Engaging with the Disability Rights Movement: the experience of community-based rehabilitation in southern Africa

This paper argues that unless community-based rehabilitation CBR programmes enter into genuine consultation with the disability rights movement they are in danger of repeating the mistakes of institution-based rehabilitation. Partnership between CBR programmes, and disabled people's and parents' organisations in southern Africa has led to the development of a more consumer focused approach to CBR Where disabled adults and parents have been fully involved in the design and implementation of programmes, CBR workers have a clearer understanding of disability as a development issue. Education, employment and poverty alleviation have been given a higher priority than medical rehabilitation in these programmes. The evolving concept of CBR and its relationship with the disability rights movement has been observed and documented by The Save the Children Fund, and forms the basis of this paper.     

Rates of pathological gambling in publicly funded outpatient substance abuse treatment

Rates of problem or probable pathological gambling were assessed in substance abusers seeking outpatient treatment in a publicly funded outpatient substance abuse treatment program. The South Oaks Gambling Screen (SOGS) was administered to 467 consecutive admissions at three different sites. Problem gamblers comprised 6.2 percent of the total (n=29), and 4.5 percent scored as probable pathological gamblers (n=21). These rates are two and one-half times greater than would be expected according to a recent state survey using the SOGS. Implications for assessment and treatment of problem gambling are discussed.The author expresses his appreciation to John Ramsay and the staff of Epoch Counseling Center for data collection; to Les Franklin for computational analysis; and Dr. Rachel Volberg for providing supplemental data from her Maryland State Gambling Survey.     

Struggles with Time: the careers of parents with adult sons and daughters with learning disabilities

The experiences of parents with adult offspring with learning disability and the meanings their parental careers have for them, has been the subject of very little empirical research. In this paper we describe and examine some of the features that gave shape and meaning to the day to day lives of parents of 33 co-resident adults with learning disabilities. Their accounts of their situations revealed that 'time' was a factor of some importance. Participants suggested that socialisation into the parental role was one that continued over the life course. In addition, they also felt that the services they received were based upon an inadequate and too narrow an understanding of how they experienced 'time'. The data reveal that both 'over time' and 'in time', parents struggled to maintain a set of aspirations for a typical life. The data show that for many parents there was a slow accommodation to the constraints of service provision and, as a result, their needs for service support became less extensive.     

Institutional Voids,Economic Adversity and Inter‐firm Cooperation in an Emerging Market: The Mediating Role of Government R&D Support

This paper examines the mediating mechanism of the relationship between institutional voids (IVs) and inter‐firm cooperation and the moderating role of economic adversity in the context of small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) based in emerging markets. The hypotheses are tested using time‐lagged survey data from 214 SMEs in Ghana. The findings provide support for the hypotheses by showing that: (1) IVs positively influence the use of government research and development (R&D) support; (2) the use of government R&D support mediates the relationship between IVs and inter‐firm cooperation; and (3) economic adversity positively moderates the relationship between IVs and the use of government R&D support. The findings contribute to understanding the role of IVs in inter‐firm cooperation. The wider implications for theory and practice are examined.     

Health care futures. Part 2: The future of physician executives? Panel discussion

What is the future of health care in America? This is Part 2 of The Physician Executive panel discussion that explores the future of health care in America. To narrow this ambitious focus somewhat, the future is defined as five to 10 years hence. In Part 1, which was published in the May/June issue, Russell C. Coile, Jr., Barbara LeTourneau, MD, MBA, FACPE, James Reinertsen, MD, Uwe Reinhardt, PhD, Marshall Ruffin, MD, MPH, MBA, FACPE, and David Vogel, MS, shared their opinions about what the future holds in managed care, information technology, and biotechnology. In Part 2, Susan Cejka, Barbara LeTourneau, MD, MBA, FACPE, John Henry Pfifferling, PhD, Uwe Reinhardt, PhD, and James Todd, MD, share their views on the future of medical education and physician executives.     

Toward Improved Communication about Wildland Fire: Mental Models Research to Identify Information Needs for Natural Resource Management

The management of natural- and human-induced wildland fires is an intricate process that must balance two considerations: that of fire as a necessary natural disturbance and that of the risks that fire poses. Reconciling tradeoffs between these risks and benefits is contingent upon informed, directed, and two-way communication between wildland fire managers and stakeholders. In an effort to aid with the design of such a communication effort, this study used mental models research to determine the unique wildland fire information and decision-making needs of stakeholders living at the wildland-urban interface of a fire-prone area. While the analysis revealed many similarities in how stakeholders conceptualized the risks and benefits of wildland fire, many misconceptions and important gaps in understanding on the part of both expert and nonexpert respondents were identified.     

Relationships of Online Social Comparison and Parenting Satisfaction among New Mothers: The Mediating Roles of Belonging and Emotion

New mothers frequently seek information and community on social networking sites as they seek to establish their parenting practices. As social networking sites for mothers (SNSM) present an environmental influence on the family system, a mother’s experience with social comparison, belonging, and emotion on SNSM can bear significant influence over her satisfaction with her parenting. The present study utilized survey methods to explore mothers’ (n= 336) reported experiences of these variables. We use structural equation modeling to specify a model with good fit, which indicated that greater downward comparison directly related to greater parenting satisfaction, with belonging and negative emotion as mediating indirect relationships. Implications for family communication and mothers’ SNSM practices are discussed.     

Schizotypal Personality Disorder: A Clinical Social Work Perspective

Schizotypal personality disorder (SPD) is considered to be a “schizophrenia spectrum disorder” as evidenced in part by its cross-listing in that chapter of the DSM-5. SPD is considered to be a condition with limited potential for positive change because one of its major features is the presence of a biologically based cognitive deficit. This assumption, however, is an example of the medical model’s creating a bias against psychosocial features that are always involved in character development. The social work profession’s bio-psycho-social perspectives focus more comprehensively on all features of the condition and promote a more optimistic view of clients’ change potentials. The purposes of this paper are to examine SPD from a social work perspective and to demonstrate, with a case example, how effective intervention can be organized and delivered.     

Videogame Assisted Emotional Regulation Training: An ACT with RAGE-Control Case Illustration

This paper describes the treatment of an adolescent girl (age 16) who received the ACT with RAGE-Control intervention during her treatment in an urban inpatient psychiatry unit. ACT with RAGE-Control utilizes five traditional Cognitive Behavioral techniques combined with an active biofeedback videogame designed to strengthen a patient’s self-regulatory capacities while facing simulated stress in a virtual environment. The treatment is delivered as daily individual psychotherapy sessions over five consecutive days of an inpatient psychiatric admission. The following case illustrates the theory and techniques of the ACT with RAGE-Control intervention.