Being involved in the country: Productive ageing in different types of rural communities

Productive ageing recognises the contribution of older people to economic, social and cultural growth and helps build a sustainable community. Being involved in community life is good for individuals and good for society. However, we know very little about the participation of and contribution by people aged 50 and over in rural communities. This research aimed to develop a better understanding of productive ageing in different types of communities in rural Victoria, Australia. An anonymous self-complete postal questionnaire was distributed to a sample of households in twenty rural communities using the Australia Post Unaddressed Select Service. Those householders 50 years of age and older were invited to complete the survey. Data collected allowed examination of social and civic engagement, familiarity with community, the value placed on social relations by people aged 50 years and over, and how community involvement was linked to community sustainability. In particular it attempts to address the question ‘Does social and civic engagement differ across declining, stable and growing rural communities?’ Despite differences among rural communities, this study showed that older people develop and maintain strong community connections and well-functioning social capital and that participation in social activities was associated with feelings of being connected with community. It also identified health issues and lack of options as the main constraints on participation. A key message for policy makers is that older people play an important role in the sustainability of rural communities. There is much to be gained from actively supporting their participation in activities that are connected to ageing well.     

Children and Families’ Involvement in Social Work Decision Making

This review summarises the research literature on children’s and parents’ involvement in social work decision making, which is regarded, in policy terms, as increasingly important. In practice, however, it tends to be messy, difficult and compromised. Different individuals or groups may have different understandings of participation and related concepts, while differences of age and disability also mediate effective user engagement. The literature highlights common themes in effective participatory practice with both children and their parents. Central to this are the establishment of relationships of trust and respect, clear communication and information and appropriate support to participate.     

Family environments and the relationship context of first adolescent sex: Correlates of first sex in a casual versus steady relationship

Limited research has examined how family environments are associated with the relationship context of first sex, an important indicator of reproductive health risk. We use data from the 1997 National Longitudinal Survey of Youth to assess the association between the family environment - parent-parent relationships, parent-adolescent relationships, and family structure - and relationship context of first heterosexual sexual intercourse, distinguishing between the transition to first sex in serious and casual relationships. Twenty-five percent of females and 43% of males who had sex by age 18 did so in a casual relationship. All dimensions of the family environment were linked to the relationship context of first sex. Notably, higher parental monitoring was associated with a reduced risk of transitioning to first sex in a casual relationship versus no sex, and greater family routines were associated with a reduced risk of transitioning to sex in a steady relationship versus having no sex, for males and females. A strong maternal-adolescent relationship was associated with a reduced risk of first sex in a casual relationship but only for males. Additionally, in two-parent families, a strong father-adolescent relationship was associated with reduced risk of transitioning to casual sex, but only for females. Pregnancy and STI prevention programs should work with parents to foster positive parent-adolescent relationships, to become aware of their adolescents’ activities and to recognize that parents are important models for adolescent relationship behaviors.     

Social Class and Parenting: Classic Debates and New Understandings

Many scholars pinpoint the family as one of the most important loci of class differences and see parenting in particular as a mechanism for the reinforcement and reproduction of class variation. In this article, the authors explore the role of educational background, occupations, family resources, state surveillance, and culture in explaining how and why parenting practices vary by class backgrounds. The article reviews research that focuses on class‐based cultural norms and values, as well as research that argues that structural conditions and access to resources are more important than culture in influencing parenting norms, beliefs, and outcomes. The authors then discuss recent research that suggests that rather than seeing culture and structure as dichotomous, in fact, culture and structure are intertwined and it is through seeing them as mutually reinforcing factors that we can best make sense of class‐related parenting differences.     

How organizational characteristics affect the adaptive tactics used by human service nonprofit managers confronting financial uncertainty

The way that nonprofits respond to funding uncertainty is crucial to their ability to meet goals and position themselves for future success. This article investigates how structural, managerial, and financial characteristics affect the adaptive tactics used by human service nonprofits during times of financial stress. These tactics include adding new programs, reducing programs or staff, expanding or starting joint programs, pursuing earned income, and expanding advocacy involvement. Using longitudinal data on human service nonprofits collected on either side of the 2002–2003 economic downtown, we find that larger size provides organizations with a unique ability to choose among different adaptive tactics, as larger size was significantly predictive of adding new programs, reducing programs, expanding advocacy, and pursuing earned income. Strategic planning was positively associated with innovative tactics such as starting joint programs or pursuing earned income. Financial stress or declines in an organization's major funding source led to cutbacks, as expected, but managers who foresaw these challenges were able to respond proactively by adding programs or starting joint programs. However, managers with more training did not respond much differently than did other managers, and organizational age and use of performance management tools had no effect in guiding organizational responses to financial uncertainty.     

A comparative study of occupancy and patient care quality in four different types of intensive care units in a children's hospital

This paper reports a comparative study of occupancy and patient care quality in four types of intensive care units in a children's hospital,: an Infant Care Center (ICC), a Medical/Surgical (Med/Surg) unit, a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), and a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU), each featuring a mix of multi-bed and private room (PR) patient care environments. The project is prompted by interest by the project sponsor in a pre-occupancy analysis, before the units are upgraded to exclusive PR designs. Methods comprised, for each unit: (1) observations of ergonomic design features; (2) task activity analyses of job performance of selected staff; and (3) use of a survey to collect perceptions by unit nursing and house staff (HS) of indicators of occupancy and patient care quality. Conclusions: (1) the five most common task activities are interaction with patients, charting, and interaction with equipment, co-workers and family members; (2) job satisfaction, patient care, work environment, job, patient care team interaction, and general occupancy quality rankings by ICC and/or NICU respondents are significantly higher than those by other staff respondents; and (3) ergonomic design shortcomings noted are excess noise, problems with equipment, and work environment, job-related health, and patient care quality issues.     

Consolidated findings from 6 years research on the age-differentiated design of human-computer interaction

The fast aging of many western and eastern societies and their increasing reliance on information technology create a compelling need to reconsider older users' interactions with computers. This paper summarizes the results of 6 years of research on the age-differentiated design of human-computer interaction. The well-known model of human information processing served as the theoretical framework. The model components 'sensory processing', 'perception', 'working memory', 'decision and response selection' and 'response execution' were analyzed exemplarily in task settings on project management. In seven empirical studies with a total number of 405 participants between 20 and 77 years the human-computer interaction was analyzed regarding effectiveness, efficiency and user satisfaction. For most but not all studies the results reveal that age-induced differences in human-computer interaction can best be compensated by an ergonomic 'design for all'. In some cases however an age-specific approach is favorable.