Effects of an Interview Guide on the Accuracy of Ratings for Applicants with Disabilities

The problem of bias in the employment interview for applicants with disabilities was addressed with research to identify if a decision aid can increase the decision making accuracy of interviewers. A survey designed to allow participants to rate applicants with five disabilities for three jobs (with three essential functions listed for each job) was used to assess rating accuracy of two groups. Participants who received the decision aid in the form of a Guide to Interviewing People with Selected Disabilities were expected to have more rating accuracy than those participants without access to the Guide. Accuracy was assessed by comparing participant ratings to target scores generated by an expert panel. Participants who received the Guide did not make more accurate ratings than the participants who completed the survey without access to the Guide, but it is likely that the results are a function of the limitations of the training rather than the Guide. Raters were significantly less accurate when rating the applicant with multiple sclerosis, as hypothesized. However, raters were also significantly less accurate for the applicant with a hearing impairment, despite their familiarity with the disability. The significantly lenient rating may be a function of the raters not considering the intense hearing requirements of the job tasks as seriously as did the experts. The practical implications for these findings are discussed with respect to interviewing applicants with disabilities

Influence of positive aspects of dementia caregiving on caregivers' well-being: a systematic review

YesBackground and Objectives: There is a growing evidence base that informal caregivers can identify positive aspects of providing care and that this may have a beneficial influence on their well-being. The aim of this systematic review was to explore how positive aspects of caregiving (PAC) affects the well-being of caregivers of people with dementia. Research Design and Methods: We searched electronic databases for quantitative studies exploring the association between PAC and caregiver well-being. Studies were included if they involved informal (unpaid) caregivers of people with dementia, at least 75% of whom had to be residing in the community. A narrative synthesis was used to explore patterns within the data. Results: Fifty-three studies were included in the narrative synthesis. Most studies utilized a cross-sectional design. The majority of samples consisted primarily of spouses and female caregivers. Twenty different PAC measures were employed and studies referred to a variety of constructs, such as satisfactions, gains, meaning, and rewards. PAC was associated with lower depressive symptoms and burden. Conversely, PAC was associated with better mental health, quality of life, satisfaction with life, and competence/self-efficacy. PAC was not associated with self-rated health or personal strain/stress. Discussion and Implications: The findings suggest that identifying PAC is associated with better caregiver well-being, although further longitudinal studies are required to explore how this relationship changes over time. Interventions that enable caregivers to gain a more positive experience of caregiving could be beneficial for their well-being

The Inbetweeners: Identifying And Quantifying The Unmet Mental Health Needs Of Children And Adolescents In Tallaght

Youth mental health is significant issue nationally as well as within South County Dublin. There is aperception amongst both service providers and parents that many children and young people are beingexposed to increasingly complex stressors and that the range of influences on their wellbeing are agrowing challenge. Whether this is the case or not, we do know that services are under pressure to respondeffectively, quickly and appropriately.This Report is the result of strong inter-agency working, bringing together statutory services with the community and voluntary sector, engaging with hospitals and community based providers, andoffering an opportunity for a number of disciplines and services to share their collective wisdom andinsights to better understand local dynamics.

A participatory approach to understand what might be most meaningful to people living with dementia in a positive psychology intervention

ABSTRACTObjectives: This study aimed to understand which character strengths are most important for people living with dementia and therefore which strengths-based psychological interventions could be most meaningful and acceptable.Methods: A participatory design, utilising Delphi methodology, was incorporated into an iterative three stage framework: (1) literature reviewed for Positive Psychology (PP) interventions and patientpublic involvement to define the character strengths; (2) modified Delphi (N = 10) identified which character strengths are most important for living with dementia; (3) focus groups (N = 14) exploredwhich PP interventions are most acceptable and meaningful. Qualitative data from the focus groups was analysed using thematic analysis.Results: Love, kindness and humour were deemed the most important character strengths for living with dementia. Qualitative data from the focus groups was captured in three superordinate themes:(1) lack of opportunity not capacity; (2) key considerations of PP interventions for people living with dementia; and (3) potential benefits of PP interventions.Conclusions: Love, kindness and humour come naturally to people with dementia, but people may lack social opportunities to use these strengths. Therefore, a PP intervention promoting positive emotion, social relationships and connection to one’s values appears most meaningful and acceptable as this may provide a social context to use and maintain these strengths

Students in Action Initiative

The Students in Action Project in the School of Hospitality Management and Tourism was established in 2012 as a way of engaging students and working with stakeholders in a destination. The overall aim of the project was to immerse students in an active collaborative learning environment within the destination to identify ways in which tourism could be enhanced. In the 2014/2015 academic year the project involved over 300 students from a variety of programmes and modules working with local stakeholders in Wexford Town. To date the project has been successful in its aims to develop staff, student and community engagement and has generated positive impacts in terms of lecturer and student collaborations and has also provided substantial outcomes for the destination. Going forward, while posing challenges in terms of funding, timetabling and logistical issues, the project provides extensive opportunities for further enhancement of student engagement and collaborative learning

Boston Women's Fund Annual Report 2008

The Boston Women's Fund provides start-up and on-going funding for women's/girls' organizations or projects that address social and economic injustice. Our focus is on women with the least access to resources, who have been excluded from full participation in society because of their race, class, age, ability, immigrant status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or religion. Women and girls organizing on their own behalf is a priority for the Fund. The Boston Women's Fund understands organizing as a collective action to challenge the status quo, demand changes in policy and practice, and educate communities about root causes and just solutions. The Fund recognizes that there are a variety of stages and strategies that lead to community organizing. Therefore, BWF supports strategies that build community, encourage collaborations with other organizations, increase skills and/or access to resources, and produce leadership from within the constituency directly affected.

Legal capacity and decision making: The ethical implications of lack of legal capacity on the lives of people with dementia

YesThe report entitled “Legal capacity and decision making: The ethical implications of lack of legal capacity on the lives of people with dementia” received funding under an operating grant from the European Union’s Health Programme (2014–2020)

Living well with dementia: An exploratory matched analysis of minority ethnic and white people with dementia and carers participating in the IDEAL programme

Objectives: The increasing heterogeneity of the population of older people is reflected in an increasing number of people with dementia and carers drawn from minority ethnic groups. Data from the IDEAL study are used to compare indices of ‘living well’ among people with dementia and carers from ethnic minority groups with matched white peers. Methods: We used an exploratory cross-sectional case-control design to compare ‘living well’ for people with dementia and carers from minority ethnic and white groups. Measures for both groups were quality of life, life satisfaction, wellbeing, loneliness, and social isolation and, for carers, stress, relationship quality, role captivity and caring competence. Results: The sample of people with dementia consisted of 20 minority ethnic and 60 white participants and for carers 15 and 45 respectively. People with dementia from minority ethnic groups had poorer quality of life (−4.74, 95% CI: −7.98 to −1.50) and higher loneliness (1.72, 95% CI: 0.78–2.66) whilst minority ethnic carers had higher stress (8.17, 95% CI: 1.72–14.63) and role captivity (2.00, 95% CI: 0.43–3.57) and lower relationship quality (−9.86, 95% CI: −14.24 to −5.48) than their white peers. Conclusion: Our exploratory study suggests that people with dementia from minority ethnic groups experience lower quality of life and carers experience higher stress and role captivity and lower relationship quality than their white peers. Confirmatory research with larger samples is required to facilitate analysis of the experiences of specific minority ethnic groups and examine the factors contributing to these disadvantages