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The ability of music to produce calming effects on us is well documented, and its use is becoming an increasingly accepted intervention with populations displaying agitated and disruptive behaviors, such as people with Alzheimers disease (AD) or other dementias. One reason for its widespread use is because research has demonstrated musics efficacy in reducing agitation, and consequently disruptive behaviors, in those with AD. Prior studies on musics effects on agitation in older people with AD have utilized either recorded music used passively, or active sessions with a music therapist or musicians, but none have compared the effects of each type of intervention. The purpose of the current study is to examine musics effects on levels of agitation in people with AD or other dementias. The research design is quasi-experimental, utilizing a convenience sample of people with AD who live at home and are cared for by an informal caregiver. The current study is unique in several ways. First, past studies of music interventions with people with AD and related dementias have used either passive or active interventions, but have not compared the effects of both as the current study attempts to do. Next, past studies of music therapy with people with dementia have not examined how participation during the music sessions affects agitated behaviors. Past studies have demonstrated variations in participants responses to music therapy and activities, and this may be due to whether or not the participant is actually engaged with the intervention. This study assesses engagement by including participation as a variable. Lastly, the current study utilizes a unique sample of people with AD and related dementias who will continue to live at home during the course of the study.

<p> Children who experience abuse and neglect are at risk for failure to thrive and may suffer consequences in their cognitive, behavioral, and social development. Because of exposure to maltreatment, some children may not have access to valuable social and recreational experiences as needed to enhance their cognitive, behavioral, and social development, and improve their overall quality of life. Research states that the intervention of an overnight or day-to-day recreational camp is an experience for children that has proven to be highly effective for children within the child welfare population. The purpose of this project was to write a grant proposal for a community outreach program that the YMCA of Greater Whittier will use to recruit and serve vulnerable youth at their recreational camp site, Camp Arbolado. Implications for social work practice are discussed. The submission for funding for this grant was not required for successful completion of this project.</p>

<p> This project served to locate a potential funding source and develop a grant to provide foster children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) in-home based intervention focused on improving the level of care for children with ASD in out-of-home care. The triad that defines the core symptoms of ASD (communication, social, and behavioral) poses concerns on how children with ASD fare while in foster care. The literature review revealed that in home-based intervention would allow the integration of behavioral therapy techniques into parenting, and the transmission of communication, social skills, and behavioral strategies into the child&rsquo;s natural context, home. The chosen potential funding source is The Ralph M. Parsons Foundation, which focuses on improving quality of care for underserved populations by offering foster parents the services needed to provide better care to children with ASD. The proposed program aims to provide in-home services to children with ASD through partnership with the Alliance Foster Family Agency (AFFA) to assist foster parents in gaining the skills and the knowledge necessary to provide care for children with ASD. If funded, this program will promote a better quality of life for children with ASD. Actual submission of this proposal for funding was not mandatory for the conclusion of this project.</p>

<p> The purpose of this grant proposal was to develop a peer mentorship program, titled Inspired to Become Resilient, for foster youth aged 16 to 18, who are transitioning out of the foster care system or have already done so. The host agency for this program is Project Renew, located in Costa Mesa, California. A literature review was conducted to examine topics related to foster youth including their challenges and outcomes. The purpose of the proposed program was to teach and promote independent living skills, according to the individual needs and goals of the participants, provide social and emotional support, and provide links to resources and services. After searching for funding sources, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation was selected as a potential grant funder. The actual submission or funding of this grant proposal was not a requirement for the successful competition of the project. </p>

This study investigated the relationship between favorable employability ratings of hypothetical job applicants with a severe disability and two aspects of employers' perceived organizational context: organizational climate and negotiation latitude, using a cross-sectional, correlational design. A survey including a hypothetical job applicant vignette in one of three conditions: non-disabled, severe physical disability (acquired brain injury), severe psychiatric disability (schizophrenia) was mailed out to a random sample of 1,000 employers selected from a national human resource membership list. Responses were received from 248 employers. The chief purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between employers' perceived organizational context and their impressions of job applicant employability. A secondary purpose was to explore the hierarchy of job applicant disability condition (non-disabled, acquired brain injury, schizophrenia) by employability rating. The concept of perceived organizational context was operationalized using two related constructs: organizational climate and negotiation latitude. Organizational climate was measured using a proxy instrument, the 10-item Knowledge and Acceptance of the ADA Scale. Negotiation latitude was measured using the eight-item Information Exchange Scale. The concept of employability impressions was measured using the 22-item Employment Characteristics Scale. Data analyses were conducted using a variety of univariate and bivariate statistical procedures. Logistical regression was used as the single multivariate procedure. The first study hypothesis predicted that the odds of obtaining a favorable employability impression for the hypothetical job applicant would increase when the organizational climate for hiring disabled workers was favorable and employer negotiation latitude was high. This prediction was partially supported inasmuch as the odds of obtaining a favorable employability impression did increase slightly when the hiring climate was also favorable. Although the odds of obtaining a favorable employability impression also increased slightly when negotiation latitude was high, that relationship failed to achieve statistical significance. A possible explanation for the failure of high negotiation to obtain significance as a predictor in logit may lie in the lack of empirical evidence for the predicted role of risk-taking in the context of hiring, and calls for further refinement of the construct in that context. The second study hypothesis was that non-disabled applicants would be viewed as most employable, followed by applicants with a physical disability and, ultimately, applicants with a psychiatric disability. This hypothesis also received partial support. As predicted, non-disabled job applicants received mean employability ratings that were higher than applicants in either disabled condition, and this difference obtained statistical significance. However, contrary to predictions, applicants with a psychiatric disability received substantially the same employability ratings as applicants with a physical disability. This unexpected finding may be due to: (1) lack of employer familiarity with both severe disabilities in the workplace, (2) more positive views of psychiatric disabilities due to recent positive changes in societal views on mental illness, or (3) because the acquired brain injury was viewed in light of the cognitive deficits that sometimes accompany it, rendering the individual multiply disabled. The implications of this study for social work practice include a new focus on employment interventions at the organizational level and relationship building between employers, consumers and practitioners to help create a favorable organizational context for the employment of workers with a disability. Implications for theory and research include a new focus on how hiring manager's evaluative and decision-making processes are influenced by the shared expectations of organizational members and leaders. Future studies may refine the concept of negotiation latitude in the hiring context and investigate the link between organizational context and the employment decision-making process.

This research is directed to a rough and beginning evaluation of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 as evidenced through one Community Action Program, the Neighborhood Development Program, in Baltimore, Maryland during the late fall of 1966. In this study the implementation of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 is evaluated according to the perceptions of the Neighborhood Development Assistants who are the indigenous workers in the program. The purposes of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and each Community Action Program were taken directly from the Act itself, and then various phrases were operationally defined. The data was collected through interviews using a fairly open­ ended schedule. The sample of twenty assistants was selected randomly from the second level of assistants of a program in which there are four levels and level I requires the least education and experience. A pilot study to test the interview schedule was conducted before the collection of any data. Due to the newness of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and the resulting anti poverty program there is a wealth of recent literature concerning poverty and what the program should do and, as yet, apparently no evaluative studies. The data collected here is analysed primarily with respect to theories and other pertinent research, and thus much of the discussion in the analysis refers back to the literature reviewed. The main conclusions are: (l) a question concerning how representative of the poor the assistants are, (2) inadequate publication of and communication about presently existing community resources, (3) the assistants' personal satisfaction with their jobs though dissatisfaction with the relationship between themselves and their supervisors and confusion concerning the value of their role, and (4) a strong need by the poor to have their physical needs met (which could be largely accomplished through more and better paying jobs) before attempting to meet more intangible goals (such as increasing political and social power). Although some of the assistants' work is consistent with the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 aims (such as referrals to jobs and community resources, and encouraging group efforts, voting, and complaining by the poor themselves), it seems that overall this program is not implementing the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 primarily because there is insufficient money, resources, and wide community cooperation to meet their physical needs, and until this goal is reached, efforts in other areas are and will be relatively unsuccessful. The generality and nonspecificity of the conclusions was to be expected and not undesirable considering the purpose and limited scope of this research. The seven recommendations are directed toward opportunities for increased employment and enabling individuals (particularly men) to return to school or enter a training program, increasing the representativeness of the poor, increasing the assistants' work with and on agencies on behalf of the poor, improving the communication and cooperation between the assistants and the rest of the staff, and pointing out areas for more research. With respect to relevant research there needs to be focus on the existence of the Economic Opportunity Act of 1964 and if it, as it is operating with its present limited budget, is really doing anything about poverty or is it just raising the hopes of the poor only to smash and frustrate them once more?

This research involved an analysis of data for 3,387 candidates who took the National Qualifying Examination for pediatric nurse practitioners/associates between 1977 and 1982. Those data were available from the National Board of Pediatric Nurse Practitioners and Associates, which administers the examination, and its testing agency, the National Board of Medical Examiners. Included in the data were sociodemographic characteristics of examinees, characteristics of their nurse practitioner educational programs, and their composite examination scores. The purpose of the research was to determine the ability of these sociodemographic and educational program variables to predict examination performance. Sociodemographic variables included: examinee age; highest level of education; months of experience as a registered nurse and as a nurse practitioner; formal or informal preparation as a nurse practitioner; current function (nurse practitioner skills or not); employment setting; year of examination; and, status as a first-time examinee or repeater. The educational program variables available for study were: current program status (operational or not); educational level (certificate or masters); institutional setting/sponsors; accreditation status; administrative control; discipline of program director(s); year established; class size; and length in hours and weeks. The data were analyzed by descriptive and multivariate techniques. There were statistically significant differences in the sociodemographic and program profiles of examinees from year to year. Between 1977 and 1982 the average age and, consequently, the length of experience of examinees decreased. Their highest level of education increased, and there were a larger proportion of masters programs and masters program graduates. In terms of functions and settings, the number of examinees who were not functioning as nurse practitioners increased, as did the number who were unemployed. Over this 6 year period, educational programs have moved into the mainstream of nursing education: they are typically located in schools of nursing that are accredited by the National League for Nursing, with administrative control vested in nursing and with a nurse director or nurse and physician co-directors. Additionally, programs have increased in both length in hours and in weeks. Regression analysis was used to evaluate the relationships between examination scores and the various predictor variables. An exploratory analysis using stepwise regression procedures eliminated those variables with little predictive significance. Further analyses with the five sociodemographic and five program variables remaining in the regression equations indicated that the largest contributions to differences in examination scores were made by the following variables: examinees' status as first- time takers or repeaters, their highest education, their age, and the educational level and accreditation status of their nurse practitioner program. At the individual level of analysis, sociodemographic variables were better predictors than program variables and explained between 8-26% (R = .28 to .51) of the variance in examination scores. On the other hand, the program variables explained 28% (R=.53) of the variance in average performance from program to program. That is, at the aggregate level of analysis (by program) there is obviously less individual variation around the program means and, therefore, greater predictive ability. Based on the results of this research the investigator made recommendations regarding educational and regulatory policy and suggestions for further research. In particular, further research on certification in nursing was encouraged.