Psychosocial care in nursing homes in the era of the MDS 3.0: perspectives of the experts

Meeting psychosocial needs of nursing home residents is increasingly regarded as a critical component of care, and the nationally-mandated nursing home care screening instrument- the Minimum Data Set (MDS) 3.0-was modified and implemented in 2010 to promote better assessment of psychosocial needs and health. Recognizing the importance of psychosocial well-being among nursing home residents, and the promise of MDS 3.0 for improving psychosocial care, this article reports recommendations derived from a conference of stakeholders representing diverse disciplines and organizations regarding next steps following MDS 3.0 screening. Results relate to seven areas of psychosocial care and address cross-cutting recommendations to improve psychosocial care.     

Ethical issues in the translation of social neuroscience: a policy analysis of current guidelines for public dialogue in human research

Social neuroscience and its potential implications create an interesting case study for examining human research ethics policies on the topic of public communication of research. We reviewed mainstream national and international human research ethics guidelines and policies on issues of public communication of research. Our analysis relied on five thematic nets to capture the interactions between research and the public: public understanding, knowledge translation, public participation, social outcomes, and dual use. Coverage of these topics is sparse and inconsistent in mainstream policies and guidelines. We identify three options to address these gaps and analyze their strengths and weaknesses.     

"A soldier in the service of his country": Dr. William Rees, professional identity, and the Toronto Temporary Asylum, 1819-1874

The first medical superintendent of the Toronto Lunatic Asylum, physician Dr. William Rees, found his tenure from 1841 to 1845 marked by financial struggle, extensive administrative conflict, and physical injury. His personality along with these events have given rise to negative portrayals of Rees as an inept administrator. Less known are his social contributions beyond his asylum work. A more extensive assessment of Rees suggests the value of his biography as a study of Upper Canadian professional and class status. While Rees's occupational endeavours before 1841 enhanced his status, negative experiences at the asylum changed this pattern and caused an ongoing decline in his social status after 1845.     

Female board directors' resilience against gender discrimination

Despite regulatory efforts to promote gender diversity on boards, women are still severely underrepresented in board leadership in the UK, beyond FTSE 100 companies. Evidence suggests that women, when poorly represented in the workplace, are more likely to suffer discrimination. In this study, we report the first-hand experiences of gender discrimination suffered by female directors and present the process of how they build resilience through developing coping strategies. Such resilience-building processes seem to vary with the length of board experience of female directors. At the outset of their board journey, they adopt avoidant coping strategies of denial and disengagement. However, with experience in boards, they gain the confidence to pursue the active coping strategy of seeking and extending support. This qualitative study is based on 42 elite interviews of board directors and is guided by the resilience theory, in the context of top FTSE boards. The article also discusses the contribution of the study to theory, praxis, and policy.     

The Emotional Experience and Expression of Anger: Children’s Perspectives

The purpose of this study was to explore and identify key themes related to a child’s experience of anger. The existing literature on children’s emotional experiences stems from adult perceptions and interpretations; this study was envisioned to investigate the experience of anger among children using their own words. Furthermore, this study was designed to illustrate a contextual perspective of children’s emotional knowledge, so that teachers, social workers, counsellors and other child mental health professionals may be able to relate and interpret children’s emotional experiences. Participants were male and female students, aged 8–9 years and in a regular grade three classroom within a community school. Through the use of semi-structured interview focus groups conducted over a span of 10 weeks, participants were invited to disclose their understandings of anger and how they experienced it. Results were analyzed via a content analysis that resulted in five themes. These themes consisted of understanding anger, origins of anger, consequences of anger, regulation and resolution of anger, and finally relations with others. Results and implications of the findings were discussed.     

Differential mortality risks from violent causes for foreign- and native-born residents of the USA

This paper examines the differences in adult violent causes (homicide, suicide, vehicle accidents, and otheraccidents) for mortality risks between the Americanforeign- and native-born adult populations, whileconsidering the length of time lived in the USA and the influences of other socio-demographic characteristics. Data came from the National Health InterviewSurvey-National Death Index linked file for the years1989--1995. Cox proportional hazards modelsestimate the association between nativity, length ofstay, and mortality risk for each violent cause. Theresults show that foreign-born persons differ in their risks of violent death vis-á-vis the native-bornpopulation by the amount of the time they have livedin the USA. In particular, recent immigrants (lessthan 15 years) display higher risks fromhomicide, lower risks from suicide, and lower risksfrom other accidents (not vehicle) than thenative-born individuals. This pattern is differentfor longer-term immigrants (15 or more years) whohave, for the most part, similar risks from othercauses of violent death compared to native-bornresidents. The findings suggest that there arecompositional differences between immigrants by length of stay and that the process of acculturation mayinclude the amplification or diminution of risks ofvarious causes of violent death.     

Beyond the Nuclear Family? Familism and Gender Ideology in Diverse Religious Communities

Religious familism, or ideology about "the good family," has been central to the culture and practice of local religious communities in the United States. Recent research has suggested that the "Ozzie and Harriet" familism dominant among mainstream religious groups in the 1950s religious expansion has remained formative for many local religious communities in the intervening decades. This research suggests that religious familism shapes how gender is symbolized and enacted in local religious communities and leads to differences in the meaning of religious participation for contemporary men and women. However, this work has been based largely on studies of white, middle-class religious communities. In this article, we analyze the relationship between family ideology and gender in three congregations chosen to exemplify those social locations where we would expect considerable distance from the 1950s "Ozzie and Harriet" ideal—one Hispanic Catholic parish, one African-American congregation in the black Church tradition, and one white liberal Protestant congregation that has adopted an open and affirming stance toward homosexuality and same-sex unions. We find considerable innovation in family-oriented rhetoric and ministry, and a range of gendered practices that prove considerably more inclusive than those found in previous research. We also find considerable symbolic affirmation of the value of more traditional gender roles and practices, particularly in the realm of the family, than we expected to find. We explore the implications of these findings for how we understand the production of gender in local religious communities and for the capacity of local religious communities to become truly gender-inclusive spaces.     

The household composition coefficient: A method for measuring inequality in the distribution of childrearing demands among households

A method for measuring distributional inequality was applied to household composition data to document and analyze the trend in the distribution of children and adult among households. Lorenz Curve methodology was used to depict the departure of child-adult living arrangements from absolute equality. Households and children were ranked by a child-adult ratio to capture the trend toward smaller families, single-parent families, and childless households. A Gini Coefficient was calculated to mathematically represent the relative degree of inequality in the distribution of childrearing demands from 1940 to 1980. The results evidence a trend of growing inequality, particularly since 1960, in the distribution of childrearing demands. The measure has application as a social indicator to document the extent to which responsibilities for daily care of children are distributed through the population.