Concept mapping as an approach for expert-guided model building: The example of health literacy

Concept mapping served as the starting point for the aim of capturing the comprehensive structure of the construct of ‘health literacy.’ Ideas about health literacy were generated by 99 experts and resulted in 105 statements that were subsequently organized by 27 experts in an unstructured card sorting. Multidimensional scaling was applied to the sorting data and a two and three-dimensional solution was computed. The three dimensional solution was used in subsequent cluster analysis and resulted in a concept map of nine “clusters”: (1) self-regulation, (2) self-perception, (3) proactive approach to health, (4) basic literacy and numeracy skills, (5) information appraisal, (6) information search, (7) health care system knowledge and acting, (8) communication and cooperation, and (9) beneficial personality traits. Subsequently, this concept map served as a starting point for developing a “qualitative” structural model of health literacy and a questionnaire for the measurement of health literacy. On the basis of questionnaire data, a “quantitative” structural model was created by first applying exploratory factor analyses (EFA) and then cross-validating the model with confirmatory factor analyses (CFA). Concept mapping proved to be a highly valuable tool for the process of model building up to translational research in the “real world”.     

The intersection of employment and care: evidence from a UK case study

Working carers are a key focus of UK policies on health and social care and employment. Complementing national and European evidence, this paper presents a local case study of working carers. It draws on data from a county-wide survey containing a module on caring. Data were primarily categorical and were analysed using SPSS. Three quarters of all carers who responded to the survey were of working age: two thirds were employed and one third had been employed previously. The majority of working carers were mid-life extra-resident women. Over half of cared for relatives were elderly parents/in law; ‘physical illness’ was the primary cause of dependency. A tenth provided intensive care and half reported that caring adversely affected their health. Both were triggers for leaving employment. Two thirds of households received input from services and/or friends/family; being a co-resident carer appeared to mitigate against service allocation. Four issues were identified as pivotal to facilitating employment: access to advice and information, the availability of a matrix of affordable good-quality social-care services, ‘joined up’ needs assessment of the carer and cared for person, and employers identifying carers in their workforce. Europe's ageing profile underscores the study's timeliness.     

The Care–tech Link: An Examination of Gender,Care and Technical Work in Healthcare Labour

Despite the dramatic increase of technology in the healthcare field, little is known of how care work and technical work are related. Examining substitute healthcare providers offers a useful illustration of the care–tech link because nursing (care) and medical (technical) models often merge. Forty‐two interviews with men and women (nurse practitioners, nurse anaesthetists and physician assistants) were conducted in the USA. The results showed that the gendered nature of care–tech boundaries has shifted in small but important ways and that the gendering of work influenced the shape of these boundaries. Men often encountered barriers when moving too far into the care realm and attempted to overcome this by ‘caring cautiously’ and emphasizing problem‐solving care. Women faced similar barriers from the ‘old boys network’ when they entered highly technical areas. There is also evidence that men and women challenged existing care–tech boundaries and moved beyond their traditional roles.     

The use of Outcome Harvesting in learning-oriented and collaborative inquiry approaches to evaluation: An example from Calgary,Alberta

The Community Development Learning Initiative (CDLI) in Calgary, Alberta, Canada aims to be a network that brings together neighbourhood residents, community development practitioners and other supporters to learn and act on neighbourhood-based, citizen-led community development projects. In 2013, the CDLI initiated The Evaluation for Learning and Dialogue Project to provide the opportunity for organizations and supporters to work together to establish a shared vision and goals through discussions about evaluation learning and outcomes. It was intended that the project would be a useful learning tool for participating organizations by enabling them to engage in an evaluative methodological process, and record relevant information and to compare and learn from each other’s projects. Outcome Harvesting was chosen as the evaluation methodology for the project. This article reviews critical learning from the project on the use of Outcome Harvesting methodology in the evaluation learning and outcomes of local community development projects, and it provides lessons for other jurisdictions interested in implementing this methodology.     

Educational and employment outcomes of adults formerly placed in foster care: Results from the Northwest Foster Care Alumni Study

This study evaluated the intermediate and long-term effects of family foster care on adult functioning using a sample of 659 young adults from two public and one private child welfare agencies, case record reviews, structured interviews, and a survey response rate of 76%. Foster care alumni completed high school at a rate comparable to the general population, but a disproportionately high number of them completed high school via a GED. Alumni completion rates for postsecondary education were low. Consequently, many alumni were in fragile economic situations: one-third of the alumni had household incomes at or below the poverty level, one-third had no health insurance, and more than one in five experienced homelessness after leaving foster care. Two foster care experience areas were estimated to significantly reduce the number of undesirable outcomes in the Education outcome domain: positive placement history (e.g., high placement stability, few failed reunifications), and having broad independent living preparation (as exemplified by having concrete resources upon leaving care). For the Employment and Finances outcome domain, receiving broad independent living preparation (as exemplified by having concrete resources upon leaving care) was estimated to significantly reduce the number of undesirable outcomes.     

Language Reversion among People with Dementia from Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Backgrounds: The Family Experience

Abstract

Culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) older people with dementia, along with their families, face many unique challenges and have unique needs. One such challenge is language reversion, an issue that has received little research attention. This paper presents the findings of an exploratory study of the experiences of family members of people with language reversion emanating from dementia. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with seven participants. The study found that the presence of language reversion created additional challenges for family members of someone with dementia, particularly if the family member did not share the person's first language. Community-based aged care services have the potential to offer valuable support, but barriers of negative past experiences, lack of communication, stigma, cultural understanding, and locality need to be overcome. While further research is recommended, these findings have implications for both policy and social work practice in community-based aged care with CALD populations.     

The characteristics and extent of child abuse: findings from a study of the Swedish Social Services child protection

This paper addresses child abuse and the Social Services protection and builds upon a study of verdicts concerning § 2 Care of Young Persons Act (CYPA). The aim was to explore the extent of, and what characterised, the violence the children were being subjected to. A central finding was that of all the applications of § 2 CYPA during one year concerning 196 children, 13–18 years, 70% concerned children reported as subjected to violence. The violence was in most cases described as severe and systematically exerted over many years with intimidating tactics of power and control. More girls than boys were in question for care because of violence. Girls were also to a greater extent reported as having been subjected to sexual abuse or coercive control of their sexuality in relation to standards regarding honour and virginity. In an international perspective the findings can be said to confirm the need to analyse such factors as gender, power and control when research and interventions concerns children abused by their parents. In a Swedish context the findings can be said to suggest that the § 2 CYPA is a crucial intervention to protect children from violence.     

Intellectual spaces of practice and hope: power and culture in Portugal from the 1940s to the present

This paper examines configurations of power, authority and culture in Portugal in the twentieth century, and intellectual practices and spaces related to those configurations and in opposition to them. Portuguese national history and essentialized versions of Portugueseness are analysed in the work of such distinguished and influential intellectuals as António Sérgio, António José Saraiva and Eduardo Lourenço, in articulation with the role of high culture in the process of nation building throughout the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. One particular structure of attitude and reference, constructed in the latter half of the nineteenth century, is foregrounded with reference to the History of Portugal by Oliveira Martins, in the context of the persistent contradictions and conflicts between progressive and conservative, modernizing and traditional, ‘historical’, formations and projects. In such a context, moments of oppositional, alternative and independent projects are worth looking into. Two decisive moments of social change in the second half of the twentieth century were the 1940s, and the late 1960s and early 1970s. The paper pays attention to the politics of culture of Neo-Realismo in the 1940s and its consequences for high and popular culture over the following decades, especially in the years leading to the democratic revolution of 25 April 1974. A brief analysis of the 1990s is articulated to the study of the change-producing projects in the 1940s and 1960s as part of the cultural studies practice the paper argues for.     

An opportunity for the social and employment activation of social assistance clients: an example of the effectiveness of a project implemented in Poland

Social and employment activation of individuals at risk of social exclusion gains in significance if it results in their more active attitudes. An increasing number of systemic projects currently implemented by social assistance centres (SACs) in Poland provide a great number of people with an opportunity to take steps to improve their circumstances. The research objective was to assess the results of the project called ‘Use Your Opportunity’, implemented by the SAC in Andrychów, in order to draw conclusions concerning the forms of assistance offered as a part of social and employment activation scheme. The research encompassed 79 individuals before and after their participation in the project in 2010 and 2011. It has been found that the participation in the project and contact with the specialists definitely contributed to the SAC clients' greater knowledge about the way in which they function in the society, their abilities and limitations and also their life skills and employment opportunities. There is no doubt that systemic projects implemented by the SACs in Poland significantly increase the opportunity for their clients to receive support that is not only limited to financial help, which has been common practice so far, but also grants access to the otherwise inaccessible training and specialist counselling services.     

The evolution of the World Bank's urban lending in Latin America: from sites and services to municipal reform and beyond

This paper traces the evolution of urban policies promoted by the World Bank in Latin America over the past three decades. The retrospective starts with an overview of the changing perspectives on development during the 1950s and 1960s, which eventually led to the onset of urban lending programs in the 1970s. It then analyzes the policies toward the urban sector promoted by the World Bank during the 1980s and 1990s in the context of the overall development paradigm that prevailed in the institution at the time. It concludes by outlining the generation of urban policies that is currently emerging. The analysis indicates that the evolution of the World Bank's policies has not been the result of a carefully master-minded strategy but, instead, of a myriad of factors, including conceptual shifts in the prevailing economic models, learning by doing, the influence of individuals such as McNamara, and internal and external criticisms.     

The social costs and benefits of gambling: an introduction to the economic issues

This paper surveys the range of economic issues that need to be addressed in attempting to evaluate the social costs and benefits of gambling. It considers, inter alia, the nature of private and social costs and benefits and their policy significance, the important distinction between real and pecuniary costs, the incidence of gambling costs and benefits and the sources of gambling costs and benefits. Similarities and differences between the analysis of gambling and alcohol are considered. The paper concludes with a consideration of why various estimates of the social costs of gambling have produced such divergent results.     

Employees’ voice behavior in response to corporate social irresponsibility (CSI): The role of organizational identification,issue perceptions,and power distance culture

While extensive literature has examined the role of employees in corporate social responsibility (CSR), little is known about employees’ role in corporate social irresponsibility (CSI). The current study aims to examine the voice behaviors of employees generated around the issue of CSI. Two online surveys were administered to full-time employees by using two different scenarios involving CSI situations: environmental and diversity issues. The results of the study identified employees’ pre-established organizational identification as a critical cross-situational factor that influenced their CSI perceptions. In addition, employees’ situational perceptions of CSI – how they perceive CSI as a serious problem, their sense of connection to the situation, and their perceived constraints in solving the situation – played critical roles in motivating them to engage in voice behavior. Furthermore, the level of power distance culture within an organization significantly moderated the relationship between employees’ CSI perceptions and voice behavior. By incorporating organizational identification literature and public relations theory in the context of CSI communication and management, this study provides theoretical and practical implications.     

Collaborations between young people living with bodily impairments and their multiprofessional teams: The relational dynamics of participation and power

This paper explores how more or less relationally oriented forms of professional practices could be expressed in collaborations between young people living with bodily impairments and their multiprofessional teams. The analysis was based on life-mode interviews with young people (16–20 years), individual and focus group interviews with the professionals and participant observation in team meetings. Drawing on sociocultural perspectives on participation and the workings of power, different discourses, subject positions and participatory strategies were recognised and related to the participation of the young people. Finally, the relevance of the findings for practice is reflected on in a participation rights perspective.     

The power of women: Flanley & Woodward and the woman’s angle in U.S. public relations

After working in corporate public relations during the 1930s, Mabel Flanley and Sally Woodward opened an all-woman agency in New York City in 1944. Their specialty was targeting women publics, and they drew on their experiences with home economics and women’s clubs to promote a variety of clients from agribusiness, heavy industry, and government and nonprofit organizations. They carved a path for other women, contributed to the development of professional standards, and influenced other practitioners to target women audiences, and their inclusion initiatives paralleled those of other groups based on diversity of race, ethnicity, and gender.     

The Assessment Checklist for Adolescents — ACA: A scale for measuring the mental health of young people in foster,kinship, residential and adoptive care

The Assessment Checklist for Adolescents — ACA is a 105-item carer-report mental health rating scale, measuring behaviours, emotional states, traits, and manners of relating to others, as manifested by adolescents (ages 12 to 17) residing in various types of alternate care, as well as those adopted from care. The ACA was designed for population and clinical research with these young people, and for use as a clinical assessment measure. The ACA's content was largely derived from the Assessment Checklist for Children (ACC). Fifteen ACC items were modified to better reflect adolescent difficulties, and 25 additional items were derived using a combination of inductive and deductive strategies. Item and factor analyses were carried out on scores from a 136-item research instrument, obtained for 230 young people residing in long-term care (as part of the NSW Children in Care study). These data were supplemented by ACC scores obtained for 142 adolescents residing in treatment foster care in Ontario, Canada. A robust 7-factor model was identified among a core of 73 clinical item scores, accounting for 51% of score variance. Four of the factors replicate ACC clinical scales (non-reciprocal interpersonal behaviour; sexual behaviour problems; food maintenance behaviour; and suicide discourse), and three are unique to the ACA (social instability/behavioural dysregulation; emotional dysregulation/distorted social cognition; and dissociation/trauma symptoms). The ACA also contains two empirically-derived low self-esteem scales (low confidence; negative self-image) that are shared with the ACC. Initial data indicate that the ACA has good content, construct and criterion-related validity, as well as high internal reliability.     

The state and the development of an information society: Greek policy and experience

The paper looks into the dynamics of information society policy and its implementation in the Greek context. It argues that information society development is a contested process, influenced by pre‐existing state, economy and society relations. Based on this, it looks into the different aspects of the idiosyncratic path which the evolution of the Greek information society has followed, particularly after 2000. Using Bob Jessop's strategic‐relational approach (SRA) to the state as an analytical framework and drawing on a number of in‐depth interviews with relevant political actors, it provides insights into policy implementation by examining: the public management of information technology projects, how such projects were received in bureaucratic structures and practices, as well as the relationship between the state and the information and communication technology (ICT) sector in public procurement processes. The emphasis is on the period 2000–2008, during which a major operational programme on the information society in Greece was put into effect. The paper also touches upon the post‐2008 experience, suggesting that information society developments might include dynamics operating independently and even in contradiction to the state agenda.     

Dialect contact and distinctiveness: The social meaning of language variation in an island community

In this paper, we analyse linguistic variables which are well‐established in British English, the vowels in the trap and bath lexical sets. We demonstrate that the social meanings of these variables are both historically substantiated and locally‐elaborated. Our data is taken from the speech of individuals living on the Isles of Scilly, a group of islands off the south‐west coast of England. Our initial analysis shows that trap and bath variants found on the islands are linked to contact with Standard English English, on the one hand, and the nearest neighbouring variety of Cornish English, on the other. The general distribution of variants is shown to reflect educational differences amongst our speakers. However, two case studies show speakers using forms atypical of their education type in order to position themselves in interactionally‐dynamic ways. This reveals how speakers exploit the multidimensional meanings of linguistic variants to reflect and construct local practices and alignments.     

The transformative power of civil society in South Africa: an activist’s perspective on innovative forms of organizing and rights-based practices

ABSTRACT

This essay analyses recent campaigns to fulfil human rights to quality basic education and access to mental health care services, led by SECTION27, a social justice organization in South Africa. It investigates how these campaigns were able to impact on inequality in education and health care and the ways in which they mobilized and empowered communities to demand social justice and drive pro-poor transformation. In particular, it looks at the way SECTION27 used human rights law and the Courts to advance social justice. It records many positive outcomes. But concludes by asking whether, if inequality is enabled by elite power can it only be disabled by people’s power? How can civil society overcome fault-lines in its sustainability, representativity and power structure? It argues that civil society must do more to tackle the systems and not just scratch at the symptoms of a more and more unequal world.     

Theories of Low-Wage Work: Findings from an Analysis of Textbooks on Human Behavior and the Social Environment

This is a review of 14 of the most commonly used textbooks on human behavior and the social environment as regards their content relating to low-wage work. The textbooks are divided into three categories, analyzed, and compared. Particular attention is paid to theoretical perspectives on low-wage work. In most of the textbooks, the content on low-wage work is scattered, with few textbooks providing theoretical grounding on this issue. However, several of the textbooks did provide theoretical lenses that could be applied to low-wage work. The review concludes with a discussion of how theoretical views could be incorporated better into each of the three categories.