Reaching children at risk: a model for training child welfare specialists

An innovative model for the training of social welfare students in the special skills essential in child welfare work is predicated upon a classification system of children at risk and a continuum of services.     

Location of community-based treatment centers

Neighborhood opposition to community-based treatment centers (CBTCs) has prompted fears that these centers will become concentrated in inner city, "transitional neighborhoods." These neighborhoods are thought to lack the willingness and/or resources to oppose CBTCs. This paper examines the distribution of CBTCs in a northern metropolitan county. The findings suggests that the fears of "ghettoization" may be real only for certain types of centers. Most centers were located in higher-status city and suburban neighborhoods. However, these centers were physically or visually isolated from the surrounding housing, making them less likely to attract attention and therefore less likely to arouse neighborhood opposition.     

Some factors related to contraceptive behavior among Wind River Shoshone and Arapahoe females

During the summer of 1972 in-depth interviews were conducted with 96 Shoshone and Arapahoe Indian women living on the Wind River Reservation in Central Wyoming. All were aged 15-49 and were users of the reservation health service. It was found the women fell into 4 groups: current contraceptive users, 42.7%; pregnant or seeking to become pregnant, 10.4%; infertile due to menopause or sterilization, 18.8%; and fertile never-users, 28.1%. The contraceptive users tended to be older, married, and have as many children as they want. The fertile never-users tended to be in their teens and generally unmarried. When asked why they did not use contraception their answer was 'because I am not married.' It is suggested that general education on contraception be provided the younger women so that when they achieve desired family size they will be informed as to family planning methods. It was found that religious belief against contraception was important to the young never-users, but not to the women who had completed their families. In fact, 73% of the users said their religion, which most identified as Roman Catholicism, had no influence on their contraceptive use while 27% said they were aware of church disapproval but used contraception anyway.     

Involving constituents in agency priority setting: a case study

Many government agencies have "constituents" who believe the agencies should hear and consider their needs and desires in establishing program priorities. This article describes how one involves interested constituents (consumers, industry, medical professionals, and state organizations) in the agency's annual priority-setting process. This participation has produced a number of beneficial results-some expected and some unexpected.     

Micromomentary movement and the deconding of face and body cues

A new version of the Profile of Nonverbal Sensitivity Test (PONS)—a standardized test of sensitivity to nonverbal cues—was developed to determine the effects of five levels or sequences of micromomentary movement on accuracy in decoding nonverbal face and body cues, presented for 125 microseconds (msecs). The five sequences were: backward movement, partially backward movement, no movement, partially forward movement, and fully forward movement. Two versions of this test—the Test of Micromomentary Movement Effects (TOMME)—were administered to two samples of female high school and college students. The results, averaged over face and body cues, showed that as the movement sequences more closely approximated the fully forward sequence, decoding accuracy increased. These results, showing the benefits of adding properly sequenced information at split second (42 msec) exposures, not only support the findings of previous researchers that micromomentary facial affect displays may be helpful in decoding nonverbal facial cues, but also suggest that micromomentary movements may be important for decoding body cues as well.     

The dynamics and differentials of fertility in the USSR (survey results)

The results of a fertility survey carried out in the USSR in 1978 are presented. The survey included 33,076 women aged 18 to 59. Data are included on fertility rates by region and Union Republic and by urban or rural area, and on expected fertility of women aged 18 to 44. Changes in actual and desired fertility over time are compared for five-year periods from 1945 to 1978. Differences in fertility are analyzed by type of settlement, educational status, and nationality.     

Assessment of patient satisfaction: development and refinement of a service evaluation questionnaire

A series of seven studies was conducted by the authors and their colleagues to produce an efficient measure of service satisfaction that can easily be related to symptom level, demographic characteristics, and type and extent of service utilization. The resulting measure, the Service Evaluation Questionnaire (SEQ) is a brief, global index that has excellent internal consistency and solid psychometric properties. Data from an extensive SEQ field study can be used as a comparison base for future applications of the two SEQ component scales, the CSQ-8 and the SCL-10. A new hypothesis has emerged from this series of studies that will guide future research: Service recipients may find if difficult to formally express dissatisfaction in the face of significant caring--however ineffectual--when the technical capacity to offer definitive treatment is not yet fully developed and when criteria for evaluating the efficacy of treatment are not yet crystal clear.     

The validity of indices for rural health manpower needs assessment

Population-to-practitioner ratios have long been the primary index in the designation of health manpower shortage areas. This paper documents that application of the widely used population-to-dentist index results in understatement of the need for dental health manpower in rural areas. Through the analysis of utilization data collected from a statewide health screening program in Colorado, the practice of sole reliance on the population-to-dentist indices as an indicator of need was tested. Another measure, the area-(square miles) to-dentist ratio was formulated, examined, and found to be a more useful referent of the need for additional health manpower in rural areas. Utilization of dental services in sparsely settled rural counties of Colorado was unrelated to population-to-dentist ratios. A strong, statistically significant association of utilization with land area-to-dentist ratios was found. The findings of this analysis suggest a need for reevaluation of needs assessment methodologies used in the designation of health manpower shortage areas. Indices more sensitive to consumer circumstance than to the number of health care providers available must be considered.