Previous evaluation and research studies focused on planning have indicated that the incorporation of natural hazards into comprehensive plans results in a reduction in property loss following a disaster event (R. J. Burby et al., 1999, 2000; A. C. Nelson & S. P. French, 2002; R. B. Olshansky, 2001). To date, minimal research has been conducted on the efficacy of stand-alone mitigation plans to reduce disaster loss. With passage of the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000 and its emphasis on mitigation planning, analysis of its efficacy in reducing disaster expenditures is important. The dearth of related research increases the relevancy of this study This current study sought to determine whether mitigation planning improves community disaster resiliency through the reduction of disaster recovery costs. The purpose of this research was to investigate whether vulnerable populations and property are protected from loss due to natural disasters by continued investment in mitigation planning under the present legislative framework. This research examines the Local Mitigation Strategies implemented within Florida and over 25 federally declared events from 1994 through 2004. The Local Mitigation Strategy served as the pilot program for the planning requirement introduced in the Disaster Mitigation Act of 2000. A multivariate model was applied to determine whether disaster expenditures or per capita expenditure from the natural disasters under study could have been reduced had a mitigation plan been in place. It was found that having a plan did not reduce either type of expenditure. Based upon these findings, changes are strongly recommended in the manner in which mitigation planning is conducted under the current framework to reduce the loss of life and property from natural disaster events / acase@tulane.edu

Adolescence is a critical developmental period marked by complex transitions. The wellbeing of this population, currently the largest in human history, is important, as adolescents are the future world leaders, citizens, workers, mothers and fathers. Subjective wellbeing research has become popular in recent years, but there are important gaps in the literature. Cross-cultural examinations and comparisons of subjective wellbeing have focused on developed countries. Less is known about subjective wellbeing in developing countries. There are gaps in research on special populations or groups and in the comparison of sub-groups within a population This analysis assesses the subjective wellbeing of adolescents in Cote d'Ivoire, a developing country in sub-Saharan Africa. Multiple measures are used to evaluate adolescent wellbeing from an overall perspective and to explore satisfaction with specific life domains. Potential adolescent risk factors and protective factors are examined to explore if and how they may influence individual assessments of wellbeing. Gender and age-related differences in self-reported wellbeing are examined to explore if and how these groups experience adolescence differently. The Personal Wellbeing Index for School Children is tested as valid a cross-cultural measure of subjective wellbeing Findings suggest that Ivorian adolescents overall report high satisfaction with life. Evidence for gender and age-related differences in subjective wellbeing produced mixed results, which warrants further investigation. The findings also indicate that the experience of different risk and protective factors effects adolescents' perceptions of wellbeing. The results indicate there are gender and age-related differences in the effects of these factors on subjective wellbeing In addition, the evidence suggests that the PWI-SC is a moderately valid and reliable tool for assessing subjective wellbeing in Ivorian adolescents. Ultimately, additional research with adolescent populations in other developing countries is needed to further assess the validity of the PWI-SC as a cross-cultural measure of subjective wellbeing The findings may be used to inform policy on programs targeting adolescents in developing countries. This research could provide guidance to policy makers and program planners about specific factors and domains that could be incorporated into the design of policies and programs intended to protect and/or improve the wellbeing of adolescents / acase@tulane.edu

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The aim of this study was to develop methods for parent-driven research by involving parents of children with severe emotional and behavioral disorders in the process of conceptualizing and evaluating mental health service needs. A parent team consisting of three service recipients in Louisiana Office of Mental Health Region 1 was employed to work integrally with the principal researcher through all phases of the study. With the parent team leading the process, qualitative focus group data were gathered. With this data, the team worked collaboratively with the principal researcher to generate items for a new survey to assess service needs. Using the strengths perspective, ecological model and constructivist principles to guide the ethos and methods for working with and training the parent team, the Service-Needs-Utilization-Gaps Survey (S.N.U.G.) was developed. The parent team field tested the survey by gathering data from 60 parent respondents whose children use state mental health services at several clinics in Orleans and St. Bernard Parishes in Louisiana. The findings from this study offer some preliminary information to support the reliability and validity of the S.N.U.G. survey. Recommendations for further development of both the methods for parent-driven evaluation and of the S.N.U.G. survey are made. Implications for social work practice and research are discussed / acase@tulane.edu

A sample of 211 male street prostitutes were interviewed and tested for antibodies to the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Based on the constructs of the Health Belief Model, subjects' perceptions of susceptibility to HIV infection, severity of HIV infection, benefit to engagement in preventive health behavior to avoid infection, and barriers to the reduction of HIV-related risk behaviors were examined. Serological data from the study confirms an HIV point prevalence rate of (175 per 1,000) among the sample. Sexual behaviors associated with increased risk of HIV infection were, engagement in anal sex and oral-genital sex, history of syphilis, and a self-defined sexual orientation of homosexual Based on previous research and the theoretical framework suggested by the Health Belief Model, it was expected that increased HIV-related risk behavior among the male street prostitutes would be inversely related to perceived severity of HIV infection, perceived susceptibility to HIV infection and perceived benefit to prevention of HIV infection and positively related to an increased perception of barriers to preventive health behavior. The findings partially support this model. Increases in perceived susceptibility and benefit to HIV prevention were significantly related to reduced risk. However, prostitutes' level of perceived severity of HIV infection was not significantly associated with risk behavior. Three lifestyle factors were found to function as barriers to engaging in risk reduction behavior. Subjects who were more economically dependent on prostitution, perceived less control over the hustling encounter and reported increased pleasure from sexual activity with their customers were more likely to engage in HIV-related risk behaviors. The data suggest that male prostitutes engage in numerous unprotected sexual acts placing them at high risk for not only the acquisition of HIV infection but the transmission of HIV to other partners. Further research focusing on HIV-related risk behaviors of both male prostitutes and their customers is recommended. Utilization of the findings from this study in the design and implementation of future HIV-related preventive health education programs is discussed / acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu

The meanings women attribute to pregnancy and prenatal care and the manner in which those meanings affect decisions to utilize prenatal care services are examined. Using an Integrated Model of Prenatal Care Utilization based on concepts from Poole & Carlton, Ginsburg and Polkinghorne, a qualitative research design was used to examine how women entering the prenatal care program think about pregnancy and prenatal care, to examine the context of prenatal care services where patients and service providers interact, and to examine the delivery of social work services as an enabling factor within that context. The results indicate that the prenatal care service delivery system is embedded in a cultural infrastructure that may operate to constrain utilization in some instances and to enhance utilization in others. Recommendations are made to address those factors that operate to restrict utilization. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 53-03, Section: A, page: 0949. / Major Professor: Shimon Gottschalk. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1992.

When older Americans face a need for long term care, they face a crisis that is all but unresolvable. Long term care is specifically excluded under Medicare policy, and few insurance packages adequately protect the elderly from catastrophic long term care costs. Only Medicaid, the means-tested health care program for all ages, provides coverage of long term care. By default then, we have a poverty-based long term care system in the United States. / What are the effects of a poverty-based long term care system? Class-based theories of the welfare state suggest that targeted benefits stratify society along class lines. This study suggests that the effects of targeted benefits can be devastating to the elderly and their families, and that the negative side-effects fall disproportionately on women and nonwhites. Targeted benefits do create class cleavages, but they also divide society along dimensions that transcend class lines, namely race and gender. / This dissertation examines Medicare and Medicaid policy, as well as the National Nursing Home Survey of 1985 and the National Long Term Care Survey of 1982-1984. Specific topics analyzed include spenddown, Medicaid use in nursing homes and in the community, the uncovered poor, the Medicaid gap, Medicaid's revolving door, spousal impoverishment and informal caregiving. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-08, Section: A, page: 3096. / Major Professor: Jill Quadagno. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.

The dissertation developed a conceptual framework for analyzing the impact of environmental variables on the capacity (or ability) of delivery systems, especially substitute care delivery systems, to provide services to emotionally disturbed children, and attempted to empirically validate a portion of the framework. The conceptual framework was organized into a general environment level and a task environment level. Both levels were viewed as a series of variables that could potentially influence (facilitate or constrain) a delivery system service capacity outcome variable. General environment variables included economic, sociodemographic, political/legal, cultural, and technology variables. Task environment variables included (a) contextual variables (i.e., belief-value, strategy, organizational rationale, organizational authority structure, and organizational legitimation/power variables), and (b) delivery system variables (i.e., organizational, individual, group, and interorganizational variables). / The dissertation research study asked two questions: (1) What are the relationships between the general environment economic variable (operationalized as the amount of public money expended on childrens' programs) and the capacity of substitute care delivery systems to provide available and accessible services to emotionally disturbed children? (2) What are the relationships between selected task environment organizational program attribute variables (i.e., auspice, age, and size variables) and the capacity of substitute care delivery systems to provide available and accessible services to emotionally disturbed children? / Following Evan's (1966) focal organization approach, a purposive sample consisting of eighteen residential treatment programs (and their associated substitute care delivery systems) located throughout the state of Florida that primarily served emotionally disturbed children was derived. Data were assembled from two basic sources, that is, mail/telephone survey questionnaires, and public and private organization document information. The Spearman rho statistic was used to assess research question relationships. The study results indicated support for the associations between public or private delivery system program auspice and the availability and accessibility of several delivery system services (i.e., adjunctive, behavior evaluation, education evaluation, medical evaluation, and placement/post placement/day services). Recommendations for future research pertaining to both the conceptual framework and the research study were presented. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 52-08, Section: A, page: 3096. / Major Professor: Michael L. Frumkin. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1991.