Long dismissed as a third world issue, the commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC) has been a significant problem across the United States over the past two decades, causing major concerns for child welfare stakeholders. The literature has shown a broad range of adverse consequences associated with CSEC. These include—but are not limited to—malnutrition, severe trauma, physical and sexual assault, sexually transmitted diseases, unwanted pregnancy, and medical neglect. The purpose of the study is to assess the readiness level of a large county in Southern California with regards to the well-being of children with a past or current record of victimization from commercial sexual exploitation. Embracing the Community Readiness Model, this case study aimed to evaluate (a) the county’s level of knowledge about programs and services to address CSEC, (b) the county leadership’s attitude toward addressing CSEC, (c) the county’s attitude toward addressing CSEC, (d) the county’s knowledge about CSEC, and (e) explore the county’s range of resources available to address CSEC. Results indicated that the county’s overall readiness score was 4.1 out of a possible 9. That is, the county had a low readiness level with respect to addressing the challenges associated with CSEC within its boundaries. Implications of the findings for theory, research, policy, and macro social work practice were discussed. Keywords: commercial sexual exploitation of children (CSEC), community readiness model

The prevalence of childhood obesity is increasing at an alarming rate and is implicated in the onset of serious and life threatening health problems of both a physical and psychological nature. The current research comprised of three main components. Firstly, the reliability of a readiness to change questionnaire was examined, which had been completed by parents of obese children enrolled in the Bodywise childhood obesity programme. Secondly, an analysis of outcome data from 36 families who completed the above programme was also undertaken in order to determine if the data identified their stage of change, as defined by the questionnaire Thirdly, four semi-structured interviews were conducted with families involved with the Bodywise programme. These parents provided information related to their experiences of lifestyle change, including what initiated change, what assisted change, and what barriers to change they had encountered. Findings revealed that in accordance with the transtheoretical model the readiness to change questionnaire was a reasonably reliable instrument for indentifying parents' readiness to change their child's eating patterns and physical activity levels. Analysis of the outcome data from the 36 families revealed individuals in the action stage of change for both eating and physical activity made more rapid change at the outset of the programme than individuals in earlier stages of change. In addition, information derived from the interviews with families identified several promoters and barriers to change, many of which were similar across families. Until now no studies have examined the application of the transtheoretical model to an intervention for childhood obesity. Previous research has shown support for the model's use with other health problems. Overall this study lends support for the utility of the transtheoretical model in childhood obesity intervention.

<p>I denna uppsats diskuteras företagens self-service technology (SST) vilket innebär att kunderna själva får utföra sina tjänster med hjälp av företagens SST. Genom att låta kunderna göra detta kan företagen exempelvis spara pengar på att omorganisera personal eller rent av minska arbetsstyrkan eftersom mindre kunder kommer att kräva hjälp av personalen.</p><p>I denna uppsats har resebranschen och dess SST att studeras. Uppsatsens frågeställning lyder: ”Hur upplever resebranschens kunder bokningar över</p><p>Internet” där syfte är ”att undersöka och få förståelse för varför resebranschens kunder använder sig av SST när det finns andra möjligheter”.</p><p>En kvalitativ metod har genomförts där sex kunder har lagt grunden till uppsatsens resultat. De huvudteorier som använts i denna uppsats är SST, customer value och technology readiness, och Davis TAM modellen samt Sheths value teori har legat till grund för analysen i uppsatsen.</p><p>Teorin bakom SST är att det inte bara gynnar företagen utan även gynnar kunderna, då SST kan höja kundnyttan. Några exempel är att kunderna sparar tid, pengar och de får kontroll över sitt eget handlande vid användning av SST.</p><p>Ett problem som uppsatsen belyser är huruvida kunder är teknologiskt redo för att använda sig av tekniken.</p><p>Resultatet i denna studie visar att den primära orsaken till att kunder använder sig av SST är att det blir billigare, de kan göra det när som helst samt att kunderna i sin egen takt hitta den bästa resan utan att behöva förlita sig på reseföretagets försäljare. Kunderna upplever resebranschens SST som enkel att använda och ju säkrare de blir, dess mer använder de sig av den även om de anser att tekniken bör utvecklas.</p>

<p>Antiretroviral therapy places extraordinarily high demands on adherence, since non-adherence affects both individuals and society due to the spread of resistant viral strains. The aims of the thesis were to investigate the prevalence of adherence in Swedish HIV-infected patients, changes in adherence over time, and factors associated with adherence, including patients’ readiness to adhere. Further, to investigate the collaboration between nurses, doctors and pharmacists after the introduction of a HIV-clinic satellite pharmacy. Data were collected via two cross-sectional patient surveys in 1998 and 2002, qualitative interviews with health care personnel at a major HIV clinic, and a nation-wide, cross-sectional patient survey in 2003-2004. </p><p>The level of adherence improved from 28% in 1998 to 57% in 2002, possibly due to simplified treatment and a new multi-professional treatment model at the clinic. The proportion of adherent patients was 63% in the nationwide survey. Factors associated with adherence were high age, high quality patient-provider relationships, no drug or alcohol problems and shorter time on treatment. </p><p>A hypothesized structural equational model, using readiness and adherence as separate latent concepts, was tested and found to support readiness as a distinct factor influencing adherence. </p><p>The health care personnel believed that conventional pharmacies had several disadvantages in serving the HIV infected population. They found the HIV-clinic satellite pharmacy valuable, since it contributed to increased communication and trust between the health care professions, and improved teamwork in medication management.</p><p>In conclusion, the level of adherence increased over time, and several factors associated with adherence were identified. Improved collaboration between health care professionals may enhance treatment support, and increased attention should be given to interventions that focus on the individual’s readiness for behavioural change in order to optimize treatment outcomes.</p>

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 209-217).

The current study examined the influence of classroom age composition (the variability in ages of children in the classroom) on low-income preschool children's rates of change in multiple domains of school readiness. The sample consisted of 4,417 preschool children enrolled in 207 classrooms in a large, diverse Head Start program. Children were assessed throughout the year on four school readiness domains: emergent literacy, emergent numeracy, social and emotional skills, and approaches to learning. Multilevel modeling was employed to examine the main effect of classroom age composition as well as the interaction between classroom age composition and child's age as predictors of children's rates of change in these school readiness domains. Results showed that classroom age composition did not uniformly influence rates of change in school readiness for all children. Instead, a significant interaction between child's age and classroom age composition indicated that younger children developed skills in the domain of approaches to learning at an increased rate when placed in classrooms with a large age composition (i.e., in classrooms with a greater degree of age-mixing). This study extends literature focused on identifying classroom structures that promote positive development of school readiness skills, particularly for at-risk children.

The current study investigated the relationship between peer interactions and school readiness children enrolled in Head Start. The constructs of displayed and received physical aggression, relational aggression, and prosocial behavior within children's peer interactions were examined through direct observation. School readiness was measured through direct assessment. It was hypothesized that aggression within peer interactions would predict lower school readiness, while prosocial behaviors within peer interactions would predict better school readiness. Sex was also hypothesized to moderate the relationship between relational aggression, relational victimization, physical aggression, physical victimization and school readiness. It was hypothesized that relational aggression and victimization would more severely impact the school readiness of girls and physical aggression and victimization would more severely impact the school readiness of boys. Structural equation modeling (SEM) analyses revealed that physical aggression and victimization as well as displayed and received prosocial behavior did not significantly predict school readiness. Relational aggression predicted better school readiness. Also, sex moderated the relationship between relational victimization and school readiness such that relational victimization predicted better school readiness for girls, but did not predict school readiness for young boys. Knowledge gained from this study can inform preschool classroom practices on the role that peer aggression and prosocial behavior play in individual differences in children's school readiness.

Executive functions (EFs), specifically a child's ability to shift between two stimuli and a child's ability to inhibit a prepotent response, are a child's self-regulatory cognitive processes used towards achieving a goal (Garon, Bryson, & Smith, 2008) and have been found to predict later school readiness (e.g. Blair & Diamond, 2008; McClelland et al., 2007; Pennington & Ozonoff, 1996). The current study examined possible mechanisms, such as problem behaviors and theory of mind (ToM), through which executive functions predict later cognitive and social school readiness. Problem behaviors occur when children are not effectively functioning in social situations, while ToM is a social-cognitive skill that allows a child to understand another person's mental processes (Wellman, 2002). These variables have been found to relate to one another in predicting preschool children's competence in numerous domains (see Carlson, Mandell, & Williams, 2004; Hughes, 1998b). Little research has been done on how these variables may mediate the relation between EFs and cognitive and social school readiness. This short-term longitudinal study assessed the unique contributions of ToM and problem behaviors to cognitive and social school readiness. Problem behaviors mediated the relation between EF, specifically inhibition, and social school readiness. Both teacher reports and direct assessment of EF revealed that EF, and specifically shifting, were direct predictors of later cognitive school readiness. However, ToM did not mediate any of the relations between EF and either social or cognitive school readiness. These results have several implications for education, including intervening with a child's ability to inhibit in order to improve problem behaviors and later social school readiness, as well as improving children's ability to mentally and behaviorally shift between sets of information in order to improve cognitive school readiness.

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument for assessing distance learning readiness of institutions in Latin America for international projects of food and agriculture with higher education institutions in the U.S. The data collection followed two approaches: a quantitative, which was processed statistically, including mean (percentage), mode and cross-tabulation, and a qualitative, through semi-structured interviews. The population of this research was animal biotechnology institutions in Latin American countries, Spanish speaking, partners with the major funding organizations in the U.S., with Web pages on the Internet. Population included 17 countries with N=150, a random sample of n=83 for the quantitative analysis and n=20 for the qualitative approach. The instrument was developed by the researcher. Items were based on readiness surveys used widely in the U.S., and founded in two culture theories: Bank’s (2001) cultural elements and Hosfstede’s (1984) cultural dimensions. Using Bank’s theory it was concluded that English proficiency was considered an essential tool for research. Interviews exposed that researchers were aware of nonverbal communication differences between Latinos and Americans. Cultural cognitiveness showed to be exposed when researchers were confronted with another culture. The perspective of distance education showed to be considered different from face to face education. There was an appropriate perception of the need, ownership, and use of computer technologies and Internet accessibility with fast connections. Researchers perceived computer technology equipment as a measurement of the quality of their institution. Using Hofstede’s (1984) dimensions it was concluded that Latin American countries were considered to have high power distance on four of the six items assessed; had strong uncertainty avoidance with four of the six items assessed, where a collectivist society, with five items out of six. Interviews determined that a masculine dimension was predominant in the study. Assessment of technology involved: Internet, technological resources, computer proficiency, distance education and instructional design experience. Results of this assessment showed that technology must be measured through a cultural perspective to achieve accurate responses because people express and understand through their mental constructs which are tainted with their cultural experiences and their perception of life, work, academics, and society.

Antiretroviral therapy places extraordinarily high demands on adherence, since non-adherence affects both individuals and society due to the spread of resistant viral strains. The aims of the thesis were to investigate the prevalence of adherence in Swedish HIV-infected patients, changes in adherence over time, and factors associated with adherence, including patients’ readiness to adhere. Further, to investigate the collaboration between nurses, doctors and pharmacists after the introduction of a HIV-clinic satellite pharmacy. Data were collected via two cross-sectional patient surveys in 1998 and 2002, qualitative interviews with health care personnel at a major HIV clinic, and a nation-wide, cross-sectional patient survey in 2003-2004. The level of adherence improved from 28% in 1998 to 57% in 2002, possibly due to simplified treatment and a new multi-professional treatment model at the clinic. The proportion of adherent patients was 63% in the nationwide survey. Factors associated with adherence were high age, high quality patient-provider relationships, no drug or alcohol problems and shorter time on treatment. A hypothesized structural equational model, using readiness and adherence as separate latent concepts, was tested and found to support readiness as a distinct factor influencing adherence. The health care personnel believed that conventional pharmacies had several disadvantages in serving the HIV infected population. They found the HIV-clinic satellite pharmacy valuable, since it contributed to increased communication and trust between the health care professions, and improved teamwork in medication management. In conclusion, the level of adherence increased over time, and several factors associated with adherence were identified. Improved collaboration between health care professionals may enhance treatment support, and increased attention should be given to interventions that focus on the individual’s readiness for behavioural change in order to optimize treatment outcomes.