EXPLORING THE ROLE OF FAMILY CAREGIVERS DURING CARE TRANSITIONS OF RURAL OLDER ADULTS FOLLOWING A HIP FRACTURE

As the population ages, hip fractures become a major concern for older adults. Using an ethnographic approach, this research aimed to understand first, the role of family caregivers following a hip fracture, and secondly, to determine caregiver needs and what contributions they make to knowledge exchange. This was achieved by conducting in-depth interviews with eleven patients, eight family caregivers and twenty-two healthcare providers. The study took place in a small rural setting in south-western Ontario. Thematic analysis of the data indicated that family caregivers play a vital role in the rehabilitation journey of patients with a hip fracture. As well, family caregivers make an important contribution to knowledge exchange during transitions between care settings by providing valuable information about the patient. Future research needs to examine more closely how these contributions to knowledge exchange create smoother transitions. Going forward, healthcare providers and family caregivers should focus on co­ creating knowledge and working together to benefit the patient

CROSSTALK-RESILIANT CODING FOR HIGH DENSITY DIGITAL RECORDING

Increasing the track density in magnetic systems is very difficult due to inter-track interference (ITI) caused by the magnetic field of adjacent tracks. This work presents a two-track partial response class 4 magnetic channel with linear and symmetrical ITI; and explores modulation codes, signal processing methods and error correction codes in order to mitigate the effects of ITI. Recording codes were investigated, and a new class of two-dimensional run-length limited recording codes is described. The new class of codes controls the type of ITI and has been found to be about 10% more resilient to ITI compared to conventional run-length limited codes. A new adaptive trellis has also been described that adaptively solves for the effect of ITI. This has been found to give gains up to 5dB in signal to noise ratio (SNR) at 40% ITI. It was also found that the new class of codes were about 10% more resilient to ITI compared to conventional recording codes when decoded with the new trellis. Error correction coding methods were applied, and the use of Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes was investigated. It was found that at high SNR, conventional codes could perform as well as the new modulation codes in a combined modulation and error correction coding scheme. Results suggest that high rate LDPC codes can mitigate the effect of ITI, however the decoders have convergence problems beyond 30% ITI

Second Workshop on Modelling of Objects, Components and Agents

This report contains the proceedings of the workshop Modelling of Objects, Components, and Agents (MOCA'02), August 26-27, 2002.The workshop is organized by the 'Coloured Petri Net' Group at the University of Aarhus, Denmark and the 'Theoretical Foundations of Computer Science' Group at the University of Hamburg, Germany. The homepage of the workshop is: http://www.daimi.au.dk/CPnets/workshop02

"Tied together like a woven hat:" Protective pathways to Alaska native sobriety

BACKGROUND: The People Awakening Project (1RO1 AA 11446-03) had two purposes, completed in Phase I and Phase II of the project. The purpose of Phase I was to complete a qualitative study; the research objective was discovery oriented with the specific aim of identification of protective and recovery factors in Alaska Native sobriety. Results were used to develop a heuristic model of protective and recovery factors, and measures based on these factors. The research objective of Phase II was to pilot these measures and provide initial validity data. METHODS: Phase I utilized a life history methodology. People Awakening interviewed a convenience sample of 101 Alaska Natives who had either recovered from alcoholism (n = 58) or never had a drinking problem (n = 43). This later group included both lifetime abstainers (LAs) and non-problem drinkers (NPs). Life histories were transcribed and analyzed using grounded theory and consensual data analytic procedures within a participatory action research framework. Analyses were utilized to generate heuristic models of protection and recovery from alcohol abuse among Alaska Natives. RESULTS: Analyses generated a heuristic model of protective factors from alcohol abuse. The resulting multilevel and multi-factorial model describes interactive and reciprocal influences of (a) individual, family, and community characteristics; (b) trauma and the individual and contextual response to trauma, (c) experimental substance use and the person's social environment; and (d) reflective processes associated with a turning point, or a life decision regarding sobriety. The importance of cultural factors mediating all these protective processes is emphasized. For NPs, the resilience process drew from personal stores of self-confidence, self-efficacy, and self-mastery that derived from ability to successfully maneuver within stressful or potentially traumatizing environments. In contrast, for many LAs, efficacy was instead described in more socially embedded terms better understood as communal mastery. One style of mastery is more associated with individualistic orientations, the other with more collectivistic. Future research is needed regarding the generalizeability of this group difference. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest that preventative interventions should focus on intervening simultaneously at the community, family, and individual levels to build resilience and protective factors at each level. Of particular importance is the building of reflexivity along with other cognitive processes that allow the individual to think through problems and to reach a life decision to not abuse alcohol

Using Civic Engagement and Collaboration to Create Community Change: Lessons From Charlotte, N.C.

· The city of Charlotte, N.C. undertook a deliberative democracy process using the AmericaSpeaks “21st Century Town Meeting” process. · The University of North Carolina-Charlotte performed a retrospective, process evaluation of the initiative examining the initiative’s components, coverage, participant feedback, short-term outcomes, and lessons learned. · Early planning and implementation was done by volunteers, which ultimately was not sustainable. A new center, housed within an existing organization, was created to implement the recommendations. · The initiative achieved a number of early successes, such as increasing the number of school nurses, expansion of an early childhood development program and an increase in after-school and summer programs for youth. · While the center continues to provide services, the broad public awareness and ongoing public participation was challenging to sustain

Air Force Institute of Technology Research Report 2001

This report summarizes the research activities of the Air Force Institute of Technology’s Graduate School of Engineering and Management. It describes research interests and faculty expertise; lists student theses/dissertations; identifies research sponsors and contributions; and outlines the procedures for contacting the school. Included in the report are: faculty publications, conference presentations, consultations, and funded research projects. Research was conducted in the areas of Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering, Electrical Engineering and Electro-Optics, Computer Engineering and Computer Science, Systems and Engineering Management, Operational Sciences, and Engineering Physics

Reframing the Role of Companies in Sustainability: Toward business sustainability transitions

Kestävästä tulevaisuudesta on tullut ääneen lausuttu yhteiskunnallinen tavoite. Ottaen huomioon yritysten merkittävän aseman tämän päivän yhteiskunnissa, se, miten ne kehystävät oman roolinsa suhteessa kestävään kehitykseen ja käsillä oleviin kestävyyden haasteisiin, kuten ilmastonmuutokseen, ihmisoikeusrikkomuksiin ja tautipandemioihin, vaikuttaa keskeisesti tavoitteen toteutumiseen. Kestävän tulevaisuuden tavoittelu edellyttää laaja-alaisia muutoksia nykyisiin tuotantoja kulutustapoihin, mikä johtaa myös yritysten roolin uudelleentarkasteluun. Tutkimukseen perustuva ymmärryksemme yritysten uudenlaisista rooleista ja toimista kestävyyden edistämiseksi on kuitenkin vielä jäsentymätön. Vaikka kestävyys näkyykin yhä useamman yrityksen arvoissa, ovat yritysten aikaansaamat parannukset kestävyyden kentässä vielä melko pienimuotoisia ja siten usein riittämättömiä. Myös kestävyyteen kytkeytyvät liiketoimintamahdollisuudet pysyvät useimpien yritysten ulottumattomissa. Tämä tutkimus tarkastelee yritysten roolia suhteessa kestävyyteen moninäkökulmaisesti. Neljä toisiaan täydentävää näkökulmaa (strategia, johtaminen, yhteisluominen ja holistisuus) luodaan erillisjulkaisuissa, jotka yhdessä tämän kokoomaosion kanssa muodostavat väitöskirjan. Erillisjulkaisut tarttuvat tutkimusilmiöön eri metodologisin keinoin, jotka sosiaalisen konstruktionismin paradigma ja laadullinen tutkimusote sitovat yhteen. Teoreettisesti yritysten roolia tarkastellaan markkinointi- ja transitiokirjallisuuden muodostamien linssien läpi. Kokonaisuutena väitöstutkimus tarjoaa näkökulmia siihen, miten yritykset voivat uudelleenkehystää (reframe) roolinsa suhteessa kestävyyteen kolmella keskeisellä osa-alueella. Nämä osa-alueet; liiketoimintastrategia, johtamisen aktiviteetit ja yhteisluomisen käytänteet, toimivat joko uudistumisen lähteenä tai sen esteenä yrityksissä. Tutkimus ehdottaa, että uudelleenkehystämällä roolinsa yritykset voivat vahvistaa strategista asemaansa tulevaisuuden markkinoilla sekä edistää nykyisten tuotanto- ja kulutustapojen siirtymiä kohti taloudellista, ekologista ja sosiaalista kestävyyttä markkinoilla tapahtuvan vuorovaikutuksen kautta. Näitä siirtymiä kuvaamaan tutkimuksessa luodaan käsite liiketoiminnan transitio kestävyyteen, joka muodostaa työn teoreettisen kontribuution. Liikkeenjohtajille väitöskirja tuo uusia keinoja tarttua yhteiskuntia ja liike-elämää koetteleviin kestävyyden ongelmiin ja mahdollisuuksiin. Tutkimuksessa luodaan uudelleenkehystämisen kuutio, joka toimii metaforisena työkaluna johtajille. Kuutio kokoaa yhteen kestävyyden eri osa-alueet, jotka yritysjohtajien tulee tunnistaa ja saattaa tasapainoon, ja joiden avulla he voivat johtaa liiketoiminnan transitioita kohti kestävyyttä. Väitöstutkimuksen tuloksia hyödyntämällä yritykset voivat menestyksekkäästi kasvaa kestävän tulevaisuuden ajureiksi.The ways in which companies address sustainability today shape the future for businesses, societies, and ecosystems at large. Yet, companies keep addressing the world’s most serious evolving challenges with varying degrees of concern, urgency, and strategic importance for as long as their role in relation to sustainability remains unclear. To develop a broader business commitment to sustainability and participate in tackling grand challenges such as climate change, human rights violations, the widening wealth gap, and disease outbreaks, companies need to rethink their current role of being in relation with the world that is facing mounting environmental, social, and economic pressures. The purpose of this dissertation is, therefore, to explore the role of companies in relation to sustainability from multiple viewpoints. The four articles comprising the dissertation represent such viewpoints—strategy, management, co-creation, and holistic—that, together with this introductory part, provide a broad and timely outlook on companies’ role. Theoretically, this dissertation combines the previously disconnected fields of marketing and sustainability transition to create a lens through which companies’ role is explored. Methodologically, the articles use different methods but are bound together by a social constructionist research philosophy and a qualitative research strategy. Altogether, the primary data were generated from interviews with 13 managers and top executives and 25 millennial consumers in the Finnish business environment. The secondary data consist of annual reports, sustainability documents, and other public materials. Basing on the insights gleaned from the articles, this dissertation proposes reframing as a method for companies to break out of their old roles and enact new responses to sustainability. Reframing can expand horizons and capacity for action by bringing the two frames of business and sustainability together. Reframing—that is, making new interpretations of a current situation and creating novel responses—is suggested to be particularly useful in three organizational areas, namely business strategies, management activities, and co-creation practices. By conceptualizing a new construct, business sustainability transition, the dissertation makes its main theoretical contribution to the sustainability transition literature. The new construct captures the fundamental, system-wide sustainability improvements that companies can initiate in their business environment through purposeful marketplace interactions. The key managerial takeaways are provided in the form of the Reframing Cube. As a metaphorical tool, the Cube can help managers think and address sustainability in new ways that can readily be translated into actions. While letting go of the old ways of being in relation with the world is not easy, it is suggested that by reframing their role in sustainability, companies can reap strategic advantages while facilitating much-needed business sustainability transitions. Therefore, companies are key actors in shaping our common future for economically healthier, environmentally friendlier, and socially more balanced modes of production and consumption

Developmental tasks and learning processes which influence life-satisfaction in retirement

This study identified the developmental tasks undertaken by eight retired males during the retirement transition, described the processes of! earning and adjustment and discussed their influence on life-satisfaction. The study was an exploratory, descriptive case study, designed as an initial investigation into the phenomena of retirement in the 1990s. A qualitative design was appropriate to the study for it permitted the investigation of a wide range of inter related variables. The major instrument was a semi-structured but open-ended interview designed to gather comprehensive data relevant to understanding the retirement experience. An iterative process was used, which involved interviewing each participant on two occasions. The second of the interviews provided opportunities for gathering more sensitive data about the retirement experiences. The participants were actively involved in the investigation, they provided the initial data and also verified the interpretations and findings. AJI interviews were recorded by audio-tape and the coded transcripts were the major data source. A matrix of developmental tasks and processes of learning, and life-satisfaction in retirement was developed for the analysis, presentation and interpretation of the data

Exploring key determinants of health among individuals with serious mental Illness: qualitative insights from a first episode psychosis cohort, 20 years postdiagnosis

Background Individuals with serious mental illness (SMI) are more likely to experience functional decline, low well-being, comorbidities, shorter lifespan, and diminished quality of life than the general population. This qualitative study explores determinants of health that individuals with SMI perceive as important to their health, well-being, and ability to live a meaningful life. Method We conducted interviews with 13 individuals with early detected first episode psychosis as part of a 20-year follow-up study of a larger cohort. Interview data were analyzed using qualitative content analysis. Results Analysis identified two themes comprising eight categories representing determinants of health. The first theme reflected management of mental and physical health. Categories in this theme were: access to mental healthcare adapted to individual needs, strategies during deterioration, use of psychotropic medication, maintenance of physical health and lifestyle. The second theme reflected social health determinants in coping with mental illness and comprised three categories: family and friends, engaging in meaningful hobbies and activities, and the influence of employment on mental health. Conclusions Individuals with SMI outlined mental, physical, and social determinants of health that were important for their health, well-being, and ability to live a meaningful life. In future clinical practice, coordinated care addressing the complexity of health determinants will be important.publishedVersio