Super Women Lawyers: A Study of Character Strengths

The legal profession has relatively high rates of depression and career dissatisfaction. It has been suggested that positive psychology, which correlates the greater use of individual character strengths with increased life satisfaction and success, may have the answers. In this study, 17 women lawyers named to a top lawyers list compiled by the Super Lawyers rating service, took the online Brief Strengths Test, a 24-question version of the 240-question online Values in Action – Inventory of Strengths (VIA-IS) and 16 participated in interviews probing the extent of their strengths use both personally and professionally. As predicted, the study found that these superachievers regularly used their character strengths to meet challenges. Though not predicted, they also exhibited a predominance of heart strengths as opposed to more analytical head strengths, with gratitude and kindness appearing most frequently. These successful women exercised heart strengths regularly and strategically in professional and personal settings, in conjunction with head strengths, such as bravery, prudence and self-control. The study suggests that the stereotypical “lawyer personality” in which thinking dominates feeling in every aspect of practice, may not apply to those who excel. Cultivation of heart strengths may be useful to increase success and well-being in the legal profession

Water Demand, Adaptive Capacity, and Drought: an Analysis of the Upper Klamath Basin, Oregon and California

Freshwater demand and scarcity issues are an issue of global concern, in particular for the American West as global climate models suggest precipitation regime changes and an increase of drought. This research conducts a case-study of the Upper Klamath Basin, located in south-central Oregon and northern California, a microcosm of the arid and semi-arid American West that experienced an economically, socially, and ecologically impactful drought in the early 2000s. Through a mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods this research: 1) identifies key stakeholders, their goals and key policies; 2) conducts an adaptive capacity assessment of water management within the basin; and 3) makes future recommendations for water policy and management within the basin. To achieve these objectives content analysis, semi-structured interviews, and an event history calendar were completed. Results indicate that adaptive capacity is tied, in addition to occurrences of drought, to events on the sociopolitical landscape and is variable to each stakeholder group examined. This research shows that adaptive capacity overall was on the rise following the early 2000s, peaking with the signing of the Klamath Basin Restoration Agreement (KBRA) and Final Order of Determination but has begun decreasing again following the sunset of the KBRA in 2015

Sources of Health Insurance Coverage in Georgia 2007 - 2008

An opportunity to identify gaps in health insurance coverage among Georgians, barriers to coverage, and strategies to facilitate access to affordable coverage

Bridge Over Troubled Water: A Teacher Education Program’s Emergent Methods for Constructing an Online Community of Practice During a Global Pandemic

With the sudden shift to emergency remote instruction during the COVID-19 global pandemic in the spring of 2020, teacher education programs were confronted with the dual responsibility of teaching pre-service teachers how to teach and how to teach in synchronous P-12 classroom settings utilizing educational technologies. Building a community of practice (CoP) and attending to P-12 students’ socio-emotional health and learning were the backdrop to a Masters of Arts and Teaching (MAT) program as it prepared its teacher candidates for full-year teaching residencies. In this retrospective, researchers reflect on practices for building community in an online setting and strategies for supporting teacher candidates’ and P-12 students’ socio-emotional 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.

Pre-operative Emotional Health Affects Post-operative Patient Function but not Patient Satisfaction Following Primary Total Hip Arthroplasty

Introduction: Total hip (THA) and knee (TKA) arthroplasty are highly successful treatments for end-stage arthritis. However, a subset of patients experience suboptimal post-operative gain in function. 1, 2 Previous studies have shown that pre-operative emotional health influences outcomes after TKA,3 but there is limited evidence on THA patients. We hypothesized that pre-operative emotional health does not affect patient satisfaction in THA patients. Methods: A secondary analysis of an existing registry at UMass of primary THA patients between 2008 and 2011 was conducted. Baseline demographic, clinical, emotional health (SF-36 MCS), and physical health (SF-36 PCS) data were collected electronically at the pre-operative visit. Post-operative SF-36 MCS, SF-36 PCS, and satisfaction scores were collected electronically between 6 months through 2 years follow-up. Bivariate analyses and multivariate logistic regression models were used. Results: The analysis included 316 primary THA patients with mean age 62±11 years, 55% female, mean BMI 30±5, mean PCS 31±8, and mean MCS 51±11. Patients with lower baseline emotional health scores reported significantly reduced mean post-operative physical function and emotional health (p45 (indicating excellent function, national norm = 50); whereas patients with baseline MCS≥50 had a mean 17±11 point increase in post-operative PCS with 71% of these patients reporting PCS\u3e45 (p\u3c0.001). Conclusion: In THA patients, post-operative emotional health and physical health are positively correlated with baseline emotional health, however post-operative patient satisfaction remains independent of baseline emotional health

The Uninsured in Georgia - 2008

A report on the health insurance status of Georgian

Examining the Potential of Information Technology to Improve Public Insurance Application Processes: Enrollee Assessments from a Concurrent Mixed Method Analysis

Objective: To assess the perceived readiness of Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) enrollees to use information technologies (IT) in order to facilitate improvements in the application processes for these public insurance programs. Methods: We conducted a concurrent mixed method study of Medicaid and CHIP enrollees in a southern state. We conducted focus groups to identify enrollee concerns regarding the current application process and their IT proficiency. Additionally, we surveyed beneficiaries via telephone about their access to and use of the Internet, and willingness to adopt IT-enabled processes. 2013 households completed the survey. We used χ2 analysis for comparisons across different groups of respondents. Results: A majority of enrollees will embrace IT-enabled enrollment, but a small yet significant group continues to lack access to facilitating technologies. Moreover, a segment of beneficiaries in the two programs continues to place a high value on personal interactions with program caseworkers. Discussion: IT holds the promise of improving efficiency and reducing barriers for enrollees, but state and federal agencies managing public insurance programs need to ensure access to traditional processes and make caseworkers available to those who require and value such assistance, even after implementing IT-enabled processes. Conclusions: The use of IT-enabled processes is essential for effectively managing eligibility and enrollment determinations for public programs and private plans offered through state or federally operated exchanges. However, state and federal officials should be cognizant of the technological readiness of recipients and provide offline help to ensure broad participation in the insurance market