Rural African American Clergy: An Exploration of Their Attitudes and Knowledge of Alzheimer's Disease

Rural African American clergy's ability to recognize Alzheimer's Disease (AD) and their capacity to provide support to elders with this illness has been neglected in the literature. Using a mental health literacy framework, the purpose of this research was to explore rural African American clergy knowledge and beliefs of AD. In-depth interviews were conducted with 9 African American clergy who oversaw churches in central Kentucky. Although few had direct experience with providing pastoral care to elders with AD, all clergy were literate and aware of the need for additional training. This study seeks to further clarify the role of African American clergy and their understanding of AD to inform the future development of appropriate interventions and establish better collaborative community treatment relationships.     

From alternative,to complementary to integrative medicine: Supporting Australian midwives in an increasingly pluralistic maternity environment

BackgroundThe use of complementary and alternative medicine during pregnancy has become increasingly popular over the past decade in Australia.AimThe purpose of this discussion paper to make recommendations and foster a constructive debate regarding the appropriate response by the midwifery profession.DiscussionMidwives should receive basic education regarding the use of complementary and alternative medicine. All women should be routinely question women about their use and this should be documented. While a few therapies could be safely integrated, in most situations interested women should be referred to a qualified practitioner. Referral frameworks and flexible clinical guidelines should be investigated.ConclusionWith the appropriate education and support, midwives are in an excellent position to engage women in open dialogue and raise awareness of the benefits and risks of CAM practices. The way forwards for midwifery profession is to focus on self-governance, education and flexible clinical guidelines.     

Combining Workstation Design and Performance Management to Increase Ergonomically Correct Computer Typing Postures

The effects of workstation changes and a performance management (PM) package on seven typing postures were examined for seven office workers. Workstation adjustments were implemented first. Two participants increased five safe postures by 50% or more. The effects of a PM package on postures that did not improve by 50% were then examined using a multiple baseline design across participants. The PM package included information, feedback, and praise. Composite percent safe scores for postures targeted in the PM package increased for all seven participants, with increases ranging from 54% to 80%. Results suggest that it is beneficial to combine ergonomic design and performance management in office ergonomic programs.     

A community treatment intervention advancing active treatment in the elderly (ACTIVATE): a pilot study

A growing population of older adults receive treatment for depression but remain symptomatic. We report on a feasibility pilot study of an intervention (ACTIVATE) to improve depression care by encouraging the older person to take a step to intensify the existing treatment. Older adults (N = 43) receiving home-meal service and in depression treatment, but still symptomatic, participated in the ACTIVATE intervention. Assessments were conducted to evaluate change in treatment. Many (66.6%) participants took a step to change their treatment; the rate (88.2%) was higher among individuals with major depression. ACTIVATE may be a useful social work intervention to improve depression care.     

‘You Feel Sad?’ Emotion Understanding Mediates Effects of Verbal Ability and Mother–Child Mutuality on Prosocial Behaviors: Findings from 2 Years to 4 Years

Early individual differences in prosocial behaviors are pivotal for children's peer relationships. To investigate the interplay among verbal ability, emotion understanding, and mother–child mutuality as predictors of prosocial behaviors, we observed 102 children at the ages of two, three, and four. All time points included verbal ability and emotion understanding tests and both video‐based and maternal ratings of prosocial behavior. The first two time points also included video‐based ratings of mother–child mutuality. The third time point included teacher ratings of prosocial behavior and an experimental task. Regression analysis demonstrated robust associations between emotion understanding at the age of three and prosocial behavior at the age of four. Path analysis showed that emotion understanding at the age of three mediated associations between verbal ability/mother–child mutuality at the age of two and prosocial behavior at the age of four.     

A longitudinal study of newcomer role adjustment in US organizations

This paper examines the socialization and adjustment experiences of newcomers to organizations from a role stress perspective. A longitudinal field study is reported which tested a three-stage socialization model using physiological and psychological distress symptoms, general satisfaction, and intention to leave the organization as indicators of newcomer adjustment. Data were collected from newcomers (the focal role) (N = 91) at three times during me study and also from their supervisors (the role senders) (N = 41). While the data confirmed the general utility of the model, it also suggested some revisions by way of new and altered pathways between some of the variables.     

Adaptive blinded sample size adjustment for comparing two normal means—a mostly Bayesian approach

Adaptive sample size redetermination (SSR) for clinical trials consists of examining early subsets of on‐trial data to adjust prior estimates of statistical parameters and sample size requirements. Blinded SSR, in particular, while in use already, seems poised to proliferate even further because it obviates many logistical complications of unblinded methods and it generally introduces little or no statistical or operational bias. On the other hand, current blinded SSR methods offer little to no new information about the treatment effect (TE); the obvious resulting problem is that the TE estimate scientists might simply ‘plug in’ to the sample size formulae could be severely wrong. This paper proposes a blinded SSR method that formally synthesizes sample data with prior knowledge about the TE and the within‐treatment variance. It evaluates the method in terms of the type 1 error rate, the bias of the estimated TE, and the average deviation from the targeted power. The method is shown to reduce this average deviation, in comparison with another established method, over a range of situations. The paper illustrates the use of the proposed method with an example. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effect of Brief Staff‐Assisted Career Service Delivery on Drop‐In Clients

Brief staff‐assisted career counseling services based on cognitive information processing theory were evaluated using 138 drop‐in clients who completed pre‐ and postintervention self‐report measures of knowledge about next steps, confidence in making next steps, and anxiety about career concerns. Significant changes occurred in each dimension and were significantly associated with the quality of career adviser interaction. Participants rated the experience as highly positive. Decreases in anxiety about career concerns were unrelated to the intervention. Implications include that a brief service delivery model yields positive outcomes for many clients but requires adjustments in organizational culture, physical environment, practitioner approaches, and client expectations. Future research should examine relational variables related to decreased anxiety with a brief service delivery model, the degree to which this approach works with specific career needs, and client attributes leading to successful versus unsuccessful outcomes with this model.