The Social Stratification of Older Adults' Preparations for End-of-Life Health Care

I use data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study (n = 4,971) to evaluate the extent to which socioeconomic status affects three health-related (living will, durable power of attorney for health care, and discussions) and one financial (will) component of end-of-life planning. Net worth is positively associated with all four types of planning, after demographic, health, and psychological characteristics are controlled. Low rates of health-related planning among persons with low or negative assets are largely accounted for by the fact that they are less likely to execute a will, an action that triggers health-related preparations. Rates of health-related planning alone are higher among recently hospitalized persons, whereas financial planning only is more commonly done by homeowners and those with richer assets. The results suggest that economically advantaged persons engage in end-of-life planning as a two-pronged strategy entailing financial and health-related preparations. Implications for health policy, practice, and theory are discussed.     

Curriculum Planning in Social Work Education

The authors identify two approaches to curriculum planning: rational-linear and heuristic-incremental. To offset the shortcomings of either the authors suggest a synthesis of both in the curriculum planning process. Several applications in using a combined approach illustrate greater flexibility in dealing with curriculum problems. Closely interrelated to the approach to curriculum planning are the factors of the educational continuum, the structure of the curriculum planning body, and the role of administrative leadership. These factors are explored as they impact on the process and outcomes of curriculum planning.     

EDITORIAL

ABSTRACT

Many states are implementing concurrent planning as a means to expedite permanency planning for children in foster care; however, the parameters for this strategy vary significantly and the research regarding outcomes is sparse. This qualitative study sought to examine the experiences of child welfare experts, parents, foster parents and caseworkers regarding concurrent planning in New York State. The findings indicate that although concurrent planning is generally understood, training, services and supports are lacking for parents, foster parents, and caseworkers in the implementation of concurrent planning. In addition, although all parties see concurrent planning as an effective strategy, crafting and maintaining working relationships between key parties is challenging. Clearer communication with parents, joint training of caseworkers and foster parents, improved information disclosure, and fuller involvement of foster parents in the planning process are among the recommendations for improving practice.     

Parent,carer, person: future plans and the identities of parent carers for people with disabilities

Parent carers are often central in future planning for their children with disability; however, little is known about the implications of planning for parents’ futures and aspirations. In understanding these, parents’ own identities are important, but how these identities intersect with their planning is not well understood. This study explored how parents were positioned in discussions about planning. Interviews with parents and planning service staff highlighted three positions among parents – carer, parent, and person – representing multiple, intersecting identities. These impacted on and were impacted by planning in particular ways. Understanding these processes may assist programmes to support parents more effectively.     

From Iraq to Katrina and Back: Bureaucratic Planning as Strategic Failure,Fiction, and Fantasy

Bureaucratic planning is a complex sociocultural process rife with vested interests, contradictory aims, and internal conflicts. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina and the US occupation of Iraq, contemporary media discourses on planning have downplayed this complexity and diverted attention away from a more nuanced understanding of planning as a sociological process. In this article, I show how policy and press debates regarding bureaucratic planning in Iraq and New Orleans are rooted in technocratic and rationalist perspectives, constituting a kind of modernist faith. These contemporary discourses are often one‐dimensional, failing to consider the conflicts, contradictions, and counter‐intuitive outcomes that are inherent in planning in complex situations, including urban reconstruction, military occupation, and disaster response. I show how flawed approaches in the present are deeply linked to the past, connecting Iraq and Katrina to a detailed ethnographic case study on failed urban planning in colonial Zanzibar. Even though the three cases of Iraq, Katrina, and Zanzibar differ across time, context, and conditions, they reveal that bureaucratic planning is best understood as a multidimensional strategic practice that is intrinsically shaped by sociocultural forms. Plans may ostensibly fail in one sense and yet still produce quite enduring effects. They may remain ‘fictions’ at one level but still wield real impact. And even if they are informed by fantasy, bearing little utility from a functional perspective, plans still serve as performative and persuasive acts, informed by political ends.     

Provider perceptions of safety planning with children impacted by intimate partner violence

Safety planning is a widespread intervention used with clients who have experienced domestic violence victimization. Although children are impacted by domestic violence, attention to the unique needs of children as they relate to domestic violence safety planning has received little attention to date. The authors conducted nine focus groups with domestic violence service providers about their perceptions of child safety planning. This article reports on the findings and implications of this focus group study that can inform the safety planning needs of children impacted by domestic violence. The themes discussed include Child Protective Services, the needs of older boys, school-related issues, custody-related issues, the extent to which children should be involved in safety planning, parenting issues, tools and tips for safety planning with children, and resources and services to promote children's safety.     

Conceptualization for planning and evaluation

Conceptualization is a central task in planning and evaluation. There is a need to develop conceptualization methods which can help multiple constituency groups collaborate on the development of conceptual frameworks which can guide the planning and evaluation effort. A general model for conceptualization methods is presented along with considerations for implementation. This model is illustrated in two planning and evaluation studies which involved a broad range of constituent groups within the organizations in the development of "concept maps" which could guide subsequent work. Some general implications of conceptualization methods for planning and evaluation are discussed.     

Planning Until Death Do Us Part: Partnership Status and Financial Planning Horizon

Positive economic outcomes of marriage are often explained with a higher future orientation of married individuals who are assumed to plan their finances for a longer period than the nonmarried. Using data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia Survey (2001–2014; N = 4,819 individuals), the authors provide the first longitudinal test of whether individuals change their financial planning horizons when they change their partnership status using fixed and random effects regressions. Results show that the financial planning horizon increases as individuals enter cohabitation. No further changes in financial planning horizons are found when they transition into marriage. Changes in horizons are similar for women and men. These results indicate that longer financial planning horizons and marriage are likely outcomes of couples' long‐term commitment, which develops during cohabitation. The symbolic and legal institution of marriage is not additionally associated with individual financial planning as a dimension of future orientation.     

Strategically creative: A case of the library planning process

Abstract

Best planning day ever, green, fun, play, flexible … are terms not usually associated with strategic planning. At the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS), plans to open a new library building in 2016 have ignited discussions about the library of the future, its meaning and role in a digital world, and the implications of further rapid changes. The Library's strategic planning process in 2010 was an opportunity to take the collective energy further by involving library staff in the strategic thinking and planning. The process aimed to provide conditions for open conversation through Gadamerian play, and creative modelling based on ideas of revealing and imagineering. The planning started with a playful engagement to generate ideas and promote divergent thinking, and moved through several stages of increasingly convergent thinking to arrive at strategic actions, which were created and supported by all participants. The formal goals of strategic planning were maintained throughout the process and resulted in a client-focused annual plan. This article considers issues of organizational creativity and strategic planning, and relates them to experiences with the strategic planning at the UTS Library. It argues for a systematic approach to fostering creativity and innovation in libraries.     

Learning from tradition: the planning of residential neighborhoods in a changing world

This paper analyses the community values of residential neighborhoods in the southwestern region of Saudi Arabia as an approach to a new theory in urbanism. The indigenous masterbuilders and tribemen incorporated planning decisions pertinent to climatic, cultural, social, economic and religious factors when designing physical elements in their built environment. This is what makes every traditional settlement in the southwest region of Saudi Arabia unique in terms of urban form and social structure. As a step to examining and evaluating the process of residential neighborhood development, three stages of practiced urbanism are discussed. These stages are labelled “vernacular”, “transitional” and “new vernacularism”. These are planning concepts used worldwide in the development of residential neighborhoods throughout history until the present. “New Vernacularism” is envisioned in this investigation as a design/planning objective implemented in most recently planned neighborhoods in Al-Horaidhah, Southwest Saudi Arabia. The achievement of successful urbanism underlies the political goals of urban planning practice. The Al-Horaidhah planning concept is conceived in the light of preservation of community values in neighborhood design/planning as a critical issue.The paper aims to investigate and reconcile the conflicts in the planning of residential neighborhoods in a changing world. The conflicts are restricted between retaining traditions of architecture, urban design and planning with the necessary social, economic, and technological changes in urban formation, mainly, the vernacular and modern. The paper illustrates the concept “New Vernacularism” by presenting Al-Horaidhah scheme as a model for community development in three administrative regions along the Red Sea coastline. “New Vernacularism” as a planning concept looks at the community development in Al-Horaidhah in the light of Sharicah, the Islamic Law and Customary norms by emphasizing the importance of the involvement of local residents in the planning process and gives suggestions of how this might best be achieved and later implemented into new communities.     

The Professional Schools. By William J. McGlothlin. New York: The Center for Applied Research in Education, 1964. 111 pp. $3.95

This paper presents a conceptual framework for viewing social planning and social administration as one “seamless web” of activity concerned with the identification of goals and the development of appropriate administrative structures for their implementation. The major educational implication of this analysis is that curriculum planning should maximize the integration of social policy, social planning, and administration. Alternative approaches to achieving this integration are discussed using data from a recent Council on Social Work Education survey.     

The validity of assessing mental health needs with social indicators.

Selection of the appropriate number and types of social indicators for use in mental health planning has been a perennial problem. Social indicators have been associated with several concepts (quality of life, community disorganization, populations at risk) of varying relevance for planning mental health services, and abstracting social indicators from these conceptual domains poses a variety of validity issues. The issues are discussed, and the viability of social indicators in mental health planning is reexamined.     

Planning from below: using feminist participatory methods to increase women's participation in urban planning

Women have been often invisible in urban planning. Col·lectiu Punt 6, a feminist organisation of women architects and urban planners based in Barcelona, Spain, has developed planning techniques and tools to include women both as objects and subjects of urban planning, and as experts of everyday life. The article focuses on the participatory tools that Col·lectiu Punt 6 has developed that can be used in the different stages of planning, from assessing to evaluating planning policies and interventions, as well as tools of women's empowerment with the goal of promoting bottom-up models of planning. Evidence is shown of how, using these tools, planning becomes more inclusive not only of women in their diversity, but also of children, youth, the elderly, as well as people of different race, ethnicity, income, sexual and gender identities, and capacities. Examples from different contexts are provided, from Spain and Latin America.     

An examination of the problem of unwanted population growth in Africa and the existing facilities for training family planning personnel

Population planning is as important as economic planning and should be applied both at the national and personal levels. Population control and socioeconomic development are intrinsic to each other. Proverty, illiteracy, political instability, and social retardation are found in the countries with high birth rates. Most African nations tend to think of the population in terms of density rather than growth potential. Family planning programs should be accorded the same priority as maternal-child health, but African countries are often not equipped financially or professionally to support family planning workers under the same conditions as other medical personnel could be accomplished locally rather than overseas, thus saving about $204,000 in the East African Region and $213,000 in the West African Region. The success of the trainees' program will depend on the degree to whichf amily planning programs are integrated with other medical services; insight into traditiona l sexual patterns, and tact and skill of personnel.     

Financial literacy and retirement planning in the Netherlands

The complexity of financial decisions that households now face has increased to unprecedented levels. At the same time, households seem to lack the financial knowledge to cope with these decisions, including how to save and invest adequately for retirement. In this paper, we examine the relationship between financial knowledge and retirement planning in the Netherlands. For this purpose, we have designed a module on financial literacy and planning for the De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB) Household Survey. We find a strong and positive relationship between financial knowledge and retirement planning; those who are more financially knowledgeable are more likely to plan for retirement. Using information on economics education acquired in school, we show that the nexus of causality goes from financial literacy to planning rather than the other way around.     

A Comparative Approach to Evaluating Individual Planning for People with Learning Disabilities: challenging the assumptions

Individual planning in services for people with learning disabilities is used on the assumption that it encourages service users across a range of abilities to make important decisions about their lives. Although recent studies have questioned the value and effectiveness of such processes, the principles underlying the practice of individual planning are rarely challenged. This paper considers important aspects of individual planning in London, comparing a system based on the principles of normalisation with a situation-specific, family-orientated system operating in Milan, Italy. Key factors such as the role of professionals and the involvement of service users are considered with the aims of the process. The intention of the paper is to stimulate debate in an area of practice by questioning its assumptions.     

Utilizing grassroots workers in family planning programs in India: prospects and problems

In order to rapidly expand the network of delivery systems and speed up the process of acceptance of family planning messages and methods, a shift took place in the Indian family planning program from the bureaucratic "clinical" approach to the people oriented "extension" approach. As a result, there is an increasing emphasis on moving the family planning efforts closer to the grassroots level. A key methodological issue centers on the proper selection, cultural acceptability, and the effectiveness of the grassroots workers who are to be trained and through whom family planning motivational messages and methods are to be introduced. The Indian government, from time to time, has trained and utilized different groups of grassroots workers in its family planning promotional efforts. Anthropological field studies were conducted in two different regions in India to examine the potential and actual roles of two groups of grassroots workers--opinion leaders and traditional birth attendants--in the delivery of family planning services in the rural areas. These studies revealed that while the traditional birth attendants can be trained and utilized to a limited extent in promoting family planning efforts, especially to the eligible female clients, the role of the opinion leaders in such efforts is at best questionable. Based on these field studies, cultural and technical (including bureaucratic) problems in training and utilizing opinion leaders and traditional birth attendants are explored in detail. Modifications in the training program strategies are suggested to improve and expand the family planning delivery system in rural India.     

Rural government and community participation: The planning role of community councils

Since April 1996, Wales has possessed one principal tier of local government: 22 unitary authorities. Below this tier of administration, a second level exists: community and town councils. The statutory duties of these authorities are severely limited but they do perform a valuable advisory and consultative role with the principal authorities, particularly in rural areas. The recent reorganization of Welsh local government has prompted commentators to reconsider whether community councils could be afforded more statutory powers in rural governance. This paper discusses the potential for enhancing their role within one service area, namely the planning process. Planning is a function of local government where changes to responsibilities could be enacted. The paper discusses the findings of two research projects: first, a survey of senior planning officers in Wales towards awarding planning powers to community councils; and secondly, a more detailed examination of the perceptions of community councils in rural mid-Wales towards their powers and duties, their planning links with the principal authorities, and their duties within local communities to generate public involvement in rural policy-making. It argues that allocating planning responsibilities to community and town councils lacks the support of both planning professionals and community council representatives themselves. However, in the dual-push for unitary councils to operate both strategically and locally, there is further scope for a reorientation of rural policy-making and for local planning authorities to provide more extensive consultation opportunities to the councils.     

Democracy to become reality: Participatory planning through action research

Different approaches in participatory planning stem from argumentation that stresses a certain model of democracy. While each model promotes participatory conditions, they do not always become reality. The needs of today's communities and the complex political system require a different approach for participatory planning to operate in a democratic way. This paper argues that five conditions are salient and illustrates the empirical consequences of this position by using the experiences of participatory movement in Kocaeli, Turkey, where the history of democratization goes back to 30 years, and furthermore enters a new phase with the recent participatory planning intervention conducted with an Action Research (AR) strategy. Research shows that the past participatory planning attempts and civil movements in Kocaeli fostered two conditions including active citizen participation and enabling mechanisms for this. Given this ground, the recent participatory planning intervention conducted through AR led to change towards a democratic society by applying the other three conditions of democracy: taking a position in the process of formulating livable agreement, enhancing effective participation of stakeholders of diverse interests, and translating thoughts into action.