The Life Course of Leisure-Oriented Retirement Communities

Abstract

Leisure-oriented retirement communities (LORCs) are specifically designed to meet the housing needs of a small but important sector of older population. This research involved informal follow-up site visits to seven LORCs that were the focus of previous research in the 1980s. In general, the communities were found to have remained viable by adjusting to changes in both the housing market and the needs and preferences of residents. Interviews with key informants at each site suggest that, despite economic and social pressures, the viability of these communities has been characterized by the autonomy and stability of community organization and quality of life, as indicated through amenities packages.     

Children’s Experiences of Completing a Computer‐Based Violence Survey: Ethical Implications

This article aims to contribute to the discussion about the ethics of research on children when studying sensitive issues such as violence. The empirical analysis is based on the accounts given by children (11 377) who completed a computer‐based questionnaire about their experiences of violence (‘The Finnish Child Victim Survey 2008’) and their reflections on the survey. We argue that experiences of violence should not be excluded from the research agenda on children due to ethical reasons, but that a more sophisticated practice should be developed instead to meet the needs and rights of children as informants. © 2010 The Author(s). Journal compilation 2010 National Children’s Bureau and Blackwell Publishing Limited.     

From the streets to assisted living: perceptions of a vulnerable population

The rapid growth of assisted-living facilities is paralleled by the necessity to understand the needs of the people living in them. A hallmark challenge for individuals who are poor and disabled, and often marginalized from mainstream society, is maintaining integrity and being a whole person, rather than a sum of broken parts. A key to maintaining this integrity is the ability to find stable housing and support systems. The inner-city assisted-living facility in this study is unique in that all of its residents are funded by Medicaid. The residents have complex needs related to histories of homelessness, mental illness, drug and/or alcohol addiction, and chronic illness. The purpose of this study was to explore the needs of this vulnerable population as they adapt to a new home and a new concept of assisted, yet independent, living. Structured interviews with key informants and oral survey questionnaires with residents provided quantitative and qualitative data about physical and mental health status, social support, perception of control, psychological wellbeing, and life satisfaction. This study provided valuable insights into the challenges inherent in providing a high quality of life in assisted living for a vulnerable population with diverse needs.     

The measurement of household time allocation: Data needs,analytical approaches,and standardization

Public policy designed to improve well-being or alter social behavior has too often been ineffective because of the lack of knowledge of the nature or the trends that force people to select given time allocation patterns. In the recent past, however, there has been a growing recognition of the need to research and understand the distribution of total time to improve the ability of governments to design more effective policies. This article introduces the concept of time use measurement, reviews the development of time use research, and identifies the following key considerations for its improvement. First, a standard activity coding scheme capable of handling the nuances of time use in the more developed and developing countries and across the broad range of possible subpopulations must be developed and accepted. Second, a solid integration of objective and subjective measures into time use data collection, meeting multidisciplinary needs, must be achieved. Third, a movement toward the contextual setting of activities through episodal analysis is needed, which may mean the development of new analytical procedures and technology. Finally, it is necessary to reach a consensus on desired time-based economic, social, and psychological indicators.His major research interests are time use survey methodology and analysis, the measurement of unpaid work, and the measurement of the contextual dimensions of human activity.     

The coping model: what is it and what might be its implications for social work practice?

This article examines whether a coping model developed as a framework for analysis of research interviews is useful in social work practice. The coping model emerged from a study involving qualitative interviews with social service clients in Norway, designed to explore how they coped with challenges in everyday lives, both on an individual level and in interacting with their environment. The model emerged from preliminary analysis and was then used in further analysis of the interview data. The study showed that the informants experienced two major challenges: (1) Unemployment and (2) living with a shortage of money over time, even though their life situations were heterogeneous. Some informants experienced potent coping strategies in finding employment and became independent of social services. Other informants experienced shortages in their capacities for work and continued to be dependent on allowances. They used their coping resources to achieve more meaningful life situations without employment. The coping model represents how coping is understood theoretically in the study and the present paper considers the model's relevance and implications for social work practice itself.     

Effects of Premarital Medical Examination on Engaged Endogamous Couples in Rural Lebanon

Abstract

This article discusses the findings of a survey of Shiite Muslim engaged couples to assess their knowledge of the risks of congenital disease in endogamous marriage and the importance of the premarital medical examination. The engaged couples live in the Chmistar and Tarayya villages, located west of Baalbeck, in Lebanon. In-depth interviews were conducted with a group of mothers and key informants (religious leaders, general practitioners, geneticists, biologists and social workers) who are charged with providing information on the risks of marriage between first cousins. The qualitative analysis of their discourse revealed that: (i) endogamous marriage is preferred and fulfills the normative social tradition, and (ii) premarital medical examination, as practiced, seems to give the engaged couple a false sense of security. Results of this research emphasized that a health promotion program aiming at responding to a 1000-year-old tradition, such as endogamous marriage, should take into account the potential conflicts it introduces concerning the anthropological and sociological bases typical of this practice.     

The optimal treatment approach to needs assessment

This paper describes a needs assessment technique which has not been considered in previous discussions. Basically the Optimal Treatment approach to needs assessment consists of comparing the most desirable set of services for a client with the services actually recommended or received. Discrepancies due to unavailable resources are noted and aggregated across clients. Systematic shortcomings may be taken to represent service needs.The advantages and disadvantages of this and other procedures are considered, especially with respect to political factors and the utility of data for planning and decision making in the local agency context.     

DILEMMAS IN RESEARCH: ISSUES OF VULNERABILITY AND DISEMPOWERMENT FOR THE SOCIAL WORKER/RESEARCHER

Qualitative research ethics discussions have established a sound knowledge and practice base which advises on the protection and rights of the research informants. This paper, although supporting the primacy of informant safety, will highlight less visible research debates. The potential for vulnerability and harm of the social work researcher will be explored. The value of achieving heightened empathy and emotional resonance with research participants is considered as a process which the author suggests is likely to increase the richness of the research data, but also may accentuate researcher vulnerability or distress. The author's experience of doing personal research with vulnerable informants, and of being a social work research supervisor, will be used to reflect on processes and practices which she claims may make social work researchers particularly vulnerable to conflict and distress. Data from her recent research which explored the experiences of social work researchers will be used to illustrate these issues.     

Local response to planning mandates. The prevalence and utilization of needs assessment by human service agencies.

Federal and state needs assessment mandates have traditionally been criticized both by their originators and by the local human service agencies that are required to conduct these studies as part of the planning process. This paper presents some preliminary evidence that local opposition to assessment may be shrinking as agencies gain a new appreciation for the varied uses of assessment information. Using data from a sample of Wisconsin agencies the prevalence of assessments between 1979 and 1980 is described and the conditions surrounding the practice of needs assessment are outlined. Particular attention is given to factors that affect the utilization of needs assessment results, including the characteristics of the sponsoring agency, the attributes of the study, and the structure of the assessment process.     

Stakeholder driven indicators for eHealth performance management

The goal of the present article is to compile a corpus of indicators of eHealth development evaluation that would essentially reflect stakeholder approaches and complement technical indicators of assessment of an eHealth system. Consequently, the assessment of the development of an eHealth system would reflect stakeholder approaches and become an innovative solution in attempting to improve productivity of IT projects in the field of health care. The compiled minimum set of indicators will be designed to monitor implementation of the national eHealth information system. To ensure reliability of the quality research, the respondents were grouped in accordance to the geographical distribution and diversity of the levels and types of the represented jobs and institutions. The applied analysis implies several managerial insights on the hierarchy of eHealth indicators. These insights may be helpful in recommending priority activities in implementation of an eHealth data system on the national or international level. The research is practically useful as it is the first to deal with the topic in Lithuania and its theoretical and practical aspect are particularly relevant in implementation of an eHealth data system in Lithuania. The eHealth assessment indicators presented in the article may be practically useful in two aspects: (1) as key implementation guidelines facilitating the general course of eHealth system development and (2) as a means to evaluate eHealth outcomes.     

The Empirical Side of the Power Elite Debate: an Assessment and Critique of Recent Research*

From the earliest writings in social science there have been lively debates over the extent to which societies are dominated by elites. Recently, empirical data have been considered for elite backgrounds, elite interlock, elite unity, and elite influence on public policy, but interpretation of the data continue to be problematic. The findings are often confusing and conflicting mainly because of differing methodologies, definitions and indicators of elite status. Focusing on the four areas of quantitative research listed, we compare the findings in an attempt to explain some of the conflicts. When possible, we have prepared summaries of the consistent findings, which tend to show, with respect to these issues, greater support for elite theories as opposed to pluralist theory. Finally we discuss some of the major questions in the debate that current research is unable to answer, and outline future research needs.     

Small area indicators and social change

This article examines the relevance of measures of social change for small areas and how these can be used in need assessment. Specifically, this article explicates the problems of selecting a limited group of indicators from among the broad panoply of indicators available, and of determining the different kinds of information provided by indicators controlling for the level of aggregation. The use of small area social indicators to do need assessment is illustrated using data from the 1970 and 1980 Health Demographic Profile System.     

Consumer survey as needs assessment method: a case study

Needs assessment methodology has grown remarkably as a necessary part of evaluating human service programs. The consumer survey method of needs assessment is reviewed. A case study in which the training needs of board members of the eleven community mental health agencies in a rural New England state were examined by a questionnaire requesting ratings of the importance and priority of 11 possible topics is presented. Sixty-five of 300 questionnaires were returned (21.66%). The results clearly support the view that training programs for boards are needed, and suggest that citizens can make reasonable decisions about program content if given the opportunity. A training project, based on the results of the survey is described. Problems in designing and implementing consumer surveys and training programs are discussed.     

The Psychology of Working in Practice: A Theory of Change for a New Era

This article advances the psychology of working theory by developing a parallel change‐based paradigm to guide interventions at the level of individuals (i.e., the psychology of working counseling) and systems (i.e., the psychology of working systemic intervention). The change paradigm presented in this article includes (a) a needs assessment encompassing survival, social connection/contribution, and self‐determination and (b) input on the mobilization of agentic action that includes critical reflection and action, proactive engagement, social support, and community engagement. The needs assessment and agentic action aspects of this approach can be used to foster change in individual counseling, advocacy, and systemic intervention. Case examples reflecting a systemic intervention and an individual counseling vignette are presented along with implications for research, such as explorations of the impact of these change models on client outcomes and systemic change efforts.     

Chapter 7. Housing the Rural Elderly

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a case study of the potential of the Abbeyfield model of small congregate housing to meet the needs of the rural elderly. The results of interviews with thirty key informants indicate a very guarded assessment of Abbeyfield despite expressed dissatisfaction with current housing supply and options. Further analysis indicates a more favourable climate for Abbeyfield in smaller, more remote communities. Service producers/managers and municipal officials are more sceptical about Abbeyfield than are the elderly themselves, although these opinion leaders base their opinions upon assumptions about what the elderly want. We believe that these perceptions may be coloured by an experience of broken promises, failed experimentation and short-lived innovation.     

A scope-of-practice survey leading to the development of standards of practice for health promotion in higher education

To review and analyze the scope of practice of health promotion services and draft standards of quality indicators for higher education communities, the American College Health Association (ACHA) initiated a Task Force on Health Promotion in Higher Education in May 1996. Members of the task force developed a National Survey on Health Promotion and Education in Institutions of Higher Education and mailed the survey to a stratified random sample of 600 ACHA member institutions, as well as to 97 key "best-practice health promotion leaders". The larger sample produced a 75.3% response rate, and 90.7% of the key informants returned usable surveys. The authors report selected findings from both groups that chronicle the state of health promotion practice in higher education at the close of the 20th century. The task force used the findings to establish a data-driven framework for the Year 2001 Standards of Practice for Health Promotion in Higher Education.     

The dysfunctional side effects of quantitative indicator production: illustration from mental health care (a message from Chicken Little)

In the current context of economic conservation, accountability and retrenchment from social programs, justification is required in order to maintain human service capacity. In this effort, evaluation is a key component. Yet desire to base action upon information resulting from evaluation must be tempered by increased attention to the effects of the evaluation process. All too often premature application of quantitative indicators formerly used for individual assessment and research to bureaucratic decision making produces side effects that are dysfunctional in nature. Frequently these side effects influence service delivery directly. More insidious, because they are less easily discerned, are distortions introduced into the data by evaluation pressure. These not only delay effects on service but also impair understanding of the very process they are meant to illuminate. In order to illustrate this phenomenon, the author reviews a general literature and utilized examples from mental health care. Common themes are identified and a tentative theory of side effect generation proposed.     

A systems method for the identification of variable service needs of the elderly

Current trends in the aging sector make critical the development of more precision in the policy and decision-making processes. This study explores a strategy for improving service allocation decisions in the aging services area. Two research tools were combined—Delphi and magnitude estimation—to identify the perceptions of key decision makers about the variable service needs of different aging risk groups. The results indicate that such distinctions can be made and can provide the basis of improving several aspects of the allocation process.     

Parental substance misuse and child care social work: research in a city social work department in England

This research set out to establish evidence about the scale and impact of and response to parental substance misuse in child care social work teams in a city social services department in England. The article draws on some aspects of the data collected in the research, which includes: a snapshot survey of all child care social work caseloads in the city; group interviews with practitioners and parents in recovery; individual interviews with parents using a pilot project that focused on parental substance misuse. The research provides evidence of parental substance misuse as a key factor that needs greater consideration within child care social work assessments and as an issue to target in developing preventative responses to child welfare concerns. Child care social workers are shown to need specialist support in undertaking this task to best effect. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.