Empathy and the personal experiences of trainees in an emotional literacy persona doll training programme in South Africa.

Many devastating problems face South Africa’s young children that can hamper their emotional and social development. The Emotional Literacy and Persona Doll programme (Buchanan, 2007) attempts to intervene in the young child’s emotional development. Persona Dolls are used to encourage emotional expression and management in young children. Previous research has indicated the positive effects of the Persona Dolls and Emotional Literacy programmes with children. However, the development in the trainees and practitioners who use these dolls has yet to be researched. This research study assessed the development of empathy, and the personal experiences of trainees who underwent the emotional literacy and Persona Doll training programme in South Africa. Participants included social workers, psychologists, and preschool and foundation phase teachers. Participants’ empathy was assessed before the first training session, and at the end of the training through Davis Interpersonal Reactivity Index (1980). Participants also documented their feelings, experiences, and thoughts while undergoing the training, in a journal. Process notes of persona doll sessions and evaluation forms were also used in the study. Although the quantitative results did not show any significant results in terms of an improvement in empathy for the trainees, the qualitative results demonstrated that the participants found that they were more able to think and talk about their own emotions, and the emotions of others. This is a crucial aspect of emotional literacy, where one is able to identify and think about one’s own emotions. Furthermore, the group of participants learnt important reflection and containment skills, which they believe they can and are using in their work with others, and with their families. While there is no statistically grounded argument for the improvement of empathy, and in extension emotional literacy, the participants in the training seemed to have developed their own emotional literacy skills, and found that they are better able to work with children and adults in the realm of emotional work. Implications and suggestions for further research are discussed

Evaluation of Two Assessment Techniques for Adaptation to Stress

Two conceptual nursing models, Roy's adaptation model and Erickson and Swain's adaptive potential assessment model are explained, and knowledge is identified within these two assessment techniques for adaptation to stress. The purpose is to identify common, noteworthy areas of nursing science as well as areas where further development in nursing knowledge is needed. A case study is used to compare and contrast these models. When assessing adaptation to stress, one simi larity between the approaches appears to be a propositional linkage that supports the influence of developmental level on basic need satisfaction. A divergent area between the two models identifies a need for further development in nursing knowledge regarding the adaptive potential sta tus. This includes information pertaining to what an individual can reasonably do or be expected to do when contending with stressors.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/68651/2/10.1177_089431848900200407.pd

Study of Organizational Knowledge Retention Practices in the Utilities

One key to the successful and long-term survival of an organization involves knowledge capture and retention. The knowledge may include company secrets, lessons learned, and hard-earned best-practices that are lost, forgotten, or disorganized in the event of staff loss or early retirement. In the United States, the aging workforce poses a specific difficulty vis a vie utility workers. Many are quickly approaching retirement and operations staff are heavily impacted by this movement. Properly capturing and retaining employee’s tacit knowledge is a labor-intensive task as it is usually transferred through personal observation with demonstration, mentors, apprenticeships, or on-the-job training. Consequently, articulating the tacit knowledge of an aging workforce is a challenging and time-consuming effort without proper preparation, oversight, and application of established knowledge retention strategies. It is advantageous for an organization to have implemented a fully encompassing knowledge management (KM) system during its inception; an exit interview is not enough. The development should begin concurrently with the hiring process, thus capturing newfound knowledge early. An accessible database for critical company data aids in knowledge retention, but even proven methods cannot capture all knowledge efficiently. The system is often overburdened by an abundance of information, which results in indistinguishable lessons and outdated instructions. It is crucial to have a balanced and working system for a functioning organization, but any implementation is preferable to none. This paper examined the methods and strategies utilized to capture and retain critical information within a local utility. Current operations staff and management have provided data by completing a Knowledge Management Capability Assessment. It was determined that the utility has a low operational knowledge management capability. This process has increased the understanding of current KM strategies and provides the local utility actionable data to improve upon or develop such strategies

A nuclear magnetic resonance and quasielastic neutron scattering study of hydrogen diffusion in metal-hydrogen systems

The result of work investigating hydrogen diffusion in a variety of Metal- Hydrogen systems using both the nmr and qns techniques is presented. Chapter 1 provides a description of the uses and general character of MeH systems and is intended as a pragmatic introduction. In addition, diffusion theory is discussed and again general theory relevant to later work is presented regarding the properties of hydrogen diffusion within metal lattices. Chapter 2 gives an exposition on both the fundamental theory of the techniques used and detailed theoretical results which describe the effect of hydrogen diffusion on various observable parameters; primarily the nuclear spin-lattice relaxation time Ti and the neutron scattering function S(Q,ώ). Chapter 3 describes the experimental apparatus and procedures used for both the nmr and neutron scattering studies as well as for sample preparation. Chapter 4 sets out the results of an nmr study of single crystal samples of β-NbHx, β-VHx and -YHx. Individual theoretical treatments of the expected anisotropy of the hydrogen Knight shift and spin-lattice relaxation rate due to the dipole-dipole interaction are presented for each of the systems. The T1 results obtained for a single domain sample of β-NbHx 75 are in excellent agreement with theory, however it is not possible to determine the exact nature of the diffusion mechanism except to predict that it is likely to be an isotropic mechanism rather than a one dimensional mechanism such as intra-chain. A Ti anisotropy is also observed in two single crystal samples of β-VHx. In the case of a single domain sample the orientational dependence of the results is in good agreement with theory and the anisotropy of T1 [001]//Bo I T1 [001]!Bo=17% is in excellent agreement with the maximum predicted 16%. The results tend to confirm the theoretical methods used and the diffusion mechanism suggested by earlier qns studies. For a single crystal of -YHx0.17, again excellent agreement with theory is observed in the form of the Ti angular dependence. An anisotropy of T1 [001]//Bo / Ti min=85% is observed which greater than predicted by three theoretical diffusion mechanisms. The magnitude of and errors in the results do not enable any determination of the true diffusion mechanism in the -YHx system. Chapter 5 presents a study of the high temperature T1 anomaly which is an unexpected reduction in the relaxation time at temperatures where the Korringa (or conduction electron) mechanism is expected to dominate. Richards’ model of large anharmonic vibration of hydrogen at neighbouring interstitial sites which wras suggested as an explanation of the anomaly is described. The results of a qns study of Nb0.75V0.25H0.20 and YH1,97 powdered samples, which display the T1 phenomenon, are then presented. The study measures hydrogen diffusion coefficients for both samples in the temperature regime of the anomaly, which finds that hydrogen diffusion in both samples exhibit the usual Arrhenius temperature dependence. For the -phase alloy system Ea -0.16 ± 0.02 eV and D0 -1.76 (±0.4) x 10-4 cms-1, and for the sub-stoichiometric dihydride sample Ea =0.33 ± 0.09 eV and D0 -0.70 (±0.4) x 10-4 cms-1. The conclusion is that Richards’ model does not hold and other possible models are discussed including sub-lattice melting and hydrogen pairing

A randomized-controlled trial of low-dose doxycycline for periodontitis in smokers

Background/Aim : Tobacco use reduces the effect of non-surgical periodontal therapy. Host-modulation with low-dose doxycycline (LDD) might favour repair and promote an improved treatment response. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of LDD in smokers on non-surgical periodontal therapy. Material and Methods : This was a parallel arm, randomized, identical placebo-controlled trial with masking of examiner, care-giver, participant and statistician and 6 months of follow-up. Patients received non-surgical therapy and 3 months of test or control drug. Statistical analysis used both conventional methods and multilevel modelling. Results : Eighteen control and 16 test patients completed the study. The velocity of change was statistically greater for the test group for clinical attachment level −0.19 mm/month (95% CI=−0.34, 0.04; p =0.012) and probing depth 0.30 mm/month (95% CI=−0.42, −0.17; p <0.001). However, no differences were observed for absolute change in clinical or biochemical markers at 6 months. Conclusions : This study does not provide evidence of a benefit of using LDD as an adjunct to non-surgical periodontal therapy in smokers.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/74791/1/j.1600-051X.2007.01058.x.pd

An exploration of how young people and parents use online support in the context of living with cystic fibrosis

Background: There is increasing recognition of the Internet's potential role in providing information and support for people living with long-term conditions. However, how young people and parents use online forms of self-care support in the context of living with childhood chronic illness has been under-researched. Objective: To explore how online peer support is used by young people and parents to support self-care in relation to cystic fibrosis (CF). Setting and participants: Online forum for young people and parents based on a CF charity website. A total of 279 individuals participated in the forum during the study. Design: An online ethnographical approach, involving observing, downloading and analysing discussion group postings. All postings made over a random 4-month period were included (151 discussion threads). Results: The online setting enabled a physically disconnected group to connect and create a safe space to collectively share experiences and receive support to manage and live with cystic fibrosis. Participants exchanged experientially derived advice and views on how to manage treatments, emotions, relationships, identity and support from services. While parents sought information and support on managing specific therapies/services and ways of maintaining their child's health, the information and support young people desired appeared to be more directed at how to 'fit' CF into their everyday lives. Discussion and conclusions: Online support groups appear to supplement professional support in relation to self-management. They enable young people and parents to share experiences, feelings and strategies for living with long-term conditions with peers and develop the expertise to empower them in interactions with health-care professionals