Soldiers to Citizens: The Link Between Military Service and Volunteering

Research has shown that military service is linked with some forms of political engagement, such as voting, especially for minorities. In this paper, we explore the relationship between military service and another measure of civic engagement— volunteering. Military service can help to overcome barriers to volunteering by helping to socialize people with a norm of civic responsibility, by providing social resources and skills that compensate for the lack of personal resources, and by making people aware of opportunities to volunteer and “asking” them to do so. The data used to explore this research question are from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey (CPS) 2005 September supplement on volunteering. We find that military service is positively related to volunteering among blacks and Hispanics. Married veterans and veterans over the age of 65 are more likely to volunteer than nonveterans.LBJ School of Public Affair

Volunteer Growth in America: A Review of Trends Since 1974

The Corporation has produced a national report that for the first time tracks volunteering over a 30-year period. "Volunteer Growth in America: A Review of Trends Since 1974" illustrates how volunteering has rebounded to a 30-year high today -- rising by more than 32 percent over the past 16 years -- after declining between 1974 and 1989. The report found that older teenagers (ages 16-19) have more than doubled their time spent volunteering since 1989; that far from being a "Me Generation," that Baby Boomers are volunteering at sharply higher rates than did the previous generation at mid-life; and that the volunteer rate for Americans ages 65 years and over has increased 64 percent since 1974; and the proportion of Americans volunteering with an educational or youth service organization has seen a 63 percent increase just since just 1989. "Volunteer Growth in America" is based on statistics from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The findings are encouraging while demonstrating that more engagement is needed to achieve a national goal of raising the number of volunteers from 65 million in 2005 to 75 million by 2010

Universell utforming av baderom i bo- og behandlingssentre

Er kravene ang universell utforming av baderom, skrevet i Plan- og bygningsloven (PBL), gode nok for bruk i bo- og behandlingssentre? A. Hvor godt er baderommene ved bo- og behandlingssentre tilpasset pleiere og beboere? B. Er det tilfredsstillende at kravene ang universell utforming av baderom, oppgitt av PBL, er tallfestet. Eller bør forskriftene utdypes med andre type krav? C. Bør de samme kravene til universell utforming av baderom gjelde i alle situasjoner og for alle målgrupper? Ansatte og beboere ved tre bo- og behandlingssentre i Bærum kommune ble intervjuet ang deres erfaring med baderommene ved institusjonen. Baderommene omtalt i intervjuene ble skissert og dokumentert med foto. Under intervjuene kom det godt frem at baderommene omtalt i denne oppgaven ikke var godt nok tilpasset pleierne ved institusjonene. Det burde bli mer fokus på inkludering av pleiere som har de største forutsetningene for å finne frem til en utforming som er godt tilpasset deres situasjon. Utformingen burde kunne tilpasses slik at den passer best mulig med de som faktisk er brukere uten at det må søkes om dispensasjon fra forskriftskravene i PBL. På bakgrunn av denne oppgaven tyder det på at forskriftskravene angående universell utforming av baderom, skrevet av Plan- og bygningsloven, ikke er omfattende nok til å skape et tilfredsstillende baderom for beboere og pleiere ved bo- og behandlingssentre. ENGLISH: Are the requirements regarding universal design in bathrooms, written by The Planning and Building Act (PBL), good enough for use in nursing homes? A. How well are the bathrooms in nursing homes adapted to nurses and residents? B. Is it adequate that the requirements regarding universal design in bathrooms, given in the PBL, are quantified? Or should the regulations be elaborated with other requirements? C. Should the same requirements for universal design of bathrooms be applied in all situations and for all target groups? Nurses and residents at three nursing homes in Bærum Kommune were interviewed regarding their experience with bathrooms at the institutions. The bathrooms discussed in the interviews were sketched and documented with photographs. During the interviews it was apparent that the bathrooms discussed in this thesis were not good enough adapted to the nurses at the institutions. There should be a greater focus on the inclusion of nurses who have the greatest conditions to find a design that is well suited to their situation. The design should be adapted, to best fit with those who are actually users, without the need to apply for a dispensation from regulatory requirements from the PBL. In view of this thesis it is indicated that the regulative requirements regarding universal design in bathrooms, by the Planning and Building Act is not extensive enough to create adequate bathrooms for resident and nurses at nursing homes

Boys’ Experiences of Paternal Absence and Their Perceptions of This on Their Performance at School

Aims This study was to investigate the experiences of boys whose fathers have been permanently absent from the home and how they perceive this to be impacting on their school performance. It is hoped that the findings will inform policy decisions at the school level and guide the practice of counsellors when working with father-absent boys. Method A qualitative approach was used in carrying out the study. Using the strategy of narrative research, semi-structured interviews were conducted individually with six boys from a secondary school in Dominica. The data was analysed using narrative analysis. Findings/Results In the absence of their father the majority of participants lacked emotional support, mentoring, and adequate economic resources. They experienced feelings of broken attachment, emotional pain, loneliness, and grief. Limited supervision, behavioural problems, assumption of parental roles and decision making, and their mothers’ inadequacy were cited by half of the participants as challenges faced. There was no significant impact of paternal absence on the majority of the participants’ school performance. Conclusions Participants suffered emotionally and psychologically due to the absence of their fathers. Their feelings were dealt with and expressed differently. Counselling seems necessary for participants to address their problems associated with their fathers’ absence

Influencing Student Beliefs About the Role of the Civil Engineer in Society

This study suggests that community service learning experiences facilitate the reconstruction of civil engineering student beliefs about both the type of work performed by civil engineers and the broad impact of civil engineering knowledge. Further, the service learning experiences highlight for students 1) the importance of relationships between people, 2) the value of variations in perspective, and 3) the responsibilities of civil engineers in society as holders of expert knowledge. Meta-cognitive and self-regulated learning activities may be the mechanisms by which student beliefs evolve during service learning. Therefore, the quality of community service learning experiences may be enhanced by increasing the opportunities for students to articulate and organize their knowledge, critique their perspectives, compare and contrast their understanding with the understanding of others, and engaged in activities requiring knowledge integration

Determining risk of hip fracture in older adults with complex needs in New Zealand: A national population time-to-event study

Hip fractures are one of the most common and debilitating injuries in older adults. Older adults who sustain a hip fracture are more likely to have increased mortality and morbidity with reduced quality of life. This, combined with slow recovery times, can lead to a need for entry to aged care facilities. Considerable work has been undertaken to investigate risk factors for hip fracture in the wider clinical research. This study built on that work and aims to identify risk factors for hip fracture in older adults with complex needs in the New Zealand context, based on questions from the interRAI home care (interRAI-HC) assessment. The interRAI-HC assessment is a standardised comprehensive clinical assessment typically given to people aged 65 years and older to assess areas of need that each person has. From the determined risk factors, a hip fracture risk score was developed to identify individuals who are more likely to sustain a hip fracture in the two years following their assessment. Two sets of interRAI-HC data were used in this study. The initial dataset (September 2012 to June 2015) was randomly split into two datasets. Two-thirds of the data was used to explore risk factors for hip fracture and to develop a risk score. A competing risk regression was used to determine which variables were significantly associated with hip fracture and were to be included in the hip fracture risk scores. The remaining one-third of the initial dataset was used to perform cross-validation of the developed scores, evaluating how well the scores predicted hip fracture events not used in the creation of the scores. Separate scores for males and females were created due to their different risk profiles. The predictive power of each score was assessed using Receiver Operator Characteristic (ROC) curves and their associated area under the curve (AUC) at various candidate thresholds. The scores developed were further validated with the second, more recent, set of interRAI-HC assessments (November 2015 to June 2018). Factors associated with hip fracture for the whole interRAI-HC assessment cohort were age, sex, ethnicity, falls, mental function varies, wandering, body mass index (BMI), tobacco use, Parkinson's disease, and dyspnoea (shortness of breath). For males, the risk factors associated with hip fracture were age, Parkinson's disease, and dyspnoea. For females, the factors associated with hip fracture were age, ethnicity, wandering, BMI, tobacco use, and dyspnoea. The male's score had an AUC of 0.586 (95% CI: 0.548 to 0.625), and the female's score had an AUC of 0.615 (95% CI: 0.593 to 0.637). When retesting using the more recent dataset, the male's score had an AUC of 0.611 (95% CI: 0.594 to 0.629) and the female’s score had an AUC of 0.624 (95% CI: 0.612 to 0.636). The scores developed here were modestly predictive of hip fracture risk for a New Zealand interRAI-HC cohort. The results of this thesis provide a good foundation for the development of a more sensitive and specific hip fracture prediction model. With further development, the score could have clinical use for individuals who complete interRAI-HC assessments

Downloaded from Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly

Abstract In light of the current economic conditions and the subsequent increased pressure on nonprofit organizations to collaborate, many nonprofit organizations are developing and conducting cross-sector workplace giving campaigns to increase philanthropic activity. Although some scholars have focused on the implications of such activities for for-profit organizations, little research has been conducted to better understand employee-level giving behaviors in charitable workplace campaigns. This longitudinal study focuses on workplace givers and the impact of individual-level factors on actual donation amounts in two annual workplace campaigns at a large public university from 2001 to 2008. Results show that salary consistently predicts giving amounts across campaigns; length of service, however, only predicts giving amounts in one campaign. Being promoted and receiving tenure led to employees donating less, whereas being promoted while already tenured led to employees donating more. We close the article with a discussion of the managerial implications of our findings

Development and validation of a frailty index compatible with three interRAI assessment instruments

BACKGROUND: a Frailty Index (FI) calculated by the accumulation of deficits is often used to quantify the extent of frailty in individuals in specific settings. This study aimed to derive a FI that can be applied across three standardised international Residential Assessment Instrument assessments (interRAI), used at different stages of ageing and the corresponding increase in support needs. METHODS: deficit items common to the interRAI Contact Assessment (CA), Home Care (HC) or Long-Term Care Facilities assessment (LTCF) were identified and recoded to form a cumulative deficit FI. The index was validated using a large dataset of needs assessments of older people in New Zealand against mortality prediction using Kaplan Meier curves and logistic regression models. The index was further validated by comparing its performance with a previously validated index in the HC cohort. RESULTS: the index comprised 15 questions across seven domains. The assessment cohort and their mean frailty (SD) were: 89,506 CA with 0.26 (0.15), 151,270 HC with 0.36 (0.15) and 83,473 LTCF with 0.41 (0.17). The index predicted 1-year mortality for each of the CA, HC and LTCF, cohorts with area under the receiver operating characteristic curves (AUCs) of 0.741 (95% confidence interval, CI: 0.718-0.762), 0.687 (95%CI: 0.684-0.690) and 0.674 (95%CI: 0.670-0.678), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: the results for this multi-instrument FI are congruent with the differences in frailty expected for people in the target settings for these instruments and appropriately associated with mortality at each stage of the journey of progressive ageing.</p

Spatiotemporal variation in house spider phenology at a national scale using citizen science

The seasonal appearance of Tegenaria and Eratigena (the best known of the UK genera termed house spiders) results in considerable public and media interest. Here, we present the largest dataset ever gathered on the occurrence of house spiders anywhere in the world. We collected almost 10,000 records from different locations within the UK (amounting to ∼250× more locations and 25× more records than any previous study) over a six-month period. Using this dataset, which contained details of sighting dates, times, location within UK, location within the home, location within rooms, and sex, we were able to investigate a number of aspects of house spider ecology. Eightytwo percent of records were males, supporting previous studies that showed house spider surges in autumn are predominantly males seeking mates. Sightings peaked in mid-September with a significant northwest progression across the UK as autumn progressed. Daily activity peaked at 19.35 hrs and spiders were seen more or less uniformly throughout different rooms; we discuss why this is more likely to be due to spider ecology than human behaviour. Within rooms, there was a sex-based difference in ecology with females more common on ceilings and doors/windows and males more common on walls, possibly because of sex-specific differences in mobility