Attachments, Grievances, Resources, and Efficacy: The Determinants of Tenant Association Participation Among Public Housing Tenants*

ABSTRACT: This study uses data from the Multi-City Study of Urban Inequality to examine variation in tenant association participation among public housing tenants in Boston and Los Angeles. Using logistic regression models we estimate the net effects of four sets of factors on the likelihood that a tenant has attended tenant association meetings: neighborhood attachments, grievances, resources and constraints, and feelings of efficacy. Results show that net of other factors, participation is greater among attached tenants who have resided in public housing longer and who have social ties to other people. Grievances also increase participation, but they do so indirectly by increasing peopleâs tendency to be more involved in their communities. With the exception of educationâs positive effect, resources and constraints are not important determinants of participation. Education and efficacy act like enablers increasing peopleâs ability to be involved in their communities. The implications of the findings for research and community organizing are explored by examining how three mechanisms account for the findings

Dynamics of history-dependent perceptual judgment

Identical physical inputs do not always evoke identical percepts. To investigate the role of stimulus history in tactile perception, we designed a task in which rats had to judge each vibrissal vibration, in a long series, as strong or weak depending on its mean speed. After a low-speed stimulus (trial n − 1), rats were more likely to report the next stimulus (trial n) as strong, and after a high-speed stimulus, they were more likely to report the next stimulus as weak, a repulsive effect that did not depend on choice or reward on trial n − 1. This effect could be tracked over several preceding trials (i.e., n − 2 and earlier) and was characterized by an exponential decay function, reflecting a trial-by-trial incorporation of sensory history. Surprisingly, the influence of trial n − 1 strengthened as the time interval between n − 1 and n grew. Human subjects receiving fingertip vibrations showed these same key findings. We are able to account for the repulsive stimulus history effect, and its detailed time scale, through a single-parameter model, wherein each new stimulus gradually updates the subject’s decision criterion. This model points to mechanisms underlying how the past affects the ongoing subjective experience

Developing a reflection and analysis tool (We-ReAlyse) for readmissions to the intensive care unit: A quality improvement project

Readmissions to the intensive care unit are associated with poorer patient outcomes and health prognoses, alongside increased lengths of stay and mortality risk. To improve quality of care and patients' safety, it is essential to understand influencing factors relevant to specific patient populations and settings. A standardized tool for systematic retrospective analysis of readmissions would help healthcare professionals understand risks and reasons affecting readmissions; however, no such tool exists.; This study's purpose was to develop a tool (We-ReAlyse) to analyze readmissions to the intensive care unit from general units by reflecting on affected patients' pathways from intensive care discharge to readmission. The results will highlight case-specific causes of readmission and potential areas for departmental- and institutional-level improvements.; A root cause analysis approach guided this quality improvement project. The tool's iterative development process included a literature search, a clinical expert panel, and a testing in January and February 2021.; The We-ReAlyse tool guides healthcare professionals to identify areas for quality improvement by reflecting the patient's pathway from the initial intensive care stay to readmission. Ten readmissions were analyzed by using the We-ReAlyse tool, resulting in key insights about possible root causes like the handover process, patient's care needs, the resources on the general unit and the use of different electronic healthcare record systems.; The We-ReAlyse tool provides a visualization/objectification of issues related to intensive care readmissions, gathering data upon which to base quality improvement interventions. Based on the information on how multi-level risk profiles and knowledge deficits contribute to readmission rates, nurses can target specific quality improvements to reduce those rates.; With the We-ReAlyse tool, we have the opportunity to collect detailed information about ICU readmissions for an in-depth analysis. This will allow health professionals in all involved departments to discuss and either correct or cope with the identified issues. In the long term, this will allow continuous, concerted efforts to reduce and prevent ICU readmissions. To obtain more data for analysis and to further refine and simplify the tool, it may be applied to larger samples of ICU readmissions. Furthermore, to test its generalizability, the tool should be applied to patients from other departments and other hospitals. Adapting it to an electronic version would facilitate the timely and comprehensive collection of necessary information. Finally, the tool's emphasis comprises reflecting on and analyzing ICU readmissions, allowing clinicians to develop interventions targeting the identified problems. Therefore, future research in this area will require the development and evaluation of potential interventions