scholarly journals A Nationwide Study on How COVID-19 Changed APS Policies and Practices

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 74-74
Author(s):  
Pamela Teaster

Abstract The purpose of this inquiry by the Virginia Tech Center for Gerontology and WRMA, Inc., was to explore changes being implemented by APS programs across the country in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. With input from the Administration for Community Living, the research team used a three-step process (e.g., telephone interviews with state-level APS administrators, a national online survey, and in-depth interviews with local and APS) to capture information on changes caused by efforts to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. This presentation concerns changes in APS policy and practice that the pandemic caused, including modifications in-person visits and adjustments to timeline requirements. Discussion of alterations in policy and practices during the first five months of the pandemic can eludicate APS and other services and planning for older adults in future emergency situations.

2021 ◽  
Vol 5 (Supplement_1) ◽  
pp. 86-87
Author(s):  
Karen Roberto ◽  
Pamela Teaster ◽  
Jyoti Savla ◽  
Imogen Fua ◽  
Karl Urban ◽  
...  

Abstract The purpose of study was to explore changes in implemented of APS programs in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This three-phase study began with telephone interviews with eight state-level APS administrators of early phase “hot-spots” that were used to inform questions for the Phase II national survey of state APS programs. Forty-seven states completed an on-line survey on the effects of the pandemic on work and workload, policy and practice, staff, partnerships, and preparedness. Phase III interviews with 7 local APS programs provided an “on-the-ground” view of challenges of meeting clients’ needs. Although most APS programs reported fewer reports of adult maltreatment than before the pandemic, the stress and disruption of COVID-19 required new work arrangements, to which programs adapted technological and managerial support to care for the needs of both APS staff and the clients they served. Finding provide insight for policy and planning requirements for future catastrophic events.


Author(s):  
Zainab Alimoradi ◽  
Nourossadat Kariman ◽  
Fazlollah Ahmadi ◽  
Masoumeh Simbar ◽  
Hamid AlaviMajd

Abstract Introduction The aim of this study was to design and evaluate the psychometric properties of an instrument for understanding female adolescents’ reproductive and sexual self-care behaviors. Methods A methodological study was conducted. In the qualitative phase, individual in-depth interviews were performed to develop the initial questionnaire. In the quantitative part, the psychometric properties of the questionnaire were evaluated. Findings The initial questionnaire with 128 items was reviewed by the research team and taking into account the cut-off point 1.5 for the item impact and 0.62 for the content validity ratio (CVR), the number of questions fell to 82 items. S-CVR and S-content validity index (CVI) rations were 0.83 and 0.91, respectively. Exploratory factor analysis led to 74 items in seven dimensions. The alpha Cronbach’s coefficient for the whole questionnaire was 0.895 and the intra-cluster correlation coefficient was 0.91. Conclusion The questionnaire developed in this study is reliable and valid for assessing female adolescents’ sexual and reproductive self-care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine L Madliger ◽  
Oliver P Love ◽  
Vivian M Nguyen ◽  
Neal R Haddaway ◽  
Steven J Cooke

Abstract Conservation physiology represents a recently emerging arm of conservation science that applies physiological tools and techniques to understand and solve conservation issues. While a multi-disciplinary toolbox can only help to address the global biodiversity crisis, any field can face challenges while becoming established, particularly highly applied disciplines that require multi-stakeholder involvement. Gaining first-hand knowledge of the challenges that conservation physiologists are facing can help characterize the current state of the field and build a better foundation for determining how it can grow. Through an online survey of 468 scientists working at the intersection of physiology and conservation, we aimed to identify characteristics of those engaging in conservation physiology research (e.g. demographics, primary taxa of study), gauge conservation physiology’s role in contributing to on-the-ground conservation action, identify the perceived barriers to achieving success and determine how difficult any identified barriers are to overcome. Despite all participants having experience combining physiology and conservation, only one-third considered themselves to be ‘conservation physiologists’. Moreover, there was a general perception that conservation physiology does not yet regularly lead to tangible conservation success. Respondents identified the recent conceptualization of the field and the broader issue of adequately translating science into management action as the primary reasons for these deficits. Other significant barriers that respondents have faced when integrating physiology and conservation science included a lack of funding, logistical constraints (e.g. sample sizes, obtaining permits) and a lack of physiological baseline data (i.e. reference ranges of a physiological metric’s ‘normal’ or pre-environmental change levels). We identified 12 actions based on suggestions of survey participants that we anticipate will help deconstruct the barriers and continue to develop a narrative of physiology that is relevant to conservation science, policy and practice.


Author(s):  
Clare Tilbury ◽  
Mark Hughes ◽  
Christine Bigby ◽  
Mike Fisher

Abstract Research funding and assessment initiatives that foster engagement between researchers and research end-users have been adopted by governments in many countries. They aim to orient research towards achieving measurable impacts that improve economic and social well-being beyond academia. This has long been regarded as important in social work research, as it has in many fields of applied research. This study examined research engagement and impact from the perspective of research end-users working in human services. In-person or telephone interviews were conducted with forty-three research end-users about how they used research and interacted with researchers. Content analysis was undertaken to identify engagement strategies and thematic coding was employed to examine underpinning ideas about research translation into practice. Participants were involved in many types of formal and informal research engagements. They viewed research translation as a mutual responsibility but indicated that researchers should do more to improve the utility of their research for industry. The findings highlight the iterative nature of engagement and impact and raise questions about the infrastructure for scaling up impact beyond relationships between individual researchers and their industry partners.


Author(s):  
Shytierra Gaston

African Americans are disproportionately victimized by various forms of racialized violence. This long-standing reality is rooted in America’s history of racist violence, one manifestation being racial lynchings. This article investigates the long-term, intergenerational consequences of racial lynchings by centering the voices and experiences of victims’ families. The data comprise in-depth interviews with twenty-two descendants of twenty-two victims lynched between 1883 and 1972 in the U.S. South. I employed a multistage qualitative analysis, revealing three main domains of harmful impacts: psychological, familial, and economic. The findings underscore that racist violence has imposed harm beyond victims and for many decades and generations after the violent event. These long-term, intergenerational harms, especially if multiplied across countless incidents, can fundamentally impact the well-being of individuals, families, and communities as well as contribute to structural and macrolevel forces. Findings from this study have implications for research, policy, and practice, including efforts toward redress and reparations.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
A. J. Million

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] This study explores bureaucratic organization and innovation in U.S. state department of transportation (DOT) websites. To determine if working with third parties fosters change in state DOT websites, it employs a two-part, explanatory sequential mixed-methods design. In phase one, an online survey was disseminated to IT managers and communications officers in all 50 states to collect data regarding agency demographics, bureaucratic models, and Web infrastructure. In total, 45 valid responses (or 90 percent) were received from DOTs indicating that most built, hosted, and managed their websites in-house, but that state-level IT consolidations required many to pool resources with third parties. In research phase two, 12 semi-structured interviews were conducted of a maximum variation sample of survey respondents. These interviews were conducted to explain why DOTs built and operated their websites with the support of third parties. Employing a grounded theoretical approach, analysis revealed 6 themes explaining website adoption and showed that working with third parties can foster innovation; however, not all change is positive. Therefore, a need exists for governments to selectively work with others, ascertain future barriers to change, and ensure that adopted innovations meet desired ends. Finally, five best practices informed by study findings are presented that may help decision-makers and civil servants provide e-government services in a flexible manner.


2014 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 259-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Anne Townsend ◽  
Catherine L Backman ◽  
Paul Adam ◽  
Linda C Li

Background As interest in gender and health grows, the notion that women are more likely than men to consult doctors is increasingly undermined as more complex understandings of help seeking and gender emerge. While men’s reluctance to seek help is associated with practices of masculinities, there has been less consideration of women’s help-seeking practices. Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a chronic disease that predominantly affects women and requires prompt treatment but considerable patient-based delays persist along the care pathway. This paper examines women’s accounts of help seeking in early RA from symptom onset to diagnosis. Methods We conducted in-depth interviews with 37 women with RA <12 months in Canada. Analysis was based on a constant comparison, thematic approach informed by narrative analysis. Results The women’s accounts featured masculine practices associated with men’s help-seeking. The women presented such behaviours as relational, e.g. rooted in family socialisation and a determination to maintain roles and ‘normal’ life. Discussion Our findings raise questions about how far notions of gender operate to differentiate men and women’s help seeking and may indicate more similarities than differences. Recognising this has implications for policy and practice initiatives for both men and women.


2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (93) ◽  
pp. 14
Author(s):  
Richard Garrett

The article provides an overview of the second part of a report on international branch campuses (IBCs). The Observatory on Borderless Higher Education (OBHE) and the Cross-Border Education Research Team (C-BERT) are the authors of the report. IBCs continue to grow in number and variety around the world, and the report includes updated estimates and patterns by country, but previously there has been limited attention paid to the success factors of mature IBCs. Defined as campuses in place for a decade or more, the report draws on in-depth interviews with campus and institutional leaders.


Author(s):  
Ani Cahyadi ◽  
Hendryadi Hendryadi ◽  
Sri Widyastuti

Considering the challenges of sustainable education in emergency remote teaching (ERT) during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, this study provides basic principles for future ERT implementation based on the experience of higher education in Indonesia. Seven local expert distance educators reviewed the ERT principles, participating in the early stages to check the relevance, content validity, and readability of the five principles proposed in the context of Indonesian education. After an extensive expert review, the ERT principles were evaluated using quantitative data through an online survey (82 students and 45 faculty members). In addition, open-ended questionnaire responses, experiences, and challenges encountered by 21 respondents (College Dean, Associate Dean of Academics, and faculty quality assurance of seven universities/colleges in three provinces in Indonesia) in ERT were used and analyzed. This study suggests that ERT should be designed based on the principles of simplicity, accessibility, affordability, flexibility, and empathy in all learning activities in unfavorable situations. This study complements previous work and can thus be used for generalized principles for teaching activities in similar emergencies, especially in developing countries.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-11
Author(s):  
Paul A. Potrac ◽  
Edward T. Hall ◽  
Adam J. Nichol

This interpretive study provides original insights into the socioemotional experiences that contributed to referee attrition in English grassroots football. Data were generated using an online survey (n = 251) and in-depth interviews (n = 20) with former referees. Using complementary symbolic interactionist and relational conceptualizations of identity, social interaction, and emotional pain, the analysis addressed the participants’ interpretations of their problematic encounters with the various significant others (e.g., coaches, managers, players, spectators, and administrators) that comprised their respective social networks in grassroots football. Importantly, the participants described several emotionally painful issues related to match day environments, disciplinary proceedings, and deployment and development processes that simultaneously coexisted alongside and exacerbated one another. The findings present important implications for those individuals and governing bodies who are responsible for referee retention.


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