published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Public Administration

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Work

published_or_final_version / Social Work and Social Administration / Master / Master of Philosophy

Parents of children with developmental disabilities experience a greater level of stress than parents of typically developing children. Parental stress disrupts parental functioning, setting a vicious cycle of coercive parent-child interactions and further stress. The current study aims to break this vicious cycle by evaluating the effectiveness of the Incredible Years Basic Parent Training (IYPT) for Chinese preschoolers at risk for developmental disabilities in a community clinic setting in Hong Kong. Fifty-two parents of children with developmental delays (age 3-6 years) were randomly assigned to either a parenting program (EXP) or a waitlist-control (WLC) condition. Multi-informants and multi-measures of child and parenting behaviors were taken before and after the 12-week intervention. Medium intervention effects were found in primary-caregiver parents’ self-reported parental stress index. Medium-to-large intervention effects were found in both primary-caregiver parent-report and spouse-report measures of children’s oppositional behaviors. While primary-caregiver parents did not report a significant change in their parenting practices, their kins/spouses nonetheless reported improvements of a small effect size in the primary-caregiver parents’ parenting practices. Blinded observations of parent-child interactions during a structured play activity indicated significant short-term effects on positive parenting and coaching. Parents had a high attendance rate and reported high satisfaction with the program. Treatment effects did not seem to correlate with demographic and other characteristics of the parents, suggesting that the treatment effect was robust across different profiles of parents. Preliminary results suggest that the Incredible Years Basic Parent Training is an effective and feasible intervention in the community settings for Chinese preschoolers at risk for developmental disabilities and their parents in Hong Kong. / published_or_final_version / Clinical Psychology / Doctoral / Doctor of Psychology

The central problem of this study is to identify and develop a model for the administration of rehabilitation services to the handicapped which can be applied to identify needed services in any country, such as Kuwait. The method used in developing the model entailed obtaining basic information about how selected nations administer services for the handicapped through: (1) Published sources and reports; (2) Unpublished material; (3) Interviews of selected officials responsible for the handicapped. The review of literature consists of two parts. Part one reviews organizational strategies: (1) The engineering strategy; (2) The behavioral strategy; (3) The systems strategy. The second part focuses on rehabilitation services in the eight countries selected for this study. These are discussed in the order of their difference from the State of Kuwait: the United States, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Japan, Yugoslavia, Thailand, Kenya, and finally Kuwait. Each is discussed in the following terms: (1) Overview; (2) History of Rehabilitation Services; (3) Structure of Service Delivery System; (4) Legislation of Rehabilitation Services. The study was preceded by an analysis of tasks organized within the framework of the International Classification Matrix Model with a view to establishing an approach to prospective evaluation. A matrix can be defined as a rectangular array of elements arranged in rows and columns; the matrix used in this study was formulated on the basis of information and data collected in the eight selected countries in terms of: (a) General Cultural/Social Orientation Pattern (i) "ascriptive/traditional," (ii) "mixed-attributes," and (iii) "achievement/innovative"); (b) Degree of Cultural Materialism; (c) Cultural Attitude Toward Handicapped; (d) Percent of Population Classified As "Handicapped"; (e) Per Capita Income; (f) General National Political Orientation; (g) General National Administrative Structure; (h) Degree of Bureaucratization; (i) Types of Delivery Service. This study classifies nations for the purposes of general evaluation of their approaches to national administration of services for the handicapped and application of these approaches to a specific country, Kuwait.

No description available.

This study examined disabled people’s access to independent living in Scotland and Norway. At the time of the field work for this research in 2012, the literature revealed no comparable social enquiry combining the concepts of citizenship, independent living and governance. Within disability studies, independent living denotes a perspective that recognises the interconnected nature of life areas that affect lived experiences of disablement and inclusion of disabled citizens. From the independent living movement, Centres for Inclusive Living emerged as unique governance structures with full service-user involvement and run by disabled people for disabled people. This study focused upon to what extent the organisational governance structures in the Glasgow Centre for Inclusive Living (GCIL) and Uloba Centre for Independent Living (Uloba) in Norway facilitate or impede disabled people’s access to independent living. The methodology adopted a mixed methods approach. The central method involved organisational case studies with GCIL and Uloba. This enabled an in-depth qualitative exploration through semi-structured interviews with the case study employees, service-user/co-owners and key experts within each country. In addition, an online survey was distributed to other organisations that operated within the disability field. The analytical framework used an integration of the social relational model of disability (Thomas, 1999) and meso level governance analysis (Lowe, 2004). The social relational model of disability provided structural (macro) and agency (micro) level interpretations and an emphasis on psychosocial elements of disability. It also enabled the synergy of a theory of impairment alongside a theory of disability. Meso (organisational) governance analysis focused attention on the connections between organisations in society. This focus revealed the lateral relationships with other meso level bodies, macro institutions and micro individual action. Research participants prioritised the areas of peer support, accessible housing and personal assistance. Peer support was found to take both informal and formal manifestations and acted as a foundation for the other two areas of independent living. The findings highlighted that Centres for Inclusive Living provide facilitation for access to independent living across macro, meso and micro tiers of society. In particular, empowerment, peer support and user led governance formed key strategies that enhanced disabled people’s access to independent living in Scotland and Norway.

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

This constructivist study examined the perceptions that an interdisciplinary team has about themselves in the work setting and during fieldwork interactions while working with client families. Twelve staff members of a program that provides supportive services for the families of severely handicapped children responded to a bank of fifteen questions in an effort to examine the relationship between team members perceptions of their roles and how those perceptions affect their job performance and satisfaction.

The purpose of this research study was to foster improved intercultural communication and understanding in the studied organizations and to foster diversity related discussion in the Oregon developmental disabilities services industry. Research was conducted by collecting data from 16 human resource managers who work in human services organizations serving people with developmental disabilities. Through the use of an email survey and follow-up telephone interviews with a subgroup ofthe 16 participants, data were gathered regarding participant perspectives on their organizations' diversity initiatives and on their suggestions for effective diversity strategies. Specific areas of focus included: the benefits and barriers to workplace diversity and strategies to foster workplace diversity. The research produced a comprehensive set of strategies that focused on the following six areas: leadership commitment to diversity; organizational commitment to diversity; organizational commitment to diversity training; the modification of human resources practices to accommodate diverse cultural needs; the consideration of alternative service configurations and job descriptions to accommodate different cultural needs; and the development of a comprehensive community outreach program.