A phenomenological investigation of the factors that influence motivation, recruitment and retention of volunteers age 65 and over

Nonprofit agencies rely on continued support from volunteers, many who are 65 years of age or older, to provide aid and services to local community. However, community nonprofits have experienced a recent decline in volunteerism over the last six years. With the number of adults age 65 and over expected to double by 2060 in the United States, this twofold population could address the decline in volunteerism for nonprofit agencies. The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological research was to explore and identify factors that influence motivation, recruitment and retention of volunteers age 65 and over. The study aimed to enhance understanding of how these adults make decisions regarding volunteer work, how they learned of the opportunity, what inspired them to volunteer, and what makes them committed to a particular organization. The study was specific to the nonprofit sector, focusing on individuals who volunteer at a charitable, religious, or health care organization in Southern California. The Existence, Relatedness, and Growth Theory was utilized to explain volunteer motivation and retention. Data were collected from 24 participants, age 65 and over, who volunteered a minimum of 12 times in a one year period. The study consisted of semi-structured interviews that were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for common themes. Major findings from the study included 5 major themes that can affect volunteer motivation, recruitment and retention in adults age 65 and over: (a) health benefits, (b) relatedness or connectedness, (c) meaning-purpose, (d) pro-social righteousness, and (e) personal involvement. Understanding these themes can provide considerable insight to volunteer mangers to help develop effective recruiting and retention strategies, designed specifically for the older-adult population, to increase volunteering in agencies throughout the United States

Self-efficacy, motivation, and outcome expectation correlates of college students\u27 intention certainty

This study explored relationships between Self-Efficacy, Motivation, and Outcome Expectations and Intention Certainty. Intention Certainty is a new variable created for this study and comprised of existing conceptions of intention and decision certainty. The purpose of this study was fourfold. This study attempted to expand our understanding of the college retention dropout issue by exploring relationships between psychologically rich variables. Second, this study provided information considered useful for framing future research on retention from a different perspective that focuses on characteristics of individuals who stay, rather than those who leave higher education with the consideration of psychological constructs. Further, this research expanded the Tinto model to examine psychological variables believed to influence intention to remain enrolled as opposed to demographic variables associated with student dropouts. Finally, because the sample was extended to include all subsets of the student population, broader practical applications were obtained resulting in greater generalizability of the results. The study sample consisted of 441 undergraduate students attending the University of Louisiana at Lafayette during the summer 2001 session. Four measures were used for data collection: College Student Self-Efficacy Scale (CSSES), Student Motivation Scale (SMS), Student Outcome Expectation Scale (SOES), and the Student Intention Certainty Scale (SICS). All measures were created specifically for this study. Major findings include: a) the measures developed specifically for the study are of reasonable quality, b) the hypothesized relationships between the independent variables and dependent variable were corroborated contrary to findings from prior research, c) there is little relationship between the presage variables and the psychological variables studied, d) positive outcome expectations and, to a lesser degree, students’ self-efficacy beliefs, make the strongest contribution to students’ intentions to remain enrolled in college and to persist in obtaining a college degree, and e) importantly, the psychological variables utilized in the study appear to be more powerful predictors of college student’s intentions to remain enrolled than previously studied demographic and presage variables

The home buying experience: the impacts of time pressure and emotion on high stakes deciders information behavior

The purpose of this study was to determine how time pressure and emotion influenced people's information behavior when engaging in high stakes decision-making within the home buying domain. Employing an exploratory approach, 33 semi-structured interviews involving a timeline strategy, as well as 8 observations, were conducted with participants from the Seattle, Washington metropolitan area. Findings revealed that information use induced emotion, created a sense of time pressure and generated an interaction of the two factors, whereas non-information use behaviors such as information needs and information seeking were propelled by emotion and time pressure. The study also identified the emergent information use by proxy phenomenon wherein emotion prompted people to enlist trusted surrogates to use information for making decisions on their behalf. Further, findings show that emotion and time pressure have the ability to alter one's routine information behavior to that of a more impulsive or arbitrary approach

Évolution et tendances des relations formation-travail en formation professionnelle et technique au Québec : du flirt à la réconciliation

Depuis une décennie, au Québec comme dans la plupart des pays industrialisés, les nouvelles politiques de formation professionnelle initiale et de formation continue tentent de rapprocher l'école et les entreprises. L'intervention de l'entreprise n'est toutefois pas récente et elle se manifeste de façons différentes au cours des grandes périodes que recouvre l'histoire de la formation professionnelle et technique au Québec. Une analyse sociohistorique des rapports formation-travail démontre que ces relations ont été plutôt étroites au début du vingtième siècle jusqu'aux années cinquante, qu'elles se sont rompues pendant les années soixante jusqu'aux années quatre-vingt et qu'elles semblent finalement vouloir se rétablir et s'institutionnaliser depuis les dernières années. Par la suite, nous illustrons plus concrètement les tendances actuelles des activités de collaboration entre les établissements de formation professionnelle et les entreprises. Les résultats de notre enquête permettent d'identifier des formes diversifiées de collaboration avec de nombreux partenaires et de mieux cibler les facteurs qui contribuent à cette collaboration qui passe d'un partenariat de service à un partenariat de réciprocité.In Québec, as well as in most of the industrial nations, the objective of new policies regarding professional training and continuing education is to bring the school system and business enterprises closer together. The history of professional and technical training in Québec shows that industry's involvement in education is not recent and has taken various forms. A socio-historical analysis of training-work relationships shows these to be mostly of a collaborative nature at the beginning of the 20th century until the 1950s, these relations deteriorated during the period 1960s to 1980's, and finally, in these last few years, there has been a re-establishing of these relationships. The authors illustrate current collaborative activities between professional training institutions and business enterprises. The results of the survey permit the authors to identify the presence of various forms of collaboration with a number of partners and to better understand the factors which contribute to this collaboration, from one of service partnership to one of reciprocity.Desde hace unos diez anos, en el Quebec como en la mayorfa de los pafses industrializados, las nuevas politicas de formaciôn profesional inicial y de formacion permanente tratan de acercar la escuela a la empresa. La intervencion de la empresa no es sin embargo reciente y se manifiesta de distintas formas en el curso de los grandes periodos cubiertos por la historia de la formacion profesional y técnica en el Quebec. Un anàlisis sociohistôrico de las relaciones entre formacion y trabajo demuestra que estas fueron mas bien estrechas al inicio del siglo veinte y hasta los anos cincuenta, rompiéndose de los sesenta hasta los ochenta en que parecen finalmente restablecerse e institucionalizarse. Luego ilustramos mas concretamente las tendencias actuales de las actividades de colaboracion entre establecimientos de formacion profesional y empresas. Los resultados de nuestro sondeo permiten identificar las diversas formas de colaboracion entre los muchos socios, asi como aislar los factores que contribuyen a esta colaboraciôn que pasa de ser una asociacion ficticia a una de reciprocidad.Wie in den meisten anderen industrialisierten Lândern streben auch die quebekischen Ausbildungs- und Fortbildungslehrplâne des Fachschulun terrien ts seit einem Jahrzehnt eine Annâherung zwischen Schule und Unternehmen an. Allerdings sind die Unternehmen nicht erst seit kurzem mit dabei, sondern auf verschiedene Weisen sind sie es wàhrend alien grofien Abschnitten der Geschichte des technischen und des Fachschulunterrichts in Quebec gewesen. Eine soziohistorische Analyse der Beziehungen zwischen Ausbildung und Arbeit zeigt, dafi dièse Zusammenarbeit von Anfang des 20. Jahrhunderts bis in die Fiinfzigerjahre relativ eng war, ab den Sechzigerjahren bis in die Achzigerjahre hinein unterbrochen wurde, um erst in den letzteren Jahren wieder aufgegriffen und institutionalisiert zu werden scheint. Anschliefiend veranschaulichen wir anhand von Beispielen die heutigen Tendenzen der Kooperation zwischen den Fachschulen und den Unternehmen. Auf Grund der Ergebnisse unserer Untersuchungen konnen die diversen Formen der Kooperation mit zahlreichen Partnern dargelegt und die Faktoren bestimmt werden, die zu dieser Kooperation beitragen, wobei der Dienstleistungsaustausch zu einer richtigen Partnerschaft wird

Opportunity for All: How the American Public Benefits From Internet Access at U.S. Libraries

Examines the use of free computer and Internet access in public libraries, by income level, age, race/ethnicity, and online activity. Explores libraries' role as a community resource for social media, education, employment, e-government, and other areas

Development of a Nutrition Education Program for the Mississippi Communities for Healthy Living Nutrition Intervention Using the Diffusion of Innovations Theory

This research identified themes when exploring the Dietary Guidelines for Americans’ (DGA) attributes of relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, trialability, and observability to provide information for the design and structure of a nutrition education program for the Mississippi Communities of Healthy Living Nutrition Intervention. Diffusion of Innovations theory was used to develop education sessions to promote the adoption and consumption of a DGAbased healthy diet innovation in the Lower Mississippi Delta. Two focus groups were conducted with a purposive sample of 13 women in the community as well as one expert panel of six registered dietitians. Major themes identified for the DGA were Balanced Nutrition, All-inclusive, and Protective as the relative advantage; Adaptability when exploring compatibility; low complexity as Simple to Follow and Convenient and Portable; Gradual Change and Taste Tests when discussing trialability; and Modeling for observability. A Generational theme reflected participants’ desire to impart healthy behaviors to future generations. Results were used to operationalize attributes and develop 12 lesson plans

Improvements in Blood Pressure Among Undiagnosed Hypertensive Participants in a Community-Based Lifestyle Intervention, Mississippi, 2010

Introduction Effective strategies are needed to reach and treat people who lack awareness of or have uncontrolled hypertension. We used data from a community-based participatory research initiative, Hub City Steps, to quantify the prevalence of undiagnosed hypertension and determine the relationship between hypertension status at baseline and postintervention improvements in blood pressure and health-related quality of life. Methods Hub City Steps was a 6-month preintervention–postintervention lifestyle intervention targeting hypertension risk factors. Outcome measures were collected at baseline, 3 months, and 6 months. Generalized linear mixed models were used to test for effects by time and hypertension status. Results Of the enrolled sample (N = 269), most were overweight or obese (91%), African American (94%), and women (85%). When considering hypertension status, 42% had self-reported diagnosis of hypertension (self-reported subgroup; 84% with antihypertensive medication use); 36% had no self-reported medical history of hypertension, but when blood pressure was measured they had a clinical diagnosis of prehypertension or hypertension (undiagnosed subgroup); and 22% had no self-reported or clinical hypertension diagnosis (no hypertension subgroup). From baseline to 6 months, systolic blood pressure significantly improved for participants with self-reported hypertension [8.2 (SD, 18.2) mm Hg] and undiagnosed hypertension [12.3 (SD, 16.3) mm Hg], with undiagnosed participants experiencing the greatest improvements (P \u3c .001). Effects remained significant after controlling for covariates. Health-related quality of life significantly improved for all 3 hypertension subgroups, with no apparent subgroup differences. Conclusion This study reveals advantages of a culturally appropriate community-based participatory research initiative to reach those with undetected hypertension and effectively improve blood pressure status and health-related quality of life

HUB City Steps: A 6-Month Lifestyle Intervention Improves Blood Pressure among a Primarily African-American Community

The effectiveness of community-based participatory research (CBPR) efforts to address the disproportionate burden of hypertension among African Americans remains largely untested. The objective of this 6-month, noncontrolled, pre-/post-experimental intervention was to examine the effectiveness of a CBPR intervention in achieving improvements in blood pressure, anthropometric measures, biological measures, and diet. Conducted in 2010, this multicomponent lifestyle intervention included motivational enhancement, social support provided by peer coaches, pedometer diary self-monitoring, and monthly nutrition and physical activity education sessions. Of 269 enrolled participants, 94% were African American and 85% were female. Statistical analysis included generalized linear mixed models using maximum likelihood estimation. From baseline to 6 months, blood pressure decreased significantly: mean (±standard deviation) systolic blood pressure decreased from 126.0±19.1 to 119.6±15.8 mm Hg, P=0.0002; mean diastolic blood pressure decreased from 83.2±12.3 to 78.6±11.1 mm Hg, P

SirT1 modulates the estrogen–insulin-like growth factor-1 signaling for postnatal development of mammary gland in mice

INTRODUCTION: Estrogen and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) play important roles in mammary gland development and breast cancer. SirT1 is a highly conserved protein deacetylase that can regulate the insulin/IGF-1 signaling in lower organisms, as well as a growing number of transcription factors, including NF-κB, in mammalian cells. Whether SirT1 regulates the IGF-1 signaling for mammary gland development and function, however, is not clear. In the present study, this role of SirT1 was examined by studying SirT1-deficient mice. METHODS: SirT1-deficient (SirT1(ko/ko)) mice were generated by crossing a new strain of mice harboring a conditional targeted mutation in the SirT1 gene (SirT1(co/co)) with CMV-Cre transgenic mice. Whole mount and histology analyses, immunofluorescence staining, immunohistochemistry, and western blotting were used to characterize mammary gland development in virgin and pregnant mice. The effect of exogenous estrogen was also examined by subcutaneous implantation of a slow-releasing pellet in the subscapular region. RESULTS: Both male and female SirT1(ko/ko )mice can be fertile despite the growth retardation phenotype. Virgin SirT1(ko/ko )mice displayed impeded ductal morphogenesis, whereas pregnant SirT1(ko/ko )mice manifested lactation failure due to an underdeveloped lobuloalveolar network. Estrogen implantation was sufficient to rescue ductal morphogenesis. Exogenous estrogen reversed the increased basal level of IGF-1 binding protein-1 expression in SirT1(ko/ko )mammary tissues, but not that of IκBα expression, suggesting that increased levels of estrogen enhanced the production of local IGF-1 and rescued ductal morphogenesis. Additionally, TNFα treatment enhanced the level of the newly synthesized IκBα in SirT1(ko/ko )cells. SirT1 deficiency therefore affects the cellular response to multiple extrinsic signals. CONCLUSION: SirT1 modulates the IGF-1 signaling critical for both growth regulation and mammary gland development in mice. SirT1 deficiency deregulates the expression of IGF-1 binding protein-1 and attenuates the effect of IGF-1 signals, including estrogen-stimulated local IGF-1 signaling for the onset of ductal morphogenesis. These findings suggest that the enzymatic activity of SirT1 may influence both normal growth and malignant growth of mammary epithelial cells

Speech Communication

Contains reports on five research projects.C.J. Lebel FellowshipNational Institutes of Health (Grant 5 T32 NSO7040)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 R01 NS04332)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 R01 NS21183)National Institutes of Health (Grant 5 P01 NS13126)National Institutes of Health (Grant 1 PO1-NS23734)National Science Foundation (Grant BNS 8418733)U.S. Navy - Naval Electronic Systems Command (Contract N00039-85-C-0254)U.S. Navy - Naval Electronic Systems Command (Contract N00039-85-C-0341)U.S. Navy - Naval Electronic Systems Command (Contract N00039-85-C-0290)National Institutes of Health (Grant RO1-NS21183), subcontract with Boston UniversityNational Institutes of Health (Grant 1 PO1-NS23734), subcontract with the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmar