According to the data, the immigrants tend to remain in Brazil, thus resulting in an aging process in the group. Per capita income increases the longer the immigrants stay in the country. The majority have secondary schooling. Work status does not vary according to time since arrival in Brazil. The immigrants work and live in garment sweatshops and speak their original languages. Social networks are based on ties with family and friends. Access to health services shows increasing inclusion in primary care. The authors conclude that the immigrants' social exclusion is decreasing due to greater access to documentation, work (although precarious), and the supply of health services from the public primary care system.

Continuity of midwifery care for rural women through caseload group practice: Delivering for almost 20 years.

PubMed

Haines, Helen M; Baker, Janet; Marshall, Diana

2015-12-01

To describe the clinical outcomes and sustainability factors of a long-standing midwifery led caseload model of rural maternity care. Retrospective clinical audit from 1998 to 2011 and autoethnographic narrative of the midwifery program told by the longest serving midwives under three key themes relating to sustainable practice. Regional Health Service with annual birth rate of 500. Maternity care is provided by either public antenatal clinic/GP shared care or midwife-led care. Women attending a rural caseload midwifery group practice between the period 1998-2011 and midwives working in the same group practice during that period. Antenatal attendance, maternal mortality, infant morbidity and mortality, mode of birth, known midwife at birth, initiation of breastfeeding. There were 1674 births between 1998 and 2011. Clinical outcomes for women and infants closely reflected national maternity indicator data. The group practice midwives attribute sustainability of the program to the enjoyment of flexibility in their working environment, to establishing trust amongst themselves, the women they care for, and with the obstetricians, GPs and health service executives. The rigorous application of midwifery principles including robust clinical governance have been hallmarks of success. This caseload midwifery group practice is a safe, satisfying and sustainable model of maternity care in a rural setting. Clinical outcomes are similar to standard care. Success can be attributed to strong leadership across all levels of policy, health service management and, most importantly, the rural midwives providing the service. © 2015 National Rural Health Alliance Inc.

The impact of caregivers on the effectiveness of an early community mental health detection and intervention programme in Hong Kong.

PubMed

Pan, Jia-Yan; Ng, Yat-Nam Petrus; Young, Kim-Wan Daniel

2016-12-01

The prevalence rate of mental illness in Chinese communities is high, but Chinese clients tend to underutilize mental health services. Caregivers may play an important role in mental health early detection and intervention, but few studies have investigated their roles in community mental health services. This study compared the effectiveness of an early detection and intervention programme, the Community Mental Health Intervention Project, for two groups in the context of Hong Kong - clients with and without caregivers. A comparison group pre-post-test design was adopted. A total of 170 service users joined this study, including 100 with caregivers and 70 without caregivers. Both groups showed a significant decrease in psychiatric symptoms and increase in community living skills; the group without caregivers indicated a greater reduction in psychiatric symptoms. Different social work intervention components had different predictive effects on these changes. The Community Mental Health Intervention Project is an effective early detection and intervention programme in working with Hong Kong Chinese people who are suspected of having mental health problems, especially for those without caregivers. © 2014 Wiley Publishing Asia Pty Ltd.

Health services for reproductive tract infections among female migrant workers in industrial zones in Ha Noi, Viet Nam: an in-depth assessment

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Rural-to-urban migration involves a high proportion of females because job opportunities for female migrants have increased in urban industrial areas. Those who migrate may be healthier than those staying in the village and they may benefit from better health care services at destination, but the 'healthy' effect can be reversed at destination due to migration-related health risk factors. The study aimed to explore the need for health care services for reproductive tract infections (RTIs) among female migrants working in the Sai Dong industrial zone as well as their services utilization. Methods The cross sectional study employed a mixed method approach. A cohort of 300 female migrants was interviewed to collect quantitative data. Two focus groups and 20 in-depth interviews were conducted to collect qualitative data. We have used frequency and cross-tabulation techniques to analyze the quantitative data and the qualitative data was used to triangulate and to provide more in-depth information. Results The needs for health care services for RTI were high as 25% of participants had RTI syndromes. Only 21.6% of female migrants having RTI syndromes ever seek helps for health care services. Barriers preventing migrants to access services were traditional values, long working hours, lack of information, and high cost of services. Employers had limited interests in reproductive health of female migrants, and there was ineffective collaboration between the local health system and enterprises. These barriers were partly caused by lack of health promotion programs suitable for migrants. Most respondents needed more information on RTIs and preferred to receive these from their employers since they commonly work shifts - and spend most of their day time at work. Conclusion While RTIs are a common health problem among female migrant workers in industrial zones, female migrants had many obstacles in accessing RTI care services. The findings from this study will help to design intervention models for RTI among this vulnerable group such as communication for behavioural impact of RTI health care, fostered collaboration between local health care services and employer enterprises, and on-site service (e.g. local or enterprise health clinics) strengthening. PMID:22369718

Shaping Partnerships by Doing the Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Korum, Kathy

2013-01-01

Partnership as an ordinary, everyday way of doing business within Saint Paul Parks and Recreation (P&R) has often been limited to working with individuals, groups, or agencies through a contract, generally to provide fee-based programs or services. This approach does not encourage new ways of thinking about or working with other organizations…

Working through a psychotherapy group's political cultures.

PubMed

Ettin, Mark F; Cohen, Bertram D

2003-10-01

Macropolitical evolution, starting with authoritarian monarchism, has moved through anarchistic transitions either to the totalitarianism of fascism and communism or to liberal and social democracy. We posit analogous micropolitical development in process-oriented therapy groups: "dependence" and "counterdependence" corresponding to monarchism and anarchism; and "independence" and "interdependence" to liberal and social democracy, respectively. Transition from counterdependence to independence and interdependence may be: (1) facilitated through group members' cooperative experience of rebellion, or (2) blocked by collective identification, the internalization of dystopian or utopian fantasies that coalesce as "group-self" perceptions. We explore how group therapists work clinically with and through these several "political cultures" in the service of group and self transformation.

Working Together for Mental Health: Evaluation of a one-day mental health course for human service providers

PubMed Central

Grootemaat, Pam; Gillan, Cathie; Holt, Gillian; Forward, Wayne; Heywood, Narelle; Willis, Sue

2006-01-01

Background The Working Together For Mental Health course is an 8-hour course designed to demystify mental illness and mental health services. The main target group for the course is people working in human service organisations who provide services for people with mental illness. Methods A questionnaire was administered to all participants attending the course during 2003 (n = 165). Participants completed the questionnaire before and immediately after the course, and at three month follow-up. Results A response rate of 69% was achieved with 114 people completing the questionnaire on all three occasions. The responses showed a significant improvement in the self-assessed knowledge and confidence of participants to provide human services to people with a mental health problem or disorder, three months after the course. There was no significant improvement in participants' attitudes or beliefs about people with a mental health problem or disorder at three month follow-up; however, participants' attitudes were largely positive before entering the course. Conclusion The Working Together For Mental Health course was successful in improving participants' confidence and knowledge around providing human services to people with a mental health illness. PMID:17074097

An evaluation of an employment pilot to support forensic mental health service users into work and vocational activities.

PubMed

Samele, Chiara; Forrester, Andrew; Bertram, Mark

2018-02-01

Few employment programmes exist to support forensic service users with severe mental health problems and a criminal history. Little is known about how best to achieve this. The Employment and Social Inclusion Project (ESIP) was developed and piloted to support forensic service users into employment and vocational activities. This pilot service evaluation aimed to assess the number of service users who secured employment/vocational activities and explored services users' and staff experiences. Quantitative data were collected to record the characteristics of participating service users and how many secured employment and engaged in vocational activities. Eighteen qualitative interviews were conducted with service users and staff. Fifty-seven service users engaged with the project, most were men (93.0%) and previously employed (82.5%). Four service users (7.0%) secured paid competitive employment. Eight (14.0%) gained other paid employment. Tailored one-to-one support to increase skills and build confidence was an important feature of the project. Creation of a painting and decorating programme offered training and paid/flexible work. This exploratory project achieved some success in assisting forensic service users into paid employment. Further research to identify what works well for this important group will be of great value.

Geriatric Service Worker.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Seton Hill Coll., Greensburg, PA.

This curriculum for training geriatric service workers is designed to incorporate additional communication and group skills along with the basic knowledge and skills necessary to work with older adults. The curriculum is organized in four modules. Each module is assigned a time frame and a credit unit base. The modules are divided into four major…

Collaborative Science Activities and the Social Construction of Understanding of Physical Science Concepts by Pre-service Teachers in Fiji.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Taylor, Neil; Lucas, Keith B.; Watters, James J.

1999-01-01

Finds that collaborative group work among pre-service elementary teachers stimulated increased levels of discussion and fostered deeper conceptual understanding than did traditional instructional methods. Discusses implications for science education in Fiji and similar places. (Contains 37 references.) (Author/WRM)

Developing Reflective Thinking Instructional Model for Enhancing Students' Desirable Learning Outcomes

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Porntaweekul, Satjatam; Raksasataya, Sarintip; Nethanomsak, Teerachai

2016-01-01

This work aims to investigate the reflective thinking instructional model for enhancing empowerment of pre-service and in-service educational students in Roi-Et Rajabhat University, Thailand. In this research, qualitative methods, observation, interview, short note, and group discussion were used to indicate students' desirable learning outcomes,…

77 FR 41164 - Joint Subcommittee on Aquaculture Research and Development Strategic Plan

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-07-12

... Development Strategic Plan AGENCIES: Agricultural Research Service (ARS), U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA... Agricultural Research Service (USDA-ARS) announce on behalf of the Federal Interagency Working Group on... http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/programs/programs.htm?np_code=106&docid=22641 . DATES: Written...

Technology: nursing the system. Technology and the potential for entrepreneurship.

PubMed

Simpson, R L

1997-10-01

Many nurses are stepping beyond the boundaries of traditional practice and creating their own business or service centers. New entrepreneurial opportunities include working on computer-based patient records, providing consulting services, developing policies and more. Getting involved--joining informatics groups, taking classes--is the first step.

DAS Boot!

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Chretien, Wendy

2007-01-01

The residential services group is lobbying to dump its aging hard-wired phone system because students don't use it. The town and campus public safety officials are demanding that their portable two-way radios operate well not only outdoors, but within campus buildings. Students are now expecting text messaging and WiFi service to work everywhere…

Estimating conservation needs for rangelands using USDA National Resources Inventory Assessments

USDA-ARS?s Scientific Manuscript database

The USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) has used resource inventories for over 65 years to assess the Nation’s natural resources on non-Federal lands. Since 1995, an interagency group composed of the NRCS, Agricultural Research Service, and Geological Survey have worked together to de...

Straight from the Source: What Works for First-Generation College Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Engle, Jennifer; Bermeo, Adolfo; O'Brien, Colleen

2006-01-01

This report presents the findings from focus groups with first-generation students in Texas. The students shared what works to help them make the transition from high school to college, as well as what didn't work or what could work better to get more first-generation students into college. Pre-college services and programs can ease the transition…

Joint Ordnance Test Procedure (JOTP)-010 Safety and Suitability for Service Assessment Testing for Shoulder Launched Munitions

DTIC Science & Technology

2016-05-09

electromagnetic environment for which they are designed to be used. These tests are performed on a powered weapon during simulated normal operation and are...010B SAFETY AND SUITABILITY FOR SERVICE ASSESSMENT TESTING FOR SHOULDER LAUNCHED MUNITIONS Joint Services Munition Safety Test Working Group JOTP...12 6.8 Test Sample Quantities .......................................................... 13 7. PRE- AND POST - TEST INSPECTIONS

Comments on "Duality of Female Employment in Pakistan".

PubMed

Duncan, A

1991-01-01

Data problems and substantive issues relating to an article on female employment problems in Pakistan are critiqued. It is noted that the emphasis was on demand factors in explaining the level and pattern of female employment, when it is evident that supply and demand are linked by cultural norms which vary among women in their degree of segregation/domestic responsibilities. Productivity and income of women by occupation is also important for policy analysis. The supply factors that affect women according to their income group are level of education, degree of segregation/domestic responsibility, and income/satisfaction level. Employers' biases are clear demand side factors. In the example of the upper income class group, women work due to higher levels of education and experience, their greater liberation from domestic duties, and the professional satisfaction derived from work; constraints are appropriate education and training, employers' gender discrimination, and higher satisfaction from domestic roles. Women's segregation as a supply factor is stronger in middle and low income groups; hence, employment is lower. Income generation is very important among low income groups, which creates a greater force to seek employment, but without the necessary skills or education and with household responsibilities; their employment is predominately in the informal sector with low productivity and income. Policy interventions to increase welfare and productivity must be different for each class or group. For upper income women, employers must not discriminate against women in hiring and firing, and more educational and training opportunities must be provided. In the middle income group, access to education an employment and more employment opportunities in a culturally acceptable framework are needed. Respectability of jobs, for instance in the service sector, is an important factor. In the low income group, productivity increases are the goal. Access to credits, and new inputs and technology, are examples of productive inputs and services which are tied to productivity. Inputs and training must be directed to women's needs, e.g., microenterprises, group guarantees as collateral for credit, and combined outreach services. The strategy is to provide appropriate training, incentives, and working conditions for female service providers.

Ganando Confianza: Research Focus Groups with Immigrant Mexican Mothers

PubMed Central

Hausmann-Stabile, Carolina; Zayas, Luis H.; Runes, Sandra; Abenis-Cintron, Anna; Calzada, Esther

2014-01-01

Immigrant families with children with developmental disabilities must be served using culturally sensitive approaches to service and research to maximize treatment benefits. In an effort to better understand cultural issues relevant to the provision of parenting programs for immigrant Mexican mothers of children with developmental disabilities, we conducted sustained focus groups through which we could learn more about our participants and thereby improve services. This paper reports on the challenges and lessons learned from these groups. We characterize the key lessons as (a) recruitment and retention is more than agreement to participate; (b) confidentiality is not just a word but an activity; (c) the complicated nature of language; (d) cultural norms shape the group process; (e) appreciating the value of taking time; and (f) gender issues and group interaction. Service providers and researchers who work with Mexican families may benefit from our experiences as they promote and develop programs and projects in the developmental disabilities field. PMID:25674353

Ganando Confianza: Research Focus Groups with Immigrant Mexican Mothers.

PubMed

Hausmann-Stabile, Carolina; Zayas, Luis H; Runes, Sandra; Abenis-Cintron, Anna; Calzada, Esther

2011-03-01

Immigrant families with children with developmental disabilities must be served using culturally sensitive approaches to service and research to maximize treatment benefits. In an effort to better understand cultural issues relevant to the provision of parenting programs for immigrant Mexican mothers of children with developmental disabilities, we conducted sustained focus groups through which we could learn more about our participants and thereby improve services. This paper reports on the challenges and lessons learned from these groups. We characterize the key lessons as (a) recruitment and retention is more than agreement to participate; (b) confidentiality is not just a word but an activity; (c) the complicated nature of language; (d) cultural norms shape the group process; (e) appreciating the value of taking time; and (f) gender issues and group interaction. Service providers and researchers who work with Mexican families may benefit from our experiences as they promote and develop programs and projects in the developmental disabilities field.

[Stress as an occupational risk factor among policemen of road patrol service].

PubMed

Fedotova, I V; Chernikova, E F

The hygienic evaluation of occupational factors which characterized working conditions of traffic policemen of road patrol service was performed. The authors found that along with high neuro-emotional occupational stress in traffic policemen, they exposed to unfavorable microclimate, higher level of noise, vibration and their work was classified as heavy. Also, traffic policemen presented subjective complaints about negative impact of polluted air of motorways on their health status. Prevalence of chronic diseases was analyzed in group of 431 traffic policemen. The authors revealed a leading role of the following diseases: musculoskeletal diseases, diseases of connective tissue, digestive diseases, diseases of the nerve system, circulation system; their portion in the morbidity structure was 86.0%. The association of these diseases with occupation was confirmed by the increasing of their incidence with increasing of length of duration of service. Calculation of indices of relative occupational risk showed (that especially important) the increase of the length of service led to the increase in the risk ofpathologies, in which stress played a significant role. In examined group, the authors revealed such diseases as hypertension, autonomous-vascular dystonia, gastric and duodenal ulcer. Risk of the development of these diseases in some age/length of service groups is classified as high and very high. Obtained results provide the evidence that measures aimed to the decrease of the exposure to occupational factors will promote prevention of stress-stipulated diseases among traffic policemen.

Perceptions of diabetes, barriers to disease management, and service needs: a focus group study of working adults with diabetes in Hawaii.

PubMed

Fukunaga, Landry L; Uehara, Denise L; Tom, Tammy

2011-03-01

Research about the support needs for and barriers to successful disease management of working adults with diabetes is limited. Our objective was to gain an in-depth understanding of how working adults in Hawaii perceive diabetes, barriers to disease management, and the services needed to keep people healthy and working. From November 2008 through March 2009, we conducted focus group interviews with 74 employed adults with diabetes enrolled in the Hawaii Demonstration to Maintain Independence and Employment project. Responses to questions were analyzed within and across groups to identify recurring themes. A third layer of analysis examined themes across responses to all questions, specifically, how barriers related to identified service needs. Employed participants with diabetes experienced pervasive effects on their lives as a result of the disease, although they interpreted these effects positively or negatively. Barriers to disease management, such as additional health issues, social prejudice, and lack of social support, indicated a need to educate the general public about the disease. Participants identified needing social support from other people with diabetes, psychological support to address the emotional side of diabetes, and coordinated teams of specialists to address medication side effects and other health-related barriers to disease management. Many participants discussed the challenge of integrating diabetes management with work and family responsibilities and the need for monetary support. This study provides insight into how employed adults perceived their disease and what they perceived as challenges to successfully managing diabetes. The findings provide future directions for community and workplace diabetes initiatives.

The UAS control segment architecture: an overview

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Gregory, Douglas A.; Batavia, Parag; Coats, Mark; Allport, Chris; Jennings, Ann; Ernst, Richard

2013-05-01

The Under Secretary of Defense (Acquisition, Technology and Logistics) directed the Services in 2009 to jointly develop and demonstrate a common architecture for command and control of Department of Defense (DoD) Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Groups 2 through 5. The UAS Control Segment (UCS) Architecture is an architecture framework for specifying and designing the softwareintensive capabilities of current and emerging UCS systems in the DoD inventory. The UCS Architecture is based on Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) principles that will be adopted by each of the Services as a common basis for acquiring, integrating, and extending the capabilities of the UAS Control Segment. The UAS Task Force established the UCS Working Group to develop and support the UCS Architecture. The Working Group currently has over three hundred members, and is open to qualified representatives from DoD-approved defense contractors, academia, and the Government. The UCS Architecture is currently at Release 2.2, with Release 3.0 planned for July 2013. This paper discusses the current and planned elements of the UCS Architecture, and related activities of the UCS Community of Interest.

Granting authority to a new policy. A community benefit services policy becomes part of the general business strategy.

PubMed

Karibo, J

1994-05-01

Bon Secours Health System's new strategic plan and community benefit services policy integrates the planning, budgeting, evaluating, and reporting of community benefit services into management processes at the same level of authority as other operational activities. The strategic plan of Bon Secours Health System, headquartered in Marriottsville, MD, documents the system's mission, operating principles, vision, and five goals, one of which is to improve the communities' health status. The community benefit services operating policy requires that the Bon Secours Health System chief executive officer (CEO) and each local system CEO and nursing home administrator form a multidisciplinary local work group to be responsible for community benefit services. Each local work group assesses the needs of its community within the framework of the annual planning process. Determining what services are needed and how to deliver them is relatively easy. The difficult task is determining which of the many needs to address. What a community lacks may be the result of poor or inadequate public policy. For example, its priority may not be healthcare. In these situations healthcare providers may be best able to serve the community by providing indirect support to social service providers or by advocating for change. The community benefit services operating policy provides a standard approach to match the community's priority needs with the institution's resources and produce a measurable improvement in health status.

Bioethics consultation practices and procedures: a survey of a large Canadian community of practice.

PubMed

Greenberg, R A; Anstey, K W; Macri, R; Heesters, A; Bean, S; Zlotnik Shaul, R

2014-06-01

The literature fails to reflect general agreement over the nature of the services and procedures provided by bioethicists, and the training and core competencies this work requires. If bioethicists are to define their activities in a consistent way, it makes sense to look for common ground in shared communities of practice. We report results of a survey of the services and procedures among bioethicists affiliated with the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics (JCB). This is the largest group of bioethicists working in healthcare organizations in Canada. The results suggest there are many common services and procedures of JCB bioethicists. This survey can serve as a baseline for further exploration of the work of JCB bioethicists. Common practices exist with respect to the domains of practice, individual reporting relationships, service availability within business hours and the education and training of the bioethicist.

[Clinical guidelines for the management of schizophrenia:Aims and limitations (Ι)].

PubMed

Margariti, M; Hadjulis, M; Lazaridou, M; Angelidis, G F; Fotopoulos, V; Markaki, L; Koulouri, F

2017-01-01

The initiative for the development of national treatment guidelines, dates back to the '90s. In Greece, however, National Clinical Guidelines for the management of schizophrenia were first formulated in 2014 when a Working Group was set up for this purpose by the Greek Ministry of Health. The objective of this Working Group was to provide evidence-based recommendations covering the pharmacological and psychosocial treatment of schizophrenia as well as the development of appropriate treatment services. The Working Group utilized the NICE Guideline (National Institute of Clinical Excellence, 2010, 2014) for the management of Psychosis & Schizophrenia as the main guide to develop the Greek National Guidelines , and in addition the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Practice Guideline for the Treatment of Patients with Schizophrenia (APA 2004), the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists clinical practice guidelines for the treatment of schizophrenia and related disorders (Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists 2005) , as well as other relevant sources. The Working Group also took into consideration the available Greek bibliography as well as the external evaluations of the Greek psychiatric reform programs. A special effort was made to adapt the international experience to the current Greek landscape with the constraints resulting from the uneven dispersion of mental health services, the lack of coordination between services, the incomplete sectorization of mental health services provided as part of the National Health System, the still underdeveloped Primary Care Health Service, and last but not least the difficult economic situation in Greece. After the preparation of the draft guidelines, a thorough consultation followed with the relevant stakeholders, including mental health professionals, user associations and representatives of the Greek Ombudsman. Additionally, the Hellenic Psychiatric Association established an Expert Committee in Spring 2016, that contributed with its observations to the final exercise. This article will be followed by two further publications (incorporating the Hellenic Psychiatric Association comments) which include: (1) the summary recommendations regarding the pharmacological, psychological and psychosocial interventions in the treatment of schizophrenia, and (2) the summary recommendations regarding: (a) the role of primary health care service and the role of the family physician in the treatment of schizophrenia (b) the summary recommendations regarding continuity of care and c) the summary recommendations regarding community interventions with documented effectiveness in the treatment of schizophrenia.

Ethnic health care advisors: a good strategy to improve the access to health care and social welfare services for ethnic minorities?

PubMed

Hesselink, Arlette E; Verhoeff, Arnoud P; Stronks, Karien

2009-10-01

Empirical studies indicate that ethnic minorities have limited access to health care and welfare services compared with the host population. To improve this access, ethnic health care (HC) advisors were introduced in four districts in Amsterdam, the Netherlands. HC advisors work for all health care and welfare services and their main task is to provide information on health care and welfare to individuals and groups and refer individuals to services. Action research was carried out over a period of 2 years to find out whether and how this function can contribute to improve access to services for ethnic minorities. Information was gathered by semi-structured interviews, analysing registration forms and reports, and attending meetings. The function's implementation and characteristics differed per district. The ethnicity of the health care advisors corresponded to the main ethnic groups in the district: Moroccan and Turkish (three districts) and sub-Sahara African and Surinamese (one district). HC advisors reached many ethnic inhabitants (n = 2,224) through individual contacts. Half of them were referred to health care and welfare services. In total, 576 group classes were given. These were mostly attended by Moroccan and Turkish females. Outreach activities and office hours at popular locations appeared to be important characteristics for actually reaching ethnic minorities. Furthermore, direct contact with a well-organized back office seems to be important. HC advisors were able to reach many ethnic minorities, provide information about the health care and welfare system, and refer them to services. Besides adapting the function to the local situation, some general aspects for success can be indicated: the ethnic background of the HC advisor should correspond to the main ethnic minority groups in the district, HC advisors need to conduct outreach work, there must be a well-organized back office to refer clients to, and there needs to be enough commitment among professionals of local health and welfare services.

I thought we were good: social cognition, figurative language, and adolescent psychopathology.

PubMed

Im-Bolter, Nancie; Cohen, Nancy J; Farnia, Fataneh

2013-07-01

Language has been shown to play a critical role in social cognitive reasoning in preschool and school-aged children, but little research has been conducted with adolescents. During adolescence, the ability to understand figurative language becomes increasingly important for social relationships and may affect social adjustment. This study investigated the contribution of structural and figurative language to social cognitive skills in adolescents who present for mental health services and those who do not. One hundred and thirty-eight adolescents referred to mental health centers (clinic group) and 186 nonreferred adolescents (nonclinic group) aged 12-17 were administered measures of structural and figurative language, working memory, and social cognitive problem solving. We found that adolescents in the clinic group demonstrated less mature social problem solving overall, but particularly with respect to anticipating and overcoming potential obstacles and conflict resolution compared with the nonclinic group. In addition, results demonstrated that age, working memory, and structural and figurative language predicted social cognitive maturity in the clinic group, but only structural language was a predictor in the nonclinic group. Social problem solving may be particularly difficult for adolescents referred for mental health services and places higher demands on their cognitive and language skills compared with adolescents who have never been referred for mental health services. © 2013 The Authors. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry © 2013 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

Creating an Integrated Community-Wide Effort to Enhance Diversity in the Geosciences

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Manduca, C. A.; Weingroff, M.

2001-05-01

Supporting the development and sustenance of a diverse geoscience workforce and improving Earth system education for the full diversity of students are important goals for our community. There are numerous established programs and many new efforts beginning. However, these efforts can become more powerful if dissemination of opportunities, effective practices, and web-based resources enable synergies to develop throughout our community. The Digital Library for Earth System Education (DLESE; www.dlese.org) has developed a working group and a website to support these goals. The DLESE Diversity Working Group provides an open, virtual community for those interested in enhancing diversity in the geosciences. The working group has focused its initial effort on 1) creating a geoscience community engaged in supporting increased diversity that builds on and is integrated with work taking place in other venues; 2) developing a web resource designed to engage and support members of underrepresented groups in learning about the Earth; and 3) assisting in enhancing DLESE collections and services to better support learning experiences of students from underrepresented groups. You are invited to join the working group and participate in these efforts. The DLESE diversity website provides a mechanism for sharing information and resources. Serving as a community database, the website provides a structure in which community members can post announcements of opportunities, information on programs, and links to resources and services. Information currently available on the site includes links to professional society activities; mentoring opportunities; grant, fellowship, employment, and internship opportunities for students and educators; information on teaching students from underrepresented groups; and professional development opportunities of high interest to members of underrepresented groups. These tools provide a starting point for developing a community wide effort to enhance diversity in the geosciences that builds on our collective experiences, knowledge and resources and the work that is taking place in communities around us.

Nursing Services Delivery Theory: an open system approach

PubMed Central

Meyer, Raquel M; O’Brien-Pallas, Linda L

2010-01-01

meyer r.m. & o’brien-pallas l.l. (2010)Nursing services delivery theory: an open system approach. Journal of Advanced Nursing66(12), 2828–2838. Aim This paper is a discussion of the derivation of the Nursing Services Delivery Theory from the application of open system theory to large-scale organizations. Background The underlying mechanisms by which staffing indicators influence outcomes remain under-theorized and unmeasured, resulting in a ‘black box’ that masks the nature and organization of nursing work. Theory linking nursing work, staffing, work environments, and outcomes in different settings is urgently needed to inform management decisions about the allocation of nurse staffing resources in organizations. Data sources A search of CINAHL and Business Source Premier for the years 1980–2008 was conducted using the following terms: theory, models, organization, organizational structure, management, administration, nursing units, and nursing. Seminal works were included. Discussion The healthcare organization is conceptualized as an open system characterized by energy transformation, a dynamic steady state, negative entropy, event cycles, negative feedback, differentiation, integration and coordination, and equifinality. The Nursing Services Delivery Theory proposes that input, throughput, and output factors interact dynamically to influence the global work demands placed on nursing work groups at the point of care in production subsystems. Implications for nursing The Nursing Services Delivery Theory can be applied to varied settings, cultures, and countries and supports the study of multi-level phenomena and cross-level effects. Conclusion The Nursing Services Delivery Theory gives a relational structure for reconciling disparate streams of research related to nursing work, staffing, and work environments. The theory can guide future research and the management of nursing services in large-scale healthcare organizations. PMID:20831573

Improving pathways into mental health care for black and ethnic minority groups: a systematic review of the grey literature.

PubMed

Moffat, Joanne; Sass, Bernd; McKenzie, Kwame; Bhui, Kamaldeep

2009-01-01

Black and ethnic minorities show different pathways to care services and different routes out of care. These often involve non-statutory sector services. In order to improve access to services, and to develop appropriate and effective interventions, many innovations are described but the knowledge about how to improve pathways to recovery has not been synthesized. Much of this work is not formally published. Hence, this paper addresses this oversight and undertakes a review of the grey literature. The key components of effective pathway interventions include specialist services for ethnic minority groups, collaboration between sectors, facilitating referral routes between services, outreach and facilitating access into care, and supporting access to rehabilitation and moving out of care. Services that support collaboration, referral between services, and improve access seem effective, but warrant further evaluation. Innovative services must ensure that their evaluation frameworks meet minimum quality standards if the knowledge gained from the service is to be generalized, and if it is to inform policy.

The changing role of the medical technologist from technologist to information specialist.

PubMed

Miller, W G

2000-01-01

Pathology laboratory services are dependent on the laboratory information system (LIS) to organize the work, manage the operation, and communicate the results for effective laboratory medicine. For maximum efficiency, staffing for the LIS should be an integral component of laboratory operations and is facilitated by a two-tier structure. A core LIS staff provides system support and continuous services. A group of bench medical technologists have multitasking responsibilities, including LIS support for a specific laboratory work area. The two components form a team that uses staff efficiently to provide ongoing operational services and flexibility for problem solving and new functionality implementation.

Proceedings of the Association for Computing Machinery Special Interest Group for Ada Artificial Intelligence Working Group, 1992 Summer Workshop Held in Seattle, Washington on June 24-27, 1992

DTIC Science & Technology

1993-06-01

June 1993 Special Interest Group for Ada Artificial Intelligence Working Group 1992 Summer Workshop Janet Faye Johns Ac- i cr N 7 Dilt S ." Contract ...Sponsor %/A Contract No. N/A Project No. G30D [- t Dept. G033 Approved for public release. distribution unlimited. MITRE Bedford, Massachusetts ABSTRACT...FAX) George (Rick) Wilbur Boeing Computer Services Box 24346, Mailstop 9H-84 Seattle, WA 98124 206-394-3055 (phone) 206-394-3064 (FAX) Mik Yen

Musculoskeletal Injuries Among Female Soldiers Working With Dogs.

PubMed

Schermann, Haggai; Karakis, Isabella; Ankory, Ran; Kadar, Assaf; Yoffe, Victoria; Shlaifer, Amir; Yanovich, Ran

2018-05-18

Female soldiers serving in the Israeli Defense Forces canine unit may be at increased risk of overuse injuries related to working with military dogs. We hypothesized that this particular type of occupational exposure may lead to an increased strain of the upper extremity due to such non-physiologic motions as pulling the dog's strap or resisting the sudden pulling by the dog, and may result in an increased rate of overuse injuries. We compared incidence of overuse injuries in a retrospective cohort of female soldiers who served either in the military working dogs' unit (MWD), or in the light infantry battalions (Infantry) from 2005 to 2015. We compared injury incidence of both groups during two periods: 5 mo of basic training (neither worked with dogs) and 19 or more months of combat service. Incidence was calculated as number of diagnoses per person-months (rate ratios, RR); each diagnosis counted once per study subject. We used RR confidence intervals to compare incidence of injuries between groups. There were 3,443 person-months in the MWD group and 194,590 person-months in the Infantry group. There was no difference in injury incidence between groups during the initial period of basic training. During the second period, MWDs had higher incidence of upper limb (RR = 1.45, p = 0.048) and hip (RR = 3.6, p < 0.0001) injuries. The association between service with dogs and upper limb injuries remained significant (RR = 1.09, p = 0.005) after adjusting for confounding variables in the multivariate regression analysis. Other independent predictors of the upper limb overuse injuries included each additional month of service (RR = 1.003, p = 0.008), Eastern European origin compared with Israeli-born recruits (RR = 0.97, p = 0.03), increased body weight in increments of 10 kg (RR = 1.008, p = 0.03), anemia (RR = 1.02, p = 0.02) and fatigue (RR = 1.05, p ≤ 0.0001). We found that service in the MWD unit was associated with increased risk of upper limb injuries. Identification of the exact mechanism of injury and targeted interventions, as well as treatment of anemia and fatigue may lead to reduction of injuries in this unit.

Workplace satisfaction in a mental health service for older adults: an analysis of the effects of setting and professional status.

PubMed

McCrae, Niall; Prior, Sue; Silverman, Marisa; Banerjee, Sube

2007-02-01

Research in mental health services for working-age adults has repeatedly shown that work is found more satisfying, if more stressful, by community practitioners than by hospital-based staff. This study examined whether similar differences exist in services for older adults and how this might be influenced by the high proportion of nonprofessionally qualified workers in inpatient settings for mentally infirm older people. The Work Environment Scale was given to all practitioners in a mental health service for older adults in a single London borough. Adjusting for the effect of professional status, community practitioners rated involvement, task orientation, and supervision more positively than institutional staff, but gave less favorable ratings for work pressure and physical comfort. Nurses rated peer cohesion, supervision, autonomy, and innovation more positively than nursing assistants, after controlling for type of setting. Multivariate modeling confirmed that type of setting and professional group were both associated with workplace satisfaction, accounting for 24% and 13% of the variance, respectively. The study highlights aspects of the work environment of mental health staff working with older adults that might benefit from attention.

Conscientious refusal in healthcare: the Swedish solution.

PubMed

Munthe, Christian

2017-04-01

The Swedish solution to the legal handling of professional conscientious refusal in healthcare is described. No legal right to conscientious refusal for any profession or class of professional tasks exists in Sweden, regardless of the religious or moral background of the objection. The background of this can be found in strong convictions about the importance of public service provision and related civic duties, and ideals about rule of law, equality and non-discrimination. Employee's requests to change work tasks are handled on a case-by-case basis within the frames of labour law, ensuring full voluntariness, and also employer's privilege regarding the organisation and direction of work, and duties of public institutions to provide services. Two complicating aspects of this solution related to the inclusion of 'alternative medical' service providers in a national health service, and professional insistence on conscientious refusal rights to accept legalised assisted dying are discussed. The latter is found to undermine the pragmatic reasons behind recent attempts by prolife groups to challenge the Swedish solution related to legal abortion in courts. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://www.bmj.com/company/products-services/rights-and-licensing/.

Center Director Bridges visits Disability Awareness and Action working Group Technology Fair

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

Center Director Roy Bridges (standing, center) poses with members of the Disability Awareness and Action Working Group (DAAWG), which is holding the 1999 Technology Fair Oct. 20-21 at Kennedy Space Center. The Fair is highlighting vendors demonstrating mobility, hearing, vision and silent disability assistive technology. The purpose is to create an awareness of the types of technology currently available to assist people with various disabilities in the workplace. The theme is that of this year's National Disability Employment Awareness Month, 'Opening Doors to Ability.' Some of the vendors participating are Canine Companions for Independence, Goodwill Industries, Accessible Structures, Division of Blind Services, Space Coast Center for Independent Living, KSC Fitness Center and Delaware North Parks Services.

Data Recipes: Toward Creating How-To Knowledge Base for Earth Science Data

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Shen, Suhung; Lynnes, Chris; Acker, James G.; Beaty, Tammy

2015-01-01

Both the diversity and volume of Earth science data from satellites and numerical models are growing dramatically, due to an increasing population of measured physical parameters, and also an increasing variety of spatial and temporal resolutions for many data products. To further complicate matters, Earth science data delivered to data archive centers are commonly found in different formats and structures. NASA data centers, managed by the Earth Observing System Data and Information System (EOSDIS), have developed a rich and diverse set of data services and tools with features intended to simplify finding, downloading, and working with these data. Although most data services and tools have user guides, many users still experience difficulties with accessing or reading data due to varying levels of familiarity with data services, tools, and or formats. The data recipe project at Goddard Earth Science Data and Information Services Center (GES DISC) was initiated in late 2012 for enhancing user support. A data recipe is a How-To online explanatory document, with step-by-step instructions and examples of accessing and working with real data (http:disc.sci.gsfc.nasa.govrecipes). The current suite of recipes has been found to be very helpful, especially to first-time-users of particular data services, tools, or data products. Online traffic to the data recipe pages is significant, even though the data recipe topics are still limited. An Earth Science Data System Working Group (ESDSWG) for data recipes was established in the spring of 2014, aimed to initiate an EOSDIS-wide campaign for leveraging the distributed knowledge within EOSDIS and its user communities regarding their respective services and tools. The ESDSWG data recipe group is working on an inventory and analysis of existing data recipes and tutorials, and will provide guidelines and recommendation for writing and grouping data recipes, and for cross linking recipes to data products. This presentation gives an overview of the data recipe activites at GES DISC and ESDSWG. We are seeking requirements and input from a broader data user community to establish a strong knowledge base for Earth science data research and application implementations.

Multi stage unreliable retrial Queueing system with Bernoulli vacation

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Radha, J.; Indhira, K.; Chandrasekaran, V. M.

2017-11-01

In this work we considered the Bernoulli vacation in group arrival retrial queues with unreliable server. Here, a server providing service in k stages. Any arriving group of units finds the server free, one from the group entering the first stage of service and the rest are joining into the orbit. After completion of the i th, (i=1,2,…k) stage of service, the customer may go to (i+1)th stage with probability θi , or leave the system with probability qi = 1 - θi , (i = 1,2,…k - 1) and qi = 1, (i = k). The server may enjoy vacation (orbit is empty or not) with probability v after finishing the service or continuing the service with probability 1-v. After finishing the vacation, the server search for the customer in the orbit with probability θ or remains idle for new arrival with probability 1-θ. We analyzed the system using the method of supplementary variable.

Services and the National Information Infrastructure. Report of the Information Infrastructure Task Force Committee on Applications and Technology, Technology Policy Working Group. Draft for Public Comment.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Office of Science and Technology Policy, Washington, DC.

In this report, the National Information Infrastructure (NII) services issue is addressed, and activities to advance the development of NII services are recommended. The NII is envisioned to grow into a seamless web of communications networks, computers, databases, and consumer electronics that will put vast amounts of information at users'…

Balancing workload, motivation and job satisfaction in Rwanda: assessing the effect of adding family planning service provision to community health worker duties.

PubMed

Chin-Quee, Dawn; Mugeni, Cathy; Nkunda, Denis; Uwizeye, Marie Rose; Stockton, Laurie L; Wesson, Jennifer

2016-01-06

Task shifting from higher cadre providers to CHWs has been widely adopted to address healthcare provider shortages, but the addition of any service can potentially add to an already considerable workload for CHWs. Objective measures of workload alone, such as work-related time and travel may not reflect howCHWs actually perceive and react to their circumstances. This study combined perception and objectivemeasures of workload to examine their effect on quality of services, worker performance, and job and clientsatisfaction. Three hundred eighty-three CHWs from control and intervention districts, where the intervention group was trained to provide contraceptive resupply, completed diaries of work-related activities for one month. Interviews were also conducted with a subset of CHWs and their clients. CHW diaries did not reveal significant differences between intervention and control groups in time spent on service provision or travel. Over 90% of CHWs reported workload manageability, job satisfaction, and motivation to perform their jobs. Clients were highly satisfied with CHW services and most stated preference for future services from CHWs. The study demonstrated that adding resupply of hormonal contraceptives to CHWs' tasks would not place undue burden on them. Accordingly, the initiative was scaled up in all 30 districts in the country.

Experts by experience; the views of service user educators providing feedback on medical students' work based assessments.

PubMed

Muir, Delia; Laxton, Julie Clare

2012-02-01

Assessment tools were designed to provide health and social care students with multi-sourced, interprofessional feedback in practice. This includes feedback from service users. Third year medical students at the University of Leeds were given accesses to 4 assessment tools whilst in practice. Completed assessments were then sent to the university where service users and carers worked with university tutors to give further feedback and comment on the overall development of students. Three service users then took part in a focus group and one provided written feedback. Four key themes were identified from the focus group: • Preparation and support • The design of the tools • The process of using the tools in practice • Feedback. We found that the project provided both challenges and rewards for all involved. The service user educators involved were able to bring a different and valuable perspective to formative feedback. The combination of their personal and professional experiences, along with the preparation they had received, helped bridge the gap between service users in practice and university based tutors. The findings from this study went on to inform a review of the assessment tools and revised versions are now being used. Copyright © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Integrating Research, Policy, and Practice to Bring Science to the Classroom: New Leaders' Perspectives on the Field of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Maggin, Daniel M.; Robertson, Rachel; Oliver, Regina M.; Hollo, Alex; Partin, Tara C. Moore

2010-01-01

In 1991, the Peacock Hill Working Group provided the field of emotional and behavioral disorders (EBD) a roadmap for improving the quality of services provided to students with EBD. The working group considered issues at every level of the educational system, from the classroom to federal policy. Although many strides have been made in the past 20…

The pediatrician's role in development and implementation of an Individual Education Plan (IEP) and/or an Individual Family Service Plan (IFSP). American Academy of Pediatrics. Committee on Children with Disabilities.

PubMed

1999-07-01

The Individual Education Plan and Individual Family Service Plan are legally mandated documents developed by a multidisciplinary team assessment that specifies goals and services for each child eligible for special educational services or early intervention services. Pediatricians need to be knowledgeable of federal, state, and local requirements; establish linkages with early intervention, educational professionals, and parent support groups; and collaborate with the team working with individual children.

University Counseling Center Use of Prolonged Exposure Therapy: In-Clinic Treatment for Students with PTSD

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bonar, Ted C.

2015-01-01

Students utilize university counseling center services to address distress related to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Since counseling centers services such as group work or general psychotherapy may not address specific PTSD-symptom reduction, centers often give community referrals in such cases. Evidence-based therapies (EBTs), including…

WSGB: A Web Service-Based Growing Book

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dow, C. R.; Huang, L. H.; Chen, K. H.; Chiu, J. C.; Lin, C. M.

2006-01-01

Growing Book refers to an electronic textbook that is co-developed, and has the ability to be constantly maintained, by groups of independent authors, thus creating a rich and ever-growing learning environment that can be conveniently accessible from anywhere. This work designs and implements a Web Service-based Growing Book that has the merits of…

Pre-Service English Teachers' Perceptions of Newly Arrived Children from Mainland China

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wing Chan, Yu; Gao, Xuesong

2014-01-01

The research reported here investigated pre-service English language teachers' perceptions of newly arrived immigrant children from Mainland China in Hong Kong. Seventeen participants, who had at least 10 weeks of experience working with these immigrant children during teaching practicum, participated in focus group discussions and shared their…

Assessing the Merits of International Service-Learning in Developing Professionalism in Mass Communication

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Motley, Phillip; Sturgill, Amanda

2013-01-01

This project assessed how an international service-learning course affected mass communication students' knowledge of professionalism. Using written reflections and focus group transcripts from four courses that took place in Central America, we observed that placing students in immersive environments, where they are able to work on authentic…

Characteristics of Pre-Service Teachers' Online Discourse: The Study of Local Streams

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Liang, Ling L.; Ebenezer, Jazlin; Yost, Deborah S.

2010-02-01

This study describes the characteristics of pre-service teachers' discourse on a WebCT Bulletin Board in their investigations of local streams in an integrated mathematics and science course. A qualitative analysis of data revealed that the pre-service teachers conducted collaborative discourse in framing their research questions, conducting research and writing reports. The science teacher educator provided feedback and carefully crafted prompts to help pre-service teachers develop and refine their work. Overall, the online discourse formats enhance out-of-class communication and support collaborative group work. But the discourse on the critical examination of one another's point of views rooted in scientific inquiry appeared to be missing. It is suggested that pre-service teachers should be given more guidance and opportunities in science courses in carrying out scientific discourse that reflects reform-based scientific inquiry.

Do young people attending addiction services differ from those attending youth mental health services?

PubMed

Christie, Grant; Merry, Sally; Robinson, Elizabeth

2010-07-01

We aimed to describe and compare the self-reported substance use, psychopathology and psychosocial morbidity in adolescents attending two adolescent outpatient services, a triage-based mental health service and an engagement-focused addiction service in Auckland, New Zealand. A naturalistic cross-section of 131 (addiction service = 67, mental health service = 64) 14-18-year-old boys and girls attending each service completed a standardised screening and assessment instrument, the Drug Use Screening Inventory-Revised. The Drug Use Screening Inventory-Revised measures self-reported problems across 10 domains of functioning, including substance use, behaviour, psychiatric symptoms and school and family functioning. Descriptive statistics were used to provide an overview of the self-reported morbidity in each group and t-tests were used to determine differences between the two groups. Adolescents attending the addiction service reported significantly more problems with substance use, school performance and peer relationships than those attending the mental health service. There was no significant difference in reported psychiatric symptoms, behavioural problems, social competency, health problems, family problems, difficulties in work functioning or leisure time between the two groups. Young people presenting to engagement-focused substance use services report similar difficulties to those at mental health services across most areas of psychosocial functioning. Addiction services may require equivalent staffing expertise and workforce development to that in mental health to effectively meet young people's needs.

Commission 5: Documentation and Astronomical Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ohishi, Masatoshi; Hanisch, Robert J.; Norris, Ray P.; Andernach, Heinz; Bishop, Marsha; Griffin, Elizabeth; Kembhavi, Ajit; Murphy, Tara; Pasian, Fabio

2012-04-01

IAU Commission 5 (http://www.nao.ac.jp/IAU/Com5/) deals with data management issues, and its working groups and task group deal specifically with information handling, with data centers and networks, with technical aspects of collection, archiving, storage and dissemination of data, with designations and classification of astronomical objects, with library services, editorial policies, computer communications, ad hoc methodologies, and with various standards, reference frames, etc. FITS (Flexible Image Transport System), the major data exchange format in astronomy, has been standardized, maintained and updated by the FITS working group under Commission 5.

What's New in Elder Abuse Programming? Four Bright Ideas.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wolf, Rosalie S.; Pillemar, Karl

1994-01-01

Presents four "best practice models" that address problems faced by community agencies working with elder abuse cases: multidisciplinary case consultation team; senior advocate volunteer program; victim support group; and master's of social work degree specialization in adult protective services. Sees their relatively low cost, flexibility, and…

Positive Peer Group Interventions: An Alternative to Individualized Interventions for Promoting Prosocial Behavior in Potentially Disaffected Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mclouglin, Caven S.

2009-01-01

Introduction: Most approaches to reducing the socially inappropriate behavior of adolescents target the individual rather than a group. Evidence suggests greater efficiency and longlasting effects may be achieved when groups of peers work together to make meaningful contributions to their communities through service learning projects. In the…

[Cross-sectional study of the variability of work-related stress among post-graduate medical residents at the main University Polyclinic of Sicily].

PubMed

Costantino, Claudio; Albeggiani, Valentina; Bonfante, Maria Stefania; Monte, Caterina; Lo Cascio, Nunzio; Mazzucco, Walter

2015-02-10

Among health care workers (HCWs), work-related stress is one of the main topics in risk assessment and prevention at the workplace. Post-graduate medical residents (MRs) are a group of HCWs comparable to medical doctors in terms of occupational exposure and occurrence of work-related stress syndromes. Risk assessment of work-related stress among MRs attending the major University Hospital of Sicily. A cross-sectional survey via an anonymous and self-administered questionnaire. 45% of clinical MRs and 37% of surgical MRs had access to compensatory rest days against 92% of MRs of the services area (p<0.001). A work attendance recording system for MRs was available in 80% of the postgraduate medical schools of the services area, in 60% of the clinical postgraduate schools and in 50% of the surgical postgraduate schools (p<0.001). MRs of the postgraduate surgical schools reported having access to work breaks (41%) with less frequency compared to clinical (60%) and services MRs (74%) (p<0.001). Both clinical (47%) and surgical MRs (47%) were more exposed to work-related stress than MRs of the services area (27%) (p<0.001). The survey demonstrated excess exposure to work-related stress for all the considered variables in MRs of the surgical area, compared with MRs of clinical and services areas. It is strongly recommended to provide specific training programmes aimed at managing the MRs' risk of exposure to work-related stress, focusing both on the workers and the work environment.

Establishment, Implementation, and Consolidation of Clinical Pharmacy Services in Community Pharmacies: Perceptions of a Group of Pharmacists.

PubMed

Dosea, Aline S; Brito, Giselle C; Santos, Lincoln M C; Marques, Tatiane C; Balisa-Rocha, Blície; Pimentel, Deborah; Bueno, Denise; Lyra, Divaldo P

2017-02-01

When pharmacists incorporate clinical practice into their routine, barriers and facilitators influence the implementation of patient care services. Three focus groups were conducted with 11 pharmacists who were working for the Farmácia Popular do Brasil program on the establishment, implementation, and consolidation of clinical pharmacy services. The perception of the pharmacists in Brazil about the program was that it facilitated access to health care and medication. The distance between neighboring cities made it difficult for patients to return for services. Lack of staff training created a lack of communication skills and knowledge. The pharmacists wanted to have increased technical support, skill development opportunities, and monitoring of researchers who assessed progress of the service. Pharmacists overcame many of their insecurities and felt more proactive and committed to quality service. Positive experiences in service implementations have shown that it is possible to develop a model of clinical services in community pharmacies.

Suicide Rates by Occupational Group - 17 States, 2012.

PubMed

McIntosh, Wendy LiKamWa; Spies, Erica; Stone, Deborah M; Lokey, Colby N; Trudeau, Aimée-Rika T; Bartholow, Brad

2016-07-01

In 2012, approximately 40,000 suicides were reported in the United States, making suicide the 10th leading reported cause of death for persons aged ≥16 years (1). From 2000 to 2012, rates of suicide among persons in this age group increased 21.1%, from 13.3 per 100,000 to 16.1 (1). To inform suicide prevention efforts, CDC analyzed suicide by occupational group, by ascribing occupational codes to 12,312 suicides in 17 states in 2012 from the National Violent Death Reporting System (NVDRS) (2). The frequency of suicide in different occupational groups was examined, and rates of suicide were calculated by sex and age group for these categories. Persons working in the farming, fishing, and forestry group had the highest rate of suicide overall (84.5 per 100,000 population) and among males (90.5); the highest rates of suicide among females occurred among those working in protective service occupations (14.1). Overall, the lowest rate of suicide (7.5) was found in the education, training, and library occupational group. Suicide prevention approaches directed toward persons aged ≥16 years that enhance social support, community connectedness, access to preventive services, and the reduction of stigma and barriers to help-seeking are needed.

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Farrell, Brid; Elliott, Iris; Ison, Erica

The All-Inclusive Wraparound Scheme seeks to develop new ways of multidisciplinary, interagency working that will make a difference to the lives of children with disabilities (aged 0-18 years) and their families and carers across the Southern Health and Social Services Board in Northern Ireland. A concurrent HIA was undertaken with the aims of identifying the positive and negative health impacts, producing clear recommendations to improve the service and informing the development of an evaluation and monitoring framework. Eight community-based projects linked to 15 partners were involved in the HIA. Health and social services, education, the Library Board, voluntary sector communitymore » groups, parents and children all took part. It was concluded that there was a need for better information for parents to enable them to access services. Partnership working with parents and between agencies needed to be improved and parents and professionals on partnership working. The handover between services at transition from preschool to school-age and from school-age to adult services needed to be better planned. Conducting a HIA early in the implementation of Wraparound has enabled the project to take account of more perspectives and influence the delivery of services for children with a disability.« less

Development and Implementation of an Inpatient Otolaryngology Consultation Service at an Academic Medical Center.

PubMed

Huddle, Matthew G; London, Nyall R; Stewart, C Matthew

2018-02-01

To design and implement a formal otolaryngology inpatient consultation service that improves satisfaction of consulting services, increases educational opportunities, improves the quality of patient care, and ensures sustainability after implementation. This was a retrospective cohort study in a large academic medical center encompassing all inpatient otolaryngology service consultations from July 2005 to June 2014. Staged interventions included adding fellow coverage (July 2007 onward), intermittent hospitalist coverage (July 2010 onward), and a physician assistant (October 2011 onward). Billing data were collected for incidences of new patient and subsequent consultation charges. The 2-year preimplementation period (July 2005-June 2007) was compared with the postimplementation periods, divided into 2-year blocks (July 2007-June 2013). Outcome measures of patient encounters and work relative value units were compared between pre- and postimplementation blocks. Total encounters increased from 321 preimplementation to 1211, 1347, and 1073 in postimplementation groups ( P < 0.001). Total work relative value units increased from 515 preimplementation to 2090, 1934, and 1273 in postimplementation groups ( P < 0.001). A formal inpatient consultation service was designed with supervisory oversight by non-Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education fellows and then expanded to include intermittent hospitalist management, followed by the addition of a dedicated physician assistant. These additions have led to the formation of a sustainable consultation service that supports the mission of high-quality care and service to consulting teams.

Accessing maternal and child health services in Melbourne, Australia: Reflections from refugee families and service providers

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background Often new arrivals from refugee backgrounds have experienced poor health and limited access to healthcare services. The maternal and child health (MCH) service in Victoria, Australia, is a joint local and state government operated, cost-free service available to all mothers of children aged 0–6 years. Although well-child healthcare visits are useful in identifying health issues early, there has been limited investigation in the use of these services for families from refugee backgrounds. This study aims to explore experiences of using MCH services, from the perspective of families from refugee backgrounds and service providers. Methods We used a qualitative study design informed by the socioecological model of health and a cultural competence approach. Two geographical areas of Melbourne were selected to invite participants. Seven focus groups were conducted with 87 mothers from Karen, Iraqi, Assyrian Chaldean, Lebanese, South Sudanese and Bhutanese backgrounds, who had lived an average of 4.7 years in Australia (range one month-18 years). Participants had a total of 249 children, of these 150 were born in Australia. Four focus groups and five interviews were conducted with MCH nurses, other healthcare providers and bicultural workers. Results Four themes were identified: facilitating access to MCH services; promoting continued engagement with the MCH service; language challenges; and what is working well and could be done better. Several processes were identified that facilitated initial access to the MCH service but there were implications for continued use of the service. The MCH service was not formally notified of new parents arriving with young children. Pre-arranged group appointments by MCH nurses for parents who attended playgroups worked well to increase ongoing service engagement. Barriers for parents in using MCH services included access to transportation, lack of confidence in speaking English and making phone bookings. Service users and providers reported that continuity of nurse and interpreter is preferred for increasing client-provider trust and ongoing engagement. Conclusions Although participants who had children born in Melbourne had good initial access to, and experience of, using MCH services, significant barriers remain. A systems-oriented, culturally competent approach to service provision would improve the service utilisation experience for parents and providers, including formalising links and notifications between settlement services and MCH services. PMID:22587587

Accessing maternal and child health services in Melbourne, Australia: reflections from refugee families and service providers.

PubMed

Riggs, Elisha; Davis, Elise; Gibbs, Lisa; Block, Karen; Szwarc, Jo; Casey, Sue; Duell-Piening, Philippa; Waters, Elizabeth

2012-05-15

Often new arrivals from refugee backgrounds have experienced poor health and limited access to healthcare services. The maternal and child health (MCH) service in Victoria, Australia, is a joint local and state government operated, cost-free service available to all mothers of children aged 0-6 years. Although well-child healthcare visits are useful in identifying health issues early, there has been limited investigation in the use of these services for families from refugee backgrounds. This study aims to explore experiences of using MCH services, from the perspective of families from refugee backgrounds and service providers. We used a qualitative study design informed by the socioecological model of health and a cultural competence approach. Two geographical areas of Melbourne were selected to invite participants. Seven focus groups were conducted with 87 mothers from Karen, Iraqi, Assyrian Chaldean, Lebanese, South Sudanese and Bhutanese backgrounds, who had lived an average of 4.7 years in Australia (range one month-18 years). Participants had a total of 249 children, of these 150 were born in Australia. Four focus groups and five interviews were conducted with MCH nurses, other healthcare providers and bicultural workers. Four themes were identified: facilitating access to MCH services; promoting continued engagement with the MCH service; language challenges; and what is working well and could be done better. Several processes were identified that facilitated initial access to the MCH service but there were implications for continued use of the service. The MCH service was not formally notified of new parents arriving with young children. Pre-arranged group appointments by MCH nurses for parents who attended playgroups worked well to increase ongoing service engagement. Barriers for parents in using MCH services included access to transportation, lack of confidence in speaking English and making phone bookings. Service users and providers reported that continuity of nurse and interpreter is preferred for increasing client-provider trust and ongoing engagement. Although participants who had children born in Melbourne had good initial access to, and experience of, using MCH services, significant barriers remain. A systems-oriented, culturally competent approach to service provision would improve the service utilisation experience for parents and providers, including formalising links and notifications between settlement services and MCH services.

Working in the margins women's experiences of stress and occupational health problems in part-time and casual retail jobs.

PubMed

Zeytinogla, Isik Uurla; Seaton, M Bianca; Lillevik, Waheeda; Moruz, Josefina

2005-01-01

Women workers dominate the labor market of part-time and casual jobs in Canada and other industrialized countries, particularly in the retail trade and consumer services sector. However, research into the occupational health consequences of part-time and casual jobs for this large group of women workers is still in its early stages. Emerging evidence suggests that part-time and casual jobs contribute to stress and result in health problems for women. To learn about the impact of part-time and casual jobs on women's experiences of stress and their resulting physical and emotional health, we conducted interviews and focus groups with occupational health and safety union representatives and female workers in retail and consumer services. Results show that stress is a major occupational health problem for these women, due to the working conditions in part-time and casual jobs, the psychosocial work environment, and the gendered work environment in the retail trade and consumer services. Stress from part-time and casual jobs results in repetitive strain injuries, migraine headaches, and feelings of low self-esteem, low motivation, and job dissatisfaction for women. The disconcerting implication of our research is that part-time and casual employment comes at a cost for some women.

Prototype Interoperability Document between NASA-JSC and DLR-GSOC Describing the CCSDS SM and C Mission Operations Prototype

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lucord, Steve A.; Gully, Sylvain

2009-01-01

The purpose of the PROTOTYPE INTEROPERABILITY DOCUMENT is to document the design and interfaces for the service providers and consumers of a Mission Operations prototype between JSC-OTF and DLR-GSOC. The primary goal is to test the interoperability sections of the CCSDS Spacecraft Monitor & Control (SM&C) Mission Operations (MO) specifications between both control centers. An additional goal is to provide feedback to the Spacecraft Monitor and Control (SM&C) working group through the Review Item Disposition (RID) process. This Prototype is considered a proof of concept and should increase the knowledge base of the CCSDS SM&C Mission Operations standards. No operational capabilities will be provided. The CCSDS Mission Operations (MO) initiative was previously called Spacecraft Monitor and Control (SM&C). The specifications have been renamed to better reflect the scope and overall objectives. The working group retains the name Spacecraft Monitor and Control working group and is under the Mission Operations and Information Services Area (MOIMS) of CCSDS. This document will refer to the specifications as SM&C Mission Operations, Mission Operations or just MO.

Collaborative science activities and the social construction of understanding of physical science concepts by pre-service teachears in Fiji

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Taylor, Neil; Lucas, Keith B.; Watters, James J.

1999-12-01

The research reported was part of a larger study that was founded on the belief that the introduction of a teaching style informed by a constructivist view of teaching and learning and utilising collaborative group work would improve the understanding of science concepts held by pre-service primary teacher education studients in Fuji. It sought to test this belief, and to explore whether such an approach would be effective for students from different ethnic groups. Two intact classes in a teachers' college studied a physical science unit, one class being involved in extensive collaborative group activities and the other, the comparison group, being taught in the usual transmissive fashion. An interpretive methodology was adopted, involving a range of data sources and analytical techniques. Data presented here support the claim that the collaborative group work stimulated increased levels of discussion and fostered deeper conceptual understanding. There were, however, some unexpected learning outcomes for some students. Implications for science education in Fiji and similar locations are discussed.

Respiratory morbidity among street sweepers working at Hanumannagar Zone of Nagpur Municipal Corporation, Maharashtra.

PubMed

Yogesh, Sabde D; Zodpey, Sanjay P

2008-01-01

Due to the occupational exposure street sweepers are very much vulnerable to develop the chronic diseases of respiratory system. Therefore this study was undertaken to find out the proportion of chronic respiratory morbidity among the street sweepers and the role of various associated risk factors. The study included two groups: study group i.e. street sweepers and comparison group (Class IV workers working in the office buildings). Various risk factors studied were age, sex, socioeconomic status, length of service, smoking habit, type of house, area of residence, cooking fuel and pets. Proportion of chronic respiratory morbidity (chronic bronchitis, asthma and bronchiectasis) was higher (8.1%) among street sweepers compared to comparison group (2.1%), the difference being statistically significant. Unconditional multivariate logistic regression revealed that risk of having chronic respiratory morbidity among street sweepers was 4.24 (95% CI of OR = 1.24 to 14.50) times higher than that in the comparison group and the risk increased significantly with increasing length of service (OR = 1.75, 95 % CI = 1.09 to 2.81).

77 FR 54566 - Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (MAFMC); Public Meeting

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-09-05

... Fishery Management Council (MAFMC); Public Meeting AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS.... SUMMARY: The Mid-Atlantic Fishery Management Council (Council) Staff will hold the second meeting of the Visioning and Strategic Planning Working Group. During this meeting, the group will finalize draft vision...

Family group interventions in an early psychosis program: A re-evaluation of practice after 10 years of service delivery.

PubMed

Day, Kate; Starbuck, Rachael; Petrakis, Melissa

2017-08-01

The role of family in supporting service users in coping with illness and engaging in relapse prevention in early psychosis is important. Taking on this caring though is stressful and challenging, and it has been found that support and information for carers assists in their coping and reduces isolation. To evaluate the current utility of a psychoeducation group program in a public adult mental health service, for the families of people experiencing early psychosis. A purpose-designed pre- and post-intervention questionnaire was administered to quantitatively measure group participants' changes in perceptions of their understanding of mental illness and its treatment through attending the group. Additional qualitative items were used to determine other knowledge, benefits and any critical feedback. The group program continues to result in highly significant improvements in family members' understanding of psychosis, recovery, medications, relapse prevention and substance co-morbidities. Additional feedback reaffirmed previous findings that family members find group peer support valuable and that this reduces isolation and the experience of stigma. The current evaluation, conducted following 10 years of early psychosis group work, found there to be efficacy in family peer support groups and that it is important to provide family interventions in public early psychosis mental health services.

Need, access, and the reach of integrated care: A typology of patients.

PubMed

Bridges, Ana J; Villalobos, Bianca T; Anastasia, Elizabeth A; Dueweke, Aubrey R; Gregus, Samantha J; Cavell, Timothy A

2017-06-01

This paper is a report on a study exploring a potential typology of primary care patients referred for integrated behavioral health care (IBHC) services. We considered whether primary care patients could be grouped into meaningful clusters based on perceived need for behavioral health services, barriers to accessing care, and past-year service utilization. We also described the development of a working partnership between our university-based research team and a federally qualified health center (FQHC). A total of 105 adult primary care patients referred for same-day behavioral health appointments completed a brief self-report questionnaire assessing past-year behavioral health concerns, service utilization, and perceived barriers to utilization. Hierarchical and k-means cluster analyses revealed 3 groups: (a) Well-Served patients, characterized by high perceived need for services, high service use, and low barriers to service use (40%); (b) Underserved patients, characterized by high perceived need, low service utilization, and high barriers to service use (20%); and (c) Subclinical patients, characterized by low perceived need, low service use, and low barriers to service use (20%). Clusters were reliably differentiated by age, primary language, insurance status, and global functioning. We found primary care patients could be grouped into 3 categories and that 60% (Underserved and Subclinical) represented groups less commonly seen in traditional mental health (MH) settings. IBHC may be a promising approach for extending the reach of MH care, and partnerships between FQHCs and university-based research teams may be a promising approach for conducting research on the IBHC service-delivery model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Individual and Situational Correlates of Whistle-Blowing.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Miceli, Marcia P.; Near, Janet P.

1988-01-01

Analyzed archival survey data from observers of wrongdoing in 22 organizations. Found whistle-blowing more likely when observers held professional positions, had positive reactions to their work, had longer service, were recently recognized for good performance, were male, were members of larger work groups, and were employed by organizations…

Stakeholders' Perceptions of School Counselling in Singapore

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Low, Poi Kee

2015-01-01

This article reports on a qualitative study that set out to understand stakeholders' perception of the school counselling service in Singapore. Using semi-structured interviews, this study explored the perceptions of three main stakeholder groups, namely teachers and counsellors working within the schools and those working in the communities.…

The Coming Age of People Work

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Berger, Brigitte

1976-01-01

Notes a chasm between cultural and occupational aspirations (for self-realization) and the existing job market. Suggests the opening of a new sector of people work, e.g. services for the very young and very old, urban and community task forces, political participation groups, agencies for intergroup conflict resolution, etc. (JT)

Commissioning specialist diabetes services for adults with diabetes: summary of a Diabetes UK Task and Finish group report.

PubMed

Goenka, N; Turner, B; Vora, J

2011-12-01

The increasing prevalence of diabetes, the drive to develop community services for diabetes and the Quality and Outcomes Framework for diabetes have led to improvements in the management of diabetes in primary care settings, with services traditionally provided only in specialist care now provided for many patients with diabetes by non-specialists. Consequently, there is a need to redefine roles, responsibilities and components of a specialist diabetes service to provide for the needs of patients in the National Health Service (NHS) today. The delivery of diabetes care is complex and touches on almost every aspect of the health service. It is the responsibility of those working within commissioning and specialist provider roles to work together with people with diabetes to develop, organize and deliver a full range of integrated diabetes care services. The local delivery model agreed within the local diabetes network, comprising specialist teams, primary care teams, commissioners and people with diabetes, should determine how the diabetes specialist services are organizsed. It should identify the roles and responsibilities of provider organizations to ensure that the right person provides the right care, at the right time, and in the right place. We summarize a report entitled 'Commissioning Diabetes Specialist Services for Adults with Diabetes', which has been produced, as a 'Task and Finish' group activity within Diabetes UK, to assist managers, commissioners and healthcare professionals to provide advice on the structure, roles and components of specialist diabetes services for adults. © 2011 The Authors. Diabetic Medicine © 2011 Diabetes UK.

Forming a new clinical team for frail older people: can a group development model help?

PubMed

Anderson, Elizabeth Susan; Pollard, Lorraine; Conroy, Simon; Clague-Baker, Nicola

2014-03-01

Integrated services which utilise the expertise of team members along care pathways are evolving. Changes in service structure and subsequent team working arrangements can be a challenge for practitioners expected to redefine how they work with one another. These services are particularly important for the care of frail older people. This exploratory study of one newly forming team presents the views of staff involved in establishing an interprofessional healthcare advisory team for older people within an acute hospital admissions unit. Staff experiences of forming a new service are aligned to a model of team development. The findings are presented as themes relating to the stages of team development and identify the challenges of setting up an integrated service alongside existing services. In particular, team process issues relating to the clarity of goals, role clarification, leadership, team culture and identity. Managers must allow time to ensure new services evolve before setting up evaluation studies for efficiency and effectiveness which might prove against the potential for interprofessional teamworking.

CMR Catalog Service for the Web

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Newman, Doug; Mitchell, Andrew

2016-01-01

With the impending retirement of Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) the Common Metadata Repository (CMR) was charged with providing a collection-level Catalog Service for the Web (CSW) that provided the same level of functionality as GCMD. This talk describes the capabilities of the CMR CSW API with particular reference to the support of the Committee on Earth Observation Satellites (CEOS) Working Group on Information Systems and Services (WGISS) Integrated Catalog (CWIC).

Support to the DoD Comprehensive Review Working Group Analyzing the Impact of Repealing ’Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell’. Volume 1: Findings From the Surveys

DTIC Science & Technology

2010-11-01

Table 5.8). When Service members (both married and unmarried ) were asked this same question, job satisfaction was most often selected (by 30.5% of...said they were in the Service member survey. When married Service members were asked how their Retention and Referrals Findings at a Glance...49  Retention

Facilitating a transition from compulsory detention of people who use drugs towards voluntary community-based drug dependence treatment and support services in Asia.

PubMed

Tanguay, Pascal; Kamarulzaman, Adeeba; Aramrattana, Apinun; Wodak, Alex; Thomson, Nicholas; Ali, Robert; Vumbaca, Gino; Lai, Gloria; Chabungbam, Anand

2015-10-16

Evidence indicates that detention of people who use drugs in compulsory centers in the name of treatment is common in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. The expansion of such practices has been costly, has not generated positive health outcomes, and has not reduced supply or demand for illicit drugs. United Nations agencies have convened several consultations with government and civil society stakeholders in order to facilitate a transition to voluntary evidence- and community-based drug dependence treatment and support services. In an effort to support such efforts, an informal group of experts proposes a three-step process to initiate and accelerate national-level transitions. Specifically, the working group recommends the establishment of a national multisectoral decision-making committee to oversee the development of national transition plans, drug policy reform to eliminate barriers to community-based drug dependence treatment and support services, and the integration of community-based drug dependence treatment in existing national health and social service systems.In parallel, the working group recommends that national-level transitions should be guided by overarching principles, including ethics, human rights, meaningful involvement of affected communities, and client safety, as well as good governance, transparency, and accountability. The transition also represents an opportunity to review the roles and responsibilities of various agencies across the public health and public security sectors in order to balance the workload and ensure positive results. The need to accelerate national-level transitions to voluntary community-based drug dependence treatment and support services is compelling--on economic, medical, sustainable community development, and ethical grounds--as extensively documented in the literature. In this context, the expert working group fully endorses initiation of a transition towards voluntary evidence- and community-based drug dependence treatment and support services across the region, as well as the steady scale-down of compulsory centers for drug users.Components of voluntary community-based drug dependence treatment and support services are being implemented in Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand. However, significant technical and financial support will be required to be allocated from national budgets and by international development agencies in order to complete the transition and reduce the reliance on detention of people who use drugs in Asia.

Motivations, barriers and ethical understandings of healthcare student volunteers on a medical service trip: a mixed methods study.

PubMed

Rovers, John; Japs, Kelsey; Truong, Erica; Shah, Yogesh

2016-03-22

The motivation to volunteer on a medical service trip (MST) may involve more than a simple desire for philanthropy. Some volunteers may be motivated by an intrinsic interest in volunteering in which the context of the volunteer activity is less important. Others may volunteer because the context of their volunteering is more important than their intrinsic interest in volunteering. Furthermore, MSTs may pose a variety of ethical problems that volunteers should consider prior to engaging in a trip. This study evaluated the motivations and barriers for graduate health care students volunteering for an MST to either the Dominican Republic or Mississippi. Volunteers' understanding of some of the ethical issues associated with MSTs was also assessed. Thirty-five graduate health professions students who volunteered on an MST were asked to complete an online survey. Students' motivations and barriers for volunteering were assessed using a 5-point Likert scale and Fisher's exact test. Ethical understanding of issues in volunteering was assessed using thematic analysis. Students' motivations for volunteering appeared to be related to the medical context of their service more than an inherent desire for volunteer work. Significant differences were seen in motivations and barriers for some student groups, especially those whose volunteer work had less opportunity for clinical service. Thematic analysis revealed two major themes and suggested that students had an empirical understanding that volunteer work could have both positive and negative effects. An understanding of students' motivations for volunteering on an MST may allow faculty to design trips with activities that effectively address student motivations. Although students had a basic understanding of some of the ethical issues involved, they had not considered the impact of a service group on the in-country partners they work with.

Human Behavior and Performance Support for ISS Operations and Astronaut Selections: NASA Operational Psychology for Six-Crew Operations

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

VanderArk, Steve; Sipes, Walter; Holland, Albert; Cockrell, Gabrielle

2010-01-01

The Behavioral Health and Performance group at NASA Johnson Space Center provides psychological support services and behavioral health monitoring for ISS astronauts and their families. The ISS began as an austere outpost with minimal comforts of home and minimal communication capabilities with family, friends, and colleagues outside of the Mission Control Center. Since 1998, the work of international partners involved in the Space Flight Human Behavior and Performance Working Group has prepared high-level requirements for behavioral monitoring and support. The "buffet" of services from which crewmembers can choose has increased substantially. Through the process of development, implementation, reviewing effectiveness and modifying as needed, the NASA and Wyle team have proven successful in managing the psychological health and well being of the crews and families with which they work. Increasing the crew size from three to six brought additional challenges. For the first time, all partners had to collaborate at the planning and implementation level, and the U.S. served as mentor to extrapolate their experiences to the others. Parity in available resources, upmass, and stowage had to be worked out. Steady progress was made in improving off-hours living and making provisions for new technologies within a system that has difficulty moving quickly on certifications. In some respect, the BHP support team fell victim to its previous successes. With increasing numbers of crewmembers in training, requests to engage our services spiraled upward. With finite people and funds, a cap had to placed on many services to ensure that parity could be maintained. The evolution of NASA BHP services as the ISS progressed from three- to six-crew composition will be reviewed, and future challenges that may be encountered as the ISS matures in its assembly-complete state will be discussed.

Psychosocial working conditions, occupational groups, and risk of disability pension due to mental diagnoses: a cohort study of 43,000 Swedish twins.

PubMed

Samuelsson, Åsa; Ropponen, Annina; Alexanderson, Kristina; Svedberg, Pia

2013-07-01

The aim of this study was to investigate associations between psychosocial working conditions, occupational groups defined by sector, and disability pension (DP) with mental diagnoses while accounting for familial confounding. A prospective population-based cohort study was conducted, including all Swedish twins who, in January 1993, were living and working in Sweden and not on old-age pension or DP (N=42 715). The twins were followed from 1993-2008 regarding DP. Data on DP, exposures, and covariates were obtained from national registries. Cox proportional hazards regression models with hazard ratios (HR) and 95% confidence intervals (95% CI) were constructed for the whole cohort, and for discordant twin pairs. The associations for the whole cohort between DP with mental diagnoses and (i) job demands (HR 1.23, 95% CI 1.06-1.43), (ii) job control (HR 0.91, 95% CI 0.83-0.99), (iii) healthcare and social work (HR 1.41, 95% CI 1.04-1.92), and (iv) service and military work (HR 2.07, 95% CI 1.37-3.14) remained after accounting for possible confounders, including familial factors, while the associations between DP and (i) social support, (ii) type of jobs, and (iii) some of the occupational groups were attenuated, becoming non-significant. In the discordant twin pair analyses, commercial work was significantly associated with lower risk of DP (HR 0.55, 95% CI 0.32-0.95). One unit increase in job demands and working in the occupational groups healthcare and social work or service and military work seem to be risk factors of DP with mental diagnoses, independent from various background factors including familial ones. However, one unit increase in job control or working in commercial work seem to be protective factors of such DP, accounting for confounding factors of this study.

Promoting recovery through peer support: possibilities for social work practice.

PubMed

Loumpa, Vasiliki

2012-01-01

The Recovery Approach has been adopted by mental health services worldwide and peer support constitutes one of the main elements of recovery-based services. This article discusses the relevancy of recovery and peer support to mental health social work practice through an exploration of social work ethics and values. Furthermore, it provides an exploration of how peer support can be maximized in groupwork to assist the social work clinician to promote recovery and well-being. More specifically, this article discusses how the narrative therapy concepts of "retelling" and "witnessing" can be used in the context of peer support to promote recovery, and also how social constructionist, dialogical, and systemic therapy approaches can assist the social work practitioner to enhance peer support in recovery oriented groupwork. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

The effect of skill mix in non-nursing assistants on work engagements among home visiting nurses in Japan.

PubMed

Naruse, Takashi; Taguchi, Atsuko; Kuwahara, Yuki; Nagata, Satoko; Sakai, Mahiro; Watai, Izumi; Murashima, Sachiyo

2015-05-01

This study evaluated the effect of a skill-mix programme intervention on work engagement in home visiting nurses. A skill-mix programme in which home visiting nurses are assisted by non-nursing workers is assumed to foster home visiting nurses' work engagement. Pre- and post-intervention evaluations of work engagement were conducted using self-administered questionnaires. A skill-mix programme was introduced in the intervention group of home visiting nurses. After 6 months, their pre- and post-intervention work engagement ratings were compared with those of a control group. Baseline questionnaires were returned by 174 home visiting nurses (44 in the intervention group, 130 in the control group). Post-intervention questionnaires were returned by 38 and 97 home visiting nurses from each group. The intervention group's average work engagement scores were 2.2 at baseline and 2.3 at post-intervention; the control group's were 3.3 and 2.6. Generalised linear regression showed significant between-group differences in score changes. The skill-mix programme might foster home visiting nurses' work engagement by improving the quality of care for each client. Future research is needed to explain the exact mechanisms that underlie its effectiveness. In order to improve the efficiency of services provided by home visiting nurses and foster their work engagement, skill-mix programmes might be beneficial. © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Work experiences among attendees of day centres for people with psychiatric disabilities.

PubMed

Eklund, Mona; Sandlund, Mikael

2015-01-01

It is possible that people with psychiatric disabilities who visit day centres have previous work experiences that may be seen as resources for their current engagement in day centre activities. Research in this respect seems to lack, however. To investigate work experiences among attendees at day centres for people with psychiatric disabilities and relationships with current type of day centre (work-oriented, meeting place-oriented or mixed), engagement in day centre activities, motivation and socio-demographic and health-related factors. Seventy-seven attendees responded to questionnaires. Global Assessment of Functioning, GAF, was also used. Work was categorised into Group I (professionals, semi-professionals), Group II (clerical support, services workers) and Group III (e.g. craft workers, elementary occupations). Almost everyone had previously had open-market employment; more than half for ≥ 10 years. Group I was more common in mixed centres, Group II in meeting place-oriented ones and Group III in work-oriented ones. Group I more frequently had college degree and was rated high on GAF functioning. Women were over-represented in Group II, and men in Group III and in meeting place-oriented centres. Attending mixed centres was more likely when having a college degree, scoring high on GAF functioning and being highly engaged in activities. Attendees at work-oriented day centres were characterised by being motivated for spending time alone and reporting a diagnosis of psychosis. The participants had unused working capacity. No clear-cut relationships were found between work experiences and the investigated correlates.

Development and Psychometric Testing of a Novel Food Service Satisfaction Questionnaire for Food Service Staff of Aged Care Homes.

PubMed

Miller, M; Hamilton, J; Scupham, R; Matwiejczyk, L; Prichard, I; Farrer, O; Yaxley, A

2018-01-01

Food service staff are integral to delivery of quality food in aged care homes yet measurement of their satisfaction is unable to be performed due to an absence of a valid and reliable questionnaire. The aim of this study was to develop and perform psychometric testing for a new Food Service Satisfaction Questionnaire developed in Australia specifically for use by food service staff working in residential aged care homes (Flinders FSSQFSAC). A mixed methods design utilizing both a qualitative (in-depth interviews, focus groups) and a quantitative approach (cross sectional survey) was used. Content validity was determined from focus groups and interviews with food service staff currently working in aged care homes, related questionnaires from the literature and consultation with an expert panel. The questionnaire was tested for construct validity and internal consistency using data from food service staff currently working in aged care homes that responded to an electronic invitation circulated to Australian aged care homes using a national database of email addresses. Construct validity was tested via principle components analysis and internal consistency through Cronbach's alpha. Temporal stability of the questionnaire was determined from food service staff undertaking the Flinders FSSQFSAC on two occasions, two weeks apart, and analysed using Pearson's correlations. Content validity for the Flinders FSSQFSAC was established from a panel of experts and stakeholders. Principle components analysis revealed food service staff satisfaction was represented by 61-items divided into eight domains: job satisfaction (α=0.832), food quality (α=0.871), staff training (α=0.922), consultation (α=0.840), eating environment (α=0.777), reliability (α=0.695), family expectations (α=0.781) and resident relationships (α=0.429), establishing construct validity in all domains, and internal consistency in all (α>0.5) except for "resident relationships" (α=0.429). Test-retest reliability coefficients ranged from 0.276 to 0.826 dependent on domain, with test-retest reliability established in seven domains at r>0.4; an exception was "reliability" at r=0.276. The newly developed Flinders FSSQFSAC has acceptable validity and reliability and thereby the potential to measure satisfaction of food service staff working in residential aged care homes, identify areas for strategic change, measure improvements and in turn, improve the satisfaction and quality of life of both food service staff and residents of aged care homes.

Community Job Initiatives: Readiness, Training, Creation and Retention.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Shabecoff, Alice; And Others

1993-01-01

A community-based approach can excel at putting people back to work. The community-based strategy for helping people find and keep jobs needs to provide comprehensive and integrated services. Collaboration is likely to be the most practical means to round up those services. Community groups usually have a dual purpose in pursuing a jobs program:…

75 FR 30046 - Medicaid and CHIP Programs; Meeting of the CHIP Working Group-June 14, 2010

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-05-28

... specified under section 311(b)(1)(C) of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009... Secretary of Labor are required under section 311(b)(1)(C) of the Children's Health Insurance Program... DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS-2316-N...

Occupational Competencies Report. The Electronics, Health Service and Construction Industries as Surveyed by the Trade Associations.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

National Council on Vocational Education, Washington, DC.

This report presents comments from working groups in the electronics, health services, and construction industries regarding what occupational competencies are and will be needed by current and future employees. It is intended for use by state and local advisers and administrators to evaluate the relevance and quality of vocational-technical…

Teaching Pre-Service Teachers about Belonging

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Gillies, Ann

2017-01-01

This article describes how a Teacher Educator teaches her university students (pre-service teachers) about belonging; how it feels to belong to a group, why they need to spend their time and energy during the school day working to make K-12 students feel that they belong, what belonging looks like, and how to make it happen in the pre-service…

The Complexities of Service Supervision: An Experiential Discovery

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Rustin, Margaret

2010-01-01

Service supervision has become a central feature of the training of child psychotherapists in the UK. This paper reports on the work of a research workshop set up to explore the task and its complexities. The paper draws on several years of monthly meetings of a highly experienced group of supervisors. It discusses the methodology for studying…

Chapter 8. Resident Group Influences on Team Functioning

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burford, Gale E.; Fulcher, Leon C.

2006-01-01

Research has documented important interplays between the diagnostic characteristics of residents in group care centers and the functioning of staff teams responsible for the delivery of services. Factors that impact on the quality of working life satisfactions and frustrations are variable over time and may originate from within the team, the…

The Role of Focus Groups with Other Performance Measurement Methods.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hart, Elizabeth

Huddersfield University Library (England) has undertaken a wide range of evaluative studies of its services and systems, using various data collection techniques such as: user surveys; exit interviews; online and CD-ROM analysis; benchmarking; user groups; staffing and staff development evaluation; suggestion sheets; student project work; group…

Identifying Collaborative Behaviours Online: Training Teachers in Wikis

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vinagre Laranjeira, Margarita

2016-01-01

In this paper we explore the data gathered from a group of nine in-service teachers who were trained online to become future telecollaborative teachers. Participants from different countries worked in two small groups in a wiki designed specially to facilitate discussion and collaboration. Tasks included reading and reviewing articles on…

Center Director Bridges visits Disability Awareness and Action working Group Technology Fair

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

Center Director Roy Bridges stops to talk to one of the vendors at the Disability Awareness and Action Working Group (DAAWG) Technology Fair being held Oct. 20-21 at Kennedy Space Center. With him at the far left is Sterling Walker, director of Engineering Development at KSC and chairman of DAAWG, and Nancie Strott, a multi-media specialist with Dynacs and chairperson of the Fair; at the right is Carol Cavanaugh, with KSC Public Services. The Fair is highlighting vendors demonstrating mobility, hearing, vision and silent disability assistive technology. The purpose is to create an awareness of the types of technology currently available to assist people with various disabilities in the workplace. The theme is that of this year's National Disability Employment Awareness Month, 'Opening Doors to Ability.' Some of the vendors participating are Canine Companions for Independence, Goodwill Industries, Accessible Structures, Division of Blind Services, Space Coast Center for Independent Living, KSC Fitness Center and Delaware North Parks Services.

Center Director Bridges visits Disability Awareness and Action working Group Technology Fair

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1999-01-01

Center Director Roy Bridges stops to pet one of the dogs that serves with Canine Companions for Independence, a vendor displaying its capabilities at the Disability Awareness and Action Working Group (DAAWG) 1999 Technology Fair being held Oct. 20-21 at Kennedy Space Center. Standing at the right is Carol Cavanaugh, with KSC Public Services; behind Bridges is Nancie Strott (left), a multi-media specialist with Dynacs and chairperson of the Fair, and Sterling Walker (right), director of Engineering Development and chairman of DAAWG. The Fair is highlighting vendors demonstrating mobility, hearing, vision and silent disability assistive technology. The purpose is to create an awareness of the types of technology currently available to assist people with various disabilities in the workplace. The theme is that of this year's National Disability Employment Awareness Month, 'Opening Doors to Ability.' Some of the other vendors participating are Goodwill Industries, Accessible Structures, Division of Blind Services, Space Coast Center for Independent Living, KSC Fitness Center and Delaware North Parks Services.

[Burnout in officers of the prison service units. The role of personality and selected professional characteristics].

PubMed

Sygit-Kowalkowska, Ewa; Weber-Rajek, Magdalena; Herkt, Martyna; Ossowski, Roman

2017-02-28

The researchers involved in the studies of burnout indicate its 3 sources: the structure of the personality, the specificity of interpersonal relationships, and the organizational factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the occurrence of burnout and personality characteristics of prison officers, as well as to determine predictors of burnout in this occupational group. The study was conducted among prison officers, who were divided into 2 groups, the officers working in direct contact with prisoners (group I) and those employed in the prison administration (group II). The study used 2 tools: NEO-Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) and Link Burnout Questionnaire (LBQ). Analysis of personality traits in the study group showed high severity traits of neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness and conscientiousness. However, the best results were obtained in terms of extraversion and the lowest in the range of conscientiousness. The level of burnout in both groups was found to be within the upper limit of the average results, without statistically significant differences between the groups. The results showed that people working in direct contact with prisoners experience greater disappointments and psychophysical exhaustion at work. The analyses showed that the level of exhaustion and disappointment of the employees surveyed increases with increasing seniority. It was also shown that the level of neuroticism, extraversion and agreeableness is the predictor of effectiveness. The level of burnout in the study group falls within the upper limit of the average results. Personality traits are an important determinant for the development of symptoms of burnout in the penitentiary officers, and their role changes over the years of continuous prison service. The position at work diversifies the degree of experiencing symptoms of burnout. Med Pr 2017;68(1):85-94. This work is available in Open Access model and licensed under a CC BY-NC 3.0 PL license.

FAMILY DEVELOPMENT CREDENTIAL TRAINING IMPACT ON SELF-EFFICACY BELIEFS OF HUMAN SERVICE WORKERS.

PubMed

Smith, Deborah B; Day, Nancy E

2015-01-01

The Family Development Credential (FDC) Training offers an innovative interagency training for human service workers within a community. We use a mixed-methods approach to evaluate the impact of FDC on work-related self-efficacy beliefs. Quantitative data found FDC participants increased their levels of positive self-efficacy beliefs and had no change in negative self-efficacy beliefs; a comparison group saw no change in positive self-efficacy beliefs but increased their levels of negative self-efficacy beliefs. Qualitative data indicated training increased work-related self-efficacy beliefs. Overall, findings suggest that FDC training improved self-efficacy in human service workers and that no training allowed negative self-efficacy beliefs to grow.

Building organizational supports for knowledge sharing in county human service organizations: a cross-case analysis of works-in-progress.

PubMed

Lee, Chris; Austin, Michael J

2012-01-01

Building on the literature related to evidence-based practice, knowledge management, and learning organizations, this cross-case analysis presents twelve works-in-progress in ten local public human service organizations seeking to develop their own knowledge sharing systems. The data for this cross-case analysis can be found in the various contributions to this Special Issue. The findings feature the developmental aspects of building a learning organization that include knowledge sharing systems featuring transparency, self-assessment, and dissemination and utilization. Implications for practice focus on the structure and processes involved in building knowledge sharing teams inside public human service organizations. Copyright © Taylor & Francis Group, LLC

Country watch: South-East Asia.

PubMed

Bagasao, T M

1996-01-01

Nongovernmental organizations (NGO) and community-based groups working on HIV/AIDS in Thailand, Sri Lanka, the Philippines, Malaysia, and other countries participated in a February 1991 workshop during which they recognized that human rights are inextricably linked with HIV prevention, the provision of services, and improving the quality of life of people living with HIV/AIDS and other vulnerable, marginalized groups. They also noted how rarely environments were supportive with respect to either legal structures or sociocultural norms. The groups resolved to act as a watchdog, an advocacy and lobbying group to monitor legislation, provide public information, and empower people with HIV/AIDS as visible and active partners. Meeting again in 1993 to assess progress, the groups found few gains in addressing human rights violations such as the denial of medical services to people with HIV/AIDS and the deportation of HIV-positive migrant workers. The Asia Pacific Council of AIDS Service Organizations (APCASO) responded by developing a pilot documentation, monitoring, and reporting system in the region to record HIV-related human rights violations. That system is described.

We All Need WE: The Effect of Using Facebook and Group Fieldwork on Students' Interdependence and Awareness of STSE Issues

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Abd-El-Aal, Wafaa Mohammed Moawad; Steele, Astrid

2017-01-01

In a departure from traditional lecture formats, this research examines the effect of using both Facebook and group fieldwork in developing Egyptian pre-service teachers' interdependence, and their awareness of STSE. Group work and fieldwork were found to enhance interdependence/cooperation of participants, as well as strengthen their…

New Sources of Active Duty Military Personnel: The Prior Service Accessions Pool.

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-10-01

Age Group Classification 20...level. -30- Table 15 E.IPLOYMENT STATUS BY AGE AN[) RACE (Iii thotisands) Age Group Classification 20-23 24-29 30-34 35-39 40-49 50-60 Total White...alternative job than for full time workers. Table 17 NUMBER OF VETERANS WORKING LESS THAN 35 HOURS (In thousands) Age Group Classification 20-23

OA8 Caring for the family caregiver: working with volunteers to implement and improve a service to enable family caregivers to maintain their own wellbeing.

PubMed

Cohen, S Robin; Keats, Susan; Cherba, Maria; Allen, Dawn; MacKinnon, Christopher J; Bitzas, Vasiliki; Kogan, Naomi; Penner, Jamie L; Calislar, Monica Parmar; Feindel, Anna; Lapointe, Bernard; Baxter, Sharon; O'Brien, Suzanne; Stajduhar, Kelli

2015-04-01

Family caregivers suffer physically, mentally, and spiritually. Community volunteers play an important role in supporting patients at the end of life or former caregivers in bereavement. However, there are no research reports of volunteer services focused on maintaining the wellbeing of end-of-life caregivers. To have volunteers, a hired volunteer coordinator, health care providers, and researchers implement and formatively evaluate a volunteer service to enable family caregivers to maintain their well being while providing care and subsequent bereavement. This presentation will focus on the volunteers' roles with the project as both agents of change to the service and as support for the caregivers. A qualitative formative evaluation informed by Guba and Lincoln's Fourth Generation Evaluation (1989) participatory design was conducted. Data was collected through individual interviews, focus groups, participant observation during volunteer support meetings, and through volunteers' written reflections. Amongst the volunteers, volunteer coordinator, and principal investigator, there was mutual respect for and interest in learning about everyone's roles and experiences in the project. The experience was rewarding because they felt they helped the family caregiver and enjoyed developing and improving the service and working in a supportive team. Volunteers' challenges included being nervous for their first meeting with a caregiver, and frustration with some rules put in place to protect them (e.g. not helping the caregiver with direct care for the patient). Volunteers can be an effective part of the research team, while providing valuable support and encouragement for family caregivers to maintain their own wellbeing. © 2015, Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Community managed services for persons with intellectual disability: Andhra Pradesh experience.

PubMed

Narayan, Jayanthi; Pratapkumar, Raja; Reddy, Sudhakara P

2017-09-01

In resource poor settings innovative and bottom-up approaches are required to provide services to people with with disabilities. In this context, the present paper explains a community-based model of manpower development and coordination of services for people with intellectual disabilities in unified state of Andhra Pradesh in India. Women with disabilities from the village were identified, and those willing to be trained to work as community resource persons (CRPs) were selected and given hands-on training in a phased manner. A total of 130 women were trained in five groups of 25-30 per group and were deployed in the community to screen, identify and refer children with intellectual disabilities. The training content included basic stimulation and interface with functionaries of other government departments of health, education and welfare to ensure comprehensive service delivery. Neighbourhood centres (NHCs) were established where the CRPs could meet with families collectively. The results indicated that the CRPs were welcomed by the families. The NHCs established primarily as recreation centres, promoted inclusion and functioned as information dissemination centre. The services provided by the CRPs were owned and monitored by the Women's self-help group and the disability groups thus ensuring sustainability of the model.

Evaluation of a computerized cognitive behavioural therapy programme, MindWise (2.0), for adults with mild-to-moderate depression and anxiety.

PubMed

Collins, Sarah; Byrne, Michael; Hawe, James; O'Reilly, Gary

2018-06-01

To investigate the acceptability and utility of a newly developed computerized cognitive behavioural therapy (cCBT) programme, MindWise (2.0), for adults attending Irish primary care psychology services. Adult primary care psychology service users across four rural locations in Ireland were invited to participate in this study. A total of 60 service users participated in the MindWise (2.0) treatment group and compared to 22 people in a comparison waiting list control group. Participants completed pre- and post-intervention outcome measures of anxiety, depression, and work/social functioning. At post-intervention, 25 of 60 people in the MindWise (2.0) condition had fully completed the programme and 19 of 22 people in the waiting list condition provided time 2 data. Relative to those in the control group, the MindWise (2.0) participants reported significantly reduced symptoms of anxiety and no change in depression or work/social functioning. The newly developed cCBT programme, MindWise (2.0), resulted in significant improvements on a measure of anxiety and may address some barriers to accessing more traditional face-to-face mental health services for adults in a primary care setting. Further programme development and related research appears both warranted and needed to lower programme drop-out, establish if gains in anxiety management are maintained over time, and support people in a primary care context with depression. There is a growing evidence base that computerized self-help programmes can assist in a stepped-care approach to adult mental health service provision. These programmes require further development to address issues such as high dropout, the development of equally effective transdiagnostic content, and greater effectiveness in the country of origin. This study evaluated the acceptability and utility of a brief online CBT programme for adults referred due to anxiety or low mood to primary care psychology services in the national health service in Ireland. Results indicate that 42% of people completed the programme and experienced a significant reduction in anxiety but not depression and no improvement in work or social adjustment compared to similar adults on a waiting list for services. This study suggests the programme warrants further development and research and may in time become a useful and suitable intervention within the national health service in Ireland. © 2017 The British Psychological Society.

"From resistance to challenge": child health service nurses experiences of how a course in group leadership affected their management of parental groups.

PubMed

Lefèvre, Åsa; Lundqvist, Pia; Drevenhorn, Eva; Hallström, Inger

2017-01-01

All parents in Sweden are invited to child health service (CHS) parental groups, however only 49% of the families participate. The way the parental groups are managed has been shown to be of importance for how parents experience the support and CHS nurses describe feeling insecure when running the groups. Lack of facilitation, structure and leadership might jeopardise the potential benefit of such support groups. This study describes CHS nurses' experiences of how a course in group leadership affected the way they ran their parental groups. A course in group leadership given to 56 CHS nurses was evaluated in focus group interviews 5-8 months after the course. The nurses felt strengthened in their group leader role and changed their leadership methods. The management of parental groups was after the course perceived as an important work task and the nurses included time for planning, preparation and evaluation, which they felt improved their parental groups. Parental participation in the activities in the group had become a key issue and they used their new exercises and tools to increase this. They expressed feeling more confident and relaxed in their role as group leaders and felt that they could adapt their leadership to the needs of the parents. Specific training might strengthen the CHS nurses in their group leader role and give them new motivation to fulfil their work with parental groups.  Clinical Trials.gov ID: NCT02494128.

Levels of substance use and willingness to use the Employee Assistance Program.

PubMed

Reynolds, G Shawn; Lehman, Wayne E K

2003-01-01

Individuals with drinking and drug problems may become particularly reluctant to seek help. To remove barriers to services, more needs to be understood about factors that influence help-seeking decisions. It was hypothesized that certain social psychological influences (attitudes, group cohesion, trust in management) might buffer a reluctance to use services provided by an external Employee Assistance Program (EAP). A random sampling of municipal employees (n = 793) completed anonymous questionnaires that assessed willingness to use the EAP, individual drinking and drug use, attitudes toward policy, work group cohesion, and trust in management. Data from the questionnaires were analyzed with multivariate regression analyses to examine the interacting effects of substance abuse and proposed moderators (gender, race, awareness of the EAP, perceptions of policy, cohesion) on willingness to use the EAP. The results demonstrated that although substance abusers were less willing to use the EAP than were nonusers, substance abusers who were aware of the EAP, who had favorable attitudes toward policy, and who did not tolerate coworker substance abuse were as willing to use the EAP as were nonusers. The results also showed that employees with greater awareness of the EAP, support for policy, and perceptions of work group cohesion reported significantly greater willingness to use the EAP than did employees with relatively less awareness of the EAP, policy support, and cohesion. Workplace prevention efforts that are designed to increase the use of EAP services should intentionally target the workplace environment and social context. Creating the awareness and favorability of the EAP, policy, and work group cohesion might buffer substance abusers' reluctance to seek help.

The DLESE Community Services Center

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Geary, E.; Aivazian, B.; Manduca, C.; Mogk, D.

2003-12-01

The DLESE Community Services Center (DCSC) is one of several centers recently funded by the National Science Foundation to promote greater and more effective use of Digital Library resources. The primary goals of the DCSC are to: (1) increase the current resource user and contributor base to include greater numbers of K-12, informal, and college educators and students, (2) diversify the DLESE user and contributor base to include rich and robust representation of ethnic, cultural, and differently-abled groups, (3) improve the ability of users and contributors to easily find, adapt, and use high quality digital resources in their classrooms, laboratories, and communities and (4) demonstrate how DLESE can support community activity addressing issues in geoscience education. During the course of the next three years we will: (a) solicit, create, and disseminate "exemplars" that highlight effective digital resource use in a variety of diverse educational settings, (b) continue to support and promote on-line DLESE community services, and (c) work to develop a DLESE ambassadors outreach program involving educators, scientists, and students working across the Earth, space, and environmental sciences. Collaborations with the DLESE Evaluation and Data Centers, collection builders, the DLESE Program Center staff, as well as diverse audience groups will be a key focus of our efforts. We invite you to join us as we work to build and support the next generation of digital services and resources for educators and students at all levels.

Parents’ views on how health professionals should work with them now to get the best for their child in the future

PubMed Central

Marshall, Joyce L.; Green, Josephine M.; Spiby, Helen

2012-01-01

Abstract Background  Pregnancy and the first years of life are important times for future child well‐being. Early identification of families and children who might be likely to experience poorer outcomes could enable health professionals and parents to work together to promote each child’s well‐being. Little is known about the acceptability and feasibility of such an approach to parents. Objective  To investigate parents’ views about how health professionals should identify and work with families who may benefit from additional input to maximize their children’s future health and well‐being. Design  A qualitative study using focus groups. Setting and participants  Eleven focus groups were conducted with a total of 54 parents; 42 mothers and 12 fathers living in the north of England. Results  Parents welcomed the idea of preventive services. They strongly believed that everyone should have access to services to enhance child well‐being whilst recognizing that some families need additional support. Making judgements about who should receive additional services based on specific criteria evoked powerful emotions because of the implication of failure. Parents projected a belief in themselves as ‘good parents’ even in adverse circumstances. Conclusions  Targeted additional preventive services can be acceptable and welcome if health professionals introduce them sensitively, in the context of an existing relationship, providing parents are active participants. PMID:22512709

Experiences of mental health nursing staff working with voice hearers in an acute setting: An interpretive phenomenological approach.

PubMed

McMullan, E; Gupta, A; Collins, S C

2018-04-01

WHAT IS KNOWN ON THE SUBJECT?: Community mental health staff and their service users have reported mixed views on the importance of talking about the content of voices. Community staff have reported feeling that they do not have the skills to explore voice content and worry about making things worse. Voice hearers experiencing extreme distress due to the content of their voices can access support through acute inpatient mental health services. No previous studies have focused on the experiences of staff who nurse voice hearers at a time of acute distress. WHAT DOES THIS STUDY ADD TO EXISTING KNOWLEDGE?: MHNs and HSWs working with voice hearers in acute distress report feeling powerless and helpless, as they feel that they cannot lessen the distress experienced by the voice hearer. Despite these difficult feelings, staff report finding ways of coping, including using structured tools to help make sense of their service users' voice-hearing experiences and accessing reflective practice forums. WHAT ARE THE IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE?: Due to the current context of increased acuity and limited resources in acute services, there may be a need to further protect time for staff to access reflective practice groups and supervision forums to help them manage the difficult feelings arising from their work with voice hearers. Introduction Mental health nursing (MHN) staff in acute settings work with voice hearers at times of crises when they experience high levels of distress. Previous research has focused on community mental health staff's experiences and their service users views on exploring the content of voices. No studies have explored this from an acute mental health service perspective. Aim This study therefore sought to explore the experiences of staff working with voice hearers in an acute mental health service. Method Due to the exploratory nature of the research, a qualitative design was chosen. Three MHNs and five healthcare support workers (HSWs) were interviewed. The data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results A group analysis elicited three master themes: "It's quite scary really, not unlike a horror movie;" "I can only influence what's in front of me;" and "Just chipping away". Discussion Staff working with voice hearers in acute settings experience feelings of powerlessness and helplessness, as they feel unable to reduce the distress experienced by voice hearers in their care. Staff employ coping strategies to help manage these difficult feelings, including using structured tools in their work with voice hearers and attending reflective practice forums. Implications for Practice Acute mental health services may need to protect time for staff to access regular reflective practice and other supervision forums to help manage their feelings of powerlessness and helplessness arising from their work with voice hearers. © 2017 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Patient and family psychoeducation: Service development and implementation in a center in Iran.

PubMed

Mirsepassi, Zahra; Tabatabaee, Maryam; Sharifi, Vandad; Mottaghipour, Yasaman

2018-02-01

Family and patient psychoeducation have demonstrated significant improvement in clinical and social outcomes for patients suffering from severe mental disorders and their families. However, these evidence-based practices are not widely implemented at service delivery level and into routine clinical practice, especially in less developed countries. The aim of this article is to report the processes of development and implementation of a psychoeducational service for patients with severe mental illnesses and their families in Iran. The program was developed at Roozbeh Hospital in Tehran, Iran. A group of clinicians worked on the development phase of the program and drafting the manuals. Then, a series of workshops and supervision sessions were held to train group leaders for implementation of the group psychoeducation for patients and families. In the pilot phase, the services were delivered to two groups of patients and families, and then the manual was revised based on the feedback from group leaders and participants. The program consisted of eight 90-minute weekly patient group sessions and 6 weekly multiple family group sessions. Two manuals for patient education (schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) were developed. Several information sheets were developed and distributed during different sessions of family and patient psychoeducation related to the content of each session. Despite providing the hospital clinicians with the information regarding these new services, less than 10% of the admitted patients were referred by their clinicians. Feasibility and sustainability of the program are affected by a number of factors. Low referral rate of clinicians, limited resources of the hospital, issues related to stigma and logistic issues are barriers in implementation of these services. Administrators' and clinicians' understanding of the importance of patient and family psychoeducation seems to be crucial in sustainability of such programs in routine service delivery.

What Is the Organizational Culture Regarding Use of Family Nurse Practitioners as Perceived by Selected Objective Medical Group Executives

DTIC Science & Technology

1997-05-01

life at work for members of the group. Who’s us? Who’s them? How do we treat us and 8 them? How do we do things around here and why? What...it! No difference between PA and FNP. Great addition as a gatekeeper ! 1 Have recently converted slot and acquired FNP who is working out very well...FL. 12/79-12/80. 4/79-12/79. 5/78-4/79. ui DISCLAIMER STATEMENT Department of Defense This work was supported by the Uniformed Services

Impact of a Web-Based Electronic Health Record on Behavioral Health Service Delivery for Children and Adolescents: Randomized Controlled Trial.

PubMed

Bruns, Eric J; Hook, Alyssa N; Parker, Elizabeth M; Esposito, Isabella; Sather, April; Parigoris, Ryan M; Lyon, Aaron R; Hyde, Kelly L

2018-06-14

Electronic health records (EHRs) have been widely proposed as a mechanism for improving health care quality. However, rigorous research on the impact of EHR systems on behavioral health service delivery is scant, especially for children and adolescents. The current study evaluated the usability of an EHR developed to support the implementation of the Wraparound care coordination model for children and youth with complex behavioral health needs, and impact of the EHR on service processes, fidelity, and proximal outcomes. Thirty-four Wraparound facilitators working in two programs in two states were randomized to either use the new EHR (19/34, 56%) or to continue to implement Wraparound services as usual (SAU) using paper-based documentation (15/34, 44%). Key functions of the EHR included standard fields such as youth and family information, diagnoses, assessment data, and progress notes. In addition, there was the maintenance of a coordinated plan of care, progress measurement on strategies and services, communication among team members, and reporting on services, expenditures, and outcomes. All children and youth referred to services for eight months (N=211) were eligible for the study. After excluding those who were ineligible (69/211, 33%) and who declined to participate (59/211, 28%), a total of 83/211 (39%) children and youth were enrolled in the study with 49/211 (23%) in the EHR condition and 34/211 (16%) in the SAU condition. Facilitators serving these youth and families and their supervisors completed measures of EHR usability and appropriateness, supervision processes and activities, work satisfaction, and use of and attitudes toward standardized assessments. Data from facilitators were collected by web survey and, where necessary, by phone interviews. Parents and caregivers completed measures via phone interviews. Related to fidelity and quality of behavioral health care, including Wraparound team climate, working alliance with providers, fidelity to the Wraparound model, and satisfaction with services. EHR-assigned facilitators from both sites demonstrated the robust use of the system. Facilitators in the EHR group reported spending significantly more time reviewing client progress (P=.03) in supervision, and less time overall sending reminders to youth/families (P=.04). A trend toward less time on administrative tasks (P=.098) in supervision was also found. Facilitators in both groups reported significantly increased use of measurement-based care strategies overall, which may reflect cross-group contamination (given that randomization of staff to the EHR occurred within agencies and supervisors supervised both types of staff). Although not significant at P<.05, there was a trend (P=.10) toward caregivers in the EHR group reporting poorer shared agreement on tasks on the measure of working alliance with providers. No other significant between-group differences were found. Results support the proposal that use of EHR systems can promote the use of client progress data and promote efficiency; however, there was little evidence of any impact (positive or negative) on overall service quality, fidelity, or client satisfaction. The field of children's behavioral health services would benefit from additional research on EHR systems using designs that include larger sample sizes and longer follow-up periods. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02421874; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02421874 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/6yyGPJ3NA). ©Eric J Bruns, Alyssa N Hook, Elizabeth M Parker, Isabella Esposito, April Sather, Ryan M Parigoris, Aaron R Lyon, Kelly L Hyde. Originally published in the Journal of Medical Internet Research (http://www.jmir.org), 14.06.2018.

Beyond professional boundaries: relationships and resources in health services' modernisation in England and Wales.

PubMed

Huby, Guro; Harris, Fiona M; Powell, Alison E; Kielman, Tara; Sheikh, Aziz; Williams, Sian; Pinnock, Hilary

2014-03-01

This article draws on theories of social capital to understand ways in which the negotiation of professional boundaries among healthcare professionals relates to health services change. We compared reconfiguration of respiratory services in four primary care organisations (PCOs) in England and Wales. Service development was observed over 18 months during a period of market-based reforms. Serial interviews with key clinicians and managers from hospital trusts and PCOs followed progress as they collaborated around, negotiated and contested developments. We found that professionals work to protect and expand their claims to work territory. Remuneration and influence was a catalyst for development and was also necessary to establish professional boundaries that underpinned novel service arrangements. Conflict and contest was less of a threat to change than a lack of engagement in boundary work because this engagement produced relationships based on forming shifting professional allegiances across and along boundaries, and these relationships mediated the social capital needed to accomplish change. However, this process also (re)produced inequalities among professions and prevented some groups from participation in service change. © 2013 The Authors. Sociology of Health & Illness © 2013 Foundation for the Sociology of Health & Illness/John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Motion Imagery and Robotics Application (MIRA)

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martinez, Lindolfo; Rich, Thomas

2011-01-01

Objectives include: I. Prototype a camera service leveraging the CCSDS Integrated protocol stack (MIRA/SM&C/AMS/DTN): a) CCSDS MIRA Service (New). b) Spacecraft Monitor and Control (SM&C). c) Asynchronous Messaging Service (AMS). d) Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networking (DTN). II. Additional MIRA Objectives: a) Demo of Camera Control through ISS using CCSDS protocol stack (Berlin, May 2011). b) Verify that the CCSDS standards stack can provide end-to-end space camera services across ground and space environments. c) Test interoperability of various CCSDS protocol standards. d) Identify overlaps in the design and implementations of the CCSDS protocol standards. e) Identify software incompatibilities in the CCSDS stack interfaces. f) Provide redlines to the SM&C, AMS, and DTN working groups. d) Enable the CCSDS MIRA service for potential use in ISS Kibo camera commanding. e) Assist in long-term evolution of this entire group of CCSDS standards to TRL 6 or greater.

Working with the 'difficult' patient: the use of a contextual cognitive-analytic therapy based training in improving team function in a routine psychiatry service setting.

PubMed

Caruso, Rosangela; Biancosino, Bruno; Borghi, Cristiana; Marmai, Luciana; Kerr, Ian B; Grassi, Luigi

2013-12-01

The clinical management of 'difficult' patients is a major challenge which exposes mental health teams to an increased risk of frustration and stress and may lead to professional burnout. The aim of the present study was to investigate whether a cognitive-analytic therapy (CAT) based training undertaken by a mental health team working with 'difficult' patients reduced professional burnout symptoms, improved patients' service engagement and increased the levels of team-cohesion. Twelve mental health staff members from different professional and educational backgrounds took part in five 2-hour sessions providing a basic CAT training intervention, an integrative and relational model of psychotherapy for the treatment of borderline personality disorders. Participants were administered the Maslach Burnout Inventory (MBI), the Service Engagement Scale (SES) and the Group Environment Questionnaire (GEQ) before (T0) and after (T1) CAT training, and at 1-month follow-up (T2). A significant decrease were found, at T2, on the MBI Emotional Exhaustion scores, the SES Availability subscale, the GEQ Attraction to Group-Social and Group Integration-Social, while the MBI-Personal Accomplishment scores increased from baseline.The results of this study suggest that a CAT-based training can facilitate team cohesion and patient engagement with a service and reduce burnout levels among mental health team members dealing with 'difficult' patients.

Workshop on effects management on forest soil carbon: A report. Held in Fort Collins, Colorado on December 5-7, 1994. Forest Service general technical report

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Frey, S.D.

1996-03-01

The Health Effects Institute`s (HEI) Diesel Working Group recently completed an evaluation of the carcinogenic risks associated with exposure to diesel engine emission. Part I of this report, `Critical Issues In Assessing the Carcinogenicity of Diesel Exhaust: A Synthesis of Current Knowledge,` by Kathleen M. Nauss and the HEI Diesel Working Group presents the consensus views of the Group. Part II contains four background papers that address emissions and exposure issues and five papers that consider biological responses.

Palliative Care Development in Kyrgyzstan.

PubMed

Mukambetov, Aibek; Sabyrbekova, Taalaigul; Asanalieva, Lola; Sadykov, Ilim; Connor, Stephen R

2018-02-01

Palliative care began in Kyrgyzstan in 2005 as a pilot home-based care program in Osh Cancer Center and was supported by a small group of nurses and one physician from Scotland. In 2010, the Soros Foundation-Kyrgyzstan and the Open Society Foundation's International Palliative Care Initiative began supporting work on palliative care policy, legislation, essential medicine availability, education, advocacy, and implementation. A Ministry of Health working group was established to lead this initiative, and technical assistance was provided by an international palliative care consultant. Work began with a national needs assessment, which identified the existing barriers to the provision of quality palliative care, and recommendations were made to the working group to address these challenges. Today, palliative care is included in many national health care policies and laws, a national palliative care association has been established, undergraduate medical and nursing education include elements of palliative care, oral morphine and fentanyl patches are now available in parts of the country, inpatient services exist in the National Cancer Center in Osh and Bishkek, two tuberculosis hospitals with multidrug resistant/extensively drug resistant, and home care services in Osh and Bishkek. Public information campaigns and advocacy activities continue to increase public awareness about palliative care and press government action. Copyright © 2017 American Academy of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

77 FR 50420 - Proposed Provision of Navigation Services for the Next Generation Air Transportation System...

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2012-08-21

... operate and conduct training in a GPS-denied environment. Both the FAA and DoD are committed to working... Defense (DoD), and Airlines For America (A4A)) expressed interest in being included in the working group... commented that they would like to be consulted on the policy. FAA Response: The FAA will convene a working...

The space shuttle payload planning working groups. Volume 6: Communications and navigation

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

1973-01-01

The findings of the Communications and Navigation working group of the space shuttle payload planning activity are presented. The basic goals to be accomplished are to increase the use of space systems and to develop new space capabilities for providing communication and navigation services to the user community in the 1980 time period. Specific experiments to be conducted for improving space communication and navigation capabilities are defined. The characteristics of the experimental equipment required to accomplish the mission are discussed.

Exploring sex differences in drug use, health and service use characteristics among young urban crack users in Brazil.

PubMed

Bertoni, Neilane; Burnett, Chantal; Cruz, Marcelo Santos; Andrade, Tarcisio; Bastos, Francisco I; Leal, Erotildes; Fischer, Benedikt

2014-08-28

Studies have shown important gender differences among drug (including crack) users related to: drug use patterns; health risks and consequences; criminal involvement; and service needs/use. Crack use is prevalent in Brazil; however, few comparative data by sex exist. We examined and compared by sex key drug use, health, socio-economic indicators and service use in a bi-city sample of young (18-24 years), regular and marginalized crack users in Brazil. Study participants (total n = 159; n = 124 males and n = 35 females) were recruited by community-based methods from impoverished neighborhoods in Rio de Janeiro and Salvador. Assessments occurred by an anonymous interviewer-administered questionnaire and serum collection for blood-borne virus testing between November 2010 and June 2011. Descriptive statistics and differences for key variables by sex were computed; in addition, a 'chi-squared automatic interaction detector' ('CHAID') analysis explored potential primary factors differentiating male and female participants. Most participants were non-white, and had low education and multiple income sources. More women had unstable housing and income from sex work and/or panhandling/begging, whereas more men were employed. Both groups indicated multi-year histories of and frequent daily crack use, but virtually no drug injection histories. Men reported more co-use of other drugs. More women were: involved in sex-for-drug exchanges; blood-borne virus (BBV) tested and HIV+. Both groups reported similar physical and mental health patterns; however women more commonly utilized social or health services. The CHAID analysis identified sex work; paid work; begging/panhandling; as well as physical and mental health status (all at p < 0.05) as primary differentiating factors by sex. Crack users in our study showed notable differences by sex, including socio-economic indicators, drug co-use patterns, sex risks/work, BBV testing and status, and service utilization. Results emphasize the need for targeted special interventions and services for males and female crack users in Brazil.

Work Integration Issues Go beyond the Nature of the Communication Disorder.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Garcia, Linda J.; Laroche, Chantal; Barrette, Jacques

2002-01-01

A study gathered perceptions from persons with communication disorders (CD) (n=78), 13 service providers, and 22 employers on barriers to work integration. Results show many barriers are common across types of CD, including noise, tasks requiring speed, having to speak to groups of persons, and attitudes of others. (Contains references.)…

Research in adaptive management: working relations and the research process.

Treesearch

Amanda C. Graham; Linda E. Kruger

2002-01-01

This report analyzes how a small group of Forest Service scientists participating in efforts to implement adaptive management approach working relations, and how they understand and apply the research process. Nine scientists completed a questionnaire to assess their preferred mode of thinking (the Herrmann Brain Dominance Instrument), engaged in a facilitated...

Juggling and Struggling: A Preliminary Work-Life Study of Mothers with Adolescents Who Have Developmental Disabilities

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Parish, Susan L.

2006-01-01

A focus group study was conducted to develop an understanding of the experiences of mothers who are trying to balance employment with caring for an adolescent with developmental disabilities. Mothers reported facing considerable difficulties balancing work and caregiving responsibilities because support services rapidly declined when their child…

A Tanzanian Perspective of the Technical Aspects of IT Service Management Education

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kemppainen, Jyri; Tedre, Matti; Sutinen, Erkki

2012-01-01

Information technology (IT) professionals face markedly different kinds of challenges in developing countries from the ones in developed countries. Based on the research literature and our fourteen years of fieldwork in Iringa, Tanzania, we have identified eight groups of technical characteristics of IT work that significantly affect the work of…

Career Development Specialties for the 21st Century. Trends and Issues Alert No. 13.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Kerka, Sandra

The need for career development services is growing. One-stop career centers and school-to-work programs have spurred demand for career development facilitators (CDFs). Working under the supervision of a qualified career counselor, CDFs can serve the following functions: career group facilitator, job search trainer, career resource center…

Working with Teachers to Promote Children's Participation through Pupil-Led Research

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Burton, Debbie; Smith, Margaret; Woods, Kevin

2010-01-01

Enabling children and young people to act as researchers is increasingly viewed as useful in supporting their increased "participation" within settings where they live, work or receive services. This paper reports upon a project conducted by two educational psychologists (EPs) with two primary school class groups, in which the children…

Rethinking Difficulties of Teaching Inquiry-Based Practical Work: Stories from elementary pre-service teachers

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kim, Mijung; Tan, Aik-Ling

2011-03-01

To alleviate teachers' reluctance toward practical work, there has been much discussion on teachers' pedagogical content knowledge, teaching materials, and failsafe strategies for practical work. Despite these efforts, practical work is still regarded as a challenging task for many elementary science teachers. To understand the complexity of teachers' conflicts in practical work, this study examines teachers' ideas about teaching and learning that influence teachers' decision-making and action on teaching practical work. More important than knowing technical-rational aspects of practical work is to understand the internal contradictions that teachers have to resolve within themselves regarding their capabilities and beliefs about science teaching and practical work. Using stories and experiences of 38 third-year university students in a science method course in Korea, we seek to understand the conflicts and negotiations that they experience as they make decisions regarding practical work throughout their course. Reflective writings and group discussions on their lived experiences and concerns were used to probe participants' ideas on teaching using practical work. From written and verbal data, themes were saturated in terms of the aspects which could (dis)encourage their practice. Results suggest that there are multifactorial challenges in pre-service teachers' understandings and concerns in practical work. Besides time, materials, and curriculum, pedagogical assumptions and values also compositely challenge the minds of teachers. As the pre-service elementary teachers negotiated within themselves the importance of science in classroom and social levels, the question is raised about their identities as pre-service elementary teachers to appreciate the balance between science teaching and practical work.

Economic models for prevention: making a system work for patients

PubMed Central

2015-01-01

The purpose of this article is to describe alternative means of providing patient centered, preventive based, services using an alternative non-profit, economic model. Hard to reach, vulnerable groups, including children, adults and elders, often have difficulties accessing traditional dental services for a number of reasons, including economic barriers. By partnering with community organizations that serve these groups, collaborative services and new opportunities for access are provided. The concept of a dental home is well accepted as a means of providing care, and, for these groups, provision of such services within community settings provides a sustainable means of delivery. Dental homes provided through community partnerships can deliver evidence based dental care, focused on a preventive model to achieve and maintain oral health. By using a non-profit model, the entire dental team is provided with incentives to deliver measurable quality improvements in care, rather than a more traditional focus on volume of activity alone. Examples are provided that demonstrate how integrated oral health services can deliver improved health outcomes with the potential to reduce total costs while improving quality. PMID:26391814

Job satisfaction, burnout and turnover intention in occupational therapists working in mental health.

PubMed

Scanlan, Justin Newton; Still, Megan

2013-10-01

Employee wellbeing is an important issue for mental health services. Poor employee wellbeing (i.e., high levels of burnout or low job satisfaction) is associated with poorer consumer outcomes and higher staff turnover. This study set out to examine factors related to job satisfaction, turnover intention and burnout in a group of occupational therapists in mental health. Thirty-four occupational therapists (response rate approximately 60%) in a metropolitan public mental health service participated in a whole-of-service workforce survey. The survey included measures of job satisfaction, turnover intention, burnout, job hindrances, job challenges and job resources and questions about positive and negative aspects of positions and factors that attracted employees to their current position. Burnout was associated with lower job satisfaction and higher turnover intention. Higher job satisfaction was associated with rewards (remuneration and recognition) as well as cognitively challenging work. The variables most significantly associated with poorer wellbeing (higher turnover intention and burnout) were recipient contact demands (perception that contact with service users or families was demanding), and feelings of stress or fatigue. This study provides a detailed analysis of factors associated with job satisfaction, turnover intention and burnout in a group of occupational therapists working in mental health. To promote workforce wellbeing and enhanced retention, interventions to minimise burnout should be implemented and evaluated. These strategies should focus on enhancing job resources such as supervisor support, feedback and participation in decision making as well as building the personal resilience of occupational therapists working in mental health. © 2013 Occupational Therapy Australia.

Investigating the effect of the London living wage on the psychological wellbeing of low-wage service sector employees: a feasibility study.

PubMed

Flint, Ellen; Cummins, Steven; Wills, Jane

2014-06-01

Working poverty has become a major public health concern in recent times, and low-paid, insecure employment has been widely linked to poor psychological wellbeing. The London Living Wage (LLW) campaign aims to ensure employees receive adequate pay. The objective of this study is to investigate whether working for a LLW employer predicted higher levels of psychological wellbeing among low-wage service sector employees. Workplace interviews were conducted with 300 service sector employees in London; 173 of whom were in LLW workplaces. Positive psychological wellbeing was measured using the Warwick-Edinburgh Mental Wellbeing Scale. Multivariate linear regression was used to assess whether working for a LLW employer was associated with greater psychological wellbeing, adjusting for hypothesised confounding and mediating factors. After adjustment, respondents working for LLW employers had wellbeing scores 3.9 units higher on average than those who did not (95% CI: 1.8, 6.0). These empirical results are complemented by methodological findings regarding the difficulties associated with accessing the study group. Those who worked for a LLW employer had significantly higher psychological wellbeing on average than those who did not. This was shown to be irrespective of any differences in the socioeconomic or demographic composition of these two groups. © The Author 2013. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Faculty of Public Health. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

[Occupational stress in assembly line workers in electronics manufacturing service and related influencing factors].

PubMed

Ji, Y Q; Li, S; Wang, C; Wang, J; Liu, X M

2016-10-20

Objective: To investigate occupational stress in assembly line workers in electronics manu-facturing service (EMS) and related influencing factors. Methods: From June to October, 2015, a cross-sectional survey was performed for 5 944 assembly line workers in EMS (observation group) and 6 270 workers from other posts (non-assembly line workers and management personnel; control group) using the self-made questionnaire for basic information, job demand-control (JDC) model questionnaire, and effort-reward imbalance (ERI) model questionnaire to collect respondents' basic information and occupational stress. Results: The observation group had significantly lower work autonomy, social support, and work reward scores than the control group (2.72 ± 0.63/3.64 ± 0.68/4.06 ± 0.80 vs 3.00 ± 0.67/3.83 ± 0.68/4.24 ± 0.75, t =23.53, 15.41, and 12.70, all P <0.05) , as well as significantly higher work effort and job involvement scores than the control group (2.34±0.78/2.48±0.78 vs 2.21±0.80/2.33±0.77, t =-9.08 and-10.90, both P <0.05). The observation group had significantly higher proportions of workers with occupational stress determined by JDC and ERI models than the control group (64.5%/12.7% vs 52.6%/9.9%, χ 2 =182.26 and 23.41, both P <0.05). Female sex, migrant workers, working time >60 hours/week, and sleeping time <7 hours/day were major risk factors for occupational stress in JDC model; education background of Bachelor's degree or above, working time >60 hours/week, and sleeping time<7 hours/day were major risk factors for occupational stress in ERI model, while female sex and a high monthly income reduced the risk of occupational stress in ERI model. Conclusion: Assembly line workers in EMS are a relatively vulnerable group and have a high degree of occupational stress. Working time >60 hours/week and sleeping time <7 hours/day are major risk factors for occupational stress.

Focused development of advanced practice nurse roles for specific patient groups in a Swiss university hospital

PubMed

Spichiger, Elisabeth; Zumstein-Shaha, Maya; Schubert, Maria; Herrmann, Luzia

2018-02-01

Background: To cover future health care needs of the population, new care models are necessary. The development of advanced nursing practice (ANP) offers the opportunity to meet these challenges with novel services. At the Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, ANP services and corresponding advanced practice nurse (APN) roles have been developed since 2011. Purpose: The aim is to develop innovative and evidence based ANP services to supplement health care for specific patient groups and their family members with the goal to improve safety and achieve better outcomes. Methods: Project-based ANP services are developed in close collaboration of clinical departments and the Nursing Development Unit (NDU) of the Directorate of Nursing. Structure, process and outcome data are collected for evaluation. Findings: Currently, five ANP services are established and running, eight more are in the developmental phase. Most services address the long term care of patients with chronic illnesses and their family members. Ten APNs work between 10 % and 80 %, three are leading an ANP-team. APNs work over 50 % in direct clinical practice, primarily in counselling. An ANP network connects APNs and NDU, promoting synergy and exchange. Conclusions: The available resources often constitute a challenge for the development of ANP services. Vital for the long-term success are an adequate extent of the position, the support by department directorate, the conceptual framework that is implemented across the whole hospital, and the development within project structures.

Open pre-schools at integrated health services-A program theory.

PubMed

Abrahamsson, Agneta; Samarasinghe, Kerstin

2013-04-01

Family centres in Sweden are integrated services that reach all prospective parents and parents with children up to their sixth year, because of the co-location of the health service with the social service and the open pre-school. The personnel on the multi-professional site work together to meet the needs of the target group. The article explores a program theory focused on the open pre-schools at family centres. A multi-case design is used and the sample consists of open pre-schools at six family centres. The hypothesis is based on previous research and evaluation data. It guides the data collection which is collected and analysed stepwise. Both parents and personnel are interviewed individually and in groups at each centre. The hypothesis was expanded to a program theory. The compliance of the professionals was the most significant element that explained why the open access service facilitated positive parenting. The professionals act in a compliant manner to meet the needs of the children and parents as well as in creating good conditions for social networking and learning amongst the parents. The compliance of the professionals in this program theory of open pre-schools at family centres can be a standard in integrated and open access services, whereas the organisation form can vary. The best way of increasing the number of integrative services is to support and encourage professionals that prefer to work in a compliant manner.

The Mental Vitality @ Work study: design of a randomized controlled trial on the effect of a workers' health surveillance mental module for nurses and allied health professionals

PubMed Central

2011-01-01

Background Employees in health care service are at high risk for developing mental health complaints. The effects of mental health complaints on work can have serious consequences for the quality of care provided by these workers. To help health service workers remain healthy and productive, preventive actions are necessary. A Workers' Health Surveillance (WHS) mental module may be an effective strategy to monitor and promote good (mental) health and work performance. The objective of this paper is to describe the design of a three arm cluster randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness of a WHS mental module for nurses and allied health professionals. Two strategies for this WHS mental module will be compared along with data from a control group. Additionally, the cost effectiveness of the approaches will be evaluated from a societal perspective. Methods The study is designed as a cluster randomized controlled trial consisting of three arms (two intervention groups, 1 control group) with randomization at ward level. The study population consists of 86 departments in one Dutch academic medical center with a total of 1731 nurses and allied health professionals. At baseline, after three months and after six months of follow-up, outcomes will be assessed by online questionnaires. In both intervention arms, participants will complete a screening to detect problems in mental health and work functioning and receive feedback on their screening results. In cases of impairments in mental health or work functioning in the first intervention arm, a consultation with an occupational physician will be offered. The second intervention arm offers a choice of self-help e-mental health interventions, which will be tailored based on each individual's mental health state and work functioning. The primary outcomes will be help-seeking behavior and work functioning. Secondary outcomes will be mental health and wellbeing. Furthermore, cost-effectiveness in both intervention arms will be assessed, and a process evaluation will be performed. Discussion When it is proven effective compared to a control group, a WHS mental module for nurses and allied health professionals could be implemented and used on a regular basis by occupational health services in hospitals to improve employees' mental health and work functioning. Trial Registration NTR2786 PMID:21569282

The Mental Vitality @ Work study: design of a randomized controlled trial on the effect of a workers' health surveillance mental module for nurses and allied health professionals.

PubMed

Gärtner, Fania R; Ketelaar, Sarah M; Smeets, Odile; Bolier, Linda; Fischer, Eva; van Dijk, Frank J H; Nieuwenhuijsen, Karen; Sluiter, Judith K

2011-05-10

Employees in health care service are at high risk for developing mental health complaints. The effects of mental health complaints on work can have serious consequences for the quality of care provided by these workers. To help health service workers remain healthy and productive, preventive actions are necessary. A Workers' Health Surveillance (WHS) mental module may be an effective strategy to monitor and promote good (mental) health and work performance. The objective of this paper is to describe the design of a three arm cluster randomized controlled trial on the effectiveness of a WHS mental module for nurses and allied health professionals. Two strategies for this WHS mental module will be compared along with data from a control group. Additionally, the cost effectiveness of the approaches will be evaluated from a societal perspective. The study is designed as a cluster randomized controlled trial consisting of three arms (two intervention groups, 1 control group) with randomization at ward level. The study population consists of 86 departments in one Dutch academic medical center with a total of 1731 nurses and allied health professionals. At baseline, after three months and after six months of follow-up, outcomes will be assessed by online questionnaires. In both intervention arms, participants will complete a screening to detect problems in mental health and work functioning and receive feedback on their screening results. In cases of impairments in mental health or work functioning in the first intervention arm, a consultation with an occupational physician will be offered. The second intervention arm offers a choice of self-help e-mental health interventions, which will be tailored based on each individual's mental health state and work functioning. The primary outcomes will be help-seeking behavior and work functioning. Secondary outcomes will be mental health and wellbeing. Furthermore, cost-effectiveness in both intervention arms will be assessed, and a process evaluation will be performed. When it is proven effective compared to a control group, a WHS mental module for nurses and allied health professionals could be implemented and used on a regular basis by occupational health services in hospitals to improve employees' mental health and work functioning. NTR2786.

Vulnerability and Agency: Beyond an Irreconcilable Dichotomy for Social Service Providers Working with Young Refugees in the UK

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

O'Higgins, Aoife

2012-01-01

Many young refugees face significant difficulties in securing support from social services providers. This study invited 21 young refugees aged 16 to 21 to take part in focus groups and follow-up interviews about their experiences of accessing this support. The findings reveal that young refugees may deliberately conform to expectations about…

Evaluation of Classroom Teachers' Opinions about In-Service Training (The Case of Mugla)

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Aykaç, Necdet; Yildirim, Kasim

2017-01-01

The current study aimed to evaluate the classroom teachers' opinions about in-service training process. Thus, the current study was designed as a descriptive case study. A total of 28 classroom teachers constituted the sample group of the research. The research process was carried out on the classroom teachers working in state elementary schools…

Short-Term Effectiveness of Psychotherapy Treatments Delivered at a University Counselling Service

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Monti, Fiorella; Tonetti, Lorenzo; Ricci Bitti, Pio Enrico

2016-01-01

This work aimed to evaluate the short-term effectiveness of psychotherapy delivered at the counselling service of the University of Bologna (Italy), by means of a single group longitudinal study including a 6-months follow-up. To this end, sixty-six students completed the 6-months follow-up and filled in the Symptom Questionnaire (SQ) three times,…

What's the Technology For? Teacher Attention and Pedagogical Goals in a Modeling-Focused Professional Development Workshop

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Wilkerson, Michelle Hoda; Andrews, Chelsea; Shaban, Yara; Laina, Vasiliki; Gravel, Brian E.

2016-01-01

This paper explores the role that technology can play in engaging pre-service teachers with the iterative, "messy" nature of model-based inquiry. Over the course of 5 weeks, 11 pre-service teachers worked in groups to construct models of diffusion using a computational animation and simulation toolkit, and designed lesson plans for the…

Report of Library Services and Construction Act Project # 2842, July 1 - December 31, 1966.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Los Angeles Public Library, CA.

This report covers the second six months of the Los Angeles Public Library's project to extend library service to the disadvantaged. In the second period emphasis was placed on involvement with individuals as well as with community groups, on development of techniques, and on assembling a variety of materials for reaching and working with…

Moving improvement research closer to practice: the Researcher-in-Residence model.

PubMed

Marshall, Martin; Pagel, Christina; French, Catherine; Utley, Martin; Allwood, Dominique; Fulop, Naomi; Pope, Catherine; Banks, Victoria; Goldmann, Allan

2014-10-01

The traditional separation of the producers of research evidence in academia from the users of that evidence in healthcare organisations has not succeeded in closing the gap between what is known about the organisation and delivery of health services and what is actually done in practice. As a consequence, there is growing interest in alternative models of knowledge creation and mobilisation, ones which emphasise collaboration, active participation of all stakeholders, and a commitment to shared learning. Such models have robust historical, philosophical and methodological foundations but have not yet been embraced by many of the people working in the health sector. This paper presents an emerging model of participation, the Researcher-in-Residence. The model positions the researcher as a core member of a delivery team, actively negotiating a body of expertise which is different from, but complementary to, the expertise of managers and clinicians. Three examples of in-residence models are presented: an anthropologist working as a member of an executive team, operational researchers working in a front-line delivery team, and a Health Services Researcher working across an integrated care organisation. Each of these examples illustrates the contribution that an embedded researcher can make to a service-based team. They also highlight a number of unanswered questions about the model, including the required level of experience of the researcher and their areas of expertise, the institutional facilitators and barriers to embedding the model, and the risk that the independence of an embedded researcher might be compromised. The Researcher-in-Residence model has the potential to engage both academics and practitioners in the promotion of evidence-informed service improvement, but further evaluation is required before the model should be routinely used in practice. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

A survey of the role of the UK physicist in nuclear medicine: a report of a joint working group of the British Institute of Radiology, British Nuclear Medicine Society, and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine.

PubMed

Tindale, W B; Thorley, P J; Nunan, T O; Lewington, V; Shields, R A; Williams, N R

2003-01-01

Guidelines for the provision of physics support to nuclear medicine were published in 1999 by a joint working group of the British Institute of Radiology, the British Nuclear Medicine Society, and the Institute of Physics and Engineering in Medicine. Following publication of the guidelines, a survey was conducted by the working group to gather data on the actual level of physicist support in UK hospitals of different types and on the activities undertaken by physicists. The data were collected in the 12 months following the publication of guidelines and cover different hospital models and seven UK regions. The results provide evidence that many of the smaller units - small teaching hospitals and, particularly, small district general hospitals - have insufficient physics support. Although, on average, there is good agreement between the guidelines and the survey data for medium and large district general hospitals, there is wide variation in the level of physics provision between hospitals delivering apparently similar services. This emphasizes the need for national guidelines, against which institutions may be bench-marked and which may be used as a recommendation for the staffing levels necessary to ensure services are delivered safely and standards are not compromised. The complexity and variety of workload is an important factor in determining the level of physics support. As services develop, it is vital that this aspect is recognized to ensure that appropriate resources are available for the required physics input, even if any new service represents only a modest clinical throughput in terms of patient numbers.

Using Vicarious Experience and Verbal Persuasion to Enhance Self-Efficacy in Pre-Service Teachers: "Priming the Pump" for Consultation.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hagen, Kenneth M.; Gutkin, Terry B.; Wilson, Caryll Palmer; Oats, Robert G.

1998-01-01

Investigates whether self-efficacy perceptions pertaining to working with difficult-to-teach children could be increased for preservice teachers using vicarious experience and verbal persuasion. Experimental group viewed a videotape demonstrating behavior management procedures while the control group viewed a placebo video. Experimental group…

A Model to Guide the Evolution of a Multiprofessional Group into an Interprofessional Team

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Varagona, Lynn; Nandan, Monica; Hooks, Dwayne; Porter, Kandice Johnson; Maguire, Mary Beth; Slater-Moody, Judith

2017-01-01

The focus on multiple disciplines coming together to provide services, create products, and solve problems is growing worldwide. Higher education is no exception. This case study illustrates how academic disciplines can transition from a silo mentality to working collaboratively across disciplinary lines. A multiprofessional group of faculty…

The Modification of Intelligence through Early Experience.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Ramey, Craig T.; Haskins, Ron

Infants judged to be at risk for subnormal intellectual growth were randomly assigned to an experimental (N=27) or a control (N=25) group. Infants in both groups received medical care and dietary supplements; their families received social work services on a request basis. Experimental children participated in an educational day care program…

34 CFR 364.20 - What are the general requirements for a State plan?

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-07-01

... statewide network of centers; and (3) Working relationships between— (i) Programs providing IL services and... interested groups, organizations, and individuals, an opportunity to comment on the State plan prior to its... constituency groups and organizations identified by the DSU and SILC. (ii) The DSU and SILC shall make...

Making It Fit: Reshaping Library Services and Spaces for Today's Students

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Mosley, Paul; Alderman, Jim; Carmichael, Lisandra R.

2015-01-01

University course assignments increasingly focus on group work and group projects to help students collaboratively discover more about their fields of study. The Thomas G. Carpenter Library realized the need to investigate means for reimagining itself to better accommodate today's researchers. The complex process of planning for the redesign of…

Out-of-School Immigrant Youth

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Hill, Laura E.; Hayes, Joseph M.

2007-01-01

This report examines a little noticed group of Californians: young immigrants not in school and who receive few if any educational services. The authors also observe the federal Migrant Education Program (MEP), charged with helping this group. Using MEP and census data, the authors find that many out-of-school youth work, left school while quite…

Charter for Systems Engineer Working Group

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Suffredini, Michael T.; Grissom, Larry

2015-01-01

This charter establishes the International Space Station Program (ISSP) Mobile Servicing System (MSS) Systems Engineering Working Group (SEWG). The MSS SEWG is established to provide a mechanism for Systems Engineering for the end-to-end MSS function. The MSS end-to-end function includes the Space Station Remote Manipulator System (SSRMS), the Mobile Remote Servicer (MRS) Base System (MBS), Robotic Work Station (RWS), Special Purpose Dexterous Manipulator (SPDM), Video Signal Converters (VSC), and Operations Control Software (OCS), the Mobile Transporter (MT), and by interfaces between and among these elements, and United States On-Orbit Segment (USOS) distributed systems, and other International Space Station Elements and Payloads, (including the Power Data Grapple Fixtures (PDGFs), MSS Capture Attach System (MCAS) and the Mobile Transporter Capture Latch (MTCL)). This end-to-end function will be supported by the ISS and MSS ground segment facilities. This charter defines the scope and limits of the program authority and document control that is delegated to the SEWG and it also identifies the panel core membership and specific operating policies.

Development of electronic medical record charting for hospital-based transfusion and apheresis medicine services: Early adoption perspectives

PubMed Central

Levy, Rebecca; Pantanowitz, Liron; Cloutier, Darlene; Provencher, Jean; McGirr, Joan; Stebbins, Jennifer; Cronin, Suzanne; Wherry, Josh; Fenton, Joseph; Donelan, Eileen; Johari, Vandita; Andrzejewski, Chester

2010-01-01

Background: Electronic medical records (EMRs) provide universal access to health care information across multidisciplinary lines. In pathology departments, transfusion and apheresis medicine services (TAMS) involved in direct patient care activities produce data and documentation that typically do not enter the EMR. Taking advantage of our institution's initiative for implementation of a paperless medical record, our TAMS division set out to develop an electronic charting (e-charting) strategy within the EMR. Methods: A focus group of our hospital's transfusion committee consisting of transfusion medicine specialists, pathologists, residents, nurses, hemapheresis specialists, and information technologists was constituted and charged with the project. The group met periodically to implement e-charting TAMS workflow and produced electronic documents within the EMR (Cerner Millenium) for various service line functions. Results: The interdisciplinary working group developed and implemented electronic versions of various paper-based clinical documentation used by these services. All electronic notes collectively gather and reside within a unique Transfusion Medicine Folder tab in the EMR, available to staff with access to patient charts. E-charting eliminated illegible handwritten notes, resulted in more consistent clinical documentation among staff, and provided greater realered. However, minor updates and corrections to documents as well as select work re-designs were required for optimal use of e-charting-time review/access of hemotherapy practices. No major impediments to workflow or inefficiencies have been encount by these services. Conclusion: Documentation of pathology subspecialty activities such as TAMS can be successfully incorporated into the EMR. E-charting by staff enhances communication and helps promote standardized documentation of patient care within and across service lines. Well-constructed electronic documents in the EMR may also enhance data mining, quality improvement, and biovigilance monitoring activities. PMID:20805955

CMIP6 Citation Services and the Data Services of the IPCC Data Distribution Centre for AR6

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Stockhause, Martina; Lautenschlager, Michael

2017-04-01

As a result of the experiences from CMIP5 the two services contributed by DKRZ to the CMIP research infrastructure have been improved for CMIP6: the Citation Services and the Services of the IPCC Data Distribution Centre (DDC, http://ipcc-data.org). 1. Data Citation Services: Within CMIP5 it took a couple of years before the data was citable with their DataCite DOIs. The DataCite DOI registration by the WDC Climate at DKRZ (World Data Center Climate at the Climate Computing Center) requires data transfer and long-term archival at DKRZ according to DDC's quality standards. Based on a request from WGCM (Working Group on Climate Models) an additional early citation possibility for the evolving CMIP6 data was added to the citation service (http://cmip6cite.wdc-climate.de). 2. IPCC DDC Services: WDC Climate has been hosting the IPCC DDC's Reference Data Archive for the climate model output underlying the IPCC Assessment Reports (ARs) since the Second Assessment Report in 1995. One task of the DDC is the support of the IPCC Working Groups (WGs) and their authors. The WG support was not sufficient for AR5 resulting in WG I setting up and maintaining their own CMIP5 data repository hosting a data subset. The DDC will open DKRZ's CMIP data pool as an additional DDC service for the IPCC authors using a synergy with the interests of the national climate community. Within the PICO the Citation and the IPCC DDC services will be presented from a user's perspective. The connections to and integration into the infrastructure for CMIP6 (see https://www.earthsystemcog.org/projects/wip/) will be explained.

Workplace health and safety issues among community nurses: a study regarding the impact on providing care to rural consumers.

PubMed

Terry, Daniel; Lê, Quynh; Nguyen, Uyen; Hoang, Ha

2015-08-12

The objective of the study was to investigate the types of workplace health and safety issues rural community nurses encounter and the impact these issues have on providing care to rural consumers. The study undertook a narrative inquiry underpinned by a phenomenological approach. Community nursing staff who worked exclusively in rural areas and employed in a permanent capacity were contacted among 13 of the 16 consenting healthcare services. All community nurses who expressed a desire to participate were interviewed. Data were collected using semistructured interviews with 15 community nurses in rural and remote communities. Thematic analysis was used to analyse interview data. The role, function and structures of community nursing services varied greatly from site to site and were developed and centred on meeting the needs of individual communities. In addition, a number of workplace health and safety challenges were identified and were centred on the geographical, physical and organisational environment that community nurses work across. The workplace health and safety challenges within these environments included driving large distances between client's homes and their office which lead to working in isolation for long periods and without adequate communication. In addition, other issues included encountering, managing and developing strategies to deal with poor client and carer behaviour; working within and negotiating working environments such as the poor condition of patient homes and clients smoking; navigating animals in the workplace; vertical and horizontal violence; and issues around workload, burnout and work-related stress. Many nurses achieved good outcomes to meet the needs of rural community health consumers. Managers were vital to ensure that service objectives were met. Despite the positive outcomes, many processes were considered unsafe by community nurses. It was identified that greater training and capacity building are required to meet the needs among all staff. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Implementation of Quality Management in Core Service Laboratories

PubMed Central

Creavalle, T.; Haque, K.; Raley, C.; Subleski, M.; Smith, M.W.; Hicks, B.

2010-01-01

CF-28 The Genetics and Genomics group of the Advanced Technology Program of SAIC-Frederick exists to bring innovative genomic expertise, tools and analysis to NCI and the scientific community. The Sequencing Facility (SF) provides next generation short read (Illumina) sequencing capacity to investigators using a streamlined production approach. The Laboratory of Molecular Technology (LMT) offers a wide range of genomics core services including microarray expression analysis, miRNA analysis, array comparative genome hybridization, long read (Roche) next generation sequencing, quantitative real time PCR, transgenic genotyping, Sanger sequencing, and clinical mutation detection services to investigators from across the NIH. As the technology supporting this genomic research becomes more complex, the need for basic quality processes within all aspects of the core service groups becomes critical. The Quality Management group works alongside members of these labs to establish or improve processes supporting operations control (equipment, reagent and materials management), process improvement (reengineering/optimization, automation, acceptance criteria for new technologies and tech transfer), and quality assurance and customer support (controlled documentation/SOPs, training, service deficiencies and continual improvement efforts). Implementation and expansion of quality programs within unregulated environments demonstrates SAIC-Frederick's dedication to providing the highest quality products and services to the NIH community.

Examining the Reliability of Scores from the Consensual Assessment Technique in the Measurement of Individual and Small Group Creativity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Stefanic, Nicholas; Randles, Clint

2015-01-01

The purpose of this study was to explore the reliability of measures of both individual and group creative work using the consensual assessment technique (CAT). CAT was used to measure individual and group creativity among a population of pre-service music teachers enrolled in a secondary general music class (n = 23) and was evaluated from…

A restorative home care intervention in New Zealand: perceptions of paid caregivers.

PubMed

King, Anna I I; Parsons, Matthew; Robinson, Elizabeth

2012-01-01

Paid caregivers possess an essential role in home care services. However, recruitment and retention issues are extensive within this workforce, largely in relation to poor working conditions. This article primarily focuses on the qualitative data extracted from a large randomised controlled trial in New Zealand and is supported by some quantitative findings. The aim was to explore paid caregiver perceptions of a restorative home care intervention in comparison with usual home care. The purpose of the qualitative exploration was to gather rich descriptive data that highlight differences between the two services with an emphasis on the workforce viewpoint. Four focus groups were undertaken with paid caregivers, two at baseline (4 and 5 participants in the control and intervention groups, respectively) and two at 14 months (eight participants in each focus group). Focus group data were collected in December 2005 and February 2007. A general inductive approach was used to analyse focus group transcripts. Two themes emerged from both the control and intervention focus groups: relationship with older people and issues with home care service delivery. A further two themes were pertinent to the intervention group: job satisfaction and preintervention. Findings revealed the intervention had a substantial positive impact on paid caregiver job satisfaction in comparison with usual care. This appeared to be due to improved training, increased support and supervision, and more flexibility. The intervention resulted in positive changes from the paid caregiver perspective and substantially reduced turnover in comparison with usual home care. However, both groups identified the need for further improvements to their working conditions. In addition, the need to regulate this vulnerable workforce is discussed. © 2011 Blackwell Publishing Ltd.

Using a public health approach to improve end-of-life care: results and discussion of a health needs assessment undertaken in a large city in northern England.

PubMed

Ingold, Kathryn; Hicks, Fiona

2015-06-01

A detailed health needs assessment (HNA) for end-of-life care (EoLC) services was led by public health in Leeds to inform a commissioning strategy. To answer the question: are we delivering the best possible EoLC services within the resources available? Mixed methods were used with three approaches: epidemiological, corporate and comparative. More people from deprived communities die in hospital. 18% of people who die each year are on a palliative care register, reflecting a lack of recognition and planning for EoLC given that 75% of people who die need EoLC. Over 100 staff, patients and carers were interviewed and over 200 staff returned questionnaires. Staff highlighted concerns about capacity of services; pressure on out-of-hospital care; problems at physical and electronic interfaces between services; suboptimal hospital discharge; need for earlier recognition of the EoL stage for patients. Patients and carers stressed the importance of communication, coordination and continuity of care; full involvement in care planning; honesty and support for the bereaved; an advocate for patients and families; accessible information; improved urgent care; integrated team working; pain relief, dignity and respect. Issues from comparator sites included the need for sustainable leadership for change, lack of interoperability between IT systems; building advance care planning into working culture; gaps in psychological services, bereavement and pastoral support; integration within all clinical areas; lack of district nurses; few investment opportunities; getting home care support right; concerns about 111; incentives for general practitioners to deliver EoLC; variability in service and the Liverpool Care Pathway controversy. Ethical approval was not sought as the HNA was undertaken as a service evaluation. Local policy is that ethical approval is not required for service evaluation. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

User involvement: children's participation in a parent-baby group.

PubMed

Maconochie, Heloise; McNeill, Fiona

2010-08-01

According to the National Service Framework, children have a right to participate in the development of healthcare services and yet research suggests that young children are at risk of exclusion from user involvement initiatives. This paper outlines the findings of a participatory action research project conducted with families attending a health visitors' parent-baby group. A combination of participatory research methods were used to ascertain the infants' perspectives of the service and this led to a number of changes in terms of professional attitudes, service provision and working practices. Changes in professional attitudes included acknowledging the importance of social interaction to the children, recognising young children's views as embodied and produced within social interactions, and respecting children as active contributors and not simply as passive recipients of healthcare services. Changes in service provision resulted in redistributing resources, structures and spaces to take account of children's perspectives. Finally, reciprocity and responsiveness were seen as key components in enhancing young children's participation.

Evaluating clinical librarian services: a systematic review.

PubMed

Brettle, Alison; Maden-Jenkins, Michelle; Anderson, Lucy; McNally, Rosalind; Pratchett, Tracey; Tancock, Jenny; Thornton, Debra; Webb, Anne

2011-03-01

  Previous systematic reviews have indicated limited evidence and poor quality evaluations of clinical librarian (CL) services. Rigorous evaluations should demonstrate the value of CL services, but guidance is needed before this can be achieved.   To undertake a systematic review which examines models of CL services, quality, methods and perspectives of clinical librarian service evaluations.   Systematic review methodology and synthesis of evidence, undertaken collaboratively by a group of 8 librarians to develop research and critical appraisal skills.   There are four clear models of clinical library service provision. Clinical librarians are effective in saving health professionals time, providing relevant, useful information and high quality services. Clinical librarians have a positive effect on clinical decision making by contributing to better informed decisions, diagnosis and choice of drug or therapy. The quality of CL studies is improving, but more work is needed on reducing bias and providing evidence of specific impacts on patient care. The Critical Incident Technique as part of a mixed method approach appears to offer a useful approach to demonstrating impact.   This systematic review provides practical guidance regarding the evaluation of CL services. It also provides updated evidence regarding the effectiveness and impact of CL services. The approach used was successful in developing research and critical appraisal skills in a group of librarians. © 2010 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2010 Health Libraries Group.

78 FR 43915 - Notice of Public Meeting; Southwest Colorado Resource Advisory Council

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-07-22

... use a telecommunications device for the deaf (TDD) may call the Federal Information Relay Service... working group reports, recreation, fire management, land use planning, invasive species management, energy...

The Third Annual NASA Science Internet User Working Group Conference

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Lev, Brian S. (Editor); Gary, J. Patrick (Editor)

1993-01-01

The NASA Science Internet (NSI) User Support Office (USO) sponsored the Third Annual NSI User Working Group (NSIUWG) Conference March 30 through April 3, 1992, in Greenbelt, MD. Approximately 130 NSI users attended to learn more about the NSI, hear from projects which use NSI, and receive updates about new networking technologies and services. This report contains material relevant to the conference; copies of the agenda, meeting summaries, presentations, and descriptions of exhibitors. Plenary sessions featured a variety of speakers, including NSI project management, scientists, and NSI user project managers whose projects and applications effectively use NSI, and notable citizens of the larger Internet community. The conference also included exhibits of advanced networking applications; tutorials on internetworking, computer security, and networking technologies; and user subgroup meetings on the future direction of the conference, networking, and user services and applications.

The Annual Department of Defense Procurement Research Symposium (5th), held 17-19 Nov 76, Monterey, California.

DTIC Science & Technology

1976-11-01

Federal Procurement Policy Mr. Fred Bunke - Assistant Commissioner for Procurement, General Services Administration 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. No host cocktail party...Research Specialist General Services Administration -3- 71 Symposium Agenda 8:30 - 10:15 a.m. Concurrent Session II (cont’d.) WORKING GROUP E... Services Administration . From 1950 - 1960, Mr. Bunke held various supply and procurement billets at sea and ashore as a Navy Supply Corps Officer. From

'Reaching the hard to reach' - lessons learned from the VCS (voluntary and community Sector). A qualitative study

PubMed Central

2010-01-01

Background The notion 'hard to reach' is a contested and ambiguous term that is commonly used within the spheres of social care and health, especially in discourse around health and social inequalities. There is a need to address health inequalities and to engage in services the marginalized and socially excluded sectors of society. Methods This paper describes a pilot study involving interviews with representatives from eight Voluntary and Community Sector (VCS) organisations. The purpose of the study was to explore the notion of 'hard to reach' and perceptions of the barriers and facilitators to accessing services for 'hard to reach' groups from a voluntary and community sector perspective. Results The 'hard to reach' may include drug users, people living with HIV, people from sexual minority communities, asylum seekers, refugees, people from black and ethnic minority communities, and homeless people although defining the notion of the 'hard to reach' is not straight forward. It may be that certain groups resist engaging in treatment services and are deemed hard to reach by a particular service or from a societal stance. There are a number of potential barriers for people who may try and access services, including people having bad experiences in the past; location and opening times of services and how services are funded and managed. A number of areas of commonality are found in terms of how access to services for 'hard to reach' individuals and groups could be improved including: respectful treatment of service users, establishing trust with service users, offering service flexibility, partnership working with other organisations and harnessing service user involvement. Conclusions If health services are to engage with groups that are deemed 'hard to reach' and marginalised from mainstream health services, the experiences and practices for engagement from within the VCS may serve as useful lessons for service improvement for statutory health services. PMID:20377850

Service impact of a national clinical leadership development programme: findings from a qualitative study.

PubMed

Fealy, Gerard M; McNamara, Martin S; Casey, Mary; O'Connor, Tom; Patton, Declan; Doyle, Louise; Quinlan, Christina

2015-04-01

The study reported here was part of a larger study, which evaluated a national clinical leadership development programme with reference to resources, participant experiences, participant outcomes and service impact. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the programme's service impact. Clinical leadership development develops competencies that are expressed in context. The outcomes of clinical leadership development occur at individual, departmental and organisational levels. The methods used to evaluate the service impact were focus groups, group interviews and individual interviews. Seventy participants provided data in 18 separate qualitative data collection events. The data contained numerous accounts of service development activities, initiated by programme participants, which improved service and/or improved the culture of the work setting. Clinical leadership development programmes that incorporate a deliberate service impact element can result in identifiable positive service outcomes. The nuanced relationship between leader development and service development warrants further investigation. This study demonstrates that clinical leadership development can impact on service in distinct and identifiable ways. Clinical leadership development programmes should focus on the setting in which the leadership competencies will be demonstrated. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

[Organizational wellbeing in the health sector: the Piemonte Region experience].

PubMed

Converso, Daniela; Baratti, Alberto

2010-01-01

In 2007, the Health Councillorship of the Piedmont region announced, in convention with the Psychology Department of the University of Turin, of the creation of "Workgroup for Safeguard of Organizational Wellbeing" composed by psychologists, occupational doctors, and superintendents for Prevention and Protection services. This group is aimed at promoting pilot experiences in the Health Units in order to prevent and combat psychosocial discomfort and to sustain workers' wellbeing. A complex intervention started in January 2009 and involved the personnel from Services for the Organization and Development of Human Resources, Personnel Services, Services for Occupational Medicine, Services of Communication, Quality Services, belonging to all of the Health Units from Piedmont, and of some structures operating within the national health service, for a total of 23 work groups. Based on the results produced and/or from the shared reflections in the classroom between the 23 groups, four main themes were singled out, corresponding to different levels and fields of interventions, in order to favour the contrast of psychosocial distress and to promote a culture of wellbeing, were adopted taking into account needs and cultural specificity of different Units' realities. The activities embarked on, inside every main theme represent, in the expectations of all the participants, good practices that could be spread to the different Local Health Units.

The Impact of Child Care Subsidies on Child Well-Being: Evidence from Geographic Variation in the Distance to Social Service Agencies. NBER Working Paper No. 16250

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Herbst, Chris M.; Tekin, Erdal

2010-01-01

In recent years, child care subsidies have become an integral part of federal and state efforts to move economically disadvantaged parents from welfare to work. Although previous empirical studies consistently show that these employment-related subsidies raise work levels among this group, little is known about the impact of subsidy receipt on…

Integrating the health and mental health needs of the chronically ill: a group for individuals with depression and sickle cell disease.

PubMed

Comer, Edna W

2004-01-01

Concerns about high rates of depression among persons with sickle cell disease and no effective interventions for treatment of this condition were the impetuses for the study described in this paper. A groupwork service using cognitive-behavioral and self-management techniques were integrated into health care services at a Comprehensive Sickle Cell Center to treat depression in a small group of patients. An interdisciplinary team that included health care and mental health providers from the Center and a social work researcher guided the endeavor. Principles of Intervention Research were applied in the development of the service and to evaluate its effectiveness. Among the findings were that study participants realized a decrease in depressive symptoms.

Teaching Interprofessional Practice: An Exploratory Course Assignment in Social Work and Speech Language Pathology

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Edwards, Claire M.; Newell, Jason M.; Rich, Danielle Waldrep; Hitchcock, Laurel I.

2015-01-01

The professions of social work (SWK) and speech language pathology (SLP) often involve the provision of services to a diverse group of client populations in a variety of settings; this is particularly true when meeting the complex needs of children and their families. It is widely accepted that collaborative treatment approaches utilizing…

Youth Organisations and Youth Service Institutions in the Federal Republic of Germany.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Verlag, Juventa

This reference book describes the many groups and organizations in Germany that are involved in youth work. Its purpose is to facilitate the development of international contacts and to contribute to the international education of German youth. Youth work in Germany is briefly described in the book's introduction. The annotated listing is…

Examining the premises supporting the empirically supported intervention approach to social work practice.

PubMed

McBeath, Bowen; Briggs, Harold E; Aisenberg, Eugene

2010-10-01

Federal, state, and local policymakers and funders have increasingly organized human service delivery functions around the selection and implementation of empirically supported interventions (ESIs), under the expectation that service delivery through such intervention frameworks results in improvements in cost-effectiveness and system performance. This article examines the validity of four premises undergirding the ESI approach: ESIs are effective, relevant to common client problems and needs, culturally appropriate, and replicable and sustainable in community-based settings. In reviewing available literature, the authors found insufficient support for the uniform application of an ESI approach to social work practice in the human service sector, particularly as applied within agency contexts serving ethnic minority clients. The authors recommend that greater attention be devoted to the development and dissemination of social work interventions that respond to needs that are broadly understood and shared across diverse cultural groups, have proven clinical efficacy, and can be translated successfully for use across different agency and cultural environments. Such attention to the research and development function of the social work profession is increasingly necessary as policymakers and human service system architects require reduced costs and improved performance for programs serving historically oppressed client populations.

Service user engagement in healthcare education as a mechanism for value based recruitment: An evaluation study.

PubMed

Heaslip, Vanessa; Scammell, Janet; Mills, Anne; Spriggs, Ashley; Addis, Andrea; Bond, Mandy; Latchford, Carolyn; Warren, Angela; Borwell, Juliet; Tee, Stephen

2018-01-01

Within the United Kingdom (UK) there is an increasing focus on Values Based Recruitment (VBR) of staff working in the National Health Service (NHS) in response to public inquiries criticising the lack of person-centred care. All NHS employees are recruited on the basis of a prescribed set of values. This is extended to the recruitment of student healthcare professionals, yet there is little research of how to implement this. Involving Service Users in healthcare educational practice is gaining momentum internationally, yet involvement of service users in VBR of 'would be' healthcare professionals remains at an embryonic phase. Adult nurses represent the largest healthcare workforce in the UK, yet involvement of service users in their recruitment has received scant attention. This paper is an evaluation of the inclusion of service users in a VBR of 640 adult student nurses. This study used a participatory mixed methods approach, with service users as co-researchers in the study. The study consisted of mixed methods design. Quantitative data via an online questionnaire to ascertain candidates' perspectives (n=269 response rate of 42%), and academic/clinical nurses (n=35 response rate 34.65%). Qualitative data were gathered using focus groups and one to one interviews with service users (n=9). Data analysis included descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. 4 overarching themes were identified; increasing sense of humanness, substantiating care values; impact of involvement; working together and making it work, a work in progress. The findings from the study highlight that involving service users in VBR of student healthcare professionals has benefits to candidates, service users and local health services. Appreciating the perceptions of healthcare professionals is fundamental in the UK and internationally to implementing service users' engagement in service enhancement and delivery. Findings from this study identify there may be a dissonance between the policy, the nurses' thoughts and their practice. Copyright © 2017 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

Oral health care attitudes of nursing assistants in long-term care facilities.

PubMed

Kaz, M E; Schuchman, L

1988-01-01

This study compares the oral health attitudes of nursing assistants employed in facilities served by mobile dental units, with attitudes of nursing assistants employed in facilities that are not served by mobile dental units. Seventy-seven nursing assistants were selected from seven long-term care facilities. Mobile dental service was available in four of the seven facilities. Certified nursing assistants completed a three part questionnaire that included demographics, personal oral health care habits, and an attitudinal section based on Kegeles' health belief model, measured by a Likert-type scale. Demographically, a majority of assistants in each group were female, worked the first shift, and had worked at their respective facilities from 6-12 months. On the average, assistants who worked at facilities that were not served by a mobile dental unit had more years of postsecondary education. Both groups had similar in-service dental histories for the previous year. A greater number of nursing assistants at facilities that were not served by a mobile dental unit reported having dental checkups within the past year. The majority of assistants in each group brushed their teeth twice per day, used a medium or hard toothbrush, and did not floss. Attitudinal mean scores were similar in all the areas of the health belief model, with the exception that assistants who were not served by a dental unit showed a greater mean score for the area of susceptibility. Through use of the t-test, the area of susceptibility was found to be statistically significant (P = .05) between the two groups. Results suggest nursing assistants' exposure to mobile dental services may not strongly influence oral health attitudes.

Teaching Games for Understanding to In-Service Physical Education Teachers: Rewards and Barriers regarding the Changing Model of Teaching Sport

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Diaz-Cueto, Mario; Hernandez-Alvarez, Juan Luis; Castejon, Francisco Javier

2010-01-01

The purpose of this study was to understand the perceptions of in-service Physical Education (PE) teachers when using Teaching Games for Understanding (TGfU) in teaching sports. Data were gathered from interviews, work group meetings, and participants' diaries. The results show the difficulties PE teachers had in the planning and implementation of…

Book Beat: A Young Adult Services Manual for Louisiana's Libraries. Face It: Read a Book: Be Somebody. [Updated Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Fairbanks, Gretchen, Ed.; Jaques, Thomas F., Ed.

Libraries need to reach out to teens and enhance their skills in serving the teenage population. Through the Louisiana Young Adult Services program, it is hoped that all staff working with young adults will be reached to accomplish the following: (1) promote a better understanding of the psychology of this age group; (2) increase skills in…

Examination of the Relationship between Organizational Stress and Employee Performance: A Research on Staff Working on Provincial Directorate of Youth and Sports

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goksel, Ali Gurel; Caz, Cagdas; Yazici, Omer Faruk; Ikizler, Huseyin Can

2017-01-01

The purpose of this research is to study the relation between the level of organizational stress at the staff of the Youth Services and Sports Provincial Directorate and their performance. The study group of research, Istanbul province in the Uskudar district officials operating in the Youth Services and Sports Provincial Directorate constitute a…

[Multidimensional assessment of public health care services for adolescents in Chile].

PubMed

Williams, Catalina de T; Poblete, Fernando A; Baldrich, Francisca A

2012-09-01

Adolescents are an especially vulnerable age group in terms of behavioral issues and require skilled teams in health centers. To assess the quality of health services provided to teenage users in Primary Health Care. A study of multiple cases was carried out in two family health centers in Puente Alto, Chile. Health services delivered to adolescents were evaluated from the provider's perspective, through qualitative design of focus groups and interviews to the care teams at each centre. For technical quality, comparing electronic records of two tracer conditions (prenatal care and depression) with technical standards established by Delphi methodology and from teenage users perspective, through a survey of service satisfaction. In both centers, providers perceived a lack of training in adolescent care, a deficient preventive approach and a limited access to care. The technical evaluation showed an inappropriate recording of both tracer conditions. The instrument used to assess user satisfaction survey was reliable and showed that the best perceived issue was medical care and treatment, and the least perceived, was the access to the services. Professionals working in these health care facilities, feel unprepared to provide comprehensive approach to adolescents. The surveyed teenagers complained of limited access to care. Therefore this age group continues to be as a non-priority group for health care.

Facilitators and barriers to accessing reproductive health care for migrant beer promoters in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam: a mixed methods study.

PubMed

Webber, Gail; Spitzer, Denise; Somrongthong, Ratana; Dat, Truong Cong; Kounnavongsa, Somphone

2012-07-02

The purpose of the research was to assess access to sexual and reproductive health services for migrant women who work as beer promoters. This mixed methods research was conducted in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Bangkok, Thailand, Vientiane, Laos, and Hanoi, Vietnam during 2010 to 2011. Focus groups were held with beer promoters and separate focus groups or interviews with key informants to explore the factors affecting beer promoters' access to health care institutions for reproductive health care. The findings of the focus groups were used to develop a survey for beer promoters. This survey was conducted in popular health institutions for these women in each of the four Asian cities. Several common themes were evident. Work demands prevented beer promoters from accessing health care. Institutional factors affecting care included cost, location, environmental factors (e.g. waiting times, cleanliness and confidentiality) and service factors (e.g. staff attitudes, clinic hours, and availability of medications). Personal factors affecting access were shyness and fear, lack of knowledge, and support from family and friends.The survey of the beer promoters confirmed that cost, location and both environmental and service factors impact on access to health care services for beer promoters. Many beer promoters are sexually active, and a significant proportion of those surveyed rely on sex work to supplement their income. Many also drink with their clients. Despite a few differences amongst the surveyed population, the findings were remarkably similar across the four research sites. Recommendations from the research include the provision of evening and weekend clinic hours to facilitate access, free or low cost clinics, and health insurance through employer or government plans which are easy to access for migrants. Other improvements that would facilitate the access of beer promoters to these services include increased funding to hire more staff (reducing waiting times) and to stock more needed medications, mobile clinics to come to the workplace or free transportation for beer promoters to the clinics, improved training to reduce health care provider stigma against beer promoters, and public education about the importance of reproductive health care, including preventative services.

Facilitators and barriers to accessing reproductive health care for migrant beer promoters in Cambodia, Laos, Thailand and Vietnam: A mixed methods study

PubMed Central

2012-01-01

Background The purpose of the research was to assess access to sexual and reproductive health services for migrant women who work as beer promoters. This mixed methods research was conducted in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Bangkok, Thailand, Vientiane, Laos, and Hanoi, Vietnam during 2010 to 2011. Methods Focus groups were held with beer promoters and separate focus groups or interviews with key informants to explore the factors affecting beer promoters’ access to health care institutions for reproductive health care. The findings of the focus groups were used to develop a survey for beer promoters. This survey was conducted in popular health institutions for these women in each of the four Asian cities. Results Several common themes were evident. Work demands prevented beer promoters from accessing health care. Institutional factors affecting care included cost, location, environmental factors (e.g. waiting times, cleanliness and confidentiality) and service factors (e.g. staff attitudes, clinic hours, and availability of medications). Personal factors affecting access were shyness and fear, lack of knowledge, and support from family and friends. The survey of the beer promoters confirmed that cost, location and both environmental and service factors impact on access to health care services for beer promoters. Many beer promoters are sexually active, and a significant proportion of those surveyed rely on sex work to supplement their income. Many also drink with their clients. Despite a few differences amongst the surveyed population, the findings were remarkably similar across the four research sites. Conclusions Recommendations from the research include the provision of evening and weekend clinic hours to facilitate access, free or low cost clinics, and health insurance through employer or government plans which are easy to access for migrants. Other improvements that would facilitate the access of beer promoters to these services include increased funding to hire more staff (reducing waiting times) and to stock more needed medications, mobile clinics to come to the workplace or free transportation for beer promoters to the clinics, improved training to reduce health care provider stigma against beer promoters, and public education about the importance of reproductive health care, including preventative services. PMID:22747607

Clinical psychologists' experiences of reflective staff groups in inpatient psychiatric settings: a mixed methods study.

PubMed

Heneghan, Cara; Wright, John; Watson, Gilli

2014-01-01

Background Reflective practice groups have been recommended for improving staff wellbeing and team functioning in inpatient psychiatric services, and clinical psychologists have been identified as potential leaders in this type of work. Research is limited with little information about reflective practice group guidelines, prevalence and effectiveness. Aims The aims of this study were to describe clinical psychologists' practice in reflective groups for staff in inpatient psychiatric services and to explore how such groups are conceptualized and implemented. Methods Online questionnaires and follow-up interviews were used to gain broad descriptions of practice and in-depth information about participants' experiences. The sample consisted of 73 clinical psychologists working in the UK, six of whom were interviewed. Data were analysed using descriptive statistics, content analysis and thematic analysis. Results Clinical psychologists regularly facilitate reflective staff groups in inpatient psychiatric settings in the UK. Common outcomes related to staff wellbeing, service culture and teamwork. Engagement, group dynamics and lack of management support were common challenges. Group experiences were influenced by the organizational context. Conclusions Clinical psychologists' practices regarding reflective staff groups were in line with recent professional developments. Several difficulties were described, which may be indicative of both a difficulty inherent to the task and a training gap in reflective staff group process. The study had methodological limitations but offers a useful contribution to the literature, and enables practice and training implications to be drawn. The need for further research exploring facilitator characteristics, views of group participants and the impact of reflective staff groups on patients is indicated. The term 'reflective practice group' encompasses a range of practices, but a typical group structure was found with common aims, outcomes and challenges. Reflective staff groups are regularly facilitated by clinical psychologists in inpatient psychiatric settings in the UK and are influenced by practitioner experience as well as psychodynamic, systemic and group process theories. The safety required for reflective groups to function is influenced by the organizational context, and groups can contribute to shifts in culture toward including psychosocial perspectives. Reflective staff groups represent one type of contribution to an inpatient psychiatric service and team relationships; other processes to encourage alternative professional perspectives and values might also support change. More research is recommended to explore facilitator characteristics, the views of staff teams on reflective staff groups and the impact of these groups on patients. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Awareness of occupational skin disease in the service sector.

PubMed

Holness, D L; Kudla, I; Brown, J; Miller, S

2017-06-01

Occupational skin disease (OSD) is a common occupational disease. Although primary prevention strategies are known, OSDs remain prevalent in a variety of work environments including the service sector (restaurant/food services, retail/wholesale, tourism/hospitality and vehicle sales and service). To obtain information about awareness and prevention of OSD in the service sector. Focus groups and a survey were conducted with two groups. The first consisted of staff of the provincial health and safety association for the service sector and the second group comprised representatives from sector employers. Focus groups highlighted key issues to inform the survey that obtained information about perceptions of awareness and prevention of OSD and barriers to awareness and prevention. Both provincial health and safety association staff and sector employer representatives highlighted low awareness and a low level of knowledge of OSD in the sector. Barriers to awareness and prevention included a low reported incidence of OSD, low priority, lack of training materials, lack of time and cost of training, lack of management support and workplace culture. A starting point for improving prevention of OSD in the service sector is increased awareness. Identification of the barriers to awareness and prevention will help to shape an awareness campaign and prevention strategies. Building on existing experience in Europe will be important. © The Author 2016. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society of Occupational Medicine. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com

An experience of group work with parents of children and adolescents with gender identity disorder.

PubMed

Di Ceglie, Domenico; Thümmel, Elizabeth Coates

2006-07-01

This article gives an account of an experience of group work with parents and carers who had children or adolescents with gender identity disorder (GID). The history of this intervention within the context of a service for children with gender identity problems is outlined. The limited literature on the subject is reviewed. Group meetings were held monthly for 6 months, facilitated by two therapists (the authors). Selection criteria for group participants, the aims of the group and the methodology for achieving those aims are described. Some information about the group's composition is provided. The structure and content of the group sessions are outlined together with details of some group interactions. Finally, we present the results of an evaluation of the intervention through feedback questionnaires and discuss the value for the children and young people of running such groups.

Emotional Literacy Support Assistants' Views on Supervision Provided by Educational Psychologists: What EPs Can Learn from Group Supervision

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Osborne, Cara; Burton, Sheila

2014-01-01

The Educational Psychology Service in this study has responsibility for providing group supervision to Emotional Literacy Support Assistants (ELSAs) working in schools. To date, little research has examined this type of inter-professional supervision arrangement. The current study used a questionnaire to examine ELSAs' views on the supervision…

Integrated Surveillance for the Next Generation Air Transportation System. Final Report of the Integrated Surveillance Study Team

DTIC Science & Technology

2008-10-31

Navigation Services Working Group Jan de Regt FAA Tony Richardson JPDO Technical Support James Roberts DoD AFFSA Eric Rolfe JPDO Air Navigation...Kirsch DHS Drew Kuepper DoD eragency Architecture and Engineering Division Jay Merkle JPDO Int Paul Polski DHS ing GroupElizabeth Lynn ye JPDO Air

Using Group Work to Rebuild Family and Community Ties among Displaced African Men

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Akinsulure-Smith, Adeyinka M.

2012-01-01

The number of refugees and asylum seekers admitted to the United States has grown, with significant numbers arriving from sub-Saharan Africa. Given this reality, it is important that mental health professionals are equipped to provide culturally relevant services. This article describes the development and implementation of a group treatment model…

Training Teachers for Virtual Collaboration: A Case Study

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Vinagre, Margarita

2016-01-01

This study aims to explore the development of teachers' competences when trained in virtual collaboration. In order to do so, we analyse the data gathered from a group of nine in-service teachers who were trained in a forum and a wiki to become future telecollaborative teachers (TTs). During the course, participants worked in small groups and they…

The Challenge and Opportunity of Parental Involvement in Juvenile Justice Services.

PubMed

Burke, Jeffrey D; Mulvey, Edward P; Schubert, Carol A; Garbin, Sara R

2014-04-01

The active involvement of parents - whether as recipients, extenders, or managers of services - during their youth's experience with the juvenile justice system is widely assumed to be crucial. Parents and family advocacy groups note persisting concerns with the degree to which successful parental involvement is achieved. Justice system providers are highly motivated and actively working to make improvements. These coalescing interests provide a strong motivation for innovation and improvement regarding family involvement, but the likely success of these efforts is severely limited by the absence of any detailed definition of parental involvement or validated measure of this construct. Determining whether and how parental involvement works in juvenile justice services depends on the development of clear models and sound measurement. Efforts in other child serving systems offer guidance to achieve this goal. A multidimensional working model developed with parents involved in child protective services is presented as a template for developing a model for parental involvement in juvenile justice. Features of the model requiring changes to make it more adaptable to juvenile justice are identified. A systematic research agenda for developing methods and measures to meet the present demands for enhanced parental involvement in juvenile justice services is presented.

The Challenge and Opportunity of Parental Involvement in Juvenile Justice Services

PubMed Central

Burke, Jeffrey D.; Mulvey, Edward P.; Schubert, Carol A.; Garbin, Sara R.

2014-01-01

The active involvement of parents – whether as recipients, extenders, or managers of services - during their youth’s experience with the juvenile justice system is widely assumed to be crucial. Parents and family advocacy groups note persisting concerns with the degree to which successful parental involvement is achieved. Justice system providers are highly motivated and actively working to make improvements. These coalescing interests provide a strong motivation for innovation and improvement regarding family involvement, but the likely success of these efforts is severely limited by the absence of any detailed definition of parental involvement or validated measure of this construct. Determining whether and how parental involvement works in juvenile justice services depends on the development of clear models and sound measurement. Efforts in other child serving systems offer guidance to achieve this goal. A multidimensional working model developed with parents involved in child protective services is presented as a template for developing a model for parental involvement in juvenile justice. Features of the model requiring changes to make it more adaptable to juvenile justice are identified. A systematic research agenda for developing methods and measures to meet the present demands for enhanced parental involvement in juvenile justice services is presented. PMID:24748704

Introduction of a child and adolescent mental health link worker: education and health staff focus group findings.

PubMed

Hunter, A; Playle, J; Sanchez, P; Cahill, J; McGowan, L

2008-10-01

Policy guidance suggests that outcomes for adolescents with mental health problems can be improved by secondary education services (SES) and child and adolescent mental health services (CAMHS) working more closely. This study reports on staff experiences of the introduction of a mental health link worker (MHLW). The findings of two focus groups are presented, conducted with staff from CAMHS and SES. These focus groups formed part of the overall wider evaluation of the MHLW role. The groups explored staff perceptions and experiences following the introduction of the MHLW, and elicited their views on the effectiveness of this innovative role. Qualitative methods were employed, and analysis was conducted using the principles of grounded theory and the constant comparative method. The findings revealed that the MHLW was well received by both groups, despite the identification of potential barriers. A number of key themes emerged, which included the ability of the link worker to improve communication and to encourage mutual understanding between services. The issues raised by these themes are discussed and recommendations are made for future practice and research.

Hanford analytical sample projections FY 1998--FY 2002

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

Joyce, S.M.

1998-02-12

Analytical Services projections are compiled for the Hanford site based on inputs from the major programs for the years 1998 through 2002. Projections are categorized by radiation level, protocol, sample matrix and program. Analyses requirements are also presented. This document summarizes the Hanford sample projections for fiscal years 1998 to 2002. Sample projections are based on inputs submitted to Analytical Services covering Environmental Restoration, Tank Waste Remediation Systems (TWRS), Solid Waste, Liquid Effluents, Spent Nuclear Fuels, Transition Projects, Site Monitoring, Industrial Hygiene, Analytical Services and miscellaneous Hanford support activities. In addition, details on laboratory scale technology (development) work, Sample Management,more » and Data Management activities are included. This information will be used by Hanford Analytical Services (HAS) and the Sample Management Working Group (SMWG) to assure that laboratories and resources are available and effectively utilized to meet these documented needs.« less

Impact of a broadband interactive televisit/teleconsultation service for residential and working environments.

PubMed Central

Valero, M. A.; Arredondo, M. T.; Guillén, S.; Traver, V.; Fernández, C.; Basagoiti, I.; del Nogal, F.; Gallar, P.; Insausti, J.

2001-01-01

The availability of health care attention at the point of need is one of the key benefits of telemedicine. Home environment and working place are the two scenarios selected in this article to evaluate the impact of a televisit and teleconsultation service. 31 users from four different medical and patient groups participated in this study supported by European Commission ATTRACT project. The experiences, carried out in Madrid and Valencia Spanish sites, benefited from interactive broadband access networks to provide cost-effective telecare services. Key areas analyzed encompass systems usability, clinical outcomes, patients quality of care and infoethic issues. Services advantages were verified and compared both from patients and medical staff points of view. Main benefits pointed out refer to displacement reduction, better communication doctor/patient, provision of comfort or friendliness, more precise therapy follow-up and increases in patients sense of well being. PMID:11825280

Impact of a broadband interactive televisit/teleconsultation service for residential and working environments.

PubMed

Valero, M A; Arredondo, M T; Guillén, S; Traver, V; Fernández, C; Basagoiti, I; del Nogal, F; Gallar, P; Insausti, J

2001-01-01

The availability of health care attention at the point of need is one of the key benefits of telemedicine. Home environment and working place are the two scenarios selected in this article to evaluate the impact of a televisit and teleconsultation service. 31 users from four different medical and patient groups participated in this study supported by European Commission ATTRACT project. The experiences, carried out in Madrid and Valencia Spanish sites, benefited from interactive broadband access networks to provide cost-effective telecare services. Key areas analyzed encompass systems usability, clinical outcomes, patients quality of care and infoethic issues. Services advantages were verified and compared both from patients and medical staff points of view. Main benefits pointed out refer to displacement reduction, better communication doctor/patient, provision of comfort or friendliness, more precise therapy follow-up and increases in patients sense of well being.

The Views of Mental Health Manager Towards the Use of a Family Work Model for Psychosis in Guangzhou, China.

PubMed

Dixon, Jeremy; Lei, Jie; Huang, Wanyi; Sin, Jacqueline; Smith, Gina

2018-02-21

Family Interventions in Psychosis (FIP) have been promoted internationally but have been criticised for being based on western cultural models. This paper reports on a focus group study with 10 Integrated Mental Health Service Managers in Guangzhou, China using thematic analysis. Managers believed FIP might benefit families but identified potential difficulties due to (a) families avoiding services due to the 'shame' of mental illness (b) unrealistic expectations of services amongst families (c) deferral to 'key decision-makers' within families when discussing family issues with workers. The findings indicate that FIP work should focus on interaction between carers in the first instance with service users being introduced into sessions at a later date and that more attention needs to be given by the research community to how FIP may be adapted to cultural norms within China.

The development of a framework for high-quality, sustainable and accessible rural private therapy under the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme.

PubMed

Dew, Angela; Barton, Rebecca; Ragen, Jo; Bulkeley, Kim; Iljadica, Alexandra; Chedid, Rebecca; Brentnall, Jennie; Bundy, Anita; Lincoln, Michelle; Gallego, Gisselle; Veitch, Craig

2016-12-01

The Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS) will provide people with individual funding with which to purchase services such as therapy from private providers. This study developed a framework to support rural private therapists to meet the anticipated increase in demand. The study consisted of three stages utilizing focus groups, interviews and an online expert panel. Participants included private therapists delivering services in rural New South Wales (n = 28), disability service users (n = 9) and key representatives from a range of relevant consumer and service organizations (n = 16). We conducted a thematic analysis of focus groups and interview data and developed a draft framework which was subsequently refined based on feedback from stakeholders. The framework highlights the need for a 'rural-proofed' policy context in which service users, therapists and communities engage collaboratively in a therapy pathway. This collaborative engagement is supported by enablers, including networks, resources and processes which are influenced by the drivers of time, cost, opportunity and motivation. The framework identifies factors that will facilitate delivery of high-quality, sustainable, individualized private therapy services for people with a disability in rural Australia under the NDIS and emphasizes the need to reconceptualize the nature of private therapy service delivery. Implications for Rehabilitation Rural private therapists need upskilling to work with individuals with disability who have individual funding such as that provided by the Australian National Disability Insurance Scheme. Therapists working in rural communities need to consider alternative ways of delivering therapy to individuals with disability beyond the traditional one-on-one therapy models. Rural private therapists need support to work collaboratively with individuals with disability and the local community. Rural private therapists should harness locally available and broader networks, resources and processes to meet the needs and goals of individuals with disability.

Planning changes to health library services on the basis of impact assessment.

PubMed

Urquhart, Christine; Thomas, Rhian; Ovens, Jason; Lucking, Wendy; Villa, Jane

2010-12-01

Various methods of impact assessment for health library services exist, including a toolkit developed for the UK. The Knowledge, Resource and Information service (KRIS) for health promotion, health service commissioning and public health (Bristol area, UK) commissioned an independent team at Aberystwyth University to provide an impact assessment and evaluation of their services and to provide evidence for future planning. The review aimed to provide an action plan for KRIS through assessing the impact of the current service, extent of satisfaction with existing services and views on desirable improvements. Existing impact toolkit guidance was used, with an adapted impact questionnaire, which was distributed by the KRIS staff to 244 users (response rate 62.3%) in early 2009. The independent team analysed the questionnaire data and presented the findings. Users valued the service (93% considered that relevant information was obtained). The most frequent impacts on work were advice to patients, clients or carers, and advice to colleagues. Literature searching and current awareness services saved staff time. Many users were seeking health promotion materials. The adapted questionnaire worked well in demonstrating the service impacts achieved by KRIS, as well as indicating desirable improvements in service delivery. © 2010 The authors. Health Information and Libraries Journal © 2010 Health Libraries Group.

Sedentary behaviour and health at work: an investigation of industrial sector, job role, gender and geographical differences.

PubMed

Kazi, Aadil; Haslam, Cheryl; Duncan, Myanna; Clemes, Stacy; Twumasi, Ricardo

2018-06-21

This article presents baseline data from 1120 employees across 10 worksites enrolled in a workplace physical activity intervention. The study provides new data on physical activity, sedentary behaviour and health and highlights gender, geographical, job type and industrial sector differences. Sitting at work accounted for more than 60% of participants' total daily sitting time on work days. Weekly and monthly hours worked, body mass index (BMI) and waist circumference were significantly higher for workers in the private sector compared to the public sector. Employees in sales and customer services had significantly higher BMI scores and significantly lower scores for workability index (WAI), job satisfaction, organisational commitment and job motivation, compared to other groups. This study provides further evidence that work is a major contributor to sedentary behaviour and supports the pressing need for interventions particularly targeting private sector industries and sales and customer service sectors.

Job Demands, Job Resources, Burnout, Work Engagement, and Their Relationships: An Analysis Across Sectors.

PubMed

Van den Broeck, Anja; Elst, Tinne Vander; Baillien, Elfi; Sercu, Maarten; Schouteden, Martijn; De Witte, Hans; Godderis, Lode

2017-04-01

The aim of this study was to gain insight in the importance of job demands and resources and the validity of the Job Demands Resources Model across sectors. We used one-way analyses of variance to examine mean differences, and multi-group Structural Equation Modeling analyses to test the strength of the relationships among job demands, resources, burnout, and work engagement across the health care, industry, service, and public sector. The four sectors differed in the experience of job demands, resources, burnout, and work engagement, but they did not vary in how (strongly) job demands and resources associated with burnout and work engagement. More attention is needed to decrease burnout and increase work engagement, particularly in industry, service, and the public sector. The Job Demands-Resources model may be helpful in this regard, as it is valid across sectors.

GPS Integrity Channel RTCA Working Group recommendations

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Kalafus, Rudolph M.

Recommendations made by a working group established by the Radio Technical Commission for Aeronautics are presented for the design of a wide-area broadcast service to provide indications on the status of GPS satellites. The integrity channel requirements and operational goals are outlined. Six integrity channel system concepts are considered and system design and time-to-alarm considerations are examined. The recommended system includes the broadcast of a coarse range measurement for each satellite which will enable the on-board GPS receiver to determine whether or not the navigation accuracy is within prescribed limits.

Working with childhood sexual abuse: a survey of mental health professionals.

PubMed

Day, Andrew; Thurlow, Katie; Woolliscroft, Jessica

2003-02-01

This study aimed to establish the views of a group of mental health professionals from various disciplines working in mental health service in a British hospital about the needs of clients who had experienced childhood sexual abuse. Staff members were asked to complete an anonymous survey which asked questions relating to knowledge of sexual abuse and its effects, and the needs of clients and staff in working with this client group. A total of 54 people responded to the survey, 42 were female, 11 male. Most (72%) reported having over 10 years experience working in mental health, working in both in-patient and out-patient settings. While respondents were reasonably knowledgeable about childhood sexual abuse, they were not very comfortable, competent or supported in their work with this client group. There were no differences in responses according to the age or gender of respondents, but less experienced staff were more likely to feel supported. Those that had received training and/or supervision felt significantly more capable in working with this client group. The study offers some support for the development of specialist training, consultancy and supervision programs for mental health staff in the area of child sexual abuse.

An Airborne Communications Roadmap for the U.S. Federal Air Marshal Service: Overview and Status

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Martzaklis, Konstantinos S.

2007-01-01

Following the events of September 11, 2001, the responsibilities, operations and numbers of the U.S. Federal Air Marshal Service (FAMS) wer e greatly expanded. With this expansion, new critical research and te chnology needs were identified, including the need for air to ground telecommunications capabilities. To address this need, the FAMS has cr eated a working group to develop, deploy and enhance aviation communi cations with respect to security and law enforcement. This paper presents the working group's progress to date in generating a FAMS air-gro und communications roadmap identifying expected communications servic es, technology maturity, and technology gaps over a timeline. The paper includes a communications preliminary requirements summary and syst em performance characteristics needed to meet identified operational needs. The system engineering process utilized is presented beginning with the identification of users, their operational needs and relevant constraints. The operational needs are translated to desired airbor ne communications services. System technical performance requirements associated with the identified services are summarized. In addition, notional communications architectures addressing the requirements are presented. Finally, future plans to identify and assess potential ca ndidate systems and their associated technical architectures, gaps and barriers to implementation are discussed. The paper addresses the cu rrent, near term (within 5 years) and far term (10 years) timeframes for such an airborne communications system.

Community service provider perceptions of implementing older adult fall prevention in Ontario, Canada: a qualitative study.

PubMed

Dykeman, Catherine S; Markle-Reid, Maureen F; Boratto, Lorna J; Bowes, Chris; Gagné, Hélène; McGugan, Jennifer L; Orr-Shaw, Sarah

2018-02-01

Despite evidence for effective fall prevention interventions, measurable reductions in older adult (≥ 65 years) fall rates remain unrealized. This study aimed to describe the perceived barriers to and effective strategies for the implementation of evidence-based fall prevention practices within and across diverse community organizations. This study is unique in that it included community service providers who are not generally thought to provide fall prevention services to older adults, such as retail business, community support, volunteer services, community foundations, recreation centres, and various emergency services. Interviews and focus groups were conducted with a purposive sampling of providers (n = 84) in varied roles within diverse community-based organizations across disparate geographical settings. Community service providers experience significant multi-level barriers to fall prevention within and across organizations and settings. The overall challenge of serving dispersed populations in adverse environmental conditions was heightened in northern rural areas. Barriers across the system, within organizations and among providers themselves emerged along themes of Limited Coordination of Communication, Restrictive Organizational Mandates and Policies, Insufficient Resources, and Beliefs about Aging and Falls. Participants perceived that Educating Providers, Working Together, and Changing Policies and Legislation were strategies that have worked or would work well in implementing fall prevention. An unintentional observation was made that several participants in this extremely varied sample identified expanded roles in fall prevention for themselves during the interview process. Community service providers experience disabling contexts for implementing fall prevention on many levels: their specific geography, their service systems, their organizations and themselves. A systemic lack of fit between the older adult and fall prevention services limits access, making fall prevention inaccessible, unaccommodating, unavailable, unaffordable, and unacceptable. Educating Providers, Working Together, and Changing Policies and Legislation offers promise to create more enabling contexts for community stakeholders, including those who do not initially see their work as preventing falls.

Working conditions in home care: negotiating race and class boundaries in gendered work.

PubMed

Neysmith, S M; Aronson, J

1997-01-01

Home care work in metropolitan areas is a source of employment for immigrant women of color. Service work of this type intertwines domestic and caring labor in ways that reinforce the historically gendered and racialized nature of the work. Such macro level economic and political issues are played out at the micro level of daily service provided within elderly clients' homes. A study of these processes in home care work was carried out in urban southern Ontario in two nonprofit home care agencies. In-depth interviews and focus groups held with visible minority home care workers suggested that workers deal daily with racist attitudes and behaviors from clients and their families; agencies recognize these oppressive processes but usually handle them on a case-by-case basis through supervisors; and home care workers handle racism on the job as they do in their off-work hours-by avoidance, situating incidents within an analysis of the circumstances of elderly clients, setting boundaries on discussions, and occasionally, confrontation.

Growing health partnerships in rural and remote communities: what drives the joint efforts of primary schools and universities in maintaining service learning partnerships?

PubMed

Kirby, Sue; Held, Fabian P; Jones, Debra; Lyle, David

2018-01-10

Aim This study explored the partnership between universities and local primary schools to deliver a classroom-based paediatric communication impairment service provided by undergraduate speech pathology students. It aimed to understand how partnerships work to facilitate programme replication. The partners included universities sending students on rural clinical placement, local host academic units and primary schools who worked together to provide paediatric speech and language services in primary schools in three sites in Australia. Rural and remote communities experience poorer health outcomes because of chronic workforce shortages, social disadvantage and high Aboriginality, poor access to services and underfunding. The study was in twofold: qualitative analysis of data from interviews/focus group with the partners in the university and education sectors, and quantitative social network analysis of data from an electronic survey of the partners. Findings Factors supporting partnerships were long-term, work and social relationships, commitment to community, trust and an appetite for risk-taking. We postulate that these characteristics are more likely to exist in rural communities.

Challenges to Improve Inter-Professional Care and Service Collaboration for People Living With Psychiatric Disabilities in Ordinary Housing

PubMed Central

Ainalem, Ingrid; Berg, Agneta; Janlöv, Ann-Christin

2016-01-01

The aim of this study was to describe health care- and social service professionals' experiences of a quality-improvement program implemented in the south of Sweden. The focus of the program was to develop inter-professional collaboration to improve care and service to people with psychiatric disabilities in ordinary housing. Focus group interviews and a thematic analysis were used. The result was captured as themes along steps in process. (I) Entering the quality-improvement program: Lack of information about the program, The challenge of getting started, and Approaching the resources reluctantly. (II) Doing the practice-based improvement work: Facing unprepared workplaces, and Doing twice the work. (III) Looking back—evaluation over 1 year: Balancing theoretical knowledge with practical training, and Considering profound knowledge as an integral part of work. The improvement process in clinical practice was found to be both time and energy consuming, yet worth the effort. The findings also indicate that collaboration across organizational boundaries was broadened, and the care and service delivery were improved. PMID:26783867

Learning from lives together: medical and social work students' experiences of learning from people with disabilities in the community.

PubMed

Anderson, E S; Smith, R; Thorpe, L N

2010-05-01

The study aims to evaluate an interprofessional community-based learning event, focussing on disability. The learning opportunity was based on the Leicester Model of Interprofessional Education, organised around the experiences and perceptions of service users and their carers. Programme participants were drawn from medicine and social work education in Leicester, UK, bringing together diverse traditions in the care of people with disabilities. Small student groups (3-4 students) worked from one of the eight community rehabilitation hospitals through a programme of contact with people with disabilities in hospital, at home or in other community settings. The evaluation, in March 2005, used a mixed methods approach, incorporating questionnaire surveys, focus group interviews with students and feedback from service users. Responses were collated and analysed using quantitative and qualitative measures. Fifty social work and 100 medical students completed the first combined delivery of the module. The findings indicated that the merging of social work and medical perspectives appear to create some tensions, although overall the student experience was found to be beneficial. Service users (16 responses) valued the process. They were not concerned at the prospect of meeting a number of students at home or elsewhere and were pleased to think of themselves as educators. Problems and obstacles still anticipated include changing the mindset of clinicians and practising social workers to enable them to support students from each other's disciplines in practice learning. The generally positive outcomes highlight that disability focussed joint learning offers a meaningful platform for interprofessional education in a practice environment.

Improving service delivery of water, sanitation, and hygiene in primary schools: a cluster-randomized trial in western Kenya.

PubMed

Alexander, Kelly T; Dreibelbis, Robert; Freeman, Matthew C; Ojeny, Betty; Rheingans, Richard

2013-09-01

Water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) programs in schools have been shown to improve health and reduce absence. In resource-poor settings, barriers such as inadequate budgets, lack of oversight, and competing priorities limit effective and sustained WASH service delivery in schools. We employed a cluster-randomized trial to examine if schools could improve WASH conditions within existing administrative structures. Seventy schools were divided into a control group and three intervention groups. All intervention schools received a budget for purchasing WASH-related items. One group received no further intervention. A second group received additional funding for hiring a WASH attendant and making repairs to WASH infrastructure, and a third group was given guides for student and community monitoring of conditions. Intervention schools made significant improvements in provision of soap and handwashing water, treated drinking water, and clean latrines compared with controls. Teachers reported benefits of monitoring, repairs, and a WASH attendant, but quantitative data of WASH conditions did not determine whether expanded interventions out-performed our budget-only intervention. Providing schools with budgets for WASH operational costs improved access to necessary supplies, but did not ensure consistent service delivery to students. Further work is needed to clarify how schools can provide WASH services daily.

Impact of a participatory organizational intervention on job characteristics and job stress.

PubMed

Mikkelsen, A; Saksvik, P O

1999-01-01

Increased employee control and participation are recommended to achieve both "flexible organization" and improvements in health, as outlined in occupational stress intervention models. This study evaluates the impact of a participatory organizational intervention on job stress and job characteristics. The intervention was carried out in two post offices in the Norwegian Postal Service. "Local theories" were seen as the key drivers for organizational improvement and increased control. The underlying dynamics of the intervention were to manipulate employees' learning opportunity and decision authority so as to improve work environment and health. Work groups, in dialogue with a steering committee, conducted diagnosis, action planning, and action taking. Work conditions deteriorated during the observation period in the control groups. In one of the intervention groups, this negative trend was reduced by the intervention. Lack of positive results in the other intervention group may have been due to organizational restructuring and turbulence.

44 CFR 354.5 - Description of site-specific, plume pathway EPZ biennial exercise-related component services and...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2010 CFR

2010-10-01

... Control Program Directors, and the Nuclear Energy Institute. (21) Implement and coordinate REP Program... from our REP Program Strategic Review implementation and oversight working group activities. (24) Costs...

44 CFR 354.5 - Description of site-specific, plume pathway EPZ biennial exercise-related component services and...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2014 CFR

2014-10-01

... Control Program Directors, and the Nuclear Energy Institute. (21) Implement and coordinate REP Program... from our REP Program Strategic Review implementation and oversight working group activities. (24) Costs...

44 CFR 354.5 - Description of site-specific, plume pathway EPZ biennial exercise-related component services and...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2013 CFR

2013-10-01

... Control Program Directors, and the Nuclear Energy Institute. (21) Implement and coordinate REP Program... from our REP Program Strategic Review implementation and oversight working group activities. (24) Costs...

44 CFR 354.5 - Description of site-specific, plume pathway EPZ biennial exercise-related component services and...

Code of Federal Regulations, 2011 CFR

2011-10-01

... Control Program Directors, and the Nuclear Energy Institute. (21) Implement and coordinate REP Program... from our REP Program Strategic Review implementation and oversight working group activities. (24) Costs...

76 FR 30722 - Meeting of the National Vaccine Advisory Committee; Vaccine Safety Working Group

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2011-05-26

..., Department of Health and Human Services. ACTION: Notice of meeting. SUMMARY: As stipulated by the Federal... immunization and to achieve optimal prevention against adverse reactions to vaccines. The National Vaccine...

Facilitating a teleconference-delivered fatigue management program: perspectives of occupational therapists.

PubMed

Dunleavy, Leah; Preissner, Katharine L; Finlayson, Marcia L

2013-12-01

Telehealth refers to the provision of health information and services across a geographical distance. Little is known about the experiences of occupational therapists using this method of service delivery. The study explored the process of facilitating a telehealth intervention from the perspective of occupational therapists. Occupational therapists completed SOAP (Subjective, Objective, Assessment, and Plan) notes after facilitating group-based, teleconference-delivered fatigue management groups to people with multiple sclerosis. Notes were also documented after therapist team meetings. All SOAP notes and field notes were subjected to thematic analysis. Five major themes were identified. "Managing time" was the central theme and was facilitated by professional foundation and challenged by logistics. Managing time contributed to challenging work, which led to the realization that it can work! Based on study findings, the theory and research on clinical reasoning, professional development, and adult learning are relevant to developing curricula that prepare occupational therapists for using telehealth approaches in practice.

NASA AND ESA Partnership on the Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle Service Module

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Free, James M.; Schubert, Kathleen; Grantier, Julie

2012-01-01

In March 2011, NASA and ESA made a decision to partially offset the European obligations deriving from the extension of the ISS Program until the end of 2020 with different means than ATVs, following the ATV-5 mission foreseen in mid-2014. NASA and ESA considered a number of barter options, and concluded that the provision by ESA of the Service Module and Spacecraft Adaptor for the NASA Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle (MPCV) was the barter element with the most interest. A joint ESA - NASA working group was established to assess the feasibility of Europe developing this Module based on ATV heritage. The working group was supported by European and US industry namely Astrium, TAS-I and Lockheed-Martin. This paper gives an overview of the results of the on-going study as well as its projected utilization for the global space exploration endeavour.

Physician assistants and nurse practitioners in the National Health Service Corps.

PubMed

Pathman, Donald E; Konrad, Thomas R; Hooker, Roderick S

2014-12-01

This study describes the experiences of physician assistants (PAs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) in the National Health Service Corps' (NHSC) loan repayment program in 2010. In 2011, a stratified random sample of NHSC clinicians was surveyed. Data from the 148 PA and 137 NP respondents were analyzed (52.4% response rate). PAs were younger than NPs (mean age 31 versus 35 years), less often female (68% versus 91%), and more often carried educational debt over $100,000 (56% versus 24%). Both groups were serving in states familiar to them and within communities where they felt accepted. The groups were generally satisfied on most measures of work, with PAs more satisfied than NPs on some measures. The NHSC's PAs and NPs are well matched to communities and satisfied with their work. Maximizing their NHSC experiences and retention requires recognizing their differences in demographics, debt, and areas of job satisfaction.

Petroleum service projects in the Gulf of Guinea

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Ken-Worgu, Kenneth Chukwumeka

2011-07-01

The goal of this record of study is to examine the major facets involved in managing several petroleum service projects located in three different countries in the Gulf of Guinea simultaneously, while effectively engaging in business development activities for the Oil and Industrial Services Group (OIS). This work also furnishes adequate background on related subject matters to enable understanding of the projects presented. The petroleum services sector is the back bone of the oil and gas industry. Services companies are vital to the success of all petroleum and energy producers in the USA, the Gulf of Guinea and the world. There is a need and demand for these service companies because they play various roles such as logistics, drilling, construction, dredging, pipe laying, procurement, food supply, human resource supply, etc. The Gulf of Guinea comprises of countries from west and central Africa. This project was limited to Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea and Cameroon. This area holds the largest petroleum reserves in Africa and plays a vital role in the global supply of petroleum. The Oil and Industrial Services Group (OIS), plans to establish herself as one of the leading petroleum service companies in this gulf. To manage this expansion, I have taken the role of Gulf of Guinea manager to apply my background as a petroleum engineer as well as my business skills to build a successful division of the company. This work provides a record of study of the management of services, projects and contracts carried out by the OIS group in the gulf of Guinea. The following are the specific projects in the Gulf of Guinea that I participated in: Managing delivering, maintenance and marketing of offshore vessels, Offshore pipe laying project, Integrated pipeline maintenance project, Development a petroleum technical training facilities, Agbami pipe insulation project, Engineering lift project and Capital budgeting analysis for potential investments. The details of the specific tasks of the job, including objectives, description, managerial role, nontechnical aspects, approaches, information sources, discussions and contributions are projected in the body of this literature.

Critical reflection and teacher capacity: The secondary science pre-service teacher population

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Krim, Jessica Sarah

This qualitative study seeks to understand the development of secondary science pre-service teachers. A case study is developed about each of the five participants, in effort to answer the research questions, which are: How did critical reflection inform teacher capacity within the secondary science pre-service teacher population? What knowledge, skills, and dispositions facilitated secondary science pre-service teachers in developing a critically reflective practice? It is the author's expectation that by teaching these pre-service educators to develop their skills of critical reflection by using external methods of assessment such as videotaping, peer feedback, and student work, the participants in this study will increase and expand their capacity as teachers, or their "innate potential for growth, development, and accomplishment" (McDiarmid & Clevenger-Bright, 2008), and be better prepared to accomplish the goals that are expected of a master teacher. Data is collected from interviews, participant work samples, and observations from the researcher and other key individuals who worked with each participant, such as: the methods instructor, university supervisors, and cooperating teachers. Over the course of two semesters, the researcher developed a detailed description of each of the participants through analyzing passages selected from interview transcripts and student work samples for reflection type, factor of teacher capacity, and commonplace interaction group. The first outcome of this study includes an understanding of the relationship between critical reflection and teacher capacity and the knowledge, skills and dispositions that facilitate the development of a critically reflective practice. The second outcome of this study was the development of a new adaptation of a teacher interaction model (commonplace interaction groups) based on Schwab's Commonplaces of Educating. Lastly, three conclusions were drawn about the five participants in this study: There was a change in the participants' reflection level from the methods semester to the student teaching semester, most shifted their focus of reflection from teacher-self to teacher-student, and the weakest area of reflection with all participants was content/subject area and curriculum/standards.

SOME NOTES ON A MODEL FOR AN INTEGRATED SOCIAL WORK APPROACH TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

RIESSMAN, FRANK; SPECHT, HARRY

SOCIAL AGENCIES SHOULD BE ORGANIZED, NOT TO OFFER SPECIFIC SERVICES, BUT RATHER TO DEAL WITH SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND RELATED AREAS. SOCIAL WORK HAS TENDED TO DEVELOP TECHNICIANS WITH SPECIALIZED POINTS OF VIEW. SOCIAL PROBLEMS CAN OCCUR AT THE SOCIAL LEVELS OF THE INDIVIDUAL, THE GROUP, THE ORGANIZATION, OR THE INSTITUTION. EACH LEVEL INVOLVES A…

Perceptions of health and risk management among home care workers in Sweden.

PubMed

Larsson, A; Karlqvist, L; Westerberg, M; Gard, G

2013-10-01

Municipal home care workers provide high-quality services to an increasing proportion of elderly people living in private homes. The work environments and working conditions of these workers vary to a great extent, implying rapid priority-making among both employers and employees to ensure that the work can be performed in a safe way. This study aims to examine home care workers' perceptions of health, risks, working conditions, and risk management within their organization. The study was based on cross-sectional data collected from home care service staff in a municipality in the north of Sweden. Nursing assistants and care aides ( n  = 133) replied to a self-administered questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and between-group differences were analysed. Home care work was perceived to require high levels of professional skill and ingenuity, a good psychosocial work situation, but required a high physical workload. The general health, the capacity and self-efficacy of the staff in relation to work were good. Difficulty in performing risk assessments and following safety regulations due to lack of time, equipment, and information were identified. There is a need to increase participation in risk assessments among the staff, improve management support, structures, and cooperation with other divisions of the social services and the medical care organizations.

Casualisation of the nursing workforce in Australia: driving forces and implications.

PubMed

Creegan, Reta; Duffield, Christine; Forrester, Kim

2003-01-01

This article provides an overview of the extent of casualisation of the nursing workforce in Australia, focusing on the impact for those managing the system. The implications for nurse managers in particular are considerable in an industry where service demand is difficult to control and where individual nurses are thought to be increasingly choosing to work casually. While little is known of the reasons behind nurses exercising their preference for casual work arrangements, some reasons postulated include visa status (overseas trained nurses on holiday/working visas); permanent employees taking on additional shifts to increase their income levels; and those who elect to work under casual contracts for lifestyle reasons. Unknown is the demography of the casual nursing workforce, how these groups are distributed within the workforce, and how many contracts of employment they have across the health service--either through privately managed nursing agencies or hospital managed casual pools. A more detailed knowledge of the forces driving the decisions of this group is essential if health care organisations are to equip themselves to manage this changing workforce and maintain a standard of patient care that is acceptable to the community.

Assessment of the discomfort threshold of command board operators in automated productions with respect to its application in professional selection.

PubMed

Tzaneva, L

1996-09-01

The discomfort threshold problem is not yet clear from the audiological point of view. Its significance for work physiology and hygiene is not enough clarified. This paper discussed the results of a study of the discomfort threshold, performed including 385 operators from the State Company "Kremikovtzi", divided into 4 groups (3 groups according to length of service and one control group). The most prominent changes were found in operators with increased tonal auditory threshold up to 45 and over 50 dB with high confidential probability. The observed changes are distributed in 3 groups: 1. increased tonal auditory threshold (up to 30 dB) without decrease of the discomfort threshold; 2. decreased discomfort threshold (with about 15-20 dB) at increased tonal auditory threshold (up to 45 dB); 3. decreased discomfort threshold at increased (over 50 dB) tonal auditory threshold. The auditory scope of the operators, belonging to groups III and IV (with the longest length of service) is narrowed, being distorted for the latter. This pathophysiological phenomenon can be explained by an enhanced effect of sound irritation and the presence of a recruitment phenomenon with possible engagement of the central part of the auditory analyzer. It is concluded that the discomfort threshold is a sensitive indicator for the state of the individual norms for speech-sound-noise discomfort. The comparison of the discomfort threshold with the hygienic standards and the noise levels at each particular working place can be used as a criterion for the professional selection for work in conditions of masking noise effect and its tolerance with respect to achieving the individual discomfort level depending on the intensity of the speech-sound-noise signals at a particular working place.

Abandoning wells working group

DOE Office of Scientific and Technical Information (OSTI.GOV)

NONE

The primary objective of this working group is to identify major technical, regulatory, and environmental issues that are relevant to the abandonment of offshore wellbores. Once the issues have been identified, the working group also has the objective of making recommendations or providing potential solutions for consideration. Areas for process improvement will be identified and {open_quotes}best practices{close_quotes} will be discussed and compared to {open_quotes}minimum standards.{close_quotes} The working group will primarily focus on wellbore abandonment in the Gulf of Mexico. However, workshop participants are encouraged to discuss international issues which may be relevant to wellbore abandonment practices in the Gulf ofmore » Mexico. The Abandoning Wells Group has identified several major areas for discussion that have concerns related to both operators and service companies performing wellbore abandonments in the Gulf of Mexico. The following broad topics were selected for the agenda: (1) MMS minimum requirements and state regulations. (2) Co-existence of best practices, new technology, and P & A economics. (3) Liability and environmental issues relating to wellbore abandonment.« less

Wellness works: community service health promotion groups led by occupational therapy students.

PubMed

Scott, A H

1999-01-01

In the context of a group process course, occupational therapy students learned health promotion skills through working on personal wellness goals and leading community-based health promotion groups. The groups targeted topics such as smoking cessation, improving diet, reducing stress through yoga, meditation, tai chi chuan, ROM (Range of Motion) Dance, aerobics, and a variety of other activities. After identifying a personal wellness goal and developing it in a Wellness Awareness Learning Contract, each student used a Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) to predict an expected outcome for achieving the goal and to measure his or her progress toward attaining the goal. Students also used the GAS to measure progress in attaining group leadership skills within the community groups, which they outlined in a separate Group Skills Contract. Students kept weekly logs to foster reflective thinking, and the logs were used for interactive dialogue with the instructor. To further evaluate lifestyle change, students compared pretest and posttest scores on a Self-Assessment Scorecard, which surveyed six areas of health and human potential in body, mind, and spirit. Students monitored their own change process on both their personal health lifestyle goals and their group leadership skills while developing a richer appreciation of the dynamics of working for change with clients in community and traditional settings. Differences on the Self-Assessment Scorecard indicated improvement on two of the six scales for physical health and choices. Students experienced firsthand the challenges of developing healthier lifestyles on the basis of their personal goals as well as through fostering group changes. The two GAS learning contracts provided them with concrete evidence of their growth and learning. This experience--embedded in the context of a group process course with a community service learning group practicum--provided most students with a positive initial experience with group leadership as they began to explore roles as agents for lifestyle and health change. Suggestions for expanding health promotion roles in practice in the changing health care environment are also examined.

Effectiveness of a Brief Home-Based Social Work Motivational Intervention for Male Methamphetamine Users in Tehran: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

PubMed

Danaee-Far, Morteza; Maarefvand, Masoomeh; Rafiey, Hassan

2016-12-05

Methamphetamine, a highly addictive psychostimulant drug, is widely used by substance users who are not motivated to undergo treatment throughout the world, including Iran. This research was conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of a brief home-based social work motivational intervention (HSWMI) to encourage male methamphetamine users to participate in a treatment program. Fifty-six unmotivated male methamphetamine users participated in a randomized controlled trial. The case group received the HSWMI in addition to the usual consulting services in the clinic; the control group just received the usual consulting services. Data were collected 7 and 90 days after the intervention to evaluate participation and retention in a treatment program. Data were analyzed using the chi-square test. Drug users with a mean age of 32.55 years and mean duration of drug use of 7.73 years, participated in the case (n = 28) and control (n = 28) groups. The case group participated in treatment programs significantly more than the control group and the retention rate for the case group was significantly higher than for the control group. This brief HSWMI was effective to increase the motivation of methamphetamine users to participate and remain in treatment programs. This intervention can be implemented by social workers in substance use treatment centers.

Implementation of a quality assurance process for non-therapeutic infant male circumcision providers in North West England.

PubMed

Whittaker, P J; Gollins, H J; Roaf, E J

2014-03-01

Infant male circumcision is practised by many groups for religious and cultural reasons. Prompted by a desire to minimize the complication rate and to help parents identify good quality providers, a quality assurance (QA) process for infant male circumcision providers has been developed in Greater Manchester. Local stakeholders agreed a set of minimum standards, and providers were invited to submit evidence of their practice in relation to these standards. In participation with parents, community groups, faith groups, healthcare staff and safeguarding partners, an information leaflet for parents was produced. Engagement work with local community groups, faith groups, providers and healthcare staff was vital to ensure that the resources are accessible to parents and that providers continue to engage in the process. Providers that met the QA standards have been listed on a local website. Details of the website are included in the information leaflet distributed by maternity services, health visitors, primary care and community and faith groups. The leaflet is available in seven languages. Local QA processes can be used to encourage and identify good practice and to support parents who need to access services outside the remit of the National Health Service.

Analyzing the Statistical Reasoning Levels of Pre-Service Elementary School Teachers in the Context of a Model Eliciting Activity

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Alkas Ulusoy, Cigdem; Kayhan Altay, Mesture

2017-01-01

The purpose of this study is to analyze the statistical reasoning levels of preservice elementary school teachers. With this purpose, pre-service teachers consisting of 29 groups worked on a model eliciting activity (MEA) in scope of an elective course they were taking. At the end of the class, they were asked to present their solutions while…

Validation of Digital Systems in Avionics and Flight Control Applications Handbook. Volume 1.

DTIC Science & Technology

1983-07-01

will also be available to Airways Facilities, Systems Research and Development Service, Air Traffic Control Service, and Flight Standards elements...2114, March 12-14, 1979. 3. Validation Methods Research for Fault-Tolerant Avionics and Control Systems-- *r Working Group Meeting II, NASA...command generation with the multiple methods becoming avail- able for closure of the outer control loop necessitates research on alternative integration

Understanding the Experiences and Needs of South Asian Families Caring for a Child with Learning Disabilities in the United Kingdom: An Experiential-Contextual Framework

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Heer, Kuljit; Rose, John; Larkin, Michael

2012-01-01

The prevalence of learning disabilities amongst South Asian communities in the United Kingdom is thought to be almost three times higher than in any other community. Despite this, service utilisation amongst this group remains low and working cross-culturally can pose unique challenges for service providers. The experiences of South Asian families…

Interprofessional practice and learning disability nursing.

PubMed

McCray, Janet

Several decades of policy and service change in the field of learning disability have set in place new service boundaries in health and social care, leading to different working relationships for professionals based on interprofessional and interagency collaboration. However, economic pressures may result in agencies offering resource-led rather than needs-led services, resulting in fragmented services and tensions between professional groups faced with tough choices in order to meet the long-term needs of people with learning disabilities. One of the key roles of the registered learning disability nurse (RLDN) is that of facilitator in meeting the healthcare needs of people with learning disabilities, which involves interprofessional working across these new health and social care boundaries. The aim of this article is to present the findings from a small scale research study that was undertaken to explore the views of the RLDN group in relation to interprofessional practice in the long-term support of people with learning disabilities. Set within a grounded theory methodology, this article focuses on one element of the research study, which was a descriptive analysis of individual practitioners' experiences. In documenting the practitioners' accounts, the research begins to identify a series of key roles and significant practice knowledge held by those employed in learning disability nursing positions.

Employment outcomes of transition-aged adults with autism spectrum disorders: a state of the States report.

PubMed

Burgess, Sloane; Cimera, Robert E

2014-01-01

The primary purpose of this study was to evaluate the employment outcomes of transition-aged adults with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) served by vocational rehabilitation services (VR) over the last 10 years by state. A secondary purpose was to compare employment outcomes of individuals with ASD to those of the overall transition-aged population served by VR for the same time period. Although there was variability both within and among states, the results of this study indicate that, over time, the number of young adults with ASD seeking VR services has increased; however, employment outcomes including the percent of adults with ASD achieving employment, the number of hours worked, and wages earned have not improved for this group. The cost to provide VR services to transition-aged adults with ASD was relatively stable over time. Transition-aged adults with ASD were more likely to become successfully employed as a result of receiving VR services than the overall population of transition-aged adults served by VR. However, the employed transition-aged adults consistently worked fewer hours and earned lower wages than those in the overall population. Factors that may influence variability within and among states, and between groups, and implications for research and practice are discussed.

'All singing, all dancing': staff views on the integration of family planning and genitourinary medicine in Lothian, UK.

PubMed

Higgins, Martin; Chen, Eric Zhong; Gebbie, Ailsa E; Fernando, Imali; Milne, Dona; Cochrane, Rosemary

2014-10-01

UK policy documents advocate integrated approaches to sexual health service provision to ensure that everyone can access high-quality treatment. However, there is relatively little evidence to demonstrate any resultant benefits. The family planning and genitourinary medicine services in Lothian have been fully integrated and most care is now delivered from a purpose-built sexual health centre. We wished to study the views of staff on integrated sexual and reproductive care. Staff completed anonymous questionnaires before and after integration, looking at four main aspects: the patient pathway, specific patient groups, their own professional status, and their working environment. The surveys used a mixture of five-point Likert-type scales and open-ended questions. Over 50% of staff completed the surveys on each occasion. Six months after the new building opened, staff attitudes about the integrated service were mixed. Staff reported more stress and less opportunity for specialisation but there was no change in their sense of professional status or development. There were concerns about how well the integrated service met the needs of specific patient groups, notably women. These concerns co-existed with a verdict that overall service quality was no worse following integration. Staff views should form an important part of service redesign and integration projects. Although the results from the Lothian surveys suggest a perceived worsening of some aspects of the service, further evaluation is needed to unpick the different problems that have appeared under the catch-all term of 'integration'. Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

OA17 Compassionate communities: engaging with communities to support patients at end of life: a birmingham st. mary's hospice lived experience.

PubMed

Murungu, Diana; Woolf, Tina Swani Sarah

2015-04-01

Researchers carrying out a rebranding exercise for us in 2006 found that people from Black Asian and other Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities did not respond to their survey. This appeared to support anecdotal evidence from staff suggesting that the number of BAME patients accessing our services did not reflect the real need. To increase access to Hospice Care services for people from BAME communities. From April to July 2007 we used qualitative methods to carry out an exploratory study, to identify barriers to hospice care for patients from BAME communities. Currently we use community development methods to raise awareness of hospice services among BAME communities in Birmingham and Sandwell; while offering training and cultural/spiritual broker services to clinicians increasing their understanding of patients and families from these communities. There was no information about Hospice care services among people from BAME communities. Many people from BAME communities belong to cultural or spiritual groups whose members support each other during times of celebration, illness, death and bereavement. They refer to this support as 'our way of life'. Death, dying, and cancer are taboo subjects. In 2009 we set up the Compassionate Communities Project (CCP) within our Reaching People Programme (RPP) to increase access to our services for people from BAME communities. CCP enables community groups and service providers to work together in end of life. Representatives from BAME communities help train clinicians on supporting people from their communities in end of life. © 2015, Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Association between work conditions and smoking in South Korea.

PubMed

Cho, Young-Seung; Kim, Hyoung-Ryoul; Myong, Jun-Pyo; Kim, Hyun Wook

2013-12-01

A variety of sociodemographic factors, such as gender, age, household income, and educational level, influence individuals' likelihood of smoking. Work-related factors may also be linked to smoking behavior. We sought to investigate the relationship between smoking and work environment in South Korea. We analyzed data from the Fifth Korean National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to determine whether there was an association between smoking and occupation type (e.g., manual, nonmanual, or service work), night-shift work, and hours worked/week (e.g., <40, 40-48, 49-60, or >60 hours) for 4,685 workers. Regression models were adjusted for sociodemographic variables such as age, recent alcohol consumption, hours slept, educational level, and household income. The prevalence of smoking was 50.1% in men and 7.2% in women. For women, manual workers had 2.34 times [95% confidence interval (CI): 1.02-5.36] greater odds of smoking compared with nonmanual workers, whereas service workers had 2.37 times greater odds (95% CI: 1.28-4.40). Furthermore, women who worked 49-60 hours had 2.21 times greater odds of smoking (95% CI: 1.10-3.75) as compared with women who worked 40-48 hours. Women who work long hours or who are employed in service or manual positions are more likely to smoke. These results indicate a need in South Korea to target these specific groups when creating nonsmoking policies.

The Western Bark Beetle Research Group: a unique collaboration with Forest Health Protection-proceedings of a symposium at the 2007 Society of American Foresters conference

Treesearch

J.L. Hayes; J.E. Lundquist

2009-01-01

The compilation of papers in this proceedings is based on a symposium sponsored by the Insect and Diseases Working Group (D5) at the 2007 Society of American Foresters (SAF) convention in Portland, Oregon. The selection of topics parallels the research priorities of the Western Bark Beetle Research Group (WBBRG) (USDA Forest Service, Research and Development), which...

Consumer perspectives on assistive technology outcomes.

PubMed

Lenker, James A; Harris, Frances; Taugher, Mary; Smith, Roger O

2013-09-01

The current study explored domains of assistive technology (AT) device outcomes that are most valued by AT users. A secondary objective was to identify elements in the device acquisition process that affect outcomes. Focus groups were conducted at geographically dispersed locations within the USA. The groups were moderated by experienced AT practitioners who followed a detailed procedure emphasizing a nominal group facilitation technique. Twenty-four adult AT users, representing a range of ages and disability populations, participated in four focus groups. Many had over 15 years of experience with multiple device types. Qualitative analysis yielded 13 threads that embodied salient outcome domains (e.g. independence, subjective well-being, participation in work and school, cost-effectiveness) and key factors associated with the device acquisition process (e.g. lengthy periods of frustration, variable quality of service providers). Ironically, these data were evoked only after the term "outcomes" was omitted from focus group questions. AT outcomes studies are needed that report data regarding (a) the impact of AT on participation, (b) costs of AT provision and (c) key elements in the AT service delivery process. Future studies will be further strengthened to the extent that their methodologies actively assimilate consumer perspectives. Implications for Rehabilitation Consumers highly value the impact of AT devices on their independence, subjective well-being and participation in work and school. The process of acquiring assistive technology devices is often lengthy and frustrating for consumers. Future AT outcomes research should report descriptive data regarding service delivery processes, as well as long-term impacts for consumers. Practitioners and researchers should avoid the use of potentially confusing professional jargon when administering surveys to consumers.

[RIU project: perceived changes by health agents and professionals after a health intervention in an urban area of socioeconomic disadvantage].

PubMed

Aviñó, Dory; Paredes-Carbonell, Joan J; Peiró-Pérez, Rosana; La Parra Casado, Daniel; Álvarez-Dardet, Carlos

2014-12-01

To describe how health agents and professionals working in a community project perceive the changes related to the population health status and their use of health-care services after the RIU intervention in an urban area of socioeconomic disadvantage. A qualitative descriptive study based on individual and group interviews and participant observation conducted between October 2008-July 2009. Raval (Algemesí-Valencia) We selected by purposive sample 7 women health agents, all persons who completed the intervention, and 10 professionals for their involvement in the intervention. We conducted a group interview with the women at 6 months and a group and 7 individuals interviews both at 9 months of intervention. We realized a thematic descriptive analysis from health promotion framework. We used participant observation in a meeting with professionals at 9 months and analyzed field notes as: appraisal project, detected changes, challenges and recommendations. Women acquired information about health, contraception, pregnancy and heath services; they noted changes in self-care and social skills and leadership; they internalized the role of health worker disseminating what they learned and showed improvement in self-esteem and social recognition. They caused changes in the people related on health care and access to services. Professionals didn't incorporate at their work the community perspective; they valued positively the project; professionals and women agreed on improving access and use of services and closeness population-professionals. RIU increases the capabilities of the participants, their social recognition and improves access and use of health services. Copyright © 2013 Elsevier España, S.L.U. All rights reserved.

Opportunity for change in the future roles for the health library and information professional: meeting the challenges in NHS Scotland.

PubMed

Maclean, Gerry

2006-12-01

NHS Education for Scotland (NES) is the Special Health Board responsible for supporting best practice in education, training and development for all staff groups within NHS Scotland. As part of its remit, the Knowledge Services Group within NES is responsible for the e-Library, a national electronic resource providing and supporting access to the evidence base. The Knowledge Services Group also supports the national development of library services to NHS Scotland. This article aims to provide a reflective overview of some recent challenges within the health library and information field in Scotland, and the positive role opportunities these have afforded. The information was gathered through extensive professional interaction with staff across the sector over the first year of establishing the new role of Librarian Staff Development Manager. New roles have emerged for health library and information professionals generally; for example, in response to new technology or new user groups. The development of the NHS Scotland e-Library provides examples of role development that emerges symbiotically from core skills applied to a new situation or applied in an innovative way. Role development among health library and information professionals operating at the local service level can be both reactive and proactive. Working together, the partnership between the national Knowledge Services Group and local library and knowledge services for NHS Scotland has resulted in the emergence of additional new roles, extending the role portfolio of the local professional (for example, the Librarian-Tutor role) and supported by other national infrastructures (for example, the competency framework initiative).

Financial crisis and income-related inequalities in the universal provision of a public service: the case of healthcare in Spain.

PubMed

Abásolo, Ignacio; Saez, Marc; López-Casasnovas, Guillem

2017-07-24

The objective of this paper is to analyse whether the recent recession has altered health care utilisation patterns of different income groups in Spain. Based on information concerning individuals 'income and health care use, along with health need indicators and demographic characteristics (provided by the Spanish National Health Surveys from 2006/07 and 2011/12), econometric models are estimated in two parts (mixed logistic regressions and truncated negative binominal regressions) for each of the public health services studied (family doctor appointments, appointments with specialists, hospitalisations, emergencies and prescription drug use). The results show that the principle of universal access to public health provision does not in fact prevent a financial crisis from affecting certain income groups more than others in their utilisation of public health services. Specifically, in relative terms the recession has been more detrimental to low-income groups in the cases of specialist appointments and hospitalisations, whereas it has worked to their advantage in the cases of emergency services and family doctor appointments.

The work of local healthcare innovation: a qualitative study of GP-led integrated diabetes care in primary health care.

PubMed

Foster, Michele; Burridge, Letitia; Donald, Maria; Zhang, Jianzhen; Jackson, Claire

2016-01-14

Service delivery innovation is at the heart of efforts to combat the growing burden of chronic disease and escalating healthcare expenditure. Small-scale, locally-led service delivery innovation is a valuable source of learning about the complexities of change and the actions of local change agents. This exploratory qualitative study captures the perspectives of clinicians and managers involved in a general practitioner-led integrated diabetes care innovation. Data on these change agents' perspectives on the local innovation and how it works in the local context were collected through focus groups and semi-structured interviews at two primary health care sites. Transcribed data were analysed thematically. Normalization Process Theory provided a framework to explore perspectives on the individual and collective work involved in putting the innovation into practice in local service delivery contexts. Twelve primary health care clinicians, hospital-based medical specialists and practice managers participated in the study, which represented the majority involved in the innovation at the two sites. The thematic analysis highlighted three main themes of local innovation work: 1) trusting and embedding new professional relationships; 2) synchronizing services and resources; and 3) reconciling realities of innovation work. As a whole, the findings show that while locally-led service delivery innovation is designed to respond to local problems, convincing others to trust change and managing the boundary tensions is core to local work, particularly when it challenges taken-for-granted practices and relationships. Despite this, the findings also show that local innovators can and do act in both discretionary and creative ways to progress the innovation. The use of Normalization Process Theory uncovered some critical professional, organizational and structural factors early in the progression of the innovation. The key to local service delivery innovation lies in building coalitions of trust at the point of service delivery and persuading organizational and institutional mindsets to consider the opportunities of locally-led innovation.

The Australian Bureau of Meteorology Activities for the Regional Ionosphere Specification and Forcating

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Bouya, Z.; Terkildsen, M.; Maher, P.

2016-12-01

Space Weather Services, Australian Bureau of Meteorology, Sydney, Australia Abstract:The Australian Bureau of Meteorology through its Space Weather Service (SWS) provides ionospheric products and services to a diverse group of customers. In this work, we present a regional approach to characterizing the Australian regional Total Electron Content (TEC) and an assimilative model to map the Ionospheric layer parameter foF2. Finally we outline the design of an Australian regional Ionospheric forecast model at SWS. Keywords: TEC, foF2, regional, data assimilation, forecast

Characteristics of service users and provider organisations associated with experience of out of hours general practitioner care in England: population based cross sectional postal questionnaire survey.

PubMed

Warren, Fiona C; Abel, Gary; Lyratzopoulos, Georgios; Elliott, Marc N; Richards, Suzanne; Barry, Heather E; Roland, Martin; Campbell, John L

2015-04-29

To investigate the experience of users of out of hours general practitioner services in England, UK. Population based cross sectional postal questionnaire survey. General Practice Patient Survey 2012-13. Potential associations between sociodemographic factors (including ethnicity and ability to take time away from work during working hours to attend a healthcare consultation) and provider organisation type (not for profit, NHS, or commercial) and service users' experience of out of hours care (timeliness, confidence and trust in the out of hours clinician, and overall experience of the service), rated on a scale of 0-100. Which sociodemographic/provider characteristics were associated with service users' experience, the extent to which any observed differences could be because of clustering of service users of a particular sociodemographic group within poorer scoring providers, and the extent to which observed differences in experience varied across types of provider. The overall response rate was 35%; 971,232/2,750,000 patients returned surveys. Data from 902,170 individual service users were mapped through their registered practice to one of 86 providers of out of hours GP care with known organisation type. Commercial providers of out of hours GP care were associated with poorer reports of overall experience of care, with a mean difference of -3.13 (95% confidence interval -4.96 to -1.30) compared with not for profit providers. Asian service users reported lower scores for all three experience outcomes than white service users (mean difference for overall experience of care -3.62, -4.36 to -2.89), as did service users who were unable to take time away from work compared with service users who did not work (mean difference for overall experience of care -4.73, -5.29 to -4.17). Commercial providers of out of hours GP care were associated with poorer experience of care. Targeted interventions aimed at improving experience for patients from ethnic minorities and patients who are unable to take time away from work might be warranted. © Warren et al 2015.

Special Collections in ARL Libraries: A Discussion Report from the ARL Working Group on Special Collections

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Association of Research Libraries, 2009

2009-01-01

This discussion report identifies key issues in the management of special collections material in the 21st century. The report uses a broad definition of "special collections," which encompasses distinctive material in all media and attendant library services. The group's main focus was on 19th- and 20th-century materials, including…

Pilot Study in the Development of an Interactive Multimedia Learning Environment for Sexual Health Interventions: A Focus Group Approach

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Goold, P. C.; Bustard, S.; Ferguson, E.; Carlin, E. M.; Neal, K.; Bowman, C. A.

2006-01-01

In the UK there are high rates of sexually transmitted infections and unintended pregnancies amongst young people. There is limited and contradictory evidence that current sexual health education interventions are effective or that they improve access to appropriate sexual health services. This paper describes the outcome of focus group work with…

Revisando la Bateria (Checking the Battery). Vocational Branch, Automotive Services. Teacher's and Student's Booklets, First Edition.

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Dade County Public Schools, Miami, FL.

The materials in this program are written to individualize the teaching of Spanish to English speakers, and are designed to provide as much flexibility as possible for both the teacher and student. The materials can be used for large groups, small groups, and individual work, although direct teacher-student contact is considered beneficial. This…

Facilitating Democracy in a Testing Culture: Challenges and Opportunities for School Leaders

ERIC Educational Resources Information Center

Bergmark, Ulrika; Salopek, Michelle; Kawai, Roi; Lane-Myler, Jennifer

2014-01-01

In 2010, Principal Kirk introduced Small Group Meeting (SGM) at Hillcrest Elementary. SGMs are multiage student groupings who meet with school faculty once a month to work on community building, service-learning projects, and advising. Many teachers liked the SGMs, some felt they needed more time to prepare, and others felt it was a waste of time.…

Best practice guidelines for stroke in Cameroon: An innovative and participatory knowledge translation project.

PubMed

Cockburn, Lynn; Fanfon, Timothy N; Bramall, Alexa; Ngole, Eta M; Kuwoh, Pius; Anjonga, Emmanuel; Difang, Brenda M E; Kiani, Shirin; Muso, Petra S; Trivedi, Navjyot; Sama, Julius; Teboh, Sylvian

2014-01-01

Although the adherence to stroke guidelines in high-income countries has been shown to be associated with improved patient outcomes, the research, development and implementation of rehabilitation related guidelines in African countries is lacking. The purpose of this article is to describe how a group of front-line practitioners collaborated with academics and students to develop best practice guidelines (BPG) for the management and rehabilitation of stroke in adult patients in Cameroon. A working group was established and adapted internationally recognised processes for the development of best practice guidelines. The group determined the scope of the guidelines, documented current practices, and critically appraised evidence to develop guidelines relevant to the Cameroon context. The primary result of this project is best practice guidelines which provided an overview of the provision of stroke rehabilitation services in the region, and made 83 practice recommendations to improve these services. We also report on the successes and challenges encountered during the process, and the working group's recommendations aimed at encouraging others to consider similar projects. This project demonstrated that there is interest and capacity for improving stroke rehabilitation practices and for stroke guideline development in Africa.

Law and psychiatry. Doing forensic work, II: fees, billing, and collections.

PubMed

Reid, William H

2012-05-01

Forensic practice fees, billing, and collection procedures are quite different from those in general psychiatry. Most forensic practices have far fewer "clients," and individual bills are usually larger. Collections are usually better (and less frequently discounted) in forensic practice, and resolving billing disputes is far more straightforward. Medicare, Medicaid, other insurance coverage, provider networks and agreements, procedure codes, and diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) are all largely irrelevant in forensic work (although sometimes important to direct clinical services in correctional psychiatry or forensic treatment clinics). An understanding of the practicalities and ethics of charging and billing for forensic services greatly simplifies practice management.

Meteorological Support Interface Control Working Group (MSICWG) Instrumentation, Data Format, and Networks Document

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Brenton, James; Roberts, Barry C.

2017-01-01

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview of instrumentation discussed at the Meteorological Interface Control Working Group (MSICWG), a reference for data formats currently used by members of the group, a summary of proposed formats for future use by the group, an overview of the data networks of the group's members. This document will be updated as new systems are introduced, old systems are retired, and when the MSICWG community necessitates a change to the formats. The MSICWG consists of personnel from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) Kennedy Space Center (KSC), NASA Marshall Space Flight Center (MSFC), NASA Johnson Space Center (JSC), National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration National Weather Service Spaceflight Meteorology Group (SMG), and the United States Air Force (USAF) 45th Space Wing and Weather Squadron. The purpose of the group is to coordinate the distribution of weather related data to support NASA space launch related activities.

78 FR 3402 - Marine Fisheries Advisory Committee

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2013-01-16

... Fisheries Advisory Committee AGENCY: National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), National Oceanic and... forth the schedule and proposed agenda of a forthcoming meeting of the Marine Fisheries Advisory... the Recreational Fisheries Working Group for submission to the NOAA Fisheries Assistant Administrator...

DISE Summary Report (1992)

DTIC Science & Technology

1994-03-01

Specification and Network Time Protocol(NTP) over the Implementation. RFC-o 119, Network OSI Remote Operations Service. RFC- Working Group, September...approximately ISIS implements a powerful model of 94% of the total computation time. distributed computation known as modelo Timing results are

Mental disorder sick leave in Sweden: A population study.

PubMed

Lidwall, Ulrik; Bill, Sofia; Palmer, Edward; Olsson Bohlin, Christina

2018-01-01

The inability to perform productive work due to mental disorders is a growing concern in advanced societies. To investigate medically certified mental disorder and all-cause sick leave in a working population using demographic, socioeconomic and occupational predictors. The study population was the entire Swedish work force aged 16-64 years in December 31st 2011. The outcome was sick leave exceeding 14 days in 2012 with adjustment for 13 confounders. The risk of sick leave with a mental disorder is higher among women compared to men, among persons aged 30-39 and among parents in families with underage children. Employees in welfare service occupations within health care, education and social services have an elevated risk of mental disorder sick leave and constitute a large proportion of the workforce. The results support the need for improving early detection and prevention of mental disorders in the workforce. Improvements in psychosocial work environments are essential, where the higher risk in female dominated welfare occupations particularly, have repercussions on the quality of the welfare services provided for vulnerable groups in society. Better work-life balance in families with younger children could also mitigate the effects of a high total workload in that particular phase of life.

Non-medical prescribing of chemotherapy: engaging stakeholders to maximise success?

PubMed

Lennan, Elaine

2014-01-01

This study report examines the views and experiences of professional stakeholders about non-medical prescribing (NMP) of chemotherapy. The introduction of open formulary NMP has created opportunities to radically change health-care delivery. For chemotherapy services, the most recent advice from the National Chemotherapy Advisory Group [Department of Health (2009) Chemotherapy Services in England, ensuring quality and safety: a report from the National Chemotherapy Advisory Group, London Her Majesty's Stationary Office] clearly endorses the development of nurse- or pharmacist-led chemotherapy clinics. This is very much welcomed but is based on very limited evidence as to their effectiveness. A fourth-generation evaluation study. A purposeful sample of 23 stakeholders connected with the chemotherapy service was used. A serial data collection technique with individual interviews followed by uni-professional focus groups was adopted. Finally, a multi-professional focus group was held to determine the strategic way forward. Data were collected in 2009-2010. The study illuminated the key features necessary to maximise success of NMP in chemotherapy clinics and captures the importance of good working relationships. Whilst different practice models will emerge, fundamental and core to services is the need for good team working, established and effective communication strategies, and most importantly avoiding isolation in practice. This study additionally reinforced any evaluation takes place within preexisting political contexts and in particular medical dominance. Not all medical colleagues agreed with or wanted NMP for their patients, highlighting difficulties of developing new models of working within a resisting culture. No objections to NMP of chemotherapy were found, but, clearly, the context of practice needs to be agreed and supportedby all professional stakeholders. What is already known about this topicOpen formulary non-medical prescribing has been rapidly introduced over the past decade.Little research has been conducted in acute care and none in the chemotherapy setting.Cancer policy recommends the introduction of nurse-led chemotherapy clinics.What this paper addsNon-medical prescribing (NMP) in chemotherapy is appropriate with the right model of practice.Well-established professional relationships are a key to success.NMP is not appropriate in isolation of the multidisciplinary team (MDT).Implications for practice and/or policyNurses need to demonstrate the value of non-medical prescribing in chemotherapy using available metrics.Models of practice need to ensure good communication channels, MDT working, and transparency of prescribing.

[Team cohesiveness: opinions of a group of primary health care professionals from Salamanca].

PubMed

González, F J; de Cabo, A; Morán, M J; Manzano, J M

1993-04-01

To assess the view of a group of Primary care professionals on their level of perception of group cohesiveness in their teams' work dynamic. A descriptive and sectional study. Four urban health centres in Salamanca with a recognised teaching activity. Both health professionals and those outside the Health Service, working in Primary Care, who had been members of their teams for more than a year (N = 90). Descriptive statistics and "Chi squared" tests were employed. 72%. A high level of agreement on the need for team work (95.23%). They perceived their group cohesiveness as being very low (84.21% affirmed that they encounter problems of cohesiveness). The main statements concerning this lack of cohesiveness were: "lack of common objectives" (25.5%), "intolerance between workers" (20.13%), "work not shared" (19.46%) and "the taking of decisions individually" (19.44%). The main causes given were: lack of support from Management (23.74%) and too little training for team work (21.58%). There is a high degree of conviction that the team work model is the most efficacious way of developing Primary Care. However in three of the four teams questioned, there were serious problems preventing the teams' reaching an adequate level of group cohesiveness.

Migration status, work conditions and health utilization of female sex workers in three South African cities.

PubMed

Richter, Marlise; Chersich, Matthew F; Vearey, Jo; Sartorius, Benn; Temmerman, Marleen; Luchters, Stanley

2014-02-01

Intersections between migration and sex work are underexplored in southern Africa, a region with high internal and cross-border population mobility, and HIV prevalence. Sex work often constitutes an important livelihood activity for migrant women. In 2010, sex workers trained as interviewers conducted cross-sectional surveys with 1,653 female sex workers in Johannesburg (Hillbrow and Sandton), Rustenburg and Cape Town. Most (85.3%) sex workers were migrants (1396/1636): 39.0% (638/1636) internal and 46.3% (758/1636) cross-border. Cross-border migrants had higher education levels, predominately worked part-time, mainly at indoor venues, and earned more per client than other groups. They, however, had 41% lower health service contact (adjusted odds ratio = 0.59; 95% confidence interval = 0.40-0.86) and less frequent condom use than non-migrants. Police interaction was similar. Cross-border migrants appear more tenacious in certain aspects of sex work, but require increased health service contact. Migrant-sensitive, sex work-specific health care and health education are needed.

Work group design in pharmacy: the pharmacist-technician team.

PubMed

Kershaw, B P; Solomon, D K; Zarowitz, B J

1987-05-01

The contemporary pharmacy practice manager faces the challenge of designing pharmacy service programs that not only satisfy the needs of the patient, but at the same time satisfy and motivate the pharmacists and technicians who sustain the programs. This research examined the team design, which has been recommended but not fully described in the literature. This application did not explore the full potential of the team design in the hospital pharmacy setting. More study is needed in this area to assess the impact of work group design on the expansion of clinical programs, employee turnover rates, quality and quantity of work produced, and, most important, the impact on job satisfaction enjoyed by pharmacists and technicians.

Simulator Training Requirements and Effectiveness Study (STRES). Part 1. Abstract Bibliography

DTIC Science & Technology

1981-01-01

august 1977 tnrougn January 19dU. The work was performed by a team made up of Canyon Research Group, Inc; Seville Research Corporation; and United...Dr. Thomas Eggemeier. A tri-service STRES Advisory Team participated in guiding and monitoring the work performed during this contract to assure its...8217 STRUCTURE OF THE STRES PROGRAM The primary objectives of STRES, as described in the contract Statement of Work for the present efforts, are to define

Addressing the workplace needs of Western Australian midwives: a Delphi study.

PubMed

Hauck, Yvonne L; Bayes, Sara J; Robertson, Jeanette M

2012-05-01

To determine the workplace needs of Western Australian midwives working in public metropolitan secondary hospitals. Using a three-round Delphi approach, Round 1 incorporated focus groups and a questionnaire. Fifteen focus groups were conducted with midwives also having the option of contributing through an open-ended questionnaire. During Round 2, 38 items reflecting seven themes were prioritised with a final ranking performed in Round 3. In total, 114 midwives participated in Round 1, 72 in Round 2 and 89 in Round 3. During Round 1, workplace needs identified as being met included: working across all areas of midwifery; ability to work in areas of interest; opportunity to work with low to moderate risk women; supportive colleagues; accessible parking; hospital close to home and friendly work atmosphere. Round 2 items revealed the five top unmet needs as: adequate midwifery staff coverage; access to maintained equipment; competitive pay scales; patient safety issues and opportunities to implement midwifery models. The top ranked needs from Round 3 included: recognising the unpredictable nature of midwifery services; provision of competent medical coverage, and adequate midwifery staff coverage. Demand for maternity services is unpredictable; however, in order to maintain a sustainable maternity workforce, WA midwives' prioritised needs would suggest health management focus upon expanding the availability of midwifery models of care, fostering flexible working conditions and ensuring collaboration between maternity health professionals occurs within clinically safe staffing levels.

Basic occupational health services (BOHS) in community primary care: the MSF (Dhaka) model.

PubMed

Muralidhar, Venkiteswaran; Ahasan, Md Faizul; Khan, Ahad Mahmud; Alam, Mohammad Shariful

2017-03-20

The Médecins Sans Frontiérs (MSF) established basic occupational health services to diagnose and treat work-related diseases among tannery, metal, plastics and garment workers and families in one of the more polluted areas of the world populated by 600 000 people. In spite of project limitations, an analysis of the 6-month data showed that of the original cohort of 5000, 3200 (64%) came for at least 1 consultation. Among them, 468 (14.6%) were diagnosed with suspected work-related diseases as per defined protocols. Follow-up consultation was performed for 1447 cases of occupational diseases and work-related injuries. The MSF experience begs the need for replication of such services in densely populated urban areas in developing nations like Bangladesh and India, where no specialty occupational health clinics exist in primary care but are desperately needed and where occupational health clinics on factory premises are exclusive to industry workers and are not accessible to communities. 2017 BMJ Publishing Group Ltd.

Using activity-based costing to track resource use in group practices.

PubMed

Zeller, T L; Siegel, G; Kaciuba, G; Lau, A H

1999-09-01

Research shows that understanding how resources are consumed can help group practices control costs. An American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons study used an activity-based costing (ABC) system to measure how resources are consumed in providing medical services. Teams of accounting professors observed 18 diverse orthopedic surgery practices. The researchers identified 17 resource-consuming business processes performed by nonphysician office staff. They measured resource consumption by assigning costs to each process according to how much time is spent on related work activities. When group practices understand how their resources are being consumed, they can reduce costs and optimize revenues by making adjustments in how administrative and clinical staff work.

An exploration of group-based HIV/AIDS treatment and care models in Sub-Saharan Africa using a realist evaluation (Intervention-Context-Actor-Mechanism-Outcome) heuristic tool: a systematic review.

PubMed

Mukumbang, Ferdinand C; Van Belle, Sara; Marchal, Bruno; van Wyk, Brian

2017-08-25

It is increasingly acknowledged that differentiated care models hold potential to manage large volumes of patients on antiretroviral therapy (ART). Various group-based models of ART service delivery aimed at decongesting local health facilities, encouraging patient retention in care, and enhancing adherence to medication have been implemented across sub-Saharan Africa. Evidence from the literature suggests that these models of ART service delivery are more effective than corresponding facility-based care and superior to individual-based models. Nevertheless, there is little understanding of how these care models work to achieve their intended outcomes. The aim of this study was to review the theories explicating how and why group-based ART models work using a realist evaluation framework. A systematic review of the literature on group-based ART support models in sub-Saharan Africa was conducted. We searched the Google Scholar and PubMed databases and supplemented these with a reference chase of the identified articles. We applied a theory-driven approach-narrative synthesis-to synthesise the data. Data were analysed using the thematic content analysis method and synthesised according to aspects of the Intervention-Context-Actor-Mechanism-Outcome heuristic-analytic tool-a realist evaluation theory building tool. Twelve articles reporting primary studies on group-based models of ART service delivery were included in the review. The six studies that employed a quantitative study design failed to identify aspects of the context and mechanisms that work to trigger the outcomes of group-based models. While the other four studies that applied a qualitative and the two using a mixed methods design identified some of the aspects of the context and mechanisms that could trigger the outcomes of group-based ART models, these studies did not explain the relationship(s) between the theory elements and how they interact to produce the outcome(s). Although we could distill various components of the Intervention-Context-Actor-Mechanism-Outcome analytic tool from different studies exploring group-based programmes, we could not, however, identify a salient programme theory based on the Intervention-Context-Actor-Mechanism-Outcome heuristic analysis. The scientific community, policy makers and programme implementers would benefit more if explanatory findings of how, why, for whom and in what circumstances programmes work are presented rather than just reporting on the outcomes of the interventions.

The effect of occupational cultures on coordination of emergency medical service aircrew.

PubMed

Fonne, V M; Myhre, G

1996-06-01

The purpose of the study was to see whether one can determine different occupational cultures in the Emergency Medical Air Ambulance Service and whether these differences in orientation among the crewmembers may have an impace on effective crew coordination. Due to different requirements of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS), each crewmember joins the duty with different backgrounds, interests and expectations. The operational stresses of this kind of service, however, demand teamwork and may easily expose the crew's ability to coordinate their actions to work as a team. The initial study consisted of 60 operational crewmembers from the Norwegian Air Ambulance Service. Hofstede's questionnaire Values Survey Module was administered for an evaluation of occupational culture. The analysis reveals group differences at the occupational level in the perception of power distribution, team orientation and achievement preferences. We conclude that differences in certain work goals might be attributed partly by specific attitudes and values from the occupational categories' professional background, which influence the interpretation of established rules and procedures in the service. The results are further discussed in relation to the crewmembers' different task demands and areas of responsibility, and emphasis is put on organizational responsibility for enhancing safety and efficiency in the service.

Mental Health Service Utilization before and after Receipt of a Service-Connected Disability Award for PTSD: Findings from a National Sample.

PubMed

Sripada, Rebecca K; Hannemann, Claire M; Schnurr, Paula P; Marx, Brian P; Pollack, Stacey J; McCarthy, John F

2018-04-17

To determine patterns of mental health service use before and after VA disability compensation awards for posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). A 10 percent random sample of VHA-enrolled Veterans with new or increased PTSD service connection between 2012 and 2014 (n = 22,249). We used latent trajectory analysis to identify utilization patterns and multinomial logistic regression to assess associations between Veteran characteristics and trajectory membership. We assessed receipt of VHA mental health encounters in each of the 52 weeks prior to and following PTSD disability rating or rating increase. The best fitting model had five groups: No Use (36.6 percent), Low Use (37.7 percent), Increasing Use (9.4 percent), Decreasing Use (11.2 percent), and High Use (5.1 percent). Adjusting for demographic characteristics and compared with the No Use group, Veterans in the other groups were more likely to reside closer to a VHA facility, receive a higher PTSD disability rating, and screen positive for military sexual trauma. Service use remained stable (80 percent) or increased (9 percent) for the vast majority of Veterans. Service utilization declined for only 11 percent. Data did not indicate substantial service discontinuation following rating. Low VHA service utilization suggests opportunities to enhance outreach for Veterans with PTSD-related disability benefits. © Published 2018. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA.

A national industrial health service on a voluntary basis.

PubMed

NATVIG, H

1955-01-01

In Norway-a country with a population of about 3.2 million-the largest occupational group is employed in manufacturing and trade, which accounted for a total of 480 000 individuals in 1946. Most industries are small, only about 100 firms having more than 500 workers. As industry developed, there arose an increasing need for organizing a special plant health service, with the aim of protecting and promoting the health of the workers.Certain regulations were worked out, and in 1945 a general agreement was made between the Norwegian Medical Association, the Norwegian Employers' Association, and the Norwegian Federation of Labour; a tripartite body was then formed, the Board of Industrial Health Service, to give information and advice to industries. This plant health service is based on voluntary mutual agreement and not on legislation.All expenses for the plant health service are met by the industry itself. In firms with no special occupational health problems, the physician works one hour per week per 100 workers; in firms with special problems, two hours. The duties of the plant physician consist in giving the employees pre-employment and periodical health examinations, and health guidance, and carrying out other preventive measures. First aid, treatment for occupational diseases not requiring absence from work, and treatment of certain minor ailments are the only forms of therapy given at the plant. Workers in need of further medical treatment are referred to general practitioners or hospitals. Absenteeism is recorded in a uniform way in all industries that have joined this industrial health service. The plant physician has to submit an annual report on his work to the Board of Industrial Health Service.This system of industrial health service has given very good results. In 1953, 653 plants were participating with about 186 000 workers. About 260 active plant physicians are to be found in Norway at present, most of them working on a part-time basis. The cost of this service is about 20-30 Norwegian kroner (3-4 US dollars) per worker per year.There is co-operation and co-ordination between the industrial health services and the public health services. Many local public health officers work as part-time industrial physicians, and many industrial physicians co-operate closely with the local boards of health, especially in the field of tuberculosis control.The special form of industrial health service adopted in Norway has sprung out of the particular situation there, which made possible the establishment of an industrial health service without danger of weakening the medical services as a whole. Any lack of physicians would have prevented the creation of this service, and the system is therefore not to be recommended for a country with a shortage of physicians. The geographical extent of Norway and the difficult communications in many places have necessitated the delegation of preventive health work mainly to the private physicians, the health centres and institutes playing but a small part in such work.

A national industrial health service on a voluntary basis*

PubMed Central

Natvig, Haakon

1955-01-01

In Norway—a country with a population of about 3.2 million—the largest occupational group is employed in manufacturing and trade, which accounted for a total of 480 000 individuals in 1946. Most industries are small, only about 100 firms having more than 500 workers. As industry developed, there arose an increasing need for organizing a special plant health service, with the aim of protecting and promoting the health of the workers. Certain regulations were worked out, and in 1945 a general agreement was made between the Norwegian Medical Association, the Norwegian Employers' Association, and the Norwegian Federation of Labour; a tripartite body was then formed, the Board of Industrial Health Service, to give information and advice to industries. This plant health service is based on voluntary mutual agreement and not on legislation. All expenses for the plant health service are met by the industry itself. In firms with no special occupational health problems, the physician works one hour per week per 100 workers; in firms with special problems, two hours. The duties of the plant physician consist in giving the employees pre-employment and periodical health examinations, and health guidance, and carrying out other preventive measures. First aid, treatment for occupational diseases not requiring absence from work, and treatment of certain minor ailments are the only forms of therapy given at the plant. Workers in need of further medical treatment are referred to general practitioners or hospitals. Absenteeism is recorded in a uniform way in all industries that have joined this industrial health service. The plant physician has to submit an annual report on his work to the Board of Industrial Health Service. This system of industrial health service has given very good results. In 1953, 653 plants were participating with about 186 000 workers. About 260 active plant physicians are to be found in Norway at present, most of them working on a part-time basis. The cost of this service is about 20-30 Norwegian kroner (3-4 US dollars) per worker per year. There is co-operation and co-ordination between the industrial health services and the public health services. Many local public health officers work as part-time industrial physicians, and many industrial physicians co-operate closely with the local boards of health, especially in the field of tuberculosis control. The special form of industrial health service adopted in Norway has sprung out of the particular situation there, which made possible the establishment of an industrial health service without danger of weakening the medical services as a whole. Any lack of physicians would have prevented the creation of this service, and the system is therefore not to be recommended for a country with a shortage of physicians. The geographical extent of Norway and the difficult communications in many places have necessitated the delegation of preventive health work mainly to the private physicians, the health centres and institutes playing but a small part in such work. PMID:13276821

Road to better health and integration: a Delphi study on health service models for Hong Kong migrants.

PubMed

Wong, William C W; Ho, Petula S Y; Liang, Jun; Holroyd, Eleanor A; Lam, Cindy L K; Pau, Agnes M Y

2014-12-19

In Hong Kong, migrants arriving from Mainland China often have multiple roles and responsibilities while adapting to new lives in their host destination. This paper explored the factors that contribute to the inequity in health services utilisation experienced by these migrants; and, identified the elements that could constitute an effective health delivery model to address the service gap. Site visits and a focus group discussion (n = 13) were held with both public and private health providers before a number of innovative health delivery models were formulated. They were then circulated among the panel in two further rounds of Delphi survey (n = 11) from March-April 2012 to systematically collect opinions and select the most endorsed health service models to serve this target population. Focus group members perceived that most migrants were unaware of, or even ignored, their own physical and mental health needs, and had low utilisation of healthcare services, because of their pre-occupation with daily chores and hardship as well as differing health values, practices and expectations. They further identified that the structural issues such as the healthcare setting or the operation of current service provisions had failed to meet migrants' health needs. Consequently, four new service models that incorporated professional advice and empowerment, which were identified as the two most important elements, were put forward. Thus, the model of having a nurse with social work training, supported by volunteer groups, was selected as the best option to familiarise and empower patients within the labyrinth of local healthcare services. Implementation of a social empowerment model by way of targeted support and specific health information is recommended. Further evaluation of this model is needed to understand its effectiveness for improving health literacy and health status in this disadvantaged group in the long term.

Current status of the EPOS WG4 - GNSS and Other Geodetic Data

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Fernandes, Rui; Bastos, Luísa; Bruyninx, Carine; D'Agostino, Nicola; Dousa, Jan; Ganas, Athanassios; Lidberg, Martin; Nocquet, Jean-Mathieu

2013-04-01

WG4 - "EPOS Geodetic Data and Other Geodetic Data" is the Working Group of the EPOS project in charge of defining and preparing the integration of the existing Pan-European Geodetic Infrastructures that will support the European Geosciences, which is the ultimate goal of the EPOS project. The WG4 is formed by representatives of the participating EPOS countries (23) but it is also open to the entire geodetic community. In fact, WG4 also includes members from countries that formally are not part of the current phase of EPOS. In an ongoing effort, the majority of existing GNSS Research Infrastructures in Europe were identified. The current database, available at http://epos-couch.cloudant.com/epos-couch/_design/epos-couch/, lists a total of 50 Research Infrastructures managing a total of 1534 GNSS CORS sites. This presentation intends to detail the work being produced within the working group WG4 related with the definition of strategies towards the implementation of the best solutions that will permit to the end-users, and in particular geo-scientists, to access the geodetic data, derived solutions, and associated metadata using transparent and uniform processes. The first step toward the design of an implementation and business plan is the definition of the core services for geodetic data within EPOS. In this talk, we will present the current status of the discussion about the content of core services. Three levels of core services could be distinguished, for which their content need to be defined. The 3 levels are: (1) the core services associated to data (diffusion, archive, long-term preservation, quality check, rapid analysis) (2) core services associated to geodetic products (analysis, products definition like position time series, velocity field and Zenithal Total Delay) (3) User oriented services (reference frames, real-time solutions for early warning systems, strain rate maps, meteorology, space weather, …). Current propositions and remaining open questions will be discussed.

Influence of health beliefs and stigma on choosing internet support groups over formal mental health services.

PubMed

Townsend, Lisa; Gearing, Robin Edward; Polyanskaya, Olga

2012-04-01

As the Internet has become a ubiquitous tool for health information, the use of Internet support groups for mental health concerns has grown. Despite the widespread use of these groups, little research has examined the efficacy and effectiveness of online communities for ameliorating mental health symptoms or factors that prompt people to seek online support rather than formal treatment. Our study addresses this gap in the literature by investigating Internet support group use as an alternative to formal mental health services. Logistic regression was conducted with data from the 2008 National Survey on Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) to examine relationships among treatment beliefs, practical variables such as time and affordability, stigma, and use of Internet support groups among 2,532 survey participants who reported a need for mental health treatment but were not receiving formal services. Four significant predictors of Internet support group use emerged: fear of being hospitalized or taking medication (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]=8.81, 95% confidence interval [CI]=4.25-18.27), inadequate insurance coverage (AOR=3.22, CI=1.44-7.20), age 26-34 years (AOR=.22, CI=.07-.69), and age 35 or older (AOR=.21, CI=.08-.56). Fear of coercion and the costs of traditional mental health services were important predictors of Internet support group use. The finding that inadequate insurance coverage prompted people to seek Internet support aligns with a substantial literature regarding lack of financial resources and reduced access to treatment. Individuals' fears of hospitalization and of taking medication suggested that they may view formal treatment as potentially coercive. Further work is needed to decrease public stigma regarding mental health services and the conditions under which involuntary treatment occurs.

Local Officials Guide to Defense Economic Adjustment

DTIC Science & Technology

1992-01-01

Fatigues and Sportswear . There are at least six other significant employ- ers in Burbank who have receive substantial defense contracts as a share of...economic adjust- ment is in community adjustment. Local officials are the keeper of the economic and social good of the entire community and can help...those in social work, employment and training, and finance. Non-profit groups, service organizations, and churches are all part of a community’s service

New responsibilities in purchasing and developing services.

PubMed

Jerram, Soline; Fox, Ann

2014-06-01

The role of nursing in the NHS commissioning structure in England is developing. Since April 2013 more than 200 clinical commissioning groups (CCGs), which comprise all GP practices in the locality, have taken on responsibility for health budgets in their areas. This article describes the challenges ahead and nurses' responsibilities in CCGs when working with local citizens and across the health and social care system to assure the delivery of high quality, safe services.

Community Mental Health Services in Latin America for People with Severe Mental Disorders

PubMed Central

Minoletti, Alberto; Galea, Sandro; Susser, Ezra

2013-01-01

Mental disorders are highly prevalent in Latin American countries and exact a serious emotional toll, yet investment in public mental health remains insufficient. Most countries of the region have developed national and local initiatives to improve delivery of mental health services over the last 22 years, following the technical leadership of the Pan American Health Organization/World Health Organization (PAHO/WHO). It is especially notable that PAHO/WHO facilitated the development of national policies and plans, as well as local programs, to deliver specialized community care for persons with severe mental disorders. Nevertheless, at present, the majority of Latin American countries maintain a model of services for severe mental disorders based primarily on psychiatric hospitals that consume most of the national mental health budget. To accelerate the pace of change, this article emphasizes the need to develop cross-country regional initiatives that promote mental health service development, focusing on severe mental disorders. As one specific example, the authors describe work with RedeAmericas, which has brought together an interdisciplinary group of international investigators to research regional approaches and train a new generation of leaders in public mental health. More generally, four regional strategies are proposed to complement the work of PAHO/ WHO in Latin America: 1) to develop multi-country studies on community services, 2) to study new strategies and interventions in countries with more advanced mental health services, 3) to strengthen advocacy groups by cross-country interchange, and 4) to develop a network of well-trained leaders to catalyze progress across the region. PMID:25339792

75 FR 43178 - Medicare Program; Solicitation for Proposals for the Medicare Imaging Demonstration

Federal Register 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014

2010-07-23

..., medical specialty societies, physician groups, integrated health care delivery systems, independent practice associations, radiology benefit managers, health plans, information technology vendors, and... societies. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) worked with medical specialty societies and...

Evaluating the effectiveness of infant mental health enhanced case management for dependency populations.

PubMed

Congdon, David

2010-10-01

Children who are receiving services for abuse and neglect are likely to have reduced developmental levels and are less prepared for success in school as a result. The progress of 144 children receiving services from The Children's Home Society of Florida was tracked with half being randomly assigned to a control group and half to an experimental group receiving enhanced infant mental health oriented case management services from two social work professionals in each of two locations in Tallahassee and West Palm Beach Florida. Those receiving enhanced case management showed significantly higher results in the following areas: more visits with their parents (for those removed from the family home), more service referrals, more completed assessments for services, more services based on the assessments they received, and more success in completing goals of treatment for which they were referred. Their parents had more contact with professionals to whom they were referred and had more success in completing goals of the treatment for which they were referred. Children who received intensive case management also showed improvement in their developmental skills related to problem solving from inception to completion of services. Implications for further research are considered.

Randomized Trial of Intensive Housing Placement and Community Transition Services for Episodic and Recidivist Homeless Families

PubMed Central

Mitchell, Kristen; Pareti, Lauren; DeGenova, Joe; Heller, Anne; Hannigan, Anthony; Gholston, Jennifer

2013-01-01

Objectives. We compared Home to Stay, a pilot of intensive housing placement and community transition services for episodic and recidivist homeless families, with a standard services approach. Methods. Using intention-to-treat analyses, we conducted a modified randomized trial of 138 Home to Stay client families and a control group of 192 client families receiving standard shelter services. Results. Home to Stay clients exited shelter more quickly than clients in the control group (Cox regression, P < .001), more commonly exited shelter with housing subsidies (75% vs 56%), stayed out of shelter longer (Cox regression, P = .011), and spent fewer total days in shelter (376 days vs 449 days). Home to Stay performed best with clients who entered shelter within 180 days of the pilot’s start date and had less impact on clients entering shelter before that time. Conclusions. Relative to standard services, Home to Stay services can accelerate exit from shelter and reduce return to shelter and total sheltered days for episodic and recidivist homeless families. Standard shelter services may be able to narrow this performance gap by incentivizing work with all episodic and recidivist homeless families. PMID:24148053

Prolonged sedentary time and physical activity in workplace and non-work contexts: a cross-sectional study of office, customer service and call centre employees.

PubMed

Thorp, Alicia A; Healy, Genevieve N; Winkler, Elisabeth; Clark, Bronwyn K; Gardiner, Paul A; Owen, Neville; Dunstan, David W

2012-10-26

To examine sedentary time, prolonged sedentary bouts and physical activity in Australian employees from different workplace settings, within work and non-work contexts. A convenience sample of 193 employees working in offices (131), call centres (36) and customer service (26) was recruited. Actigraph GT1M accelerometers were used to derive percentages of time spent sedentary (<100 counts per minute; cpm), in prolonged sedentary bouts (≥20 minutes or ≥30 minutes), light-intensity activity (100-1951 cpm) and moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (MVPA; ≥1952 cpm). Using mixed models adjusted for confounders, these were compared for: work days versus non-work days; work hours versus non-work hours (work days only); and, across workplace settings. Working hours were mostly spent sedentary (77.0%, 95%CI: 76.3, 77.6), with approximately half of this time accumulated in prolonged bouts of 20 minutes or more. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in all outcomes between workdays and non-work days, and, on workdays, between work- versus non-work hours. Results consistently showed "work" was more sedentary and had less light-intensity activity, than "non-work". The period immediately after work appeared important for MVPA. There were significant (p<0.05) differences in all sedentary and activity outcomes occurring during work hours across the workplace settings. Call-centre workers were generally the most sedentary and least physically active at work; customer service workers were typically the least sedentary and the most active at work. The workplace is a key setting for prolonged sedentary time, especially for some occupational groups, and the potential health risk burden attached requires investigation. Future workplace regulations and health promotion initiatives for sedentary occupations to reduce prolonged sitting time should be considered.

Network time synchronization servers at the US Naval Observatory

NASA Technical Reports Server (NTRS)

Schmidt, Richard E.

1995-01-01

Responding to an increased demand for reliable, accurate time on the Internet and Milnet, the U.S. Naval Observatory Time Service has established the network time servers, tick.usno.navy.mil and tock.usno.navy.mil. The system clocks of these HP9000/747i industrial work stations are synchronized to within a few tens of microseconds of USNO Master Clock 2 using VMEbus IRIG-B interfaces. Redundant time code is available from a VMEbus GPS receiver. UTC(USNO) is provided over the network via a number of protocols, including the Network Time Protocol (NTP) (DARPA Network Working Group Report RFC-1305), the Daytime Protocol (RFC-867), and the Time protocol (RFC-868). Access to USNO network time services is presently open and unrestricted. An overview of USNO time services and results of LAN and WAN time synchronization tests will be presented.

Using herbs.

PubMed

Mcmillen, H; Scheinman, D

1999-01-01

In Tanzania, the Tanga AIDS Working Group (TAWG) encourages traditional healers and biomedical health workers to work together to improve HIV prevention and care. It is active in three regional towns and provides care for over 400 people living with AIDS. Its services include pretest and posttest counseling. It also dispenses traditional medicines and biomedicines for the treatment of opportunistic infections symptoms. TAWG is also involved in researching potentially useful herbal remedies. Moreover, the group conducts seminars with local traditional healers and traditional birth attendants on topics such as basic facts about HIV/AIDS, transmission and prevention, and when and where to refer people to biomedical facilities.

Military experience can influence Women's eating habits.

PubMed

Breland, Jessica Y; Donalson, Rosemary; Nevedal, Andrea; Dinh, Julie V; Maguen, Shira

2017-11-01

Disordered eating, ranging from occasional binge eating or restriction to behaviors associated with eating disorder diagnoses, is common among military personnel and veterans. However, there is little information on how military service affects eating habits. To describe possible pathways between military service and disordered eating among women veterans, a high risk group. Twenty women veterans who reported changing eating habits in response to stress participated in audio-recorded focus groups or dyadic interviews between April 2013 and October 2014. We used thematic analysis of transcripts to identify and understand women's self-reported eating habits before, during, and after military service. Participants reported entering the military with varied eating habits, but little disordered eating. Participants described several ways military environments affected eating habits, for example, by promoting fast, irregular, binge-like eating and disrupting the reward value of food. Participants believed military-related stressors, which were often related to gender, also affected eating habits. Such stressors included military sexual trauma and the need to meet military weight requirements in general and after giving birth. Participants also reported that poor eating habits continued after military service, often because they remained under stress. For some women, military service can result in socialization to poor eating habits, which when combined with exposure to stressors can lead to disordered eating. Additional research is needed, including work to understand possible benefits associated with providing support in relation to military weight requirements and the transition out of military service. Given the unique experiences of women in the military, future work could also focus on health services surrounding pregnancy-related weight change and the stress associated with being a woman in predominantly male military environments. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

ESIP Federation: A Case Study on Enabling Collaboration Infrastructure to Support Earth Science Informatics Communities

NASA Astrophysics Data System (ADS)

Robinson, E.; Meyer, C. B.; Benedict, K. K.

2013-12-01

A critical part of effective Earth science data and information system interoperability involves collaboration across geographically and temporally distributed communities. The Federation of Earth Science Information Partners (ESIP) is a broad-based, distributed community of science, data and information technology practitioners from across science domains, economic sectors and the data lifecycle. ESIP's open, participatory structure provides a melting pot for coordinating around common areas of interest, experimenting on innovative ideas and capturing and finding best practices and lessons learned from across the network. Since much of ESIP's work is distributed, the Foundation for Earth Science was established as a non-profit home for its supportive collaboration infrastructure. The infrastructure leverages the Internet and recent advances in collaboration web services. ESIP provides neutral space for self-governed groups to emerge around common Earth science data and information issues, ebbing and flowing as the need for them arises. As a group emerges, the Foundation quickly equips the virtual workgroup with a set of ';commodity services'. These services include: web meeting technology (Webex), a wiki and an email listserv. WebEx allows the group to work synchronously, dynamically viewing and discussing shared information in real time. The wiki is the group's primary workspace and over time creates organizational memory. The listserv provides an inclusive way to email the group and archive all messages for future reference. These three services lower the startup barrier for collaboration and enable automatic content preservation to allow for future work. While many of ESIP's consensus-building activities are discussion-based, the Foundation supports an ESIP testbed environment for exploring and evaluating prototype standards, services, protocols, and best practices. After community review of testbed proposals, the Foundation provides small seed funding and a toolbox of collaborative development resources including Amazon Web Services to quickly spin-up the testbed instance and a GitHub account for maintaining testbed project code enabling reuse. Recently, the Foundation supported development of the ESIP Commons (http://commons.esipfed.org), a Drupal-based knowledge repository for non-traditional publications to preserve community products and outcomes like white papers, posters and proceedings. The ESIP Commons adds additional structured metadata, provides attribution to contributors and allows those unfamiliar with ESIP a straightforward way to find information. The success of ESIP Federation activities is difficult to measure. The ESIP Commons is a step toward quantifying sponsor return on investment and is one dataset used in network map analysis of the ESIP community network, another success metric. Over the last 15 years, ESIP has continually grown and attracted experts in the Earth science data and informatics field becoming a primary locus of research and development on the application and evolution of Earth science data standards and conventions. As funding agencies push toward a more collaborative approach, the lessons learned from ESIP and the collaboration services themselves are a crucial component of supporting science research.

Can working with the private for-profit sector improve utilization of quality health services by the poor? A systematic review of the literature.

PubMed

Patouillard, Edith; Goodman, Catherine A; Hanson, Kara G; Mills, Anne J

2007-11-07

There has been a growing interest in the role of the private for-profit sector in health service provision in low- and middle-income countries. The private sector represents an important source of care for all socioeconomic groups, including the poorest and substantial concerns have been raised about the quality of care it provides. Interventions have been developed to address these technical failures and simultaneously take advantage of the potential for involving private providers to achieve public health goals. Limited information is available on the extent to which these interventions have successfully expanded access to quality health services for poor and disadvantaged populations. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by presenting the results of a systematic literature review on the effectiveness of working with private for-profit providers to reach the poor. The search topic of the systematic literature review was the effectiveness of interventions working with the private for-profit sector to improve utilization of quality health services by the poor. Interventions included social marketing, use of vouchers, pre-packaging of drugs, franchising, training, regulation, accreditation and contracting-out. The search for published literature used a series of electronic databases including PubMed, Popline, HMIC and CabHealth Global Health. The search for grey and unpublished literature used documents available on the World Wide Web. We focused on studies which evaluated the impact of interventions on utilization and/or quality of services and which provided information on the socioeconomic status of the beneficiary populations. A total of 2483 references were retrieved, of which 52 qualified as impact evaluations. Data were available on the average socioeconomic status of recipient communities for 5 interventions, and on the distribution of benefits across socioeconomic groups for 5 interventions. Few studies provided evidence on the impact of private sector interventions on quality and/or utilization of care by the poor. It was, however, evident that many interventions have worked successfully in poor communities and positive equity impacts can be inferred from interventions that work with types of providers predominantly used by poor people. Better evidence of the equity impact of interventions working with the private sector is needed for more robust conclusions to be drawn.

Can working with the private for-profit sector improve utilization of quality health services by the poor? A systematic review of the literature

PubMed Central

Patouillard, Edith; Goodman, Catherine A; Hanson, Kara G; Mills, Anne J

2007-01-01

Background There has been a growing interest in the role of the private for-profit sector in health service provision in low- and middle-income countries. The private sector represents an important source of care for all socioeconomic groups, including the poorest and substantial concerns have been raised about the quality of care it provides. Interventions have been developed to address these technical failures and simultaneously take advantage of the potential for involving private providers to achieve public health goals. Limited information is available on the extent to which these interventions have successfully expanded access to quality health services for poor and disadvantaged populations. This paper addresses this knowledge gap by presenting the results of a systematic literature review on the effectiveness of working with private for-profit providers to reach the poor. Methods The search topic of the systematic literature review was the effectiveness of interventions working with the private for-profit sector to improve utilization of quality health services by the poor. Interventions included social marketing, use of vouchers, pre-packaging of drugs, franchising, training, regulation, accreditation and contracting-out. The search for published literature used a series of electronic databases including PubMed, Popline, HMIC and CabHealth Global Health. The search for grey and unpublished literature used documents available on the World Wide Web. We focused on studies which evaluated the impact of interventions on utilization and/or quality of services and which provided information on the socioeconomic status of the beneficiary populations. Results A total of 2483 references were retrieved, of which 52 qualified as impact evaluations. Data were available on the average socioeconomic status of recipient communities for 5 interventions, and on the distribution of benefits across socioeconomic groups for 5 interventions. Conclusion Few studies provided evidence on the impact of private sector interventions on quality and/or utilization of care by the poor. It was, however, evident that many interventions have worked successfully in poor communities and positive equity impacts can be inferred from interventions that work with types of providers predominantly used by poor people. Better evidence of the equity impact of interventions working with the private sector is needed for more robust conclusions to be drawn. PMID:17988396

OA26 How inclusive partnership working influences local policy and practice: the case of the end of life partnership.

PubMed

Zammit, Rachel

2015-04-01

: Ageing, death, dying and loss are universal issues that have a range of health, wellbeing, financial and socio-economic costs for society. The End of Life Partnership (EoLP) is a charitable collaborative in Cheshire, which aims to transform end of life experience and care, by working with a wide range partners from the public, private and third sectors and by engaging individuals, families and communities. Launched in April 2014, the EoLP merged three existing programmes focussing on public health, education and service development and added an additional research focus. There are now four dedicated departments: Public Health and Wellbeing; Research, Evaluation and Technology; Service Development; Education and Practice Development. In October 2014 a Dementia work stream was added. The work of The EoLP is shaped, overseen and monitored by a Strategic Partnership Executive, with representation from key local stakeholders and a board of trustees. The EoLP meets national objectives and delivers on local priorities agreed with stakeholders, including patients and the public. This is strengthened through a dedicated Cheshire Living Well, Dying Well Partnership to enable community voices to be heard. Significant milestones have already been realised as a partnership collaborative. For example, response to the national review of the Liverpool Care Pathway incorporated development of a local care plan with stakeholders, educational strategy to ensure effective roll-out, public consultation and work to measure impact. The EoLP works to influence and shape policy and practice at a local, regional, national and international level. © 2015, Published by the BMJ Publishing Group Limited. For permission to use (where not already granted under a licence) please go to http://group.bmj.com/group/rights-licensing/permissions.

Effects of major depression on moment-in-time work performance.

PubMed

Wang, Philip S; Beck, Arne L; Berglund, Pat; McKenas, David K; Pronk, Nicolaas P; Simon, Gregory E; Kessler, Ronald C

2004-10-01

Although major depression is thought to have substantial negative effects on work performance, the possibility of recall bias limits self-report studies of these effects. The authors used the experience sampling method to address this problem by collecting comparative data on moment-in-time work performance among service workers who were depressed and those who were not depressed. The group studied included 105 airline reservation agents and 181 telephone customer service representatives selected from a larger baseline sample; depressed workers were deliberately oversampled. Respondents were given pagers and experience sampling method diaries for each day of the study. A computerized autodialer paged respondents at random time points. When paged, respondents reported on their work performance in the diary. Moment-in-time work performance was assessed at five random times each day over a 7-day data collection period (35 data points for each respondent). Seven conditions (allergies, arthritis, back pain, headaches, high blood pressure, asthma, and major depression) occurred often enough in this group of respondents to be studied. Major depression was the only condition significantly related to decrements in both of the dimensions of work performance assessed in the diaries: task focus and productivity. These effects were equivalent to approximately 2.3 days absent because of sickness per depressed worker per month of being depressed. Previous studies based on days missed from work significantly underestimate the adverse economic effects associated with depression. Productivity losses related to depression appear to exceed the costs of effective treatment.

[A Group Cognitive-Behavioural Intervention to Prevent Depression Relapse in Individuals Having Recently Returned to Work: Protocol and Feasibility].

PubMed

Lecomte, Tania; Corbière, Marc

Workplace depression is one of the major causes for sick leave and loss of productivity at work. Many studies have investigated factors predicting return to work for people with depression, including studies evaluating return to work programs and organizational factors. Yet, a paucity of studies have targeted the prevention of depressive relapses at work, even though more than half of those having had a depression will have a depressive relapse in the near future.Objectives This article describes a research protocol involving a novel group intervention based on cognitive behavioural principles with the aim to optimize return to work and diminish risk of depressive relapses.Method This pilot study follows a randomized controlled trial design, with half the participants (N=25) receiving the group intervention and the other half (N=25) receiving usual services. The theoretical and empirical underpinnings of the intervention are described, along with a detailed presentation of the intervention and of the study's objectives. The group intervention consists of 8 sessions whereby Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) principles and techniques are applied to the following themes: (1) Coping with stress at work; (2) Recognizing and modifying my dysfunctional beliefs linked to work; (3) Overcoming obstacles linked to work functioning and maintaining work; (4) Negotiating needed work adjustments with the support of the immediate supervisor; (5) Finding my strengths and competencies related to work; (6) Accepting criticism and asserting myself appropriately at work; (7) Uncovering my best coping strategies for work.Results Qualitative information pertaining to the first two cohorts' participants' subjective appreciation of the group experience revealed that the intervention was perceived as very useful by all, with group support, namely harmony and interpersonal support, as well as CBT strategies being mentioned specifically.Conclusion Finally, the potential relevance of the group intervention will be brought forward.

Community Mobilization in Mumbai Slums to Improve Perinatal Care and Outcomes: A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

PubMed Central

More, Neena Shah; Bapat, Ujwala; Das, Sushmita; Alcock, Glyn; Patil, Sarita; Porel, Maya; Vaidya, Leena; Fernandez, Armida; Joshi, Wasundhara; Osrin, David

2012-01-01

Introduction Improving maternal and newborn health in low-income settings requires both health service and community action. Previous community initiatives have been predominantly rural, but India is urbanizing. While working to improve health service quality, we tested an intervention in which urban slum-dweller women's groups worked to improve local perinatal health. Methods and Findings A cluster randomized controlled trial in 24 intervention and 24 control settlements covered a population of 283,000. In each intervention cluster, a facilitator supported women's groups through an action learning cycle in which they discussed perinatal experiences, improved their knowledge, and took local action. We monitored births, stillbirths, and neonatal deaths, and interviewed mothers at 6 weeks postpartum. The primary outcomes described perinatal care, maternal morbidity, and extended perinatal mortality. The analysis included 18,197 births over 3 years from 2006 to 2009. We found no differences between trial arms in uptake of antenatal care, reported work, rest, and diet in later pregnancy, institutional delivery, early and exclusive breastfeeding, or care-seeking. The stillbirth rate was non-significantly lower in the intervention arm (odds ratio 0.86, 95% CI 0.60–1.22), and the neonatal mortality rate higher (1.48, 1.06–2.08). The extended perinatal mortality rate did not differ between arms (1.19, 0.90–1.57). We have no evidence that these differences could be explained by the intervention. Conclusions Facilitating urban community groups was feasible, and there was evidence of behaviour change, but we did not see population-level effects on health care or mortality. In cities with multiple sources of health care, but inequitable access to services, community mobilization should be integrated with attempts to deliver services for the poorest and most vulnerable, and with initiatives to improve quality of care in both public and private sectors. Trial registration Current Controlled Trials ISRCTN96256793 Please see later in the article for the Editors' Summary PMID:22802737

An analysis of the determinants of family planning volunteer workers' performance in Iloilo City.

PubMed

David, F; Chin, F

1993-01-01

This report analyzes data from a survey of 106 Barangay (village) Service Point Officers (BSPOs) associated with the City Population Office and 106 Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) associated with the City Health Office to compare the family planning (FP) service delivery performance of these voluntary workers in Iloilo City in the Philippines and to quantify the effects of the factors which influence their performance. Both the BSPOs and the BHWs assist in the delivery of health and FP services at the grassroots level. The survey data were supplemented with interviews with key informants, focus group discussions with married couples of reproductive age, clinic records, and observations of the BSPOs and BHWs at work. The analysis compared the sociodemographic characteristics of the two groups; the recruitment procedures followed (if any); FP training; actual FP-related work; involvement in community organizing; incentives received; supervision of the volunteers; attitude towards their work; FP knowledge, attitude, and practice; time allocated to FP activities; number of clients served; and number of clients counseled. Correlation analysis of factors influencing volunteer performance indicated that FP training had the largest positive influence on FP activities. The output of the workers was also positively affected by the amount of time spend in FP activities and by their involvement in community organizing. The commitment of the workers had a significant impact on the number of clients they resupplied with contraceptives. Variation in the FP performances of the two groups was caused by the fact that delivery of FP services is a major role of the BSPOs and only one of many responsibilities of the BHWs. These findings reinforce the planned restructuring of Iloilo City's FP program which would once again designate the Population Office as the lead agency. Increasing the knowledge of these volunteers about the side effects and contraindications of various methods should have a positive effect on continuation rates. Recruitment of volunteers should be based on the individual's level of interest and commitment.

A survey of the impact of owning a service dog on quality of life for individuals with physical and hearing disability: a pilot study.

PubMed

Hall, Sophie S; MacMichael, Jessica; Turner, Amy; Mills, Daniel S

2017-03-29

Quality of life refers to a person's experienced standard of health, comfort and happiness and is typically measured using subjective self-report scales. Despite increasing scientific interest in the value of dogs to human health and the growing demand for trained service dogs, to date no research has reported how service dogs may affect client perceptions of quality of life. We compared quality of life scores on the 16 item Flanagan quality of life scale from individuals who owned a trained service dog with those who were eligible to receive a dog, but did not yet have one (waiting list control). Data were analysed separately from two groups; those with a service dog trained for individuals with physical disabilities (with physical service dog: n = 72; waiting for a service dog: n = 24; recruited from Dogs for Good database) and those with a hearing service dog (with hearing service dog = 111; waiting for a service dog = 30; recruited from Hearing Dogs for Deaf People database). When controlling for age and gender individuals scored higher on total quality of life scores if they owned a service dog or a hearing service dog, but this was only statistically significant for those with a service dog. Both groups (physical service dog and hearing service dog) scored significantly higher on items relating to health, working, learning and independence if they owned a service dog, in comparison to those on the waiting list. Those with a physical service dog also scored significantly higher on items relating to recreational activities (including items relating to reading/listening to music, socialising, creative expression), and those involving social interactions (including items relating to participating in organisations, socialising, relationship with relatives). Additionally, those with a physical service dog scored higher on understanding yourself and material comforts than those on the waiting list control. In contrast, those with a hearing service dog appeared to receive fewer benefits on items relating to social activities. Owning a service dog can bring significant specific and potentially general benefits to the quality of life of individuals with physical disabilities and hearing impairments. These benefits may have considerable implications for individuals with disabilities, society and the economy by promoting independence, learning and working abilities.