UPPER BOUNDS FOR THE HARMONIC MEAN, WITH AN APPLICATION TO EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN

For positive-valued random variables, the paper provides a sequence of upper bounds for the harmonic mean, the ith of these bounds being exact if and only if the random variable is essentially i-valued. Sufficient conditions for the convergence of the bounds to the harmonic mean are given. The bounds have a number of applications, particularly in experimental design where they may be used to check how close a given design is to A-optimality     

Transcultural Therapy with Aboriginal Families: Working with the Belief System*

A framework for conducting transcultural therapy with families is considered. This emphasises the importance of developing cultural sensitivity, competence, and the role of cultural consultants. The paper then applies this framework to Aboriginal families. The author explores the indigenous belief system about health and healing, demonstrating the importance of body, land and spirit to the Aboriginal people. Continuity and change in belief and health practices are then traced from the traditional setting to the mission or reserve and urban setting. A case study demonstrates how to work with this belief system and provides practical recommendations for family therapists. On a broader level the paper demonstrates the compatibility of systemic thinking to the Aboriginal world view and draws from the literature of transcultural psychiatry, geography, medical anthropology and family therapy.     

Anticipated and experienced changes in activities after husbands retire

As an element of anticipatory socialization, ability to predict future roles accurately may impact subsequent adaptation. Part of a larger study of retirement and marital quality, this longitudinal research examined husbands' and wives' (n = 61 couples) anticipations of change (more/less/same) in six individual and joint activities following husbands' retirement, and compared them with couples' reported experiences a year after husbands had retired. With the exception of household tasks, continuity in levels of activity from pre-to post-retirement was greater than couples had anticipated. Cross-classification of responses at baseline and Time 2 indicated only modest congruence between anticipated and experienced change in activities. Accuracy of anticipation was not related significantly to retirement satisfaction as hypothesized, but direction of retirement-satisfaction mean scores, especially among wives, suggest that future testing would be warranted.     

Partnership,Service Needs and Assessing Competence in Post Qualifying Education and Training

Education and training must extend beyond initial qualifying courses into post qualifying professional development throughout a social worker's career if practice is to be most effective in meeting clients' needs. In the United Kingdom a Framework for Post Qualifying Education and Training was introduced from 1990. Revised frameworks have been put in place from autumn 2007 in each of the four home countries of the UK. This paper reflects on lessons learned in implementing these post qualifying frameworks in Northern Ireland. Within the overarching theme of relevance to practice, issues are drawn out under three main themes: (1) partnership working between employers and universities including the importance of leadership from policy makers and senior managers; (2) assessing competence including providing an Independent Assessment Route to increase access and to benchmark professional standards; and (3) meeting service needs including specifying learning outcomes to cover a range of practice contexts and accrediting employer-based programmes. Meeting service needs more closely is identified as a key issue driving the new Northern Ireland Post Qualifying Framework introduced in 2007.     

Impediments to Health Care for the Foreign Student

Abstract

Today's college students occupy a “window” between older adults, whose need for hepatitis B vaccination is minimal, and younger people who receive the vaccine as part of their childhood immunization series. However, because of the high-risk activities that are often part of student behavior, college students are among the individuals who are at the highest risk for this disease; 75% of all reported hepatitis B cases occur in persons between the ages of 15 and 39 years. It is therefore imperative that college health professionals take seriously their responsibility to educate students about issues related to hepatitis B and make available programs that enable the students to receive immunizations. This article briefly describes a successful hepatitis B education and immunization program at an institution that has no mandatory prematriculation immunization requirements.     

Job Satisfaction Among Volunteers With Personal Cancer Experience

ABSTRACT

This study explored job satisfaction among 753 cancer-experienced volunteers from hospital, palliative care, and community-based oncology settings in nine provinces across Canada. Based on a conceptual framework including three components of volunteering—antecedents, experiences, and consequences—a mixed-methods design to explore job satisfaction was used. Findings from the quantitative and qualitative inquiries indicated that the level of job satisfaction was high and stress was not reported as a major concern. The four themes related to job satisfaction from the volunteers’ responses included learning, personal growth, challenge, and giving back related to their own experience with cancer. Future research should further investigate the important role of job satisfaction for social service professionals for training, marketing, and recruiting, plus the need to explore supports to sustain oncology volunteers in this most challenging environment.     

Projecting Australia's Fertility

A method has been evolved for projecting Australia's fertility which takes into account changes in family size. Total fertility is expected to fall by about 2 per cent a year. The total number of births is likely to increase to about 285,000 in 1981 and remain at that level to the end of the century.