The purpose of this study is to identify predictors of psychological empowerment among nurse aides in nursing homes. Five structural factors (information exchange, decentralization of resources, co-worker support, supervisor support, and availability of training) and four control factors (age, sex, level of education, and race) are analyzed using multivariate linear regression to examine their effects on psychological empowerment. Two of the five structural factors, decentralization of resources and supervisor support, are shown to positively influence psychological empowerment. Nursing home managers can consider developing and implementing procedures that decentralize resources and demonstrate supervisor support in order to increase psychological empowerment. Based on the findings of this study theory and practice might benefit from additional study of decentralization of resources and supervisor support.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Health Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Of Master of Family Medicine Johannesburg, July 2014 / BACKGROUND Physical activity has been consistently shown to play an important role in healthy ageing. While motivators and barriers to regular physical activities among old people residing in old age homes have been studied in other parts of the world, the researcher found no studies on this subject in South Africa. Therefore, the aim of this research was to identify the motivators and barriers to regular exercise in elderly people residing in old age homes in Ekurhuleni Southern sub-district of Gauteng province. METHODS This was a descriptive cross sectional study conducted among elderly residents in old age homes in Ekurhuleni Southern Sub-district. A structured questionnaire was administered in the common languages: English, Afrikaans and Zulu. The data was collected by the researcher (assisted by research assistants) from 139 residents in seven old age homes. A Pearson chi square test was used to examine the relationship between participants’ characteristics with regular exercise. RESULTS This study showed that having knowledge of exercise benefits (P-value= 0.001) an opportunity to socialize (P-value= 0.001) was statistically associated with regular exercise. Similarly, younger age (P- value= 0.02), high educational attainment (P-value= 0.03), being of white race (P -value= 0.04) were the main motivators to regular exercise. In contrast, poor health (P-value=0.001) and lack of knowledge of exercise benefits (P-value=0.001) were the major barriers to regular exercise. CONCLUSION Increasing residents’ knowledge of the benefits of regular exercise, opportunity for socialization and providing support to elderly people are crucial in increasing the uptake and maintenance of regular exercise among elderly people living in old age homes in Ekurhuleni Southern Sub-district.

China has achieved extraordinary economic growth since its profound social, political and economic reformation in 1978. Housing and tourism are two manifestations of such growth. However, problems related to the development of housing and tourism have become increasingly severe: environmentally sound rural areas are now the battlefield for the ostensible economic advancement of both sectors; the supposedly beneficial local communities in such areas end up as the sufferers of worsened living conditions; the policymakers, who are self-claimed leaders of the development in benefits of the local communities, are de facto heavily dependent upon the sales of land for tax generation. Under such circumstances, second homes - the intersection between tourism and housing - have emerged as a hot topic for industry participants, researchers and policymakers. The existing body of knowledge, in what is largely Western dominated second homes research, suggests that the key theories, assumptions and conclusions cannot be adapted to explain the development model in China. This is because of China’s unique scale, patterns, and dynamics of economic and socio-political linkages. This research therefore theorises second homes in China based on key space and tourism concepts. This thesis conceptualises second homes on an actual site in China named The Aqua, which is a tourism cluster intentionally constructed around the idea of second homes. The thesis examines the actor groups that are involved in the making of The Aqua, as well as their practice, representation and experience with it. Also, in order to uncover the potential impacts of the Aqua, this research investigates how justice is recognised and practiced between different actor groups. The outcomes of this research include: 1) a new model that visualises the power relations between different actor groups that are involved in the making of the Aqua, 2) a new theory building on Foucault’s heterotopia to help explain why the Aqua was produced as the representation of the imagined Western township, 3) new terms of apotopia and limbotopia as dismissive narratives to unwanted circumstances of tourism place-making, 4) a fresh perspective to examine the potential impacts of second homes through the lens of justice, instead of the traditional dualistic thinking of second homes as the curse or the blessing.

abstract: In response to the need to accurately define group home types, this dissertation focused on providing a clear and distinct definition of the types of group home care, an articulated understanding of the role of group home staff, and an awareness of the impact individuals working in group homes have on the lives of the youth they serve and their influence on the group home environment. Using the qualitative research method Grounded Theory, ten in-depth interviews were conducted with staff who both currently work in group homes, and staff who have left the group home environment. The research question was “What is the influence of group home staff on the ecological environment of the group home?” Ecological framework was the overarching theory, and participants were asked questions regarding their relationships with youth and their impressions of staff impact within the group home. Data analysis influenced by Grounded Theory produced 5 themes: Walking into the unknown, in loco parentis with two sub- themes consanguinity and group home as a home, engagement with two sub- themes of staff/staff engagement and staff/youth engagement, staff impact on youth, with three sub-themes, managing transitions, loss and boundaries, and the final theme of supervisor support. The results indicate that staff do have an impact on the group home, both positive and negative. Also, the group home operates as an intricate ecological environment containing relationships and interactions that influence multiple internal systems. Currently there is a gap in the literature as it relates to clarity within definition of care settings. This dissertation provided a clear definition for the chosen research environment, non-locked, non-therapeutic group home. The results of this dissertation have implications for group home agencies and more broadly child welfare agencies and child welfare social workers in regard to hiring practices, training and supervision. This dissertation provides a springboard for a future research on the ecological group home environment and the people who work there and are responsible for the care of vulnerable children. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Social Work 2018

This study used an explorative quantitative survey method for the purpose of examining bullying among older adults in retirement homes and the consequences of bullying among this population. The study also explored the type of bullying that occurs in the community. Senior community centers were the significant domains in which to research bullying among older adults because it involved immersion of the researcher into an environment of older adults who knew one another and have witnessed or have been victims of bullying in their retirement home communities. The primary purpose of this investigation was to enhance research on bullying among older adults in retirement homes. Another purpose of this research was to address the consequences of bullying in older adults and to address mental and physical consequences of bullying addressed in previous research. Currently there is not much research done on bullying among older adults. This study found that many older adults living in retirement homes are being bullied and many of them are not speaking up and isolating themselves for the purpose of avoiding their bullies. Moreover, this study shows that staff members of the retirement communities are lacking the knowledge of the bullying problem in their community. The study suggests that future studies on bullying among older adults include qualitative research to determine if older adults understand the difference of bullying and “just being grumpy” and also explore a qualitative research regarding the perpetrator of bullying and not the victims of bullying.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 159-168).

Thesis (Ph.D, History) -- Queen's University, 2008-08-28 10:23:28.279 / A transformation took place in Upper Canada/Ontario and Nova Scotia during the nineteenth century in institutional care for Canadas indigent aged population, and key provincial initiatives towards the end of the century led to the formation of state funded homes for the aged. The shift from frontier to agricultural and early industrial economies brought a host of social problems. Voluntary organizations were established to provide assistance to needy individuals without family. As demand increased, private charity and local governments looked to the state to provide assistance. Government representatives were determined to be fiscally responsible and state regulated institutions offered a form of social control and cost efficiency. Those in need received assistance in state subsidized institutions such as the Halifax Poors Asylum or Torontos House of Industryeventually some residents began to be termed aged. The process of categorizing all inmates within some state funded institutions as either worker or non-worker led to the eventual segregation of older inmates from those who could contribute towards the cost of their care. As workers were transferred to newly built or renovated sections of an institution, aged inmates remained behind in the older sections. Further, as hospitals and asylums were identified as specialized institutions for those who could be cured and returned to the working community, older patients with nowhere else to go were transferred to houses of industry in Ontario or poor farms in Nova Scotia. By the end of the century, this group was identified as unique and as a result in both provinces, homes for the indigent aged emerged by default rather than design. A comparison of the development of institutional care for the poor aged in Nova Scotia and Upper Canada/Ontario reveals that institutions for the aged developed quite differently in each of the two provinces. The fundamental difference between the two provinces such as when they were settled and by whom, and the very nature of these colonies, serve as the bases for a comparison of the two regions and affords a better understanding of how regional differences shaped the development of institutional care for the indigent aged. / Ph.D

Published: December 2002. Accession No.: 118821; File size: 277.3kb; Report No.: 38072. Offprint: Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society. Vol 83 (12).

Thesis (M.S.)--Oregon State University. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Hong Kong, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.