Supporting people with cognitive disabilities in decision making – processes and dilemmas

The exploratory study found that participants, including those with cognitive disability, mostly supported the broad concept of supported decision making. However supporters saw this as a complex, dynamic and frequently chaotic process. Fundamental to the process were relationships and tailoring support to the individual. The skills and knowledge required included communication skills, self-awareness, the capacity for reflective discussion, conflict resolution skills, and knowledge of strategies for tailoring the decision making process to the individual. The study revealed multiple dilemmas and tensions associated with supporting someone with cognitive disability to make a decision but most commonly mentioned were remaining neutral, managing conflicting perspectives amongst differing supporters, balancing rights with risk and best interests, and resource constraints. The study provides some key insights into the practice of supporting people with cognitive disability to make decisions and knowledge that can be incorporated into training programs for people in this role. The findings also highlight the need for further research in this area, particularly in relation to ‘what works’ in support for decision making for people with cognitive disabilit

Mind Over Matter or Matter Over Mind: How Potential Role Conflict Affects the Psychological Well-Being of College Student-Athletes

Student-athletes have two priorities during their time in college. As a student receiving an education and an athlete that competes for the institution. The demands of the two roles have the potential for the student-athlete to experience role conflict. According to Hurley (1993), role conflict develops when two or more roles produce differing demands on a person to the extent that the individual is unable to effectively fulfill one or all roles. Role conflict can cause many problems for the individual that experiences it. One of the negative outcomes of a person perceiving role conflict in two or more of their roles is to their mental health (Brookins 2018). The objective for conducting this research study is to definitively parse out whether NCAA Division I college student-athletes experience role conflict and whether role conflict negatively impacts the psychological well-being of student-athletes

Advocating for Sustainability at The City of Beaverton, Oregon: An Advocacy Initiative and Sustainability Strategy using the STAR Communities (Sustainability Tools for Assessing and Rating Communities) Framework and Rating System

This paper analyzes the policy and advocacy dimensions of an effort that secured approval from the mayor and city council of Beaverton, Oregon for an ambitious addition to its sustainability initiatives. As a result, Beaverton has now applied for STAR (Sustainability Tools for Assessing and Rating Communities) certification – a national program that uses the STAR Rating System, that includes hundreds of measurable indicators to assess a community’s environmental, economic and social sustainability. In addition, the paper analyzes the process by which STAR indicator data were collected and are being incorporated into a comprehensive planning document – the Sustainable Beaverton Community Strategy (SBCS). The author was a member of the city’s Sustainability Program that developed and carried out an internal advocacy strategy to secure approval for the STAR initiative, has been the lead staff member for collecting and compiling the data for each STAR indicator included in the city’s report, and wrote the draft of the SBCS document. Drawing on those experiences and concepts from the field of policy advocacy, the paper evaluates the outcomes of these efforts and identifies key lessons

Social Integration of Learning-Disabled Students in Mainstream Programs Where the Method of Instruction is Divergent Questioning

This paper concentrates on an approach to enhance the social integration of learning- disabled students in regular classrooms. The chief problem is to design learning experiences which stimulate the development of social integration in mainstream programs. What effect does method of instruction have on positive affective states of learning- disabled students when mainstreamed? After defining terms, the literature review includes studies on l)divergent questioning and its relationship to the thinking processes, 2)methods of instruction, 3)actual and perceived peer status of learning- disabled students in regular classrooms. The research design will be experimental, using the classroom situation and primary students. The Peer Acceptance Scale (Bruininks 1972) will be used to assess peer status. Divergent questioning will be the method of instruction. The investigation will be aimed at the relationship between the level of the learning- disabled student \u27 s peer status in mainstream programs before and after the method of instruction of divergent questioning . In addition, a design of divergent questioning techniques for teachers preparing to mainstream will be included

‘Toxic Tourism on Indigenous Country’

In the far northeastern corner of the state of Oklahoma lie lands and waterways promised to a diverse set of Tribal Nations forcibly removed to this area throughout the 19th century. Today, these lands are home to both tribal members and non-Indigenous peoples alike, but the landscape and waterways have been irrevocably assaulted and transformed as a result of 20th century lead and zinc mining and the waste left behind (Manders and Aber 2014). Long known with the unfortunate designation of the “worst EPA Superfund Site in the United States” (Meadows 2019), the Tar Creek Superfund area remains to this day an ecosystem that is striving to recover from toxic chat piles, polluted creeks and overmined lands caving in on themselves. Just as important, the community members of the Tar Creek region and surrounding areas—including notably the Quapaw Nation—continue forward in an ongoing journey of healing and recovery from the severe impacts of this pollution on their health, wellbeing, sense of community and futures. At the forefront of efforts to keep the clean-up of the Tar Creek Superfund Site and the support for its communities going is the Local Environmental Action Demanded (LEAD) agency, founded by Rebecca Jim (Cherokee Nation), a long-time educator, counselor and environmental activist in the region. As part of her work in supporting local communities and educating visitors to the area, Rebecca has been leading Tar Creek Toxic Tours that allow participants to witness and experience first-hand the devastating impacts of the mining industry on the land and her people. This presentation highlights these Tar Creek Toxic Tours as a powerful mechanism for educating and advocating on themes of environmental justice, community development, local agency and the sovereignty of Tribal Nations

‘McGirt Ruling 2020: Implications for Indian Country and Beyond’

This presentation will focus on the results of last year\u27s US Supreme Court Case, McGirt v. Oklahoma and its potentially monumental impacts on Indian Country in Oklahoma. Oklahoma is a state in the southern United States that is home to 39 different federally-recognized tribes, including the Native Nations of the Muscogee (Creek), Seminole, Cherokee, Choctaw and Chickasaw peoples. Due to complicated layers of colonial history, forced removals and land dispossessions, there have been ongoing disputes over land jurisdiction and sovereignty between the tribes and the state of Oklahoma. In July 2020, the US Supreme Court stunned much of the nation by siding with the tribes and affirming that much of what is today Oklahoma has always been Native lands. The direction that our Tribal Nations take in the light of this decision is important for Indigenous peoples here and everywhere

Tourism Trails from Saltwater Kimberley to Oklahoma Indian Country: An Exploration of Indigenous-led Tourism, Culture and Resurgence

This research explores the intersections between Indigenous-led tourism and resurgence among Indigenous communities, with resurgence understood as connections with culture, Country (i.e. Indigenous homelands and waterways), and community. The research utilises a comparative case study approach to specifically highlight the experience of Karajarri Traditional Owners within the context of the saltwater Kimberley region of northwestern Australia. It also presents a comparative example of Indigenous-led tourism development within the context of the author’s Tribal Nation, the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, in the United States. Employing an Indigenous Participatory Action Research methodological framework that prioritises Indigenous perspectives, relationality and collaboration with participants as co-researchers, the research relies on extended, semi-structured interviews and co-researcher feedback when presenting the data. This study brings forth different voices, perspectives and experiences with Karajarri-led tourism from Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal co-researchers alike. The research focuses specifically on the relationships between traditional values, cultural lifeways and tourism models offered to visitors. Overall, the study critically examines the nexus between Indigenous-led tourism and community resurgence practices and discourses, with an emphasis on the ways that tourism relates to and, in some cases, serves as a vehicle for enabling resurgence. Specifically, I examine the ways that the Karajarri case study relates to the following concepts from Indigenous resurgence discourses: (1) grounded normativity, or traditional, place-based values; (2) ‘everyday acts’ of resurgence of cultural lifeways in the spheres of permissions, governance and economy-making; and (3) Indigenous internationalism that introduces a comparative lens for bringing the Karajarri case into dialogue with Cherokee and other Indigenous-led tourism models. The reflections from this study highlight the ways that Indigenous-led tourism can serve as a vehicle for resurgence of culture, community and connections with Country. It also explores the ways that this tourism-resurgence nexus is tested and shaped by the wider context of settler-colonial historical, political, social and economic influences, whether in the Kimberley or Oklahoma Indian Country

Building a Framework for Professional Nursing Practice Across the Continuum of Care

Nursing professional practice models are designed to unite and align nurses under one vision, set of values, and a professional practice model. The goal of this project was to implement and enculturate a professional practice model of nursing with assistant nurse managers and leaders across the continuum of care at an urban medical center and associated ambulatory medical offices. Staff engagement has been shown to improve satisfaction and decrease turnover and implementation and enculturation of a professional practice model improves engagement. The target population was nurse managers and leaders as they needed to embrace professional practice before the project was spread to frontline nursing staff. The interventions planned and implemented by the project workgroups resulted in decreased nurse manager and leader turnover and increased engagement. Uniting and aligning nurses under one vision, set of values, and professional practice model across the continuum of care enables the organization to elevate nursing practice, ultimately improving staff satisfaction and patient outcomes. This strategy also ensures that regardless of where members enter the health system, they will know that they have been cared for by a nurse from this health system

Oklahoma’s Native Communities and the Potential of Cultural Resilience

The state of Oklahoma, formerly known as Indian Territory, is presently home to 39 federally recognized tribes in the United States, most of which were forcibly relocated throughout the 19th century. Following these forced removals, certain tribes enjoyed unprecedented levels of sovereignty, creating governments and social institutions that combined American models with Native values. Under a subsequent federal policy however, this level of sovereignty was ended, reservations were dismantled and Native cultural values—including the absence of private land ownership—were dealt a tremendous blow. This seminar explores the historical legacy of the tribal nations that now call the state of Oklahoma home. It also identifies pathways of cultural resistance and resilience in the face of ongoing policies undermining Native communities and cultures. The presentation concludes with comparative observations on the state of cultural revitalization among Indigenous communities in both Oklahoma and Australia and seeks to identify pathways of mutual engagement and learning

A Budgetary Life Raft: An Analysis of Louisiana\u27s State and Local Sales Tax

The article discusses the state and local sales taxes in Louisiana, including their history, functions in local government administration, as well as the exemptions and exclusions