An Art Therapy Domestic Violence Prevention Group in Mexico

This paper explores the implementation, course of treatment, achievements and limitations of an art therapy domestic violence prevention group in Mexico. The group was part of a Mexican pilot program utilizing a solution-focused model developed by Stith, McCollum, and Rosen (2007) in the U.S. The art therapy group served Otomí clients, who are members of a unique indigenous sub-culture within Mexican society. A brief literature review discusses domestic violence, solution-focused treatment, couples groups, and the particular complexities of working inter-culturally. The course of treatment is presented and the achievements and limitations of the program are briefly evaluated within the context of cultural and societal factors. Art making as a culturally sensitive facilitator of treatment is discussed. Challenges associated with language, poverty, and health are considered in terms of clients’ ability to complete the program and maximize its effectiveness

Working in greyscale: understanding the role and position of social work in mental health services in England and Wales

Social work in England and Wales has played an integral role in mental health since the formalisation of mental health care. However, neither the scope of provision nor the role itself have been clearly conceptualised, leaving contemporary mental health social work nebulously defined and unclearly situated within mental health structures. Moves toward and away from integrated care have contributed to role erosion resulting in a profession unclear of its position. Policy-led role definitions have been unsuccessful in addressing this. Social work roles are deemed quasi-professional and difficult to articulate, highly susceptible to the external gaze of other professionals and to organisational expectations, which can prompt role defensiveness. However, understanding of the interplay of these factors in mental health is limited. This research adopted a mixed-method approach to establish an overview of mental health social work provision and to explore how mental health social workers perceive their role, accounting for variation and similarity across the range of practice contexts. An initial survey of mental health social work providers generated a framework to inform a survey of 248 social workers, thirty of whom also completed an in-depth semi-structured interview, exploring their views on professional identity and practice context. Data was analysed statistically and using a Framework thematic approach. Participants articulated their professional role as an interaction of tasks, values and knowledge which informed a distinctive approach to practice. The externally facing, task-based roles were seen to be sensitive to practice environments and influences, but values and knowledge-based roles were presented as consistent across settings. This indicates a need for definitions of mental health social work to be distinguished from the activities of practice if this workforce is to be understood and deployed effectively. Further research to elucidate the values and knowledge base being employed in these roles would be beneficial in this

Our Findings and Sugardale\u27s Next Steps

We were given the opportunity to work with a client this year, Sugardale. We collected secondary research through online databases. Then we performed interviews, focus groups, and surveys to get the primary research. This presentation is a collection of our primary and secondary research on the company and the recommendations we made to help the target demographic

Organizational Factors that Contribute to Operational Failures in Hospitals

The performance gap between hospital spending and outcomes is indicative of inefficient care delivery. Operational failures—breakdowns in internal supply chains that prevent work from being completed—contribute to inefficiency by consuming 10% of nurses’ time (Hendrich et al. 2008, Tucker 2004). This paper seeks to identify organizational factors associated with operational failures, with a goal of providing insight into effective strategies for removal. We observed nurses on medical/ surgical units at two hospitals, shadowed support staff who provided materials, and interviewed employees about their internal supply chain’s performance. These activities created a database of 120 operational failures and the organizational factors that contributed to them. We found that employees believed their department’s performance was satisfactory, but poorly trained employees in other departments caused the failures. However, only 14% of the operational failures arose from errors or training. They stemmed instead from multiple organizationally-driven factors: insufficient workspace (29%), poor process design (23%), and a lack of integration in the internal supply chains (23%). Our findings thus suggest that employees are unlikely to discern the role that their department’s routines play in operational failures, which hinders solution efforts. Furthermore, in contrast to the “Pareto Principle” which advocates addressing “large” problems that contribute a disproportionate share of the cumulative negative impact of problems, the failures and causes were dispersed over a wide range of factors. Thus, removing failures will require deliberate cross-functional efforts to redesign workspaces and processes so they are better integrated with patients’ needs

Designed for Workarounds: A Qualitative Study of the Causes of Operational Failures in Hospitals

Frontline care providers in hospitals spend at least 10% of their time working around operational failures, which are situations where information, supplies, or equipment needed for patient care are insufficient. However, little is known about underlying causes of operational failures and what hospitals can do to reduce their occurrence. To address this gap, we examined the internal supply chains at two hospitals with the aim of discovering organizational factors that contribute to operational failures. We conducted in-depth qualitative research, including observations and interviews of over 80 individuals from 4 nursing units and the ancillary support departments that provide equipment and supplies needed for patient care. We found that a lack of interconnectedness among interdependent departments' routines was a major source of operational failures. The low levels of interconnectedness occurred because of how the internal supply chains were designed and managed rather than because of employee error or a shortfall in training. Thus, we propose that the time that hospital staff spend on workarounds can be reduced through deliberate efforts to increase interconnectedness among hospitals' internal supply departments. Four dimensions of interconnectedness include (1) hospital-level—rather than department-level—performance measures; (2) internal supply department routines that respond to specific patients' needs rather than to predetermined stocking routines; (3) knowledge that is necessary for efficient handoffs of materials is translated across departmental boundaries; and (4) cross-departmental collaboration mechanisms that enable improvement in the flow of materials across departmental boundaries

A Translational Intervention for Reducing Infant Mortality in Mississippi: A Move to Eliminate Health Disparities

Therapeutic, technological, and medical advances have contributed to improve Infant Mortality Rates in the United States over the last 100 years. However, there are still geographical and racial disparities and challenges, and infant mortality remains higher in the Unites States than in many other developed countries. A formal death review process can identify causal, contributory and potentiating factors related to infant deaths. This article describes use of the PDSA Model for Improvement to develop a strategy for change that will result in reducing the Infant Mortality Rate within an organization

Getting Volunteer Teachers and Urban Parents to Work Together: a Study of an Effort to Establish a Partnership

Thesis advisor: Robert J. StarrattParent involvement is critical to student success. Many schools across the nation are making a concerted effort to establish relationships between teachers and parents. There are a myriad of barriers that prevent those relationships from occurring. The challenge is even greater in urban schools. This qualitative case study examines the impact of volunteer teacher perceptions and attitudes on establishing relationships with urban parents at an all girls' middle school in the inner city. The study specifically investigated the beliefs of volunteer teachers before and after their participation in the study. The study will also examine whether teachers considered parents as an in integral part in supporting their children's learning as a result of their participation in the study. Five volunteer teachers, a master teacher and the parent coordinator participated in the study over the course of a year and a half. The data from this study showed that despite cultural and socio-economic differences, volunteer teacher can work with urban parents. The findings indicate volunteer teachers do value parental involvement. Teachers believe with continued professional development, they can establish authentic relationships with parents. Teachers in the study reported that parents want the best for their children. Teachers indicated that their relationships with parents are critical to student success. The findings of this study will provide implications for educational practice, policy, future research and researchers' leadership. Limitations to the study include a small sample size, the duration of the study and the role of researcher as Head of School.Thesis (EdD) — Boston College, 2009.Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education.Discipline: Educational Administration

METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR DYNAMICALLY ISSUING A PAYMENT ACCOUNT

The present disclosure relates to a method and system for dynamically issuing a payment account. The method for account issuance includes receiving a template request for a card template including one or more card parameters. In response to the request, further, the method may include generating the card template based on the one or more card parameters. Furthermore, the method may include storing the card template under a card template identification. Thereafter, receiving a card request for a new card object including the card template identification. Based on the determination that the card template identification matches the received card template identification, the method may include applying the one or more card parameters to the new card object and instantiating a new card object including the one or more card parameters