Examining the Nursing Home Physical Environment Through Policy-Driven Culture Change

A critical need exists to challenge approaches to nursing home care due to rigid organizational factors and hospital-like culture. It has been argued that resident care needs to move toward a person-centered approach by addressing the organizational, social, and physical environments in nursing home facilities, a process often known as culture change. In response to this need, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has created funding for pay for performance (P4P) nursing home incentive programs to allow nursing home providers to receive CMS reimbursements for culture change in the facilities. Through care staff interviews, site observations, and a document review, this qualitative study assesses the impact of a Midwestern state P4P incentive program in three participating nursing homes. Using an environment and behavior (E-B) policy orientation framework, this study examines culture change through a focus on policy, the physical environment, place attachment, and social and psychological processes in the study settings.     

跨区域教学交流对设计创新思维影响的探究

工业设计学生创新能力的培养已经成为教育界迫在眉睫的事情,不同的学校根据各自的办学特色都在探索不同的方法。本文依据自身的实践教学,重点探讨了跨区域教学交流对培养学生创新能力的影响。跨区域交流能够为师生提供一个良好的创新平台;通过这一平台,合理利用设计院校间的差异性能够扩大学生创新思维的广度、推进思维的深度,同时有利于各自设计课程体系的验证和修订。     

Evaluation of a school-based sexual abuse prevention curriculum in Malaysia

This article examines a personal safety curriculum (Keeping Me Safe) offered to Standard Three students (mostly nine-year-olds) in five primary schools in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Staff of the Malaysian NGO, Protect and Save the Children, Association of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur (P.S. The Children), facilitated six weekly one-hour sessions featuring games and role play to teach children about potentially unsafe situations and touches, and to develop appropriate safety strategies and skills to ask for help. The students (n = 261) and a control group (n = 184) completed a 25 item questionnaire before and after the program, and for the experimental group only, again two months later. The assessment was supplemented by observations of each session, student interviews, and parent and teacher focus groups. The experimental group students showed substantial gains on about two-thirds of the questionnaire items. However, a minority of the students failed to absorb key messages of the curriculum. Challenges to implementing prevention programs in Malaysia are discussed.     

Social insurance and children: The relationship between Social Security,economic well-being,and family context among child recipients

The relationship between social insurance, which provides families protection against certain risks, and child economic security is understudied. Using the 2004 Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) matched to Social Security Administration benefit records, this article investigates the economic welfare effects of the child component of the US Social Security program. We examine how the poverty rate of child beneficiaries would change, absent Social Security income, and how heavily the family incomes of these children rely on it, by family characteristics. Our findings reveal that Social Security plays an important role in mitigating economic insecurity among children deprived of a wage-earning parent through disability, death, or retirement. Family structure, earnings, and employment status are identified as key factors moderating the effect of Social Security on child recipients’ financial circumstance.     

基于Delphi/Access的C/S系统设计

C/S系统采用Access作后台数据库,具有性能稳定、数据交换迅速、数据安全、维护方便等特点,可视化编程语言Delphi具有丰富的编程环境、友好的界面、高速的编译器、强大的数据库开发功能,文章介绍了基于Delphi/Access的C/S系统软、硬件设计方法和技术。     

普通高校体育课程的社会化取向

体育与健康课程在课程的目标、内容、方法、组织、评价等方面受到社会上各种因素的影响与制约。从这一意义上讲,体育与健康课程的改革与发展不能脱离社会的发展与需要。普通高校的体育教育应该更新观念,创新思维,对现有的高校体育教育模式进行改革,进一步拓宽体育课程的内涵,使学校体育课程教学向健康与社会化方向发展,以适应面向未来的人才培养的需要。     

Causal inferences on the effectiveness of complex social programs: Navigating assumptions,sources of complexity and evaluation design challenges

This paper explores avenues for navigating evaluation design challenges posed by complex social programs (CSPs) and their environments when conducting studies that call for generalizable, causal inferences on the intervention’s effectiveness. A definition is provided of a CSP drawing on examples from different fields, and an evaluation case is analyzed in depth to derive seven (7) major sources of complexity that typify CSPs, threatening assumptions of textbook-recommended experimental designs for performing impact evaluations. Theoretically-supported, alternative methodological strategies are discussed to navigate assumptions and counter the design challenges posed by the complex configurations and ecology of CSPs. Specific recommendations include: sequential refinement of the evaluation design through systems thinking, systems-informed logic modeling; and use of extended term, mixed methods (ETMM) approaches with exploratory and confirmatory phases of the evaluation. In the proposed approach, logic models are refined through direct induction and interactions with stakeholders. To better guide assumption evaluation, question-framing, and selection of appropriate methodological strategies, a multiphase evaluation design is recommended.     

Ben's Grille

Summary

Advantages of computer-based alcohol education over traditional written materials in improving alcohol related behavior are presented in this article. The program, “Ben's Grille” was created to promote public awareness of issues relating to the use and abuse of alcohol The program is described in detail along with directions for use. One component of the program, an interactive drama, is the focus of this article. Characters from which a play can select to play are described. Methods used in obtaining feedback about the game are specified. The author concludes that both students and teachers have had positive reactions to the program.     

Workplace Crisis Intervention

Summary

The workplace, where adults spend about one-third of their lives, would seem an ideal place from which to promote health and respond to crisis. This paper employs a systematic statistical review of experimental and quasi-experimental research on workplace-based crisis intervention programs. Nine studies were identified that met inclusion criteria for further analysis. Results suggest that the workplace can be a useful platform from which to provide crisis intervention programs.     

Community-Based Program Research

ABSTRACT

At first glance, the worlds of program professionals and evaluators may seem quite separate. However, there are common issues whose resolution will enhance both program development and research on programs. Program professionals and evaluators have a great deal to learn from each other. As that learning occurs, both program delivery and evaluation research will benefit. Both are concerned about matters of validity, whether it pertains to the nature of the program intervention itself or to the nature of the assessment of the program intervention. To reinforce the development of program evaluation in partnership, this paper discusses key points about evaluation research relevant to both program professionals and researchers. These include the contextual influences on a program, the “readiness” of a program for evaluation, and whether the evaluation research “works” for the program. Underlying our discussion is a call for the development of partnerships around research on programs. In that light, this article elaborates the process steps that should be taken to build program evaluation partnerships, including a discussion of what evaluators and program professionals need to know about each other, and their respective values, interests, and professional perspectives.