Eye- and Mouth-Opening Movements Replacing Head and Hand Responses in a Microswitch Program for an Adolescent with Deteriorating Motor Condition

This study assessed the possibility of replacing head and hand responses (no longer feasible) with minimal movements within the microswitch-based program of an adolescent with deteriorating motor condition and multiple disabilities. The new movements, i.e., eye- and mouth-opening, were introduced individually and then combined through the simultaneous availability of the related microswitches. Data showed the participant acquired the new movements (responses) successfully and retained them at a 2-mo. postintervention check. Mood improvements, i.e., increases in indices of happiness, also occurred through the program. The conclusion was that a person with deteriorating motor conditions may be able to revitalize a microswitch-based occupational program and retain a constructive engagement if new, feasible responses are identified.

Purveyor Organizations and the Implementation of Employee Assistance Programs

Employee assistance programs (EAPs) have diffused rapidly, but few studies have examined the processes of this diffusion, and most of these have focused on the characteristics of the organizations adopting EAPs. This article addresses the “purveyor organizations ” that market EAPs to others. The authors hypothesized that the greater the purveyor organization's integration of and managerial control over its subunit for EAP service delivery, the more supportive relationships the purveyor organization has with treatment organizations within its community, and that the higher its level of sociopolitical acceptability, the more successful it will be in encouraging organizations adopting EAPs to implement them fully. Using survey data from 724 occupational program consultants from purveyor organizations, the authors conducted a multivariate analysis. Their findings support the hypotheses that these features of purveyor organizations affect the extent to which EAPs are implemented, with managerial control over the EAP subunit accounting for the most variance.

Sowing Seeds of Change: How Work Organizations in New York State Responded to Occupational Program Consultants

The article reports on both qualitative and quantitative research evaluating the role and success of an “expanded” network of Occupational Program Consultants. It concentrates on two basic questions: what OPCs actually did, and, second, what outcomes did they achieve relative to their mandated goals—to encourage and aid employers and unions in adopting and implementing job-based alcoholism programs. First, largely qualitative data, with some quantitative, provided a description of inherent difficulties in the role: its newness, problems of legitimacy and power, financial insecurity, role conflicts, and role ambiguities. Initially these produced substantial amounts of goal displacement that were temporarily overcome, but reemerged to plague the network near the end of this three-year study. Despite these problems the OPCs were able to devise a plausible strategy—to carefully select client organizations for their probable responsiveness, and bypass reluctant ones. This resulted in an average of 21 program start-ups per OPC for the first two years of the state network. Next, the study went to a statewide sample of work organizations where the OPC had made substantial presentations and secured data from them on how their organization had responded. This data was used in both bivariate and multivariate analyses to determine what characterized work organizations that responded favorably to the OPC. These characteristics were: prior familiarity with job-based programs, union support, perception of OPC as competent and empathetic, viewing programs as good for both labor and public relations, as relatively easy to administer, and as helping supervisors manage marginally performing employees.