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Helpful Organizational Features Of A Community-Linked Research Unit: A Qualitative Study, Gillian King, Mary Law, Peter Rosendum, Melissa Currie, Nancy Plews, Dianne Russell, Susanne King, Cheryl Missiuna, Stephen D. Walter

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

There is a growing number of research units and alliances whose purpose is to link researchers and community partner groups. Little has been published about the benefits of these research organizations, the characteristics that assist them to function, and how they evolve over time. This article describes the findings of a survey of 13 investigators and research coordinators from CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, a multidisciplinary research unit founded in 1989. The article describes this group’s perceptions of CanChild as an organization, including major helpful factors, lessons learned, and changes over time to the Centre’s approach to research. The …

Evaluation Of Florida's Medicaid Managed Mental Health Plans: Year 8 Report, David L. Shern, Pat Robinson, Julienne Giard, Amy Vargo, Patty Sharrock, Roger A. Boothroyd

Mental Health Law & Policy Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Exploring California's Rural Health System: From The Redwood Forests To The Baja Border, Eileen Salinsky, Jessamyn Taylor

National Health Policy Forum

This three day site visit to California explored the state’s rural health system with a particular focus on the financial health of inpatient and outpatient providers and how that affects access to care. The role of telemedicine as a tool for expanding access was explored as well as the special needs of vulnerable populations such as farmworkers. Participants learned how state and federal regulation and payment policies and state budget deficits impact the viability of rural health systems.

Mechanisms Of Growth Hormone Enhancement Of Excitatory Synaptic Transmission In Hippocampus, Ghada Saad Zaglool Ahmed Mahmoud

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Growth hormone (GH) deficiency is associated with impaired learning and memory. One possible target for GH effects on memory is the hippocampus, a brain region containing GH receptors (GHRs). To determine if GH acutely alters hippocampal function, recombinant human GH (rhGH) was applied to in vitro rat hippocampal brain slices. Extracellular recordings were used to assess effects of GH on the field EPSP (fEPSP) and long-term potentiation (LTP) of the fEPSP. GHR expression was measured in GH-treated and control rat hippocampal slices using RT-PCR. The GH signaling pathway was investigated by studying the effect of GH on the fEPSP after …

Changes In Safety Attitudes In A Canadian Regional Airline Following A Merger, Dr. Mark Fleming, Bernadette Gatien, Captain Rob Vacher

International Symposium on Aviation Psychology - 2005

The present study examines the impact a merger had on pilot safety attitudes. Pre and post merger safety attitudes among a sample of Canadian pilots were examined using the Flight Management Attitudes Questionnaire 2.1 (FMAQ) (Merritt, Helmreich, Wilhelm, & Sherman, 1996) and the Flight Management Attitudes and Safety Survey (FMASS) (Sexton, Wilhelm, Helmreich, Merritt, & Klinect, 2001). Data were collected from 232 airline pilots prior to a large-scale merger using the FMAQ 2.1. Approximately 1 year following the merger, FMASS data were collected from the newly merged organization. We hypothesized that pilots’ safety attitudes were negatively impacted due to uncertainty …

Providing Effective Counseling To Substance Abusers Through The Use Of Biopsychosocialspiritual Strategies, Rachel Phillips

Graduate Research Papers

The field of substance abuse has had a history of relapse. Both In-Patient and Out-Patient Treatment facilities have experienced the "revolving door" effect (Walton, Blow, and Booth, 2001). D.R. Laws found in research he conducted that 80% of the patients treated, relapsed 12 months after treatment and two-thirds of the relapses were within 90 days of treatment (Laws, 1999). The federal government has begun questioning the validity of these programs in light of skyrocketing costs for substance abuse treatment (Craig, 2004). Clinicians have begun to examine the cost effectiveness of their current treatment modalities. This paper will provide an overview …

The Stl Model: A Three-Dimensional Perspective On Organizational Change Programs, Manoj S. Patankar Ph.D., Thomas Bigda-Peyton Ph.D., Jeffery Brown M. Ed.

International Symposium on Aviation Psychology - 2005

This paper examines organizational change programs across aviation, healthcare, and financial services sectors. Based on the analysis of three key programs, a theoretical model, which could be used to describe the state of any organizational change program, is presented. This model is called the STL Model and is represented by three mutually perpendicular axes: scalability, transferability, and longevity. In simplest terms, scalability refers to “volume;” greater the volume of users of, or participants in, a particular change program, the greater the scalability of that change program. Transferability refers to the number of user-groups, whether within a specific discipline or outside. …

Accelerating Reproductive And Child Health Program Development: The Navrongo Initiative In Ghana, James F. Phillips, Ayaga A. Bawah, Fred N. Binka

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Successive global health and development agendas have been embraced by African governments—Alma Ata in 1978, the Bamako Initiative in 1987, the 1994 Cairo International Conference on Population and Development, and more recently the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)—only to be followed by widespread implementation failure. This paper presents an approach to program development in Ghana that is using research to accelerate policy implementation. Originally launched in 1994 as a participatory pilot project of the Navrongo Health Research Centre, a controlled experimental study was initiated in 1996 to assess the fertility and child-survival impact of alternative community health and family planning service …

The Effect Of Community Nurses And Health Volunteers On Child Mortality: The Navrongo Community Health And Family Planning Project, Brian Wells Pence, Philomena Nyarko, James F. Phillips, Cornelius Debpuur

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This report presents the child mortality impact of a trial of primary health-care service-delivery strategies in rural Ghana. After adjustment for sociodemographic factors, under-five mortality in areas with village-based community-nurse services fell by 16 percent during the five years of program implementation compared with mortality before the intervention. Reductions were observed in infant (6 percent), early child (20 percent), and late child (41 percent) mortality. Community involvement and training of a local health volunteer were associated with an 11 percent increase in mortality, primarily driven by a 124 percent increase in early child mortality. Areas with both nurses and volunteers …

Poverty And Children's Schooling In Urban And Rural Senegal [Arabic], Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This paper presents findings of an investigation into the effects of living standards and relative poverty on children’s schooling in urban and rural areas of Senegal. To measure living standards, we apply a multiple-indicator, multiple-cause (MIMIC) factor-analytic model to a set of proxy variables collected in the 2000 Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey and extract an estimate of the relative standard of living for each household. Using this estimate, we find that in Senegal’s urban areas, living standards exert substantial influence on three measures of schooling: Whether a child has ever attended school; whether he or she has completed at least …

Active Life Expectancy And Functional Limitations Among Older Cambodians: Results From A 2004 Survey, Zachary Zimmer

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study’s aims are to: (1) determine the prevalence of functional limitations among older adults in Cambodia using activities of daily living (ADLs); (2) compare limitation prevalence with other countries in the region; (3) estimate active life expectancy; (4) examine standard correlates of functional status and assess whether they are associated with limitation in expected ways. Elderly Cambodians appear more likely to report limitations than their counterparts in neighboring countries. A contribution of the analysis is the examination of a basic measure of health among a population that until recently has been isolated from the rest of the world.

Population And Sustainability, Geoffrey Mcnicoll

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Sustainability refers to the preservation of human-valued natural capital—the resources that provide environmental services—at a level sufficient to assure the well-being of future generations. This Population Council working paper assess the effects on the total and per capita availability of those services. The degradation of environmental services—exemplified by the overuse of aquifers or (at a global level) of the atmospheric carbon sink—is a significant threat to sustainable development, one that is often exacerbated by population growth. The critical management issue in such cases is the design of effective governing institutions to restrain service demand and safeguard supply. Uncertainties arising from …

Education Of Adult Children And Mortality Of Their Elderly Parents In Taiwan, Zachary Zimmer, Linda G. Martin, Mary Beth Ofstedal, Yi-Li Chuang

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Research shows an older adult’s education is strongly associated with mortality. But in societies such as Taiwan, where families are highly integrated, the education of family members may be linked to survival. Such may be the case in settings where there are large gaps in levels of education across generations and high levels of resource transfers between family members. This Population Council study employs 14 years of longitudinal data from Taiwan to examine the combined effects of education of older adults and their adult children on mortality outcomes of older adults. Results indicate that educational levels of both parent and …

Reciprocal Effects Of Health And Economic Well-Being Among Older Adults In Taiwan And Beijing, Kristine R. Baker, Mary Beth Ofstedal, Zachary Zimmer, Zhe Tang, Yi-Li Chuang

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The objectives of this Population Council study are threefold: 1) to examine whether socioeconomic status disparities in health are found in non-Western settings; 2) to assess whether socioeconomic status gradients in health endure into older ages; and 3) to evaluate the direction of causality between health and socioeconomic status. Findings provide evidence for reciprocal effects of economic well-being and health among older adults in both Taiwan and Beijing. Those with higher levels of economic well-being have lower levels of functional limitation over time, and those with higher levels of functional limitation have lower levels of economic well-being over time. Consistent …

The Impact Of Childhood Mortality On Fertility In Six Rural Thanas Of Bangladesh, Mian Bazle Hossain, James F. Phillips, Thomas K. Legrand

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This Population Council working paper examines the causal structure of the relationship between child mortality events and subsequent fertility during a time of rapid decline in fertility in Bangladesh. Results lend support to the hypothesis of an insurance effect, while demonstrating that its demographic significance is likely to be less prominent than that of replacement behavior. Findings indicate that the insurance motive remains intact even after total fertility declined to fewer than three children per woman. The well-documented role of gender bias as a determinant of child health and survival is also a factor in child-replacement decisionmaking. Although the rapid …

Variations In Quality Outcomes Among Hospitals In Different Types Of Health Systems, Askar S. Chukmaitov

Theses and Dissertations

Although prior research has found differences in costs and financial performance across different types of hospital systems, there has been no systematic study of variations in patient quality of care or safety indicators across different systems. Our study examines whether five main types of health systems - centralized (CHS), centralized physician/insurance (CPIHS), moderately centralized (MCHS), decentralized (DHS), and independent (IHS) - as well as other hospital characteristics are associated with differences in quality of patient care. Data were assembled for 6 years (1995 - 2000) from multiple sources. We used 4 AHRQ risk adjusted inpatient quality indicators (IQIs) and 5 …

Access To Quality Care: Links Between Evidence, Nursing Language, And Informatics, Beth Ann Swan Phd, Crnp, Norma M. Lang Phd, Rn, Faan, Frcn, Anne M. Mcginley Phd, Crnp

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

Despite evidence on nursing’s contribution to the quality of care, much of what nurses “do” remains essentially invisible.

It is vital to recognize the need for a paradigm shift in nursing that utilizes new informatics tools required for optimum use of evidence related to the delivery of quality nursing care.

Embedding nursing language within informatics structures is essential to make the work of nurses visible, and articulate evidence about the quality and value of nursing in the care of patients, groups, and populations.

2004 Scholars And Artists Bibliography, Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University, Friends Of The Michael Schwartz Library

Scholars and Artists Bibliographies

This bibliography was created for the annual Friends of the Michael Schwartz Library Scholars and Artists Reception, recognizing scholarly and creative achievements of Cleveland State University faculty, staff and emeriti

Adaptation To Changing Marketplace Conditions By Psychologists In Independent Practice, Keith James Monroe

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recent surveys have provided support to the frequently asserted opinion that managed care has negatively impacted psychologists in independent practice. Many recommendations have been made by professional organizations to address the negative impact and most have been directed at guiding practitioners to adapt to changes in health care delivery. However, there is little data on how private practitioners evaluate these recommendations or if they are using these strategies to adapt to the changing practice environment. The focus of this dissertation was to assess the extent that psychologists in independent practice have adopted the recommended strategies. By establishing a representative sample …

Women's Perception Of Substance Abuse Treatment And How It Affects Compliance, Jessica Lynn Watkins

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to investigate how women's perceptions of the helpfulness of services received at a substance abuse treatment clinic affected their compliance with the treatment program. The study surveyed thirty-two women who were receiving treatment from Inland Behavioral and Health Services. The study investigated the efficacy of these elements: parenting classes, health classes, substance abuse therapy groups, group therapy, drug screening, health clinics, Narcotics Anonymous meetings, Dual Diagnosis Anonymous meetings, Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, homeless support services, individual therapy, case managers, daycare, transportation.

Evaluation Of The Ume-21 Initiative At 18 Medical Schools Between 1999 And 2001, J. Jon Veloski, Barbara Barzansky

CRMEHC Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: This study evaluated the processes of curricular change and the initial outcomes of the Undergraduate Medical Education for the 21st Century (UME-21) project at 18 schools.

METHODS: Site visits were conducted at eight partner schools in 1999 and 2001. Written proposals, progress reports, and final reports of 18 schools were reviewed. Senior medical students' responses to questionnaires, including the annual Association of American Medical Colleges Graduation Questionnaire and a UME-21 supplemental graduation questionnaire, were analyzed.

RESULTS: There was variation among the schools in the curriculum at baseline, in the structure of the UME-21 innovation that was introduced, and in …

Bridging The Gap Between Evidence-Based Innovation And National Health-Sector Reform In Ghana, John Koku Awoonor-Williams, Ellie S. Feinglass, Rachel Tobey, Maya Vaughan-Smith, Frank K. Nyonator, Tanya C. Jones, James F. Phillips

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Although experimental trials often identify optimal strategies for improving community health, transferring operational innovation from well-funded research programs to resource-constrained settings often languishes. Because research initiatives are based in institutions equipped with unique resources and staff capabilities, results are often dismissed by decisionmakers as irrelevant to large-scale operations and national health policy. This article describes an initiative undertaken in Nkwanta District, Ghana, focusing on this problem. The Nkwanta District initiative is a critical link between the experimental study conducted in Navrongo, Ghana, and a national effort to scale up the innovations developed in that study. A 2002 Nkwanta district-level survey …

Urban Poverty And Health In Developing Countries: Household And Neighborhood Effects [Arabic], Mark R. Montgomery, Paul C. Hewett

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In the United States and other high-income countries, where most people live in cities, there is intense scholarly and program interest in the effects of household and neighborhood living standards on health. Yet very few studies of developing-country cities have examined these issues. This paper investigates whether in these cities the health of women and young children is influenced by both household and neighborhood standards of living. Using data from the urban samples of 85 Demographic and Health Surveys, and modeling living standards using factor-analytic MIMIC methods, we find, first, that the neighborhoods of poor households are more heterogeneous than …

Popular Perceptions Of Emerging Influences On Mortality And Longevity In Bangladesh And West Bengal, Sajeda Amin, Alaka Malwade Basu

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Although new environmental and pathological threats to human survival and longevity have been documented, relatively little is known about how these threats are perceived in the popular imagination. During fieldwork in rural Bangladesh and West Bengal, India, researching the changing costs of and motivations for reproduction, the authors included survey questions on respondents’ perceptions of changing mortality. Child-mortality levels were perceived to have fallen drastically in recent times, but for the middle-aged and the elderly, the past was seen as a better time in terms of health and survival. The decline in adult health is attributed to environmental deterioration and …

Does Dowry Improve Life For Brides? A Test Of The Bequest Theory Of Dowry In Rural Bangladesh, Luciana Suran, Sajeda Amin, Lopita Huq, Kobita Chowdury

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

In recent years, dowry levels in Bangladesh have risen to previously unforeseen levels—sometimes three or four times a family’s total assets. Some recent economic writings suggest that dowry functions as a bequest or pre-mortem inheritance, implying it persists because it is “good for the bride.” Using panel data from an adolescent study in rural Bangladesh, this Population Council working paper explores the association between dowry and the prevalence of domestic abuse to test the bequest theory of dowry. Contrary to the prediction of the bequest theory, married females who paid dowry at marriage have a higher likelihood of reporting domestic …

Population Aging And The Rising Cost Of Public Pensions, John Bongaarts

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Rapid population aging is raising concerns about the sustainability of public pension systems in high-income countries. The first part of this study identifies the four factors that determine trends in public pension expenditures: population aging, pension benefit levels, the mean age at retirement, and the labor force participation rate. The second part presents projections to 2050 of the impact of demographic trends on public pension expenditures in the absence of changes in pension benefits, labor force participation, and age at retirement. These projections demonstrate that current trends are unsustainable, because without reforms population aging will produce an unprecedented and harmful …

Creating Individual Behavior Change Through 360-Degree Feedback: A Development Pipeline Perspective, Victoria Cole Stage

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Ensuring that individuals develop new and more productive behaviors on the job is a challenge for many organizations and a focus of time, effort, and energy spent on programs to facilitate this change. This research was an effort to validate and utilize a framework for understanding how efforts toward individual development are restricted. To do this, I used a new 360-degree feedback instrument called “Time 2 Change” that measures self, manager, direct report, and peer/colleague perceptions of change in the individual. This instrument also measures the individual's perceptions of development enablers, in a framework called a Development Pipeline. As a …

Healthcare Strategic Management: The Impact Of State And Federal Funding Levels On The Implementation Of Strategic Plans At Tennessee Hospitals., Randy Lee Byington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine hospital executive management’s perceptions of how turbulence in the politico-legal sector of the macroenvironment impacted the strategic management systems of Tennessee hospitals. In particular, how did Federal and State funding restrictions (Medicare and TennCare) impact the strategic planning and implementation process of their hospitals? The study was also designed to gain insight regarding specific changes to strategic management systems that may have resulted from these funding restrictions.

The research was conducted during April and May of 2003. Data were gathered by surveying the Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of acute care hospitals in …

Shaping Public Programs Through Medicare, Medicaid, And Schip Waivers: The Fundamentals, Cynthia Shirk

National Health Policy Forum

This background paper examines the use of research, demonstration, and program waiver authorities to test new approaches to the delivery of and payment for health care services in federally financed health coverage programs such as Medicare, Medicaid, and the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. The paper also looks at the mechanics of waivers as well as their history and political context in shaping public programs. In addition, it explores the ways the changing state-federal relationship and the ever-growing demand for state flexibility have driven waiver policy.

Inside Unlv, Gian Galassi, Carol C. Harter, Gale Sinatra

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.