Objective: This thesis aimed to advance the study of sustainability through the exploratory use of a conceptual framework for the investigation of a collaborative project. Methods: A qualitative case study design, utilizing document analysis and key informant interviews, was used to conduct a three-year follow-up of a collaborative mental health project. The study design and directed content analysis were informed by the Scheirer and Dearing (2011) conceptual framework. Results: The sustained outcomes identified by the six participating agencies included: institutionalized project components, maintained client benefits, continued collaboration and sustained attention to the issue. The sustainability of project components was associated with complex interactions between the innovation, organization, and community factors investigated. Conclusions: The study illustrated the importance of evaluating multiple aspects of sustainability to fully capture a project’s long-term effect. Complex systems theory was proposed to describe the interactions observed and as a direction for further development of the conceptual framework.

L’étude des pratiques de prévention en santé publique laisse voir que les innovations basées sur des données probantes ne sont pas toujours les plus utilisées (Ringwalt et al. 2002, Wandersman et Florin 2003). Dans la volonté de mettre de l’avant non seulement une innovation basée sur des données probantes, mais aussi une innovation réellement utile à la communauté que le Centre de liaison sur l’intervention et la prévention psychosociale (CLIPP) a mis sur pied en 2006 le programme de formation par agents multiplicateurs «Agir en milieu de garde» ayant pour principal objectif la prévention des mauvais traitements chez les jeunes enfants. La présente étude vise à décrire l’implantation de ce programme dans les services de garde en milieu familial du Québec et à examiner les processus qui ont influencé cette implantation. Les résultats exposent le niveau d’implantation sur deux plans : le dosage et la fidélité. L’étude des processus d’implantation permet de documenter l’influence sur le niveau d’implantation de quatre types de facteurs : individuels, organisationnels, communautaires et propres à l’innovation ainsi que l’influence des interactions entre ces différents facteurs. / The study of Public Health prevention practices suggests that evidence-based innovations are not always the most widely used (Ringwalt et al. 2002, Wandersman and Florin 2003). In 2006, in a strong desire to put forward not only an innovation based on evidence, but also an innovation really useful to the community, the Centre de liaison sur l’intervention et la prévention psychosociale (CLIPP) created “Agir en milieu de garde”, a trained-the-trainers program based whose primary objective was prevention of infant abuse. The present study’s goal is to describe the program’s implementation in home day care centers in Quebec and examine the processes that have an influence on this implementation. The results establish the level of implementation on two specific aspects : dosage and adherence. By studying implementation processes, the present study was able to document how the level of implementation is influenced by four different types of factors :individual, organizational, community and specific to innovation. This study also looked at how the interactions between these four types of factors can influence the implementation.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal

Taikomas biudžeto išlaidų paskirstymo metodas tiesiogiai įtakoja valstybės finansinių išteklių paskirstymo rezultatus. Dabar dažniausiai naudojamas programinis biudžetas ir įvairūs šiuo principu paremti modifikuoti biudžeto išlaidų paskirstymo modeliai. Išanalizavus mokslinę literatūrą, įvairias analitinio pobūdžio publikacijas ir esamą Lietuvos situaciją po biudžeto reformos, galima daryti išvadą, kad programinis biudžetas daugeliu principų yra vertintinas kaip perspektyvus ir daugeliu atveju tinkamas. Be abejo, šis metodas turi daug privalumų, tačiau negalima atmesti keleto trūkumų. Biudžeto programos yra pagrindinis programinio metodo komponentas. Pagal jų vertinimo rezultatus priimami sprendimai dėl valstybės išlaidų paskirstymo. Svarbu tinkamai įvertinti programas ir atrinkti naudingiausias valstybei, kurios galėtų ateityje atnešti naudą, tiek socialinę, tiek ekonominę, finansinę. Įvertinant Lietuvos situaciją, programų vertinimo problematiką, matomas aiškus poreikis padidinti programų vertinimo pagrįstumą ir objektyvumą. Tyrimo objektas – valstybės biudžeto išlaidų skirstymo procesas. Darbo tikslas – remiantis teorija, išanalizuoti valstybės biudžeto išlaidų skirstymo procesą programų metodu, apibendrinti ir sukurti sintetinį valstybės biudžeto programų vertinimo modelį. Šiam tikslui pasiekti iškelti šie svarbiausi uždaviniai: • išanalizuoti valstybės biudžeto išlaidų formavimą programų principu teoriniu aspektu; • įvertinti valstybės biudžeto programų efektyvumą; •... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / The method of budget expenditures distribution directly influences on results of state government resources. Recently the program budget is used more often, all other modified distribution models of budget expenditures as well. Analysing the scientific literature, the different analytic publications and current Lithuania‘s situation after budget reform, it could be pointed, that the program budget in many cases is appraised as perspective and useful process. Budget programs are the main components of programming method. The solutions of state expenditures distribution are made according to programs results. It‘s important to evaluate the programs properly and select the most useful for the state, which could give the social, economic and financial outputs in the future. Defining current Lithuania‘s situation and problems of the program evaluation process, it‘s obvious that there is the necessity of increasment of program evaluation foundation and objectivity. The work object: the distribution process of state budget by programs. The work purpose is according to the theory to make an analysis of the state budget expenditures distribution process by programs, summarize and create the synthetical evaluation model of budget programs. The work tasks: • to analyze the theoretical aspects of the state budget expenditures distribution according to principles of programming; • to analyze the effectiveness of state budget programs; • to produce the Lithuania‘s practice of state program... [to full text]

Aggressive hospital discharge policies adopted in the 1990s led to an influx of patients recovering from acute illness accessing post-acute home care services. Performance of the post-acute home care program in the Saskatoon Health Region was examined using formative program evaluation methods. Brief surveys of clients and nurse providers captured: care objectives and service outcomes; patient-centeredness; trust in providers; health improvement/decline; emotional/social functioning; functional status; injury avoidance; and overall quality. For clients, perceptions of quality were significantly affected by patient centeredness and experiencing unexpected health complications, which accounted for 83.0% of the variation. For nurse providers, overall quality of care was significantly related to patient centeredness, service outcomes, team communication and injury avoidance. Analysis revealed for clients with complex needs, the service period could be extended from 60 to 97 days which would cover 50.0% of clients. The research examining administrative data predicted the dependent variable Log of Total Care Hours (TCH) to enable analysis using General Linear Modelling. The results showed post-acute home care clients referred from Emergency Departments received approximately 84.2 % more TCH; post-acute home care clients referred from Surgical wards received approximately 42.1% more TCH; and post-acute home care clients referred from Cardiology received approximately 66.3% more TCH than clients referred from the community. Furthermore, single clients received more TCH than married clients. Nursing chart reviews of post-acute home care clients with wound care also predicted the Log of TCH to enable analysis using General Linear Modelling. Post-admission, 11.3% of post-acute home care clients receiving wound care displayed clinical signs and symptoms of emerging infection, while 19.7% displayed clinical signs and symptoms of acquired infection. Post-acute home care clients receiving wound care experiencing injury, trauma or harm while admitted to home care received approximately 53.3% TCH; and post-acute home care clients who acquired an infection after admission received approximately 70.2% TCH. The implications of this research suggest there is room to improve post-acute home care services to address client re-hospitalisation, unexpected health symptoms/complications, and wound care.

This dissertation explores a number of issues facing international nonprofit organizations and individuals working in agricultural interventions supporting rural development with the goal of creating an ethical foundation of communication values and practices. A theoretical framework is formulated, with the principles of environmental communication as a foundation. Special emphasis is placed upon knowledge management strategies utilized when working with indigenous populations. From these theoretical foundations, the emergent 7Cs ethical model of communication is constructed via the concepts of: Collaboration, Culture, Community, Conservation, Capacity, Care, and Consistency. A critical-rhetorical ethnographic case study of the Binational Agriculture Relief Initiative?s discourse is offered to explore the functionality and applicability of the 7Cs model. Using the 7Cs model as a guide, this analysis examines issues associated with nonprofit advocacy and developing communication strategies for international organizations serving agricultural development. Conclusions for the 7Cs ethical model of communication offer perspective on the model as a discursive response to neoliberal policies and international development ethics.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Stockholm : Karolinska institutet, 2007. / Härtill 4 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Umeå : Univ., 2004. / Härtill 5 uppsatser.

Diss. (sammanfattning) Linköping : Univ., 2006. / Härtill 7 uppsatser.

abstract: This action research dissertation study was undertaken to establish the foundation of a comprehensive evaluation component for the Turn-It-Around (TIA) workshop intervention program at Arizona State University (ASU), and was delivered in the form of a program development consultation. The study's intent was to enhance the ASU Counseling Service's departmental capacity to evaluate one of its important clinical services. The outcomes of this study included multiple assessments of TIA's evaluability and the fidelity of its implementation to its program design. The study products include a well-articulated program theory comprised of program goals, learning objectives, a detailed description of program activities, a logic model, and theoretical construct checklist documents articulating the behavioral science theory underlying the TIA intervention. In addition, instruments tailored to the Turn-It-Around intervention that are suitable for assessing program outcomes were developed and are implementation ready. TIA's clinical stakeholders were interviewed following the generation and delivery of the products and instruments mentioned above to determine whether they found the study's processes and products to be worthwhile and useful. In general, the clinicians reported that they were very satisfied with the benefits and outcomes of the program development consultation. As an action research dissertation, this study generated useful and usable collateral materials in the form of reports, documents, and models. These products are now at the disposal of TIA's institutional stakeholders for use in day-to-day business activities such as training new facilitators and liaisons, and giving presentations that describe the usefulness of TIA as an intervention. Beyond the documents generated to form a program evaluation infrastructure for Turn-It-Around, the processes involved in crafting the documents served to engage relevant stakeholders in a cycle of action research that enriched and solidified their understandings of TIA and furnished them with insight into their counterparts' thinking about the intervention and its potential to benefit the college students they are responsible for helping. Consistent with the intent of action research, the processes involved in accomplishing the objectives of this study surfaced new topics and questions that will be useful in subsequent cycles of program improvement.   / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2012