A novel approach for evaluating programs designed to serve military veterans: Using an adapted common components analysis

Evaluators are challenged to keep pace with the vast array of Veteran support programs operating in the United States, resulting in a situation in which many programs lack any evidence of impact. Due to this lack of evidence, there is no efficient way to suggest which programs are most effective in helping Veterans in need of support. One potential solution to this dilemma is to reconceptualize program evaluation, by moving away from evaluating programs individually to evaluating what is common across programs. The Common Components Analysis (CCA) is one such technique that aggregates findings from programs that have undergone rigorous evaluation at the level of program components (e.g., content, process, barrier reduction). Given that many Veteran programs lack outcome evidence from rigorous studies, an adaptation to CCA is needed. This report examines cross-sectional data from a pilot study using an adapted CCA across five domains of well-being (i.e., employment, education, legal/financial/housing, mental/physical health, and social/personal relationships). The purpose of this preliminary study is to determine the feasibility of eliciting program nominations and program components from Veterans via an online survey. When coupled with a longitudinal research design, this adaptation to CCA will allow for stronger causal claims about the expected impact of different program components within and across a variety of domains.     

The Politics of Expanding Healthcare Access to the Poor and Informal Sectors

How do the politics of agenda setting and policy adoption operate in the arena of healthcare reform in the industrializing world? Literature on the twenty‐first‐century developmental state emphasizes the role of democratic competition and civil society in causing political parties to take up new agendas, while power resources theory stresses the role of left‐wing political parties and labor unions in policy adoption. Yet, core tenets of these theories have not been considered extensively in light of dynamics in the industrializing world. This article examines the politics of policy adoption in countries that have recently aimed to provide healthcare access and financial protection to the poor and people in the informal sector in Mexico and Turkey. In line with literature on the twenty‐first‐century developmental state, we find democratic competition to play an important role in causing political parties to take up new agendas. However, examination of the cases illuminates surprising dynamics that challenge important elements of sociological theory: right‐leaning political parties played important roles in adoption, while labor unions and left‐wing parties oppose reform in the cases. Public health‐minded physicians leading change teams played important roles in agenda setting and leading the process of implementation.     

Early assessment of implementing evidence-based brief therapy interventions among secondary service psychiatric therapists

This implementation study was part of the Ostrobothnia Depression Study, in Finland, which covered implementation of motivational interviewing (MI) and behavioral activation (BA) within regional public psychiatric secondary care. It aimed to evaluate the mid-term progress of implementation and related factors. Altogether, 80 therapists had been educated through the implementation program by the point of the mid-term evaluation. Eligible information for evaluation was gathered using two questionnaires (q1, q2) with a one-year interval.A total of 45 of the 80 therapists completed q1, 30 completed q2, and 24 completed both questionnaires. Professional education was the only background factor associated with adopting the interventions (q1: p = 0.059, q2: p = 0.023), with higher education indicating greater activity. On the basis of trends such as changes in overall usefulness score from q1 to q2, the most involved therapists were slightly more likely to adopt MI/BA. Our experience so far suggests that encouraging staff to begin using new interventions during education is very important. The Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research was found to be a useful tool for constructing the evaluation.     

规划调整决策任务分解、认知限制与决策支持

规划调整决策问题(PCDPs-Program and Control Decision Problems)都比较宏观综合,涉及面广且结构性差,决策支持需求不易确定。本论文将通过决策任务分解说明决策认知过程,并在知识分类的基础上论述完成决策任务中的认知限制,进而从扩展决策者的认知能力出发给出了决策支持基本功能设计和开发规划调整决策支持系统(PCDSS)的三层结构。     

基于员工帮助计划(EAP)的我国公务员激励机制的构建

针对当前我国社会经济转型时期所面临多方挑战和压力的背景下,公务员群体的心理健康状况不理想,缺乏有效的心理激励等问题,运用员工帮助计划(EAP)的相关理论,从适用性、模式、路径选择和保障措施等方面对完善我国公务员的激励机制进行了相关探讨。     

企业员工社会工作辅导介入模式初探——从工业社会工作员工协助方案的角度

随着经济社会的高速发展,企业员工遇到了工作压力的困扰,员工的各种问题对企业的可持续发展造成了极大的阻碍。本文提出了一种解决途径,即发展工业社会工作员工协助方案的重要性,并着重从心理资本与社会资本的视角,初步探索了企业员工社会工作辅导的介入模式。     

A Novel Method for Solving Unbounded Knapsack Problem

Knapsack problem is one kind of NP-Complete problem. Unbounded knapsack problems are more complex and harder than general knapsack problem. In this paper, we apply QGAs (Quantum Genetic Algorithms) to solve unbounded knapsack problem and then follow other procedures. First, present the problem into the mode of QGAs and figure out the corresponding genes types and their fitness functions. Then, find the perfect combination of limitation and largest benefit. Finally, the best solution will be found. Primary experiment indicates that our method has well results.     

Weighing the Success of a National Alzheimer's Disease Service Demonstration

Summary

As the need for long-term care services within the United States has grown dramatically, Congress has consistently deflected the primary responsibility for such care to state governments, local organizations, and, ultimately, the family. This paper examines the impact of the Alzheimer's Disease Demonstration Grants to States (ADDGS) program, a small federally funded initiative within the context of this trend. Although the demonstration can be deemed a huge success relative to the goals of creating new services for an underserved target population, questions are raised about the merits of the program relative to the exploding need for an effective network of long-term care services.     

Mixed‐Method Evaluation of Continuing Professional Development: Applications in Cultural Competence Training

Continuing professional development has been identified as an important tool for advancing the competence of social workers, yet outcomes of professional development are conventionally evaluated using methods that cannot provide trustworthy information about program effectiveness. This paper suggests that innovations in social research can be applied to strengthen the evaluation of educational outcomes from continuing professional development. The benefits of designing a mixed‐method evaluation of educational interventions are explored by reviewing the experience of implementing a cultural competence continuing professional development workshop series in Toronto, Canada. Review of the process demonstrates that the combination of methods results in a richer data set that can answer questions about both the process of the learning experience, and the effect that training has on professional practice.     

我国高等教育亟待加强逻辑与批判性思维训练——以南京地区部分高校教学计划为例

在当前大学本科教学的课程设置中,逻辑学的开课覆盖面偏窄、覆盖率偏低,甚至空缺,缺乏对学生批判性思维的培养和训练。另一方面,却是社会需求日益增加,在升学和求职考试中,对逻辑知识、批判性思维能力的考查日益加重。各高校应该加强逻辑学课程教学,改变这种学与用、供和需脱节的现状,提高大学生逻辑思维能力。