As Canada’s population gradually ages, provinces such as British Columbia are beginning to explore initiatives to support family caregivers of the frail elderly. The focus of this dissertation is the evaluation of one such initiative; a program sponsored by the B.C. Ministry of Health (Continuing Care Division) called “Supporting Caregivers in B.C.” (SCBC). The SCBC program was created as a province-wide community development initiative to establish caregiver education and support groups in 17 communities throughout B.C. This dissertation research included nine research questions, which in turn were organized into four levels of evaluation questions: the individual caregiver level; the small group level; the community level; and the health care services level. These levels reflect the various levels at which the SCBC program was intended to have impacts, as well as the various empowering strategies the program aimed to employ. Due to the traditional over-reliance on quantitative methodologies used to evaluate caregiver groups, this dissertation research used a combination of research methodologies. These included participatory action research, qualitative evaluation research (focus group interviews) and quantitative survey research. Research participants included 76 family caregivers participating in the SCBC program, six SCBC caregiver support groups, and six SCBC community steering committees (which were responsible for the community development process in each community). The findings were varied, and related to both the outcomes and processes of the SCBC program. At the individual caregiver level, caregivers described a number of positive impacts the program had on them. In addition, participation in the program was associated with overall increases in the amount of social support caregivers received, as well as decreases in feelings of powerlessness and increases in feelings of powerfulness. At the small group level, caregiver groups provided information on what they needed for long-term sustainability, as well as describing what they felt were the essential beneficial aspects of their group process. At the community level, steering committees provided a profile of community characteristics affecting the SCBC community development process, and offered insights into the overall community development process. Finally, at the health care services level, although participation in the SCBC program was associated with increases in caregiver’s knowledge of community health services, it was not associated with changes in usage of those services, or changes in caregiver’s plans to place their care-receiver in a long-term care facility. / Graduate

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Thesis (M.S.W.)--Smith College School for Social Work, Northampton, Mass., 2008. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 92-94).

Individuals with a psychiatric disability have had the poorest vocational outcomes of all the disabled populations when comparing rehabilitation success rates. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between selected background, social, and service variables and vocational rehabilitation outcome in order to identify potential indicators of success or failure. Data was gathered from records in the Tucson, Arizona offices of the state-federal vocational rehabilitation program. The sample included 210 White and Hispanic subjects with a psychiatric disability. Their records had been closed in the years 1983 through 1987. The independent variables were the background variables of Age, Age of Onset, Ethnicity, and Educational Level, the social variables of Living Situation, Ability To Get Along With Others, and Employment History, and the service variables of Training and Support. The dependent variable was Employment Status as determined by the vocational rehabilitation program: Successful subjects, coded a Status 26, were closed having been employed at least 60 days; unsuccessful subjects, coded a Status 08, 28, or 30, left the program unemployed. The study followed a correlational design using a regression approach. Logistic Regression Analysis with forward selection was the strategy employed to identify the best predictive model. A chi-square test of independence was used to further study variables that showed some predictive potential. An effort was made to control for the presence of one or more additional disabilities. The results indicated that the variables most highly related to Employment Outcome, in the order of their importance, were Training, Employment History, and Ability To Get Along With Others. Ability To Get Along With Others disappeared as a key indicator when the sample was divided into single and multiple disability groups. However, the findings suggest that Ability To Get Along With Others and Support Services may contribute to the effect of the two more powerful variables. It is also cautiously suggested that Training that is job-related and skill-building in nature may be more useful than formal education for this population.

"The purpose of this study was to examine social service release planning for 40 white female mental patients and the adjustment of these patients at the end of one year following their release from the hospital. This study includes an analysis of those factors which seem to promote adjustment and those factors which necessitate the patient's return to the hospital"--Introduction. / Typescript. / "June, 1959." / "Submitted to the Graduate School of Florida State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Work." / Advisor: Douglass Brown, Professor Directing Study. / Includes bibliographical references.