Service providers’ use of harm reduction approaches in working with older adults experiencing abuse: a qualitative study

Background Although abuse experienced by older adults is common and expected to increase, disclosure, reporting and interventions to prevent or mitigate abuse remain sub-optimal. Incorporating principles of harm reduction into service provision has been advocated as a strategy that may improve outcomes for this population. This paper explores whether and how these principles of harm reduction were employed by professionals who provide services to older adults experiencing abuse. Methods Thematic analysis of qualitative interviews with 23 professionals providing services to older adults experiencing abuse across three Western provinces of Canada was conducted. Key principles of harm reduction (humanism, incrementalism, individualism, pragmatism, autonomy, and accountability without termination) were used as a framework for organizing the themes. Results Our analysis illustrated a clear congruence between each of the six harm reduction principles and the approaches reflected in the narratives of professionals who provided services to this population, although these were not explicitly articulated as harm reduction by participants. Each of the harm reduction principles was evident in service providers’ description of their professional practice with abused older adults, although some principles were emphasized differentially at different phases of the disclosure and intervention process. Enactment of a humanistic approach formed the basis of the therapeutic client-provider relationships with abused older adults, with incremental, individual, and pragmatic principles also apparent in the discourse of participants. While respect for the older adult’s autonomy figured prominently in the data, concerns about the welfare of the older adults with questionable capacity were expressed when they did not engage with services or chose to return to a high-risk environment. Accountability without termination of the client-provider relationship was reflected in continuation of support regardless of the decisions made by the older adult experiencing abuse. Conclusions Harm reduction approaches are evident in service providers’ accounts of working with older adults experiencing abuse. While further refinement of the operational definitions of harm reduction principles specific to their application with older adults is still required, this harm reduction framework aligns well with both the ethical imperatives and the practical realities of supporting older adults experiencing abuse.

Leading entrepreneurial sustainability initiatives in emerging economies

PurposeThis conceptual paper develops a theoretical framework to provide insights with respect to enhancing focus on entrepreneurial sustainability initiatives in the context of emerging economies. The unique idiosyncrasies of the institutional environment of emerging economies are identified along the concept of scripts.Design/methodology/approachSense-making and social identity theory are utilized to draw propositions along with the dimensions of the three stages of the sense-making process: enactment, selection and retention, in order to identify factors that are likely to motivate the next generation of business leaders in emerging economies to undertake greater levels of sustainability initiatives.FindingsWhen organizations face competing demands of meeting both social and financial goals, sense-making by next-generation leaders becomes relevant. Leaders with greater entrepreneurial orientation (EO) are more likely to take actions decoupled from local isomorphic pressures, such that they turn opportunities for sustainability into novel sustainable initiatives.Originality/valueThis paper proposes a framework to provide insights and directions for future research with respect to enhancing an organizational focus on sustainability initiatives in the context of emerging economies.

Writing Faculty and Librarians Collaborate

This article addresses the interrelationship among writing, reading, and information literacy (WRIL) by discussing a collaborative assessment project that generated a criteria map focused on process, enactment, engagement, and attribution. The authors connect this map to the Framework for Success in Postsecondary Writing and the Framework for Information Literacy for Higher Education but critique the failure of these frameworks to account for the importance of reading. In emphasizing WRIL for students, the authors contend that practitioners must help students understand WRIL practices as dynamic, developing, and complex, and they provide pedagogical suggestions for assigning reference materials, reading as researchers, and sharing visualization tools.

Summary and Discussion

The book developed an approach to interviewing that takes, as its point of reference, a functional communication theory and uses some of its units for conceptualizing interviewing practices in terms of canonical genres and textual strategies. Planning interview protocols now involves a process of assigning canonical genres to the candidate questions. During the interview process, enactment practices facilitate the smooth enactment of the interview and aids interviewers in reflecting and learning in both static and go-along interviews. In the final chapter, the argument and findings of the book are summarized and future research directions for this approach to interviews and interviewing are suggested. The domains of interest in the book have been related to organizations and business. Potential future applications are suggested that involve the storing, processing and manipulation of interview texts and the searching and retrieval of generically coded segments that can benefit knowledge and experience management in organizations.

Supporting Model-Driven Development

The adoption of Model-Driven Development (MDD) is increasing and it is widely recognized as an important approach for building software systems. In addition to traditional development process models, an MDD process requires the selection of metamodels and mapping rules for the generation of the transformation chain which produces models and application code. However, existing support tools and transformation engines for MDD do not address different kinds of software process activities, such as application modeling and testing, to guide the developers. Furthermore, they do not enable process modeling nor the (semi) automated execution of activities during process enactment. MoDErNE (Model Driven Process-Centered Software Engineering Environment) uses process-centered software engineering environment concepts to improve MDD process specification and enactment by using a metamodeling foundation. This chapter presents model driven development concept issues and the MoDErNE approach and environment. MoDErNE aims to facilitate MDD process specification and enactment.