The Concurrence of Eating Disorders with Histories of Child Abuse Among Adolescents

This study examined the relationship between eating disorders and reported history of physical or sexual abuse among male and female adolescents. A survey administered to high school students in a rural midwestern slate school system contained questions on eating behaviors, weight, lifestyle habits, parental substance abuse, and history of physical abuse, extrafamilial sex abuse and incest. Results showed that eating disorders were correlated with all three types of abuse. There were differences in prevalence of eating and weight problems and of child abuse according to gender and race. Presence of an eating disorder correlated with presence of other addictive behaviors, family history of substance abuse, and with low selfesteem, hopelessness and anxiety.     

Developing a Strategy to Meaningfully Engage Stakeholders in Program/Policy Planning: A Guide for Human Services Managers and Practitioners

Stakeholder participation can be a valuable component of program/policy development in the human services. However, service users and other stakeholders often experience it as tokenistic and having little effect. Although management literature recommends stakeholder participation and social work ethics promote it, agency leaders and practitioners are given little guidance on how to design participation initiatives that integrate stakeholders' input into agency decision making. This article focuses on creating a strategy that can foster meaningful stakeholder participation. We outline 7 principles of meaningful participation and present a 12-step process for formulating a participation strategy that applies these principles.     

Impact of an Intergenerational Program on 4th Graders' Attitudes Toward Elders andSchool Behaviors

Abstract

The rapid growth of the elderly population coupled with research demonstrating the existence of ageist stereotypes even among very young children have led to the rise of intergenerational programs. Very limited research has been conducted, however, to demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs in producing attitudinal change or other beneficial outcomes for at-risk children. This study examined the impact of an intergenerational program on children's attitudes toward elders and on their school-based behaviors. Eighty-one 4th grade children enrolled in an inner-city school participated in the study. Forty-one children, with matched seniors partners, engaged in activities based on the 4th grade core curriculum within an outdoor classroom environment, while the remaining 40 children participated in usual core curriculum activities. At the conclusion of the program those children who participated in the program had significantly more positive attitudes towards the elderly and significantly better school behavioral grades than did non-participating students. Impli-     

Strategies for Creating MIS Technology to Improve Social Work Practice and Research

SUMMARY

This paper illustrates the potential for Management Information System (MIS) technology to integrate information collection, management and reporting within a single program or network of organizations. Properly devised and created, MIS applications can improve administration, service delivery and practice evaluation. Three strategies are offered to guide the design and development of MIS software. This paper is based on lessons from the production and implementation of MIS software that serves as a management and evaluation tool for a nationwide policy demonstration. Data from the MIS have helped to shape state and federal policy.     

A First Order Markov Model for Use in the Human Services

Summary

Markov processes have found a variety of uses in human services administration, evaluation, program and policy research. The models are concerned with the movement of entities or persons through finite states or conditions, the course of a disease and the movement of persons in various states in population change problems. The possibility of using the computer to link costs factors m levels of psychiatric and medical care as persons move through a system makes the first-order Markov process a potentially powerful tool in the administration of human programs.     

海河教育园区高职院校中外合作办学资源共享问题和对策研究

“优势互补,资源共享”是海河教育园区成立的根本目的。本文通过对入园的高职院校进行访谈和调研．认真分析总结园区内各高职院校在开展中外合作办学资源共享中存在的诸多问题,并试图从利用产业集聚理论．实现集团化和品牌化发展,筹备优秀教师资源库,资源有偿共享,和联合培养优秀生源等四个维度提出解决方案．以期为实现中外合作办学资源共享的高效化和教学效果的完善化,推进中国职业教育国际化提供一定的理论和实践依据。     

Preventing ethical misconduct in the risk sciences: Opportunities,barriers, and strategies summary of June 17, 1993 conference

On June 17,1993, the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute (EOHSI) hosted an invitational conference at Rutgers University (New Brunswick, NJ) that focused on preventing misconduct in risk science. After a brief presentation of EOHSI's empirical surveys and focus group studies, panelists discussed the use of educational programs, auditing and other methods to reduce misconduct.

The symposium had 31 registrants, including journal editors, university educators, government and industry officials, national and regional heads of professional organizations in risk assessment and risk management, and experts on ethical issues. They were trained in a wide variety of disciplines that bear directly on risk analysis, such as biology, chemistry, economics, epidemiology, health education, industrial hygiene, law, medicine, statistics, and toxicology. The majority have substantial experience in risk analysis.     

Integrated Group Program for Improving Sleep Quality of Elderly People

ABSTRACT

This article reports an exploratory study on the effects of an integrated group program for improving the sleep quality of elderly people in Hong Kong. Elderly people aged over 55 who had obtained a Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) score >5 were recruited as subjects of the study. While 19 subjects of the treatment group were taking part in an integrated group program involving social group work intervention as well as Chinese medicine therapeutics, 9 subjects of comparison group received no intervention. Using a pretest and posttest design, the study revealed positive effects of the integrated group program. It has added knowledge serving the development of interventions that can help to improve the sleep quality of elderly people.     

A Study Exploring Risk Management Issues Among Volunteers in an Oncology Support Program

ABSTRACT. Risk management and challenges of volunteer roles in an oncology support program in Montreal, Canada, were explored using a phenomenological approach involving 65 service volunteers. Fourteen focus groups were held representing oncology services in the hospital and the wellness center. Self-reported questions were administered to assess the risks perceived by the volunteers. Findings revealed 4 major themes: comfort level, daily frustrations, risk and environmental issues, and suggestions. Suggestions included: better communication with staff, a safer health-related environment, and improved role-specific training to mitigate the risks. Additionally, for each group, 1 specific change was implemented during a 6-month period. Health care professionals should focus on job-training issues to address safety, comfort level, and role capacity. Future research should investigate an enhanced training curriculum with strategies to address concerns about risk management. Volunteers who are better equipped to perform their roles will be able to offer a higher quality of service to patients and families.     

Learning from Experience in Family Support Programs

ABSTRACT

The paper describes three related California family support program initiatives representing field experiments in program development and policy related to reducing adverse outcomes for vulnerable families through replicating known “best practices” models. The ways in which the three initiatives were affected by the context of implementation are used to demonstrate the difficulty both of identifying the “best” program models and the need for leadership at all levels in order to develop programs and policies, which achieve the intended effects.