The purpose of this study was to generate an understanding of the process of program planning in a senior centre. Of particular interest was the extent to which technical, contextual, and social-political dimensions of planning were represented in the planning practice of programmers. Indepth interviews were conducted with four programmers who were responsible for planning programs at one Lower Mainland, British Columbia senior centre from April 1996 to April 1997. Observations of programming meetings and documents pertaining to program planning supplemented interview data. This exploration revealed that all three dimensions of planning were evident in the programmers' practice. When planning programs, the programmers completed four technical stages: generating ideas, selecting ideas, developing programs, and organizing details. Daily planning activities revolved around these stages and their related tasks. The way in which programs were developed at this centre was also a highly contextualized process. The programmers were influenced by a variety of contextual factors internal and external to the centre which shaped the structure, process, timing, and organization of planning as well as the selection and development of programs. When examining planning as a social-political process of negotiation, it was evident that planning practice was characterized by power relationships, interests, and negotiation. While negotiating interests was one form of action in which the planners engaged, it was not the dominant form of planning activity. Planning practice at this centre was best depicted as a highly contextualized technical process which entailed information gathering, criteria-based decision making, negotiating interests, and recording program details. The way in which planning occurred at this centre implies that technical, contextual, and social-political dimensions are interrelated and that the interplay between the technical and social-political dimensions is influenced by contextual factors. While much of the planning literature has focused on a single dimension, this exploration of practice suggests that an integrated way of thinking about planning is needed which acknowledges varying degrees to which technical, contextual, and social-political dimensions may be emphasized depending on the planning environment.

The purpose of this study was to generate an understanding of the process of program planning in a senior centre. Of particular interest was the extent to which technical, contextual, and social-political dimensions of planning were represented in the planning practice of programmers. Indepth interviews were conducted with four programmers who were responsible for planning programs at one Lower Mainland, British Columbia senior centre from April 1996 to April 1997. Observations of programming meetings and documents pertaining to program planning supplemented interview data. This exploration revealed that all three dimensions of planning were evident in the programmers' practice. When planning programs, the programmers completed four technical stages: generating ideas, selecting ideas, developing programs, and organizing details. Daily planning activities revolved around these stages and their related tasks. The way in which programs were developed at this centre was also a highly contextualized process. The programmers were influenced by a variety of contextual factors internal and external to the centre which shaped the structure, process, timing, and organization of planning as well as the selection and development of programs. When examining planning as a social-political process of negotiation, it was evident that planning practice was characterized by power relationships, interests, and negotiation. While negotiating interests was one form of action in which the planners engaged, it was not the dominant form of planning activity. Planning practice at this centre was best depicted as a highly contextualized technical process which entailed information gathering, criteria-based decision making, negotiating interests, and recording program details. The way in which planning occurred at this centre implies that technical, contextual, and social-political dimensions are interrelated and that the interplay between the technical and social-political dimensions is influenced by contextual factors. While much of the planning literature has focused on a single dimension, this exploration of practice suggests that an integrated way of thinking about planning is needed which acknowledges varying degrees to which technical, contextual, and social-political dimensions may be emphasized depending on the planning environment. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

The purpose of this study was to describe the meaning of caring from the perspective of community-dwelling individuals 65 years and older, who claim a Polish American ethnic identity. As background and preparation for the study the researcher spent 2 years in the Polish American community from which the key informants were chosen, explored the concept of caring cross culturally in the Human Relations Area Files, and spent a summer in Poland--the country of origin for the second generation sample. These experiences revealed that the care expectations by one group of people who are elderly and identify themselves as Polish American are unknown. Interviews were used to collect data from 7 informants. Participation, observation and written resources within the ethnic community supplemented the interview process. Tape recorded interviews were transcribed; field notes were compiled. All written data were analyzed, organized into categories and validated by the informants. Ten categories represented the Polish American elder's view of caring: kinds of Polish symbols, kinds of greeting, kinds of acknowledgment, kinds of caring, places for Polish people to meet, reasons for joining the Arizona Polish Club, reasons for going to the Arizona Polish Club, reasons for giving acknowledgment, care expectations: characteristics of a caring nurse, and ways to express caring. A primitive view of a 3-staged model was developed for generating universal conceptualizations of care from the Polish American elder's view of caring. Relationships among the categories were inferred from the data by the researcher and discussed as themes. Themes included: Arizona Polish Club as a caring place, being with my own kind, togetherness, neighboring, get moving in the morning, being there, taking time out, and having heart. The themes were discussed in relation to the research questions and the concept of caring that guided the study. This study revealed some of the characteristics, attributes, and conditions of caring that will be useful in expanding nursing's definition of caring, devising psychometric instruments to measure caring, and developing a cross cultural, cross age taxonomy of caring. Recommendations for nursing included care and research strategies with elders and suggestions for future study.

駱炳平. / 論文(社會工作碩士) -- 香港中文大學硏究院社會工作學部, 1996. / 參考文献 : leaves 86-93. / Luo Bingping. / 致謝 --- p.I / 論文摘要 --- p.II / Chapter 第一章 --- 緒論 --- p.1 / Chapter 第一節 --- 硏究動機 --- p.1 / Chapter 第二節 --- 硏究目的 --- p.4 / Chapter 第二章 --- 相關文獻探討 --- p.5 / Chapter 第一節 --- 老年人的意義 --- p.5 / Chapter 第二節 --- 老人中心服務 --- p.9 / Chapter 第三節 --- 休閒的意義及功能 --- p.10 / Chapter 第四節 --- 休閒活動對老年人之重要性-活動理論 --- p.15 / Chapter 第五節 --- 老年人參與休閒活動的類型 --- p.18 / Chapter 第六節 --- 生活質素的意義 --- p.20 / Chapter 第三章 --- 理論架構 --- p.24 / Chapter 第一節 --- 理論模式 --- p.24 / Chapter 第三節 --- 基本假設 --- p.26 / Chapter 第三節 --- 硏究變項之名詞操作性定義 --- p.27 / Chapter 第四章 --- 硏究方法 --- p.29 / Chapter 第一節 --- 調查設計 --- p.29 / Chapter 第二節 --- 抽樣方法 --- p.29 / Chapter 第三節 --- 調查工具 --- p.31 / Chapter 第四節 --- 統計分析 --- p.37 / Chapter 第五章 --- 調查結果 --- p.39 / Chapter 第一節 --- 個人資料、休閒活動參與、休閒活動滿足感 及生活質素的情況 --- p.39 / Chapter 第二節 --- 個人變項與休閒活動參與及生活質素關係 --- p.59 / Chapter 第三節 --- 硏究假設的檢定 --- p.70 / Chapter 第六章 --- 結論、檢討及建議 --- p.77 / Chapter 第一節 --- 結論 --- p.77 / Chapter 第二節 --- 檢討 --- p.80 / Chapter 第三節 --- 建議 --- p.81 / Chapter 第七章 --- 社會工作實務的應用 --- p.83 / 參考書目 --- p.86 / 〔附錄一〕老年人休閒活動及生活質素調查問卷 --- p.94 / 〔附錄二〕休閒活動滿足感尺度 --- p.102 / 〔附錄三〕生活滿足感指數A --- p.105 / 〔附錄四〕情感平衡尺度 --- p.107 / 〔附錄五〕費城老人病學生活衝勁尺度 --- p.108