This thesis is an investigation of adolescents’ perceptions of their relationships with staff members working in their group home. Past research has found the majority of youth who have lived in care often experience greater hardships later in life compared to those youth in the normative population (Schmid et al., 2008). Resiliency promoting factors such as long-term positive relationships with nonparental caregivers have shown to protect some youth in care from future adversities (Masten, 2000). A cross-sectional exploratory survey was conducted using a convenience sample of 17 adolescents (Male n= 9) currently living in group home settings in Southern Ontario. Youth reported that they best got along with staff who made them laugh, had similar interests, were caring and consistent. Youth reported that positive relationships with staff are developed through continual interactions, open communication and trust. Reasons as to why relationships with staff are difficult were also reported by youth.

While group homes seemed to be the ideal solution for the deinstitutionalization movement started in the 1950s, many group homes face significant challenges regarding staffing, and staff training and performance. Organization behavior management (OBM) may offer some solutions to increasing staff performance. Additionally, choice is a topic rarely researched in OBM and applied behavior analytic (ABA) research. The purpose of this study is not only to create a treatment package that increases data collection among group home staff, but also to examine choice, and whether increased choices related to a behavioral intervention package impacts the efficacy of the treatment package. Participants were divided into two groups. The choice group was able to make four decisions regarding the procedures used in the treatment package, while the no choice group had those decisions imposed upon them in the treatment package. The results of the groups were compared. The four-component treatment package was successful in increasing average weekly data collection from 0% during baseline to over 50% in the four weeks of intervention. The choice group performed higher than the no choice group every week of intervention, showing that the minimal effort needed to take choice into consideration in an intervention would be worthwhile.

This study examined the influence of positive youth development factors and social capital on outcomes among youth in group home care. One of the major assumptions of this study was that existing research is deficit-focused and provides little evidence of what practices are linked to positive outcomes among youth residing in and exiting group homes. A conceptual model was developed to depict the influence of predictors (derived from the Positive Youth Develop Framework and Social Capital Theory) on youth outcomes – change in psychosocial problem severity and prosocial behavior, living environment, school involvement, employment, delinquency, and extracurricular activity. An exploratory analysis of secondary data was conducted. Multiple regression and binary logistic regression were used to answer the overarching question, What group home factors correlate with positive outcomes among youth? Major findings from these analyses showed: 1) group home staff’s positive view of youths’ competence impacted youths’ psychosocial problem severity, and 2) for youth who exhibited troublesome behavior while in group care, if they experienced a trusting relationship with an adult staff member, they are more likely to exhibit prosocial behaviors after leaving group care.

Parents of individuals with intellectual disabilities are confronted with challenging decisions regarding whether to place their adult child in a group-home. The research question for this study was to ascertain the lived experiences of parents confronted with this life altering decision. Limited research exists on parents who face this difficult life choice. The purpose of this study was to explore the lived experiences of parents of individuals with intellectual disabilities when contemplating residential placements. Ten participants from the north Atlantic coastline in the U.S. were recruited and shared their lived experiences during semi structured interviews. Utilizing qualitative methodology to undergird Heidegger's phenomenology framework, data was collected and analyzed using the hermeneutic circle. The thematic outcomes included best option, physical aggression, death/absence of a spouse, caregiver medical conditions, mental health-behavioral disorder, community integration, hospital/emergency, verbal aggression, and financial burden. The results can inform counselors regarding the struggles the parents of adult children with intellectual disabilities confront and how they influence decisions regarding alternative living arrangements. The findings inform parents enduring emotional and physical stressors, caregiver burden, and relationship strain. Positive social change can be realized through disseminating the results of this study to parents, counselor educators and supervisors. Coursework could introduce students and practitioners to the parental decision-making process to help understand family dynamics and alternative living arrangements for individuals with intellectual disabilities.

This study will examine how religion impacts adolescents in a group home setting, and how they perceive its importance in their lives. The data was gathered using a qualitative method, and included interviews with a sample of staff members (all adults) who work with adolescents in a group home setting.The helping professionals were interviewed and asked 15 questions pertaining to their knowledge regarding the ways in which their subject residents embraced religion and spirituality. This included their observations as to frequency of prayer or meditation, reading or studying of sacred texts, meetings such as prayer meetings or other ritual activities, and a number of other questions regarding the ways in which religion and spirituality are manifested among residents in a group home setting. The study also inquired of the helping professionals whether adolescent residents had ever expressed to them a belief in God or a higher power, and if they had, their reflections and feelings verbally expressed. This research focuses on the impact of religion on the outlook of adolescent group home residents, including what it means to them and whether or not it is important, and if so to what degree. Helping professionals were interviewed rather than the residents themselves to avoid any possible conflicts or legalities in questioning subjects under the age of 18 years old. The responses to the questions by the staff members will help to provide answers as to how adolescents in a group of setting feel about religion and spirituality. This research also explores whether adolescents who embrace religion or spirituality display positive or negative behaviors or whether there is any change at all in their perceptions and reactions to external circumstances surrounding them. Further research needs to be conducted in other group homes with either higher or lower functioning surroundings to see if religion is important to other adolescents, or have no effect in the way they live or think.

<p>This essay is about the staff in integrated homes very complex profession and this is illustrated through twelve interviews in five integrated homes for disabled people. The profession changed when the institution closed and especially when the Law of Support and Service (LSS) was introduced in 1994.</p><p>The purpose of this survey is to study how staff works with LSS intentions in integrated homes for disabled people and to increase the awareness about the structure of power and how this affects the daily life for those who live there.</p><p>The main objective in this survey is to find out which the differences that lie between LSS intentions and the work that take place in integrated homes for disabled people. This survey tries to illustrate when and why these differences occur. </p><p>This survey has a multidisciplinary perspective, where three models of disability and theories from Foucault, Sibley and Wendell have been included. The result shows that the staffs work is difficult, full of responsibility and has many facets. The staff needs education regarding disability, communication and LSS to reach the intentions of LSS.</p>

Delaktighet är ett multidimensionellt fenomen som gynnas av ett flertal faktorer, främst positiva personegenskaper och underlättande faktorer i miljön. Syftet med studien var att undersöka hur vårdare på en gruppbostad för vuxna personer med lindrig utvecklingsstörning uppfattar samt menar sig skapa förutsättningar för brukarnas delaktighet i fritid, mathållning, städ/tvätt och ekonomi. Studien genomfördes med hjälp av 6 individuella intervjuer med halvstrukturerade frågor. Resultatet visade att vårdarna uppfattar brukarnas delaktighet i sin fritid som stor, då självbestämmandet och engagemanget är stort. I mathållningen har brukarna självbestämmande, men de väljer att inte vara delaktiga. Brukarna är delaktiga i städ/tvätt, men engagemanget saknas och i ekonomin har brukarna en mindre delaktighet, på grund av att de har god man. Vårdarna skapar förutsättningar för delaktighet genom att ge brukarna valmöjligheter. Undersökningen har förhoppningsvis bidragit med kunskap för personal som arbetar med personer med funktionshinder.

This essay is about the staff in integrated homes very complex profession and this is illustrated through twelve interviews in five integrated homes for disabled people. The profession changed when the institution closed and especially when the Law of Support and Service (LSS) was introduced in 1994. The purpose of this survey is to study how staff works with LSS intentions in integrated homes for disabled people and to increase the awareness about the structure of power and how this affects the daily life for those who live there. The main objective in this survey is to find out which the differences that lie between LSS intentions and the work that take place in integrated homes for disabled people. This survey tries to illustrate when and why these differences occur. This survey has a multidisciplinary perspective, where three models of disability and theories from Foucault, Sibley and Wendell have been included. The result shows that the staffs work is difficult, full of responsibility and has many facets. The staff needs education regarding disability, communication and LSS to reach the intentions of LSS.

People with serious mental illness are genetically predisposed to diabetes. Their risk is heightened with the use of atypical antipsychotic medications. Contextual conditions also influence diabetes care and outcomes. There is a lack of research on diabetes care for the mentally ill in residential care facilities. Therefore, there is little understanding of the social relations that contribute to this group’s health disparities. Institutional ethnography was chosen to explore this phenomenon in a group of 26 women in a rural for-profit group home in southern Ontario. Work activities of residents and providers were examined to map out the social organization of health inequities. Interviewees included residents with diabetes, care providers, field workers, and health professionals. Observations and analysis of coordinating texts were further methods used to reveal disjunctures between discourses embedded within diabetes care guidelines and the actualities of living within imposed constraints of group home care. The overarching State interest in cost containment creates rationing that limits the care afforded residents, resulting in poor dietary intake and lack of quality of life opportunities. Further, group home policies regulate systems of safety, reporting, and financial accountability, but do not promote health. The medical and psychiatric divide also contributes to health disparities. Diabetes care provision supports ‘self-care,’ which is challenging for this group, and health providers lack understanding of contextual constraints. Combined, these social circumstances perpetuate disease development and make illness management difficult. These findings warrant the need for State financial support and policy changes that give primacy to illness prevention, health promotion, and medical management so the mentally ill can realize health and wellbeing. A linkage between mental and physical health care is also crucial. Further, health providers are urged to be critical of social ideologies that sustain health inequalities, and to deliver services that are sensitive to unique particularities.

People with serious mental illness are genetically predisposed to diabetes. Their risk is heightened with the use of atypical antipsychotic medications. Contextual conditions also influence diabetes care and outcomes. There is a lack of research on diabetes care for the mentally ill in residential care facilities. Therefore, there is little understanding of the social relations that contribute to this group’s health disparities. Institutional ethnography was chosen to explore this phenomenon in a group of 26 women in a rural for-profit group home in southern Ontario. Work activities of residents and providers were examined to map out the social organization of health inequities. Interviewees included residents with diabetes, care providers, field workers, and health professionals. Observations and analysis of coordinating texts were further methods used to reveal disjunctures between discourses embedded within diabetes care guidelines and the actualities of living within imposed constraints of group home care. The overarching State interest in cost containment creates rationing that limits the care afforded residents, resulting in poor dietary intake and lack of quality of life opportunities. Further, group home policies regulate systems of safety, reporting, and financial accountability, but do not promote health. The medical and psychiatric divide also contributes to health disparities. Diabetes care provision supports ‘self-care,’ which is challenging for this group, and health providers lack understanding of contextual constraints. Combined, these social circumstances perpetuate disease development and make illness management difficult. These findings warrant the need for State financial support and policy changes that give primacy to illness prevention, health promotion, and medical management so the mentally ill can realize health and wellbeing. A linkage between mental and physical health care is also crucial. Further, health providers are urged to be critical of social ideologies that sustain health inequalities, and to deliver services that are sensitive to unique particularities.