An evaluation of a toothbrushing programme in schools

Purpose: This paper assesses the effectiveness of a toothbrushing intervention delivered in primary schools in Yorkshire and the Humber, a Northern district of England. The toothbrushing intervention was designed with the intention of improving the oral health of young children. The paper reports the effectiveness of the intervention and explores process issues related to its co-ordination and delivery. Design/methodology/approach: The evaluation had three data gathering approaches. These were: in-depth case studies of three selected schools participating in the toothbrushing programme; interviews with oral health programme leads; and a small scale questionnaire based survey which was sent to the 18 schools participating in the intervention. Findings: The intervention was accepted by children and they enjoyed participating in the toothbrushing scheme. Moreover, children had often become more knowledgeable about toothbrusing and the consequences of not regularly cleaning their teeth. The scheme was contingent on key staff in the school and the programme was more successful where school’s embraced, rather than rejected the notion of improving children’s health alongside educational attainment. Whether the intervention made differences to brushing in the home requires further investigation, but there is a possibility that children can act as positive ‘change agents’ with siblings and other family members. Practical implications: This paper suggests that schools can be an effective setting for implementing toothbrushing interventions. Originality/value: Toothbrushing in schools programmes are a relatively new initiative that have not been fully explored, especially using qualitative approaches or focussing on the views of children. This paper makes a particular contribution to understanding the process and delivery of toothbrushing interventions delivered in primary schools. The implications for programmes outside of the UK context are discussed

Resilience and Survival: Executive Careers in Major California Nonprofit Organizations

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: Despite the increasing social involvement of nonprofit organizations in public activity, we really know very little about the education, values and career patterns of the executives who manage this nonprofit sector. This study begins to address these issues through interviews with fifty executive directors of large California nonprofit organizations. Four types of nonprofit organizations were included in the study. Human service agencies [20] and arts organizations [17] comprise the bulk of the organizations, with foundations [10] and scientific research facilities and museums [3] completing the sample. The study explores the personal dimensions of mobility, career choices, education and gender-related issues among fifty nonprofit executive directors; it also considers the personal qualities that directors feel are required for the development of nonprofit careers and explores the movement of nonprofit directors between different fields and sectors. The fifty personal interviews conducted for this study were both structured and open-ended; this combination provided a core of quantitative data and elicited rich qualitative data in the form of personal histories, career mobility decisions, and visions of the nonprofit career of the future. This study sample is not representative of California nonprofit organizations. These data are probably not generalizable to smaller nonprofits or even to smaller nonprofits within the same categories; the data only provide preliminary insights into the career paths of nonprofit executives in large organizations. The study found that although a substantial 20% of this group of directors admitted that they would consider a job offer from a corporate employer, most considered this an unlikely scenario. Contrary to earlier findings, these directors expressed a relatively uniform set of beliefs which creates an important barrier to executive mobility between sectors. For these executives, the barrier is primarily created by a·perceived conflict of values. Executives in this study group care passionately about the value of their work - both its value to people and its greater value to the community. They share a common commitment to make things better in their community and for society as a whole; they do not believe that such values can survive in the corporate world. Thus, while some executives might be attracted to the private sector through attractive incentives and enthusiastic recruitment, this issue of values would need to be carefully analyzed. Values, ethical behavior and social commitment are a large part of the incentive system for this group of directors. From these directors\u27 viewpoint, sector shifts, especially to the for-profit sector, have potentially negative personal and career consequences. Educational background and degrees were found to be important career path determinants among this group of nonprofit executives. Contrary to findings in foundations, the women in this sample have a higher education level than the men. The qualitative findings show that women have had to overcome sexism, deal with unequal salary structures, and create a personal balance between family duties and management careers. The general outlook is encouraging in the sense that younger women in this group of executives are moving ahead faster and making better salaries than women who entered the field twenty years ago; they have also found personal relationships that give them the career support essential to job movement, upward mobility and peace of mind. Mentors and personal networks were found to be pivotal factors in the career mobility, recruitment and hiring procedures experienced by these directors. There was a clear generational, gender-related difference in affiliations with mentors, as well. The data are quite clear that mentors for this group of managers had a strong tendency to mentor people of the same sex; this generation seems to have dramatically equalized the distribution of mentoring relationships, however, and predominantly mentor junior staff and colleagues of both sexes. There was also evidence throughout this study that board members, as well as mentors, had a great deal of informal influence on the executive recruitment and selection process. Often the key personal linkage between a manager and an important job interview was facilitated by board members in the midst of an executive search. Although the executives in this sample were consistent in their acknowledgement of long hours and inadequate pay, these factors had not yet driven them from the nonprofit sector. Since the average age of these directors was 48, however, their current positions may represent a management career pinnacle which may substantiate contentions from the nonprofit literature that blocked mobility leads to migration to other sectors. There is strong countervailing evidence in these data and the in-depth discussions that executives may lower their salary expectations, or engage in money-making projects outside their management careers, in order to remain in their nonprofit careers. Further, there was no evidence in this study that movement of executives between sectors is a major source of upward career mobility; it was not found in the patterns of lateral job movement in the directors\u27 prior positions, or in the attitudes of the majority of the directors directly interviewed about this possibility

Engaging men with penile cancer in qualitative research: reflections from an interview-based study.

To explore the challenges of engaging men with penile cancer in qualitative interview research

THE IMPACT OF PENILE CANCER TREATMENT ON SEXUAL RELATIONSHIPS: A QUALITATIVE ENQUIRY

Background: Penile cancer is a rare but highly treatable condition. Current guidance recommends the use of a surgical procedure to excise the primary tumour (and a margin of normal penile tissue). Whilst treatment can be effective, treatment often has a significant impact on a patient's sexual and urinary function, and physical and mental wellbeing. The objective of this study was to explore the impact of treatment for penile cancer on sexual function and relationships. Methods: Qualitative data was collected via narrative video interviews. Maximum variation sampling was used to acquire the widest possible range of experiences. All interviews were recorded using either a digital video recorder or digital audio recorder, transcribed. A method of constant comparison analysis was used to illicit themes and outliers. Results: Twenty seven men were interviewed; mean age at diagnosis = 63 (range = 41-82); Mean number of years post-surgery = 3 (range = 0-15 years) 15 men were married, a further two were in a committed relationship, the remaining 10 were single/widowed. All men had received surgical treatment ranging from circumcision to total penectomy. Just two men had attended any form of psychological therapy. The impact of treatment varied considerably. The majority of men talked about still being able to experience arousal and sexual pleasure in some way. However, for many, penetrative sex was awkward and less gratifying than before treatment. One man who had received a total penectomy was surprised to experience a form of orgasm after surgery. For a number of men, the impact of treatment on their ability to satisfy their sexual partners was a key concern. Men who were able to openly talk with their partners about sex and the impact of the treatment on sexual practice found this a great comfort. Conclusion: The significance of sex for a man can differ considerably between individuals; relationship status, age and life stage are all likely to have a bearing on the role that sex plays in a man life. A diagnosis of cancer can also affect how a man (and his partner) views sex and the level of importance which he attaches to it. For men who are sexually active prior to treatment, surgery will undoubtedly result in changes to sexual practice, however, treatment does not have to result in sexual abstinence

Workplace Giving: Employee Attitudes, Perceptions and Behavior

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The W. Alexander Gerbode Foundation funded this study of employee attitudes about charitable fundraising and giving in the workplace by the Institute for Nonprofit Organization Management at the University of San Francisco. This study is significant for several reasons. First, while the overall charitable behavior of Americans has been documented in several recent national surveys, the changing workplace fundraising scene remains largely unexplored. Second, the San Francisco Bay Area is an ideal laboratory for a study of workplace giving that analyzes ethnic differences along with other variables related to charitable attitudes and behavior since the Bay Area has some of the fastest growing minority populations in the country. The Asian population increased 45% between 1980 to 1985, while the number of Blacks increased by 11% and Hispanics by 20% during the same time period. California led the nation in minority population growth during the first half of the decade and is now home to one-third of all Hispanics and Asians in the United States, new federal estimates show ... (McLeod, 1989, pg A2). Third, annual workplace fundraising campaigns conducted by local charities reach and affect millions of Americans each year. While these campaigns create ideal opportunities for local charities to educate donors and elicit funds for the community, they also shape peoples\u27 attitudes about charity as well. This research looks at workplace campaigns through the employee\u27s eyes and analyzes both the positive and negative impact of workplace fundraising. By looking squarely at the workplace campaign from this perspective, it is possible to address a broad range of issues of interest to employees, campaign managers, department heads, and CEO\u27s alike. Historically, workplace campaigns have been conducted by local chapters of the United Way of America for the benefit of local member organizations. Increasingly, however, the traditional United Way workplace campaign is being challenged by alternative charitable federations and independent funds seeking access to potential donors in private and public workplaces. As nonprofit organizations of all types and sizes have re-vitalized their public fundraising efforts in response to a decade of government cutbacks, workplace fundraising has become a more competitive and aggressive enterprise. Since charities can reach potential donors during workplace campaigns and payroll deduction has been documented as a popular donation vehicle among donors, many charitable groups and federations, in addition to United Way, see the workplace as a major fundraising arena. United Way workplace campaigns alone raise over $2 billion annually. The cost of payroll deduction fundraising is low, employers encourage participation, and employees have been shown to make a larger donation when contributions are deducted from their pay. Thus, competition between United Way and various alternative funds will continue to be a major issue in philanthropy and nonprofit management since workplace campaigns represent a potentially, lucrative source of revenue. While there is substantial controversy relating to workplace fundraising, there is no systematic information on employee\u27s perceptions of workplace fundraising campaigns. The goal of this research is to outline employee attitudes about workplace giving, motivations for giving, preferences in allocations, and the level of giving; further, the study explores the demographic dimensions of these variables. Drawing on questions developed in earlier philanthropic studies and cognizant of the debate over the nature of open campaigns (United Way and other charities) and closed (exclusively United Way) workplace campaigns, this research explores the characteristics and behavior of workplace campaign donors in both types of campaigns. The project was also designed to expand our general understanding of why employees do not donate to the annual workplace campaign and what changes in strategies might produce more effective workplace campaigns, regardless of the setting or number of charitable options. The four major research questions which guided this research and structured the analysis can be summarized as follows: 1. What is the overall charitable behavior of employees in the sample? 2. What factors influence giving through the workplace campaign? 3. What are the similarities and differences in workplace giving in the public and private sectors? 4. What are the characteristics and attitudes of non-donors? Employees in both public, municipal and private, corporate organizations were asked a series of questions about their motivations for giving or lack of giving, their attitudes toward charitable giving, and their giving behavior during the charitable workplace campaign recently completed in their workplace (1988). The survey consisted of a two-page self-administered questionnaire which was mailed to a total of 2,500 employees in the San Francisco Bay Area. Five worksites were selected on the basis of location and willingness to participate; five hundred employees at each worksite were then randomly selected to receive the questionnaire. There were two municipal governments and three large corporate worksites - - one large bank, a wholesale distributor, and a supermarket chain. Of the original 2,500 questionnaires, 548 were returned for a 22% response rate. Over half of the responses, 61.5%, came from the private sector while 38.5% of the public sector employees completed the survey. The response rate varied dramatically between worksites, ranging between 41% and 13% at the private worksites, and 25% and 16% at the two public worksites

Framing Korean Complex–Coda Resolution with Optimality Theory

Fonotaktika korejskog jezika ne dozvoljava složenu kodu, dakle korejski jezik rabi dvije strategije kako bi razbio suglasničke skupine i prilagodio se tom stanju. Prva je strategija ponovno povezivanje – “relinking” (termin koji rabe Choo&O’Grady 2003:58–9), tj. realizacija suglasničke skupine preko granice sloga, a druga je strategija brisanje. Teorija optimalnosti pogodna je da se njome objasni način na koji se rabe ove dvije strategije, što je ujedno i tema ovoga rada. Koristeći se već ustanovljenim ograničenjima, ovaj rad nadopunjuje istraživanja unutar teorije optimalnosti o sličnim fonološkim procesima u korejskome tako da se navedeni procesi mogu ujediniti pod jednim rangiranjem ograničenja.Korean phonotactics prohibits complex codas; therefore, the language employs two strategies that allow for the breakup of consonant clusters to conform to this prohibition. These strategies include “relinking” (as used by Choo & O’Grady 2003:58–9), that is, the realization of consonant clusters across syllable boundaries, and deletion. The preference of these strategies fits into an Optimality–Theoretic framework, which this paper explicates. By using well established constraints, this analysis complements OT research on similar phonological processes in Korean so that these processes can be unified under a single constraint ranking

The self-care for people initiative: the outcome evaluation.

To determine the effects of a community-based training programme in self-care on the lay population

Self-care in primary care: findings from a longitudinal comparison study.

To examine the effects of self-care training workshops for primary healthcare workers on frequently attending patients

Health information needs of men

Objective: To understand the views of men and service providers concerning the health information needs of men. Design: A men's health programme was implemented aimed at developing new health information resources designed for use by local organizations with men in socially disadvantaged groups. Research was carried out at the scoping stage to assess the views of men and other programme stakeholders. Setting: The research was conducted within the north of England between Manchester, Bradford and Leeds. The region was selected as it is characterized by socio-economic and ethnic diversity. Method: A structured evidence review was conducted on current provision of health information. Qualitative interviews were carried out with men (n = 46) across four groups, young men (aged 16-21), new fathers (25-45), middle-aged men (40-55), and older men (60+). Telephone interviews were carried out with stakeholders with expertise in men's health, including health professionals, service providers and commissioners (n = 20). All interviews were fully transcribed and analysed thematically. Results: Key themes emerging concerned: routines men follow for engaging with health information; support required for making effective use of information; preferred settings and media approaches; and what men would like to see in the future. The importance of personalization and settings-based approaches was explored, and factors engendering trust were outlined. Conclusion: The research outlined common themes and differences among men according to age and life stage. There is a need for targeting materials to more fine-grained 'segments' of men. The project contributes to producing actionable insights, while it remains important to explore complexities of men's health information needs. © 2013 The Author(s)

The trypanocidal benzoxaborole AN7973 inhibits trypanosome mRNA processing

Kinetoplastid parasites—trypanosomes and leishmanias—infect millions of humans and cause economically devastating diseases of livestock, and the few existing drugs have serious deficiencies. Benzoxaborole-based compounds are very promising potential novel anti-trypanosomal therapies, with candidates already in human and animal clinical trials. We investigated the mechanism of action of several benzoxaboroles, including AN7973, an early candidate for veterinary trypanosomosis. In all kinetoplastids, transcription is polycistronic. Individual mRNA 5'-ends are created by trans splicing of a short leader sequence, with coupled polyadenylation of the preceding mRNA. Treatment of Trypanosoma brucei with AN7973 inhibited trans splicing within 1h, as judged by loss of the Y-structure splicing intermediate, reduced levels of mRNA, and accumulation of peri-nuclear granules. Methylation of the spliced leader precursor RNA was not affected, but more prolonged AN7973 treatment caused an increase in S-adenosyl methionine and methylated lysine. Together, the results indicate that mRNA processing is a primary target of AN7973. Polyadenylation is required for kinetoplastid trans splicing, and the EC50 for AN7973 in T. brucei was increased three-fold by over-expression of the T. brucei cleavage and polyadenylation factor CPSF3, identifying CPSF3 as a potential molecular target. Molecular modeling results suggested that inhibition of CPSF3 by AN7973 is feasible. Our results thus chemically validate mRNA processing as a viable drug target in trypanosomes. Several other benzoxaboroles showed metabolomic and splicing effects that were similar to those of AN7973, identifying splicing inhibition as a common mode of action and suggesting that it might be linked to subsequent changes in methylated metabolites. Granule formation, splicing inhibition and resistance after CPSF3 expression did not, however, always correlate and prolonged selection of trypanosomes in AN7973 resulted in only 1.5-fold resistance. It is therefore possible that the modes of action of oxaboroles that target trypanosome mRNA processing might extend beyond CPSF3 inhibition