In March 2002, The Nature Conservancy purchased a 9,000-acre tract of land on and near Warm Springs Mountain in Bath County, Virginia. The purpose of this paper is to examine community-based conservation strategies utilized by The Nature Conservancy in two well-established Virginia reserves to determine the effectiveness of those strategies in the protection of Warm Springs Mountain. The Conservancy's previous work on Virginia's Eastern Shore and in the Clinch Valley of southwest Virginia reveals the organization's transition from a strategy of mere land acquisition to the use of community-based conservation in an effort to involve local citizens and promote a proper balance between economics and the environment. The community-based conservation model developed by TNC on the Eastern Shore and utilized further in the Clinch Valley works well for ecoregions that fit a particular typology. The paper discusses the differences between that typology and the factors affecting the protection of Warm Springs Mountain. In addition, the paper outlines the lessons TNC learned from both positive and negative experiences in the two earlier preserves and proposes how these lessons can be applied to the Warm Springs Mountain Preserve. / Master of Urban and Regional Planning

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) is used internationally, to address the lack of access of People with Disabilities (PwD) to rehabilitation services. Physiotherapy is one of the rehabilitation services offered to PwDs at community level, through CBR. In Sudan, Ahfad University for Women (AUW) offers a Bachelor degree in Physiotherapy, which integrates a CBR module into the curriculum, since 2007. The aim of this current study was to investigate the CBR components of the current physiotherapy curriculum at AUW, to determine whether they should, and could be expanded. The Mix method study design was employed, with a mixed research methodology, containing both qualitative and quantitative approaches for data collection. The components of CBR, present in the current physiotherapy curriculum at AUW were identified, using the constructive alignment framework, and content analysis for data analysis. The PWD’s needs of rehabilitation services in Sudan were established, using a questionnaire survey among users at various rehabilitation centres in Khartoum State. The CBR components that needed to be adapted in the physiotherapy curriculum at AUW were identified, using focus group discussions and in-depth interviews with AUW physiotherapy students and a CBR expert. Finally, the CBR components were revised and adapted, using a collaborative approach during workshops with AUW staff and clinicians. It was concluded that, in order to address the rehabilitation needs of PwDs, the CBR module needed to include additional components, to align the course content, teaching and learning techniques, as well as assessment tasks, with the intended learning outcomes of physiotherapy students. The components in the CBR matrix, such as livelihood and empowerment, were deemed important to provide students with knowledge, skills and competence. Additionally, providing information about assistive devices was deemed vital in rehabilitation. A significant relationship (P<0.05) was observed between the provision of information on assistive devices, and the maintenance thereof, as well as the benefits to users, respectively. Ultimately, commencing CBR placements in the fourth year, as is currently the norm, was deemed too late; therefore, it was suggested that community visits in the first and second years of physiotherapy studies, be included in the CBR course curriculum.

Negative health effects on an unborn fetus have been related to cigarette smoking during pregnancy. Very little research examines stress, self-esteem, depression, and disordered eating in pregnant women who smoke. A study, Tennessee Intervention for Pregnant Smokers (TIPS), recruited pregnant women from five prenatal practices to help them quit smoking before giving birth. Using an expanded 5A’s (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) model and motivational interviewing, the intervention was implemented by trained health educators over the course of 4 prenatal visits. Women in the study who successfully stopped smoking before delivery had significantly healthier infants than the women who did not. A subset of the sampled 1063 pregnant women with complete data on measures of interest will be analyzed for the current study. We hypothesize that the following factors will differ significantly among pregnant women who never smoked, women who smoked but quit prior to birth, and women who smoked and did not quit prior to birth: stress, as indicated by the stress subscale of the Prenatal Psychosocial Profile (PPP); self-esteem, as indicated by the self-esteem subscale of the PPP; depressive symptoms, as indicated by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CESD-10); and disordered eating, as indicated by the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26). Additionally, we hypothesize that the odds of pregnant women quitting smoking prior to birth will be predicted by stress, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and disordered eating. One-way Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) tests will be conducted to compare scores on respective measures for the three groups based on smoking status. A logistic regression will be conducted to assess the degree to which aforementioned variables predict odds of smoking cessation in pregnant smokers. The implications of this research can be used to improve future intervention programs to reduce the adverse health effects of children born to mothers who smoke.

No description available.

No description available.

Abstract available through the Developmental Psychobiology.

Introduction: Psychosocial well-being variables from the Tennessee Intervention for Pregnant Smokers (TIPS) study, a longitudinal smoking cessation study in South-Central Appalachia, were investigated as potential predictors of smoking status. Methods: A sample of 1031 pregnant women participated in an expanded 5A's (Ask, Advise, Assess, Assist, Arrange) program, from 2008 to 2011. Measures of stress, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and disordered eating collected by interview during the first trimester, or during the third trimester in a combined interview if participants began prenatal care late, were hypothesized to differ among three groups of participants: pregnant women who never smoked, pregnant women who smoked but quit prior to birth, and pregnant women who smoked and did not quit prior to birth. Smoking status was measured throughout the study. Whether or not a participant quit smoking was assessed at delivery. Results: Non-smokers were lowest in stress F(2,1027) = 46.38, p < .001) and depression (F(2,1028) = 39.81, p < .001), and highest in self-esteem (F(2,1018) = 29.81, p < .001). Only self-reported stress and self-reported self-esteem predicted quitting. Higher reported stress levels were related to a slightly lower likelihood of quitting (OR = 0.95, 95% CI 0.92, 0.98, p = .003) and higher reported self-esteem predicted a slightly higher likelihood of quitting (OR = 1.05, 95% CI 1.02, 1.08, p = .001). Conclusions: Findings may lead to improved intervention programs and reduction of adverse health effects in children attributable to prenatal smoking. More research should be conducted on smoking cessation in rural pregnant women.

No description available.

Although social workers are frequently part of interdisciplinary teams in health care and community settings, interdisciplinary training is often lacking in social work education (Berg-Weger & Schneider, 1998). This article describes a study of the effects of an interdisciplinary community-based experiential course preparing new health care professionals for work as part of interdisciplinary teams. The interdisciplinary curriculum was established for a summer course taught in 2006 by faculty from five disciplines: social work, nutrition, medicine, nursing, and public health. The course, Quality Improvement in Rural Healthcare, which focused on health literacy in people with a diagnosis of diabetes that live in northeast Tennessee, provided a model environment for learning interdisciplinary teamwork. Evaluation of this course found that social work students displayed a statistically significant increase in positive attitude toward interdisciplinary teamwork. Course strengths, weaknesses, obstacles, and opportunities for curriculum improvement are elaborated.

This thesis evaluated the new law since 2015 of the support services by Japanese Juvenile Classification Home (JCH) which is a detention facility for juveniles. The support services by the JCHs is providing psychological and educational individualized support who are facing crime-related or deliquency-related problems based on the requests from any individuals and organizations in community. It is based on the classification for the support services in the former law. This study also examined the role of population density among three categories of large, medium-sized, and small prefectures. The relationship between delinquent rates and support services for the juvenile population three years of before and after the new law among the three geographic categories was examined. Delinquent outcome rates significantly decreased among the geographic categories. By contrast, support services by the JCH rates significantly increased among all three geographic categories. Small and medium-sized had more the classification for support services and support services than large prefectures; their support services rate were higher than delinquent rates. With regard to common services, workshop (providing lecture or workshop to the group of people) was most major, institutional counseling (providing individualized services based on the request of organizations) was second, case conference (attending case conference of other organizations), and individual counseling(providing individualized services based on the request or individuals) was third. Most of these four types of services were provided more in small and medium-sized prefectures than large prefectures. The results supported the richness in social capital in small and medium-sized prefectures. Though this study did not examine the effects of support services by the JCH, but it suggested the needs in the community has been increased. Considering the basic characteristics of the support services, it could meet the Risk-Needs-Responsivity principle, but further information about the clients’ basic demographic, risk level, criminological needs and their responsivity is needed in the future.