Yes / This paper examines the value of participatory approaches within interventions aimed at promoting mental health and wellbeing in the workplace. Specifically the paper explores data from the thematic evaluation of the Mental Health and Employment project strand within the Altogether Better programme being implemented in England in the Yorkshire and Humber region, which was funded through the BIG Lottery and aimed to empower people across the region to lead better lives. The evaluation combined a systematic evidence review with semi-structured interviews across mental health and employment projects. Drawing on both evaluation elements, the paper examines the potential of workplace-based 'business champions' to facilitate organizational culture change within enterprises within a deprived regional socio-economic environment. First, the paper identifies key policy drivers for interventions around mental health and employment, summarizes evidence review findings and describes the range of activities within three projects. The role of the 'business champion' emerged as crucial to these interventions and therefore, secondly, the paper examines how champions' potential to make a difference depends on the work settings and their existing roles, skills and motivation. In particular, champions can proactively coordinate project strands, embed the project, encourage participation, raise awareness, encourage changes to work procedures and strengthen networks and partnerships. The paper explores how these processes can facilitate changes in organizational culture. Challenges of implementation are identified, including achieving leverage with senior management, handover of ownership to fellow employees, assessing impact and sustainability. Finally, implications for policy and practice are discussed, and conclusions drawn concerning the roles of champions within different workplace environments. / This work was supported as part of the evaluation of the Altogether Better programme, which is funded through the UK BIG Lottery fund and aims to empower people across the Yorkshire and Humber region of the UK to lead healthier lives.

Over the years, dramatic changes in retention and attrition rates have given rise to extensive studies on the academically at-risk college student (Nisbet, Ruble, and Schurr 1982; Levin and Levin, 1991, White & Salacek, 1986). Yet, most of these studies have focused on statistical measures identifying predictors of success using traditional quantitative methodology, with only sparse attention given to the amorphous phenomenon of the "student's experience." Against the odds, some at-risk students continue to succeed in college, despite academic difficulty. The purpose of this study was to examine the experience of academically at-risk students who graduated from four year institutions and to discover how they successfully navigated higher education life's path, despite academic challenges. Specifically, this study sought to understand the process by which these students persisted from college entry to graduation; the tasks of accomplishing requirements for course work and earning sufficient grades; the management of social issues of home and campus life, and the strategies they employed that yielded success. This research used a case study and grounded theory methodology to analyze the interviews of four students. A comparative iterative analysis of the data revealed that these students experienced a supportive, enjoyable, yet highly stressful college experience that was shaped by interactions within their academic and social communities. Findings also revealed that theses students perceived their college experience as hard work and presented with the defining feature of a unique will to continue in college during high levels of stress that was central to research on student resiliency. In addition, this study provided an example of how students experience a developmental shift from late adolescence to adulthood, where the transition to adultness often involves an overwhelming amount of responsibility that some students might not be equipped to fully handle. Successful strategies that these students employed consisted of: a) self-appraisal, b) mirroring of parental values, c) long range goal-setting, d) positive use of time, e) monitoring of extracurricular activities, f) practice, visual, hands-on learning, g) resourcefulness, and h) extra effort. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study is to determine if a transition program has a greater success rate, as measured by GPA, number of students recycled, attendance, and conduct, than a traditional program of study for over age, first time ninth grade students by the end of first semester of the ninth grade. Some of the typical outcomes during the transition to high school from grade 8 to grade 9 are high failure rates, lack of Algebra I readiness, and poor attendance. These concerns contribute to drop-out rates and the level of competitiveness students will have when facing the workforce. This is a timely issue as we continue to address Standards of Learning (SOL) and No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act and the initiatives to rethink our high schools as they attempt to prepare students for the ongoing changes of the economy, workforce, and expectations of colleges and universities. / Ph. D.

The face of America's schools is changing. An increasingly diverse and challenging population of students blends assorted ethnic backgrounds, varied approaches to learning, and different socio-economic backgrounds into one student body. Faced with the realities of environmental and educational stressors, some students may find the educational milieu difficult. One particular group of students who may fit this category are those placed at-risk of school failure. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, the latest government reform in education to affect our nation's schools, created additional pressures on educators and students alike. In this climate of increased testing and accountability, educators must be trained to work with today's students. Staff development is one method of assisting educators to become knowledgeable about the needs of students placed at-risk of school failure in the current reform era. Guiding issues for this study were the nature of staff development with regard to students placed at-risk of school failure in an era of educational reform as viewed through staff development. Guiding questions were how many staff development courses were aimed at meeting the needs of students placed at-risk of school failure and how much of this training was done relative to content-based staff development. Staff development offices were chosen because they are the conduits through which school district employees often gain substantial knowledge and training, and because of their importance in the field of training and professional development. The method used in this study was a content analysis of staff development course documents from the 100 largest school districts in the United States. The intent of this quantitative content analysis was to explore how school district staff development offices approach the task of educating their employees to work with a complex, diverse school population, often seen as at-risk of school failure. This study was important to the field of educational leadership because it provided essential and useful information, both for educators working with an increasingly diverse student population, especially students at-risk of school failure, and for district leaders whose task it is to provide staff development for those who teach our children. Quantitative analyses of the staff development course documents showed no relationship between school district size and number of courses with coded words; the total number of courses a school district offered was, however, a predictor for the total number of targeted courses. All but one of the school districts sampled had at least one course with a coded word. A qualitative analysis of the coding of the categories and indicators revealed that the coded words were applied broadly to the themes and patterns that emerged. School district staff development offices continue to play a positive role in the training of educators striving to meet the needs of a diverse student body in the 21st century. / Ed. D.

This was a case study analysis of the Opportunity School, an alternative public education program in Danville,Virginia that serves students who are considered academically at-risk, grades six through twelve. A case study analysis of the Opportunity School was implemented to provide specific information regarding the overall effectiveness of the program. In addition, the analysis attempted to: reflect on the worthiness of the program since its inception in 1993; assess the program's strengths and weakness; ascertain students' level of satifaction; address areas that needed further expansion and suggest recommendations, based on indicators of effectiveness cited in the literature. The case study analysis, which was qualitative and quantitative was the methodology implemented in this research. The case records included, focus group sessions, interviews, student questionnaire, typology--using Kellmayer's indicators, and analysis of students' records. The sample population for this study was students who participated in the Opportunity School's program in 1996-97. Sixteen students participated in three focus groups and 41 students responded to a questionnaire designed to determine their satisfaction with the Opportunity School. In addition, school records of 153 students who participated in the program for a least one year between 1993-1997 were analyzed using: paired t-Tests, correlation coefficients, standard deviations, means and cross tabulations. Analysis of student data revealed the Opportunity School's program may have contributed to the positive change in students' academics performance and disciplinary behavior. Other factors that may have contributed to this change are maturation of students and repetitiveness of the Literacy Passport tests, which was used as a barometer to gauge academic performance. Collectively the Opportunity School's program has provided at-risk students with a second chance to continue their education. However, to more effectively serve students, there are areas that should be strengthen and expanded. Some of these areas included: use and integration of technology in the classroom, more variety in curriculum courses, adding a vocational education component, flexibility around the time of day students attend school and a comprehensive counseling program. The Opportunity School in Danville, Virginia should continue serving students who are considered at-risk of dropping out of school. Students in the school perceived the program as meeting their needs, and were very satisfied with the program and the school's staff. However, if alternative program for at-risk students are to have have real benefits, merely labeling them alternative will obviously not do. A program design must incorporate quantitative attributes. To further assess the effectiveness of alternative education programs for at-risk populations more longitudinal studies are needed. / Ed. D.

This study examines a collaborative creation and application of an evaluation process for a teen shelter. An independent researcher collaborated with the key administrators of a teen shelter to create an agency-specific evaluation process that gathered both quantitative and qualitative data from three separate participant groups: teen clients of the shelter, their parents, and the staff who work at the shelter. Results of the creation process indicate that collaborating with key administrators is imperative when developing agency-specific evaluations with the goal of program improvement. Application results indicate that the clients and staff at this particular shelter felt the program was very helpful. Responses included participants' ideas as to what was helpful and what aspects of the program made the experience beneficial. Participants offered positive feedback about the effective aspects of the program, as well as suggestions for improving some weaker aspects of the program. Shelter administrators were pleased with the evaluation process and results and were enthusiastic about applying the results toward program improvement. / Master of Science

The widespread effects of student failure and dropout have social, judicial, and economic implications. This study addressed factors that can affect students academic identification, an element that can influence dropout among U.S. high school students identified as at-risk. Research indicates that student motivation and academic identification may be linked to improvements in students academic achievement and reductions in dropout rates. The purpose of this quantitative investigation was to address high dropout rates among at-risk, high school students by exploring the extent to which students motivational beliefs in school predicted their academic identification and achievement. Specifically, I explored the extent to which the MUSICSM Model of Academic Motivation Inventory (MUSIC Inventory) produced valid scores among at-risk high school students, and the extent to which students motivational beliefs about school predicted their academic identification and achievement. This quantitative study utilized structural equation modeling (SEM) and involved a sample of 100 at-risk students from an alternative high school in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Data were collected via paper surveys, which I administered to students during October, 2015. All survey data were entered into SPSS 23 for analysis. Results indicated that Cronbach's alpha coefficients were low for all MUSIC Model components except for care, which demonstrated modest reliability. Data analysis also indicated that three of the five components of the MUSIC Model " usefulness, success, and caring" were positively associated with academic identification. Thus, there is preliminary evidence to suggest that teachers may be able to have a positive effect on the academic success of at-risk high school students by finding ways to improve students perceptions of usefulness, success, and care. Educational stakeholders can utilize findings from the present study to prompt an exploration of ways to improve these motivational components to promote greater academic success among this student population. / Ph. D.

The study at hand investigates innovation systems at small and medium enterprises (SMEs) focusing on innovation culture, organization and company goals at the early stages of innovation process. Past research studies suggest the early stages of innovation process are critical for the overall innovation ability, however, there is a lack of literature on the specifics of innovation systems at SMEs. Case studies of 3 companies provide an overview of characteristics of innovation systems at a typical SME as well as a solid basis for drawing business implications relevant for establishing or improving its innovation system. Furthermore, the findings reveal that people management at the early stages of innovation process is missing, and that a foreign subsidiary of an international SME is relevant for an effective corporate innovation process. Implications for further research on the topic are also discussed.

Introdução: A obesidade é um problema de saúde pública, de etiologia multifatorial, relacionada à incidência de comorbidades, como as doenças cardiovasculares - causa número um de mortes, globalmente. Contudo, os tratamentos para reverter essa condição não surtem efeito em longo prazo, fazendo com que novas intervenções para seu tratamento sejam utilizadas, como a abordagem Health at Every Size® (HAES®), que ainda mostra resultados inconclusivos quanto à melhora no perfil lipídico relacionado às doenças cardiovasculares. Objetivo: Analisar os efeitos de uma nova intervenção interdisciplinar baseada na abordagem HAES®, sobre o perfil lipídico relacionado às doenças cardiovasculares em mulheres obesas. Métodos: Estudo quantitativo, baseado em ensaio clínico randomizado controlado com duração de sete meses. Noventa e sete participantes foram recrutadas, após aprovação nos critérios de inclusão e exclusão da amostra, e foram aleatoriamente dividas nos grupos \"Intervenção\" ou \"Controle\", cujas atividades conduzidas tiveram os princípios da abordagem HAES® como norteadores. Participantes do grupo \"Intervenção\" realizaram cinco oficinas filosóficas, aconselhamento nutricional quinzenalmente e atividade física três vezes por semana. Já as participantes do grupo \"Controle\" participaram bimestralmente de palestras relativas à filosofia, nutrição e atividade física. A coleta e análise foram realizadas antes e depois da intervenção para os seguintes parâmetros: triglicérides, colesterol total, colesterol não-HDL, colesterol-VLDL, colesterol-LDL e colesterol-HDL. Variáveis foram comparadas antes e depois da intervenção usando Teste T de Student. Resultados: Foram observadas reduções para colesterol total, colesterol LDL e colesterol NHDL em ambos os grupos. Já para colesterol VLDL e triglicerídeos, houve aumento nos níveis observados. Quanto ao colesterol HDL, o grupo \"Intervenção\" teve uma diminuição após o estudo, ao passo que o grupo \"Controle\" teve um aumento no mesmo. Contudo, para todas as variáveis observadas, não houveram diferenças estatisticamente significativas. Conclusão: a intervenção por si não foi suficientemente eficaz para provocar mudanças no perfil lipídico. / Introduction: Obesity is a public health problem, with multifactorial etiology, related to the incidence of comorbidities, such as cardiovascular diseases - the number-one cause of death globally. However, treatments to reverse this condition have no long-term effect, and new interventions to treat obesity are formulated, such as the Health at Every Size® (HAES®) approach, which still shows inconclusive results regarding the improvement in metabolic profile related to cardiovascular diseases. Objective: To analyze the effects of a new interdisciplinary intervention based on the HAES® approach on biochemical markers related to cardiovascular diseases in obese women. Methods: Prospective, quantitative study based on a randomized controlled clinical trial lasting seven months. Ninety-seven participants were recruited, after approval in the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the sample, and were randomly assembled into the \"Intervention\" or \"Control\" groups, whose activities had the principles of the HAES® approach as guides. Participants in the Intervention group held five philosophical workshops, nutritional counseling every two weeks and physical activity three times a week. The participants of the \"Control\" group participated bimonthly in lectures related to philosophy, nutrition and physical activity. Data collection and analysis were performed before and after the intervention for the following parameters: triglycerides, total cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol. Variables were compared before and after the intervention using Student\'s t-test. Results: Reductions were observed for total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and NHDL-cholesterol in both groups. On the other hand, for VLDL-cholesterol and triglycerides, there was an increase in the levels observed. As for HDL-cholesterol, the \"Intervention\" group had a decrease after the study, whereas the \"Control\" group had an increase in the same. However, for all observed variables, there were no statistically significant differences. Conclusion: The intervention itself was not effective enough to cause changes in the lipid profile.

Introdução: A obesidade é um problema de saúde pública, de etiologia multifatorial, relacionada à incidência de comorbidades, como as doenças cardiovasculares - causa número um de mortes, globalmente. Contudo, os tratamentos para reverter essa condição não surtem efeito em longo prazo, fazendo com que novas intervenções para seu tratamento sejam utilizadas, como a abordagem Health at Every Size® (HAES®), que ainda mostra resultados inconclusivos quanto à melhora no perfil lipídico relacionado às doenças cardiovasculares. Objetivo: Analisar os efeitos de uma nova intervenção interdisciplinar baseada na abordagem HAES®, sobre o perfil lipídico relacionado às doenças cardiovasculares em mulheres obesas. Métodos: Estudo quantitativo, baseado em ensaio clínico randomizado controlado com duração de sete meses. Noventa e sete participantes foram recrutadas, após aprovação nos critérios de inclusão e exclusão da amostra, e foram aleatoriamente dividas nos grupos \"Intervenção\" ou \"Controle\", cujas atividades conduzidas tiveram os princípios da abordagem HAES® como norteadores. Participantes do grupo \"Intervenção\" realizaram cinco oficinas filosóficas, aconselhamento nutricional quinzenalmente e atividade física três vezes por semana. Já as participantes do grupo \"Controle\" participaram bimestralmente de palestras relativas à filosofia, nutrição e atividade física. A coleta e análise foram realizadas antes e depois da intervenção para os seguintes parâmetros: triglicérides, colesterol total, colesterol não-HDL, colesterol-VLDL, colesterol-LDL e colesterol-HDL. Variáveis foram comparadas antes e depois da intervenção usando Teste T de Student. Resultados: Foram observadas reduções para colesterol total, colesterol LDL e colesterol NHDL em ambos os grupos. Já para colesterol VLDL e triglicerídeos, houve aumento nos níveis observados. Quanto ao colesterol HDL, o grupo \"Intervenção\" teve uma diminuição após o estudo, ao passo que o grupo \"Controle\" teve um aumento no mesmo. Contudo, para todas as variáveis observadas, não houveram diferenças estatisticamente significativas. Conclusão: a intervenção por si não foi suficientemente eficaz para provocar mudanças no perfil lipídico. / Introduction: Obesity is a public health problem, with multifactorial etiology, related to the incidence of comorbidities, such as cardiovascular diseases - the number-one cause of death globally. However, treatments to reverse this condition have no long-term effect, and new interventions to treat obesity are formulated, such as the Health at Every Size® (HAES®) approach, which still shows inconclusive results regarding the improvement in metabolic profile related to cardiovascular diseases. Objective: To analyze the effects of a new interdisciplinary intervention based on the HAES® approach on biochemical markers related to cardiovascular diseases in obese women. Methods: Prospective, quantitative study based on a randomized controlled clinical trial lasting seven months. Ninety-seven participants were recruited, after approval in the inclusion and exclusion criteria of the sample, and were randomly assembled into the \"Intervention\" or \"Control\" groups, whose activities had the principles of the HAES® approach as guides. Participants in the Intervention group held five philosophical workshops, nutritional counseling every two weeks and physical activity three times a week. The participants of the \"Control\" group participated bimonthly in lectures related to philosophy, nutrition and physical activity. Data collection and analysis were performed before and after the intervention for the following parameters: triglycerides, total cholesterol, non-HDL cholesterol, VLDL-cholesterol, LDL-cholesterol and HDL-cholesterol. Variables were compared before and after the intervention using Student\'s t-test. Results: Reductions were observed for total cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and NHDL-cholesterol in both groups. On the other hand, for VLDL-cholesterol and triglycerides, there was an increase in the levels observed. As for HDL-cholesterol, the \"Intervention\" group had a decrease after the study, whereas the \"Control\" group had an increase in the same. However, for all observed variables, there were no statistically significant differences. Conclusion: The intervention itself was not effective enough to cause changes in the lipid profile.