Evaluation Of Social Services Research Articles

Ukrainian

Ukrainian

International Cooperation for Elderly Care between Kumamoto, Japan and Khon Kaen, Thailand

It’ll be essential to cooperate with foreigners during a rise in the percentage of the aged population in recent years, because of this unsustainable national medical emergency situation as well as problems of other industries in Japan. In November 2009, we made a contract for our sister hospitals between National Hospital Organization Kumamoto Medical Center and Khon Kaen Regional Hospital, Khon Kaen, Thailand. And we began to share our knowledge and experience with staff in kinds of medical fields each other to promote the mutually beneficial international cooperation initiatives. We tried to compare the medical issues between our aging countries and pave the way for elderly care in Thailand in the future to reveal. Because Thailand will face a critical situation in which the rate of aging is increasing rapidly. It’s necessary for Thailand to prepare for the super-aging population in the near future. From our experiences evaluation of health and social services for Thai elderly is not ready to face the situation of aging population. The health care system for elderly people should be required to reform soon.

An Evaluation of Social Services Delivered by Local Governments in Nigeria : A Study of Ebonyi State Local Governments Administration ( 1996 - 2012 )

An Evaluation of Social Services Delivered by Local Governments in Nigeria : A Study of Ebonyi State Local Governments Administration ( 1996 - 2012 )

The Impact of Robot Appearance Types and Robot Behavior Types on People's Perception of a Robot

Robots appearance types and behavior types could be classified into two types: human-oriented and product-oriented. Human-oriented robot resembles humans appearance and behavior whereas product-oriented robot maximizes the robots dedicated functions. In this study, we compared human-oriented and product-oriented robots, and investigated the impact of two robot appearance types and two robot behavior types on perceived social presence, sociability, and service evaluation of a robot. We executed a 2 (robot appearance types: human-oriented vs. product-oriented) x 2 (robot behavior types: human-oriented vs. product-oriented) within-participants experiment design (N=24). Participants perceived more social presence and sociability to a robot with human-oriented appearance than that with product-oriented appearance whereas they were more satisfied with service provided by a robot with product-oriented appearance than that with human-oriented appearance. The same results were revealed for robot behavior types. Moreover, in the case of a robot with human-oriented behavior, people perceived product-oriented appearance as having more social presence and sociability than human-oriented appearance while in the case of a robot with product-oriented behavior, they evaluated human-oriented appearance more positively than product-oriented appearance. Implications for the design of human-robot interaction are discussed.

The Prevalence of Illegal Drug Use

The prevalence of the use of only one type of illicit drug, except marijuana or hashish, ranging from 0.4% to 14.3% for different substances. Psychoactive drugs used by participants aged 13-34 years in our study, are sedatives and tranquilizers without a prescription. Lifetime prevalence of consumption of sedatives without prescription resulted 14.3% of boys and girls reported similar prevalence (14.1% respectively 14.6% boys versus girls). For all other psychoactive substances illegal, the prevalence was significantly higher among men than among women. The aim of this study has been to undertake an in depth analysis of the prevalence, tendencies, and factors related to the use of psycho active substances among youth in Albania and evaluation of social services offered in the country. The objective of the study is the Determination of the prevalence and frequency of consumption of illegal drugs and their relation to socio-demographic and economic factors. This study is transversal (cross-sectional), the only type of study which allows interest phenomenon prevalence evaluation. In this study are included two subject groups: one group consists of subjetcs currently present at education system and interviewed at school settings, i.e secondary schools, high schools and university. The other group consists of youngsters being interviwed not at schools settings. DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2014.v3n3p530

The Impact of the Robot Appearance Types on Social Interaction with a Robot and Service Evaluation of a Robot

Background Robot’s appearance types could be classified into human-oriented and product-oriented. Human-oriented robot appearance resembles human’s appearance whereas product-oriented robot appearance maximizes the robot’s dedicated functions. In this study, we compared the two robot appearance types and investigated the impact of the two robot appearance types on perceived social presence, sociability, and service evaluation of a robot. Methods We excuted a 2 (robot appearance types: human-oriented vs. product-oriented) within-participants experiment design (N =24). Results Participants felt more social presence to a human-oriented robot than a product-oriented robot. Moreover, they perceived a human-oriented robot as more sociable than a product-oriented robot. On the other hand, participants were more satisfied with the service provided by a product-oriented robot than a human-oriented robot. Conclusions We investigated the effect of the robot appearance types on robot’s perceived social presence, sociability and service evaluation. Human-oriented robot appearance was effective on social interaction between a person and a robot while product-oriented robot appearance was effective on service satisfaction. Implications for design of robots in emotion-oriented situation and task-oriented situation are discussed.

A study on integrated performance evaluation of jeju's social services - focused on local development-type social service investment projects

A study on integrated performance evaluation of jeju's social services - focused on local development-type social service investment projects

Ethical Evaluation of Social Services and the Need for Ethics Committees

Abstract The central ethical problem: we propose to treat the importance of establishing committees of ethics (of research) in social work organizations. We refer here to the ethical analysis of individualized service plans and intervention strategies that case managers apply to beneficiaries, the central ethical problem being represented by the analysis of conditions of ethical acceptability of social intervention. Argumentative structure: the ethical evaluation of services should consider the principles of beneficence, autonomy, non-maleficence and justice, as treated by Beauchamp and Childress (2001) , as a variant of the principles stipulated in the Belmont report (1979). We will treat tangentially the need for ethical supervision, which refers to the effective supervision of the organization's ethical practices. The paper has an argumentative character, the central premise being that intervention in social work is a form of action research and thus it should be based on the same rules of research on human subjects. The second premise is that according to which as medical assistance, social intervention changes the quality of life of the beneficiary, and this change requires ethical evaluation in order to analyze the conditions in which ethics is perceived and accepted as defining part of the social intervention. Conclusions Both theoretical and practical arguments, presented in the paper, in favour of the establishment of committees of ethics, are acceptable and we could not find counterarguments to invalidate them.

Resident Evaluation and Expectation of Social Services in Guangzhou

China's welfare system is a typical “residual welfare regime”, which did not manifest too many flaws in the planned economy era. However, economic reform and market-oriented transformations in recent decades have shaken the original well-balanced “residual” and “needs” pattern. The decline of the “work unit system” has led to two consequences: First, it radically transformed the social and economic structures, which gave rise to increased and diversified needs of social welfare. Second, the government is being pressed to shoulder more responsibility for social welfare provisions. This article adopts a case study approach to examine changing social welfare needs and expectations in Guangzhou, a relatively developed city in southern China. With particular focus on the major strategies adopted by the Guangzhou government in addressing people's welfare needs, this article critically examines how far the new measures have met the changing welfare expectations of citizens in mainland China.

Personalising reablement: inserting the missing link

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to highlight the ways in which reablement services can be made more effective by applying the learning from personalisation and person‐centred planning.Design/methodology/approachThe paper draws on the evidence from evaluation of reablement services; and from the evaluation of social rehabilitation services using task‐centred practice.FindingsThe paper finds that motivation is key to the success of reablement. Person‐centred approaches can ensure that motivation supports the achievement of outcomes.Practical implicationsReablement staff can, and should be, trained to identify personal goals with service users and use task‐centred approaches to achieve them. Partnership with voluntary organisations can help to deliver improved outcomes.Originality/valueThe paper brings together the lessons learned from reablement and from person‐centred practice to propose a more effective model of intervention.

Nonlinearity in Social Service Evaluation: A Primer on Agent-based Modeling

Measurement of nonlinearity in social service research and evaluation relies primarily on spatial analysis and, to a lesser extent, social network analysis. Recent advances in geographic methods and computing power, however, allow for the greater use of simulation methods. These advances now enable evaluators and researchers to simulate complex adaptive systems (CASs) by applying agent-based modeling (ABM). CASs reflect the interactions of competitive and cooperative tendencies found in agents. ABM simulations create and test generated observable patterns using the fewest number of plausible decision rules and agents. This primer presents essential concepts for understanding ABM as social service applications of complexity theory shift from a metaphorical perspective to a formalized evaluation method. Further developments in ABM methods need to focus on concepts emanating from the study of complexity science, including the concepts of the wisdom of groups, strengths found in diverse perspectives, robustness, interconnectedness, sustainability, and conflict and cooperation. Appropriate software programs for developing and testing agent-based models are provided.

Acute Care for Elders (ACE) Tracker and e‐Geriatrician: Methods to Disseminate ACE Concepts to Hospitals with No Geriatricians on Staff

This article describes an innovative method to disseminate the Acute Care for Elders (ACE) model of care for hospitalized older patients implemented at 11 community hospitals in Wisconsin. The ACE Tracker is a computer-generated checklist of all older patients in a facility that takes information from multiple areas of the electronic medical record to identify the older patients' risk factors for functional decline and poor outcomes. The ACE Tracker report was validated against in-person observation of the older patients and found to be accurate. Interdisciplinary teams on medical-surgical units use this summary report to review each patient's plan of care and to efficiently assess the patients who are vulnerable to poor hospital outcomes. The ACE Tracker is also used during regular consultation provided through teleconferencing between an off-site geriatrician (e-Geriatrician) and the local ACE team. The effect of the ACE Tracker and e-Geriatrician models was assessed by measuring use of urinary catheters, physical restraints, high-risk medications, and social service evaluation at a single hospital for the 6 months before and after implementation of the models. There were significant improvements in urinary catheter and physical therapy referrals but no significant changes in the other outcomes. There was no change in the length of stay or in the rate of hospital readmission within 30 days.

Realist Evaluation of Social Services: What Works and in What Circumstances

Realist Evaluation of Social Services: What Works and in What Circumstances

Massive Spontaneous Retroperitoneal Hematoma

Purpose: A 75-year-old man with hypertension, diabetes, dementia and atrial fibrillation on warfarin presented to ER with history of a fall at home from bed. He lived at home by himself. Upon arrival to ER, physical examination was unremarkable except for blood pressure of 150/90 mm Hg and mild paraspinal tenderness on the left side. Lumbosacral spine x-ray did not demonstrate a fracture. Laboratory tests revealed baseline hemoglobin level of 11.5 gm/dL and INR of 2.0. Patient was admitted for further evaluation and arrangement of appropriate social services. On Day 2, he complained of severe left lower quadrant abdominal pain. Physical examination revealed severe left lower quadrant tenderness and a palpable mass. Hemoglobin decreased from 11.5 gm/dL to 7.0 gm/dL. CT scan of abdomen without contrast showed 15.1 cm × 14.7 cm size hematoma in the left lower quadrant in the retroperitoneal space (Figure 1). Patient was hemodynamically stable. He was transferred to the intensive care unit and was transfused three units of packed red blood cells. Hemoglobin remained stable at 10.0 gm/dL for subsequent three days. An aortogram showed no extravasation of contrast. Patient was discharged to home with home services and for out patient follow up. Retroperitoneal Hematoma (RH) is a possibility even with minimal trauma in elderly patients especially while on anti coagulation. Several case reports have described development of RH with use of enoxaparin and after cardiac catheterization via the femoral artery. Back pain is often the only complaint. Physical examination may demonstrate a palpable, tender mass, discoloration of the abdominal skin and voluntary guarding. Although the diagnosis has become easier with CT scans, the management still remains confusing. Generally, non-traumatic RHs without obvious active hemorrhage do not require surgical intervention. In contrast, most RHs after a penetrating trauma require a surgical exploration. Transcatheter embolotherapy has shown safe and effective results for emergency treatment for retroperitoneal bleeding in hemodynamically unstable patients.Figure 1: Retroperitoneal hematoma.

Access to Primary Care for Homeless Veterans with Serious Mental Illness or Substance Abuse: A Follow-up Evaluation of Co-Located Primary Care and Homeless Social Services

To examine the hypothesis that a demonstration clinic integrating homeless, primary care, and mental health services for homeless veterans with serious mental illness or substance abuse would improve medical health care access and physical health status. A quasi-experimental design comparing a 'usual VA care' group before the demonstration clinic opened (N = 130) and the 'integrated care' group (N = 130). Regression models indicated that the integrated care group was more rapidly enrolled in primary care, received more prevention services and primary care visits, and fewer emergency department visits, and was not different in inpatient utilization or in physical health status over 18 months. The demonstration clinic improved access to primary care services and reduced emergency services but did not improve perceived physical health status over 18 months. Further research is needed to determine generalizability and longer term effects.

Utility of Logic Models to Plan Quality of Life Outcome Evaluations

AbstractQuality of life is widely accepted as an important concept in the evaluation of health and social services provided to persons with intellectual disabilities. While quality of life has been studied as a service outcome and measure of program improvement, its application to multiple levels of program delivery and evaluation remain unclear and can be difficult for community‐based agencies that lack resources. An approach using program logic models and including program staff can build evaluation capacity. Logic models can be used to link service components with relevant quality of life outcomes at short‐term, intermediate, and long‐term points in service delivery. The models can then guide the development of evaluation plans. A case example of how this approach is being used at a service agency in Toronto, Canada, is described. An explanation of how an agenda for quality of life program evaluation developed within the agency is provided, and links between service activities and quality of life outcomes are described. The integration of program logic models into an expanded organizational model defines how quality of life data can influence decision making about programs at the service, organizational, and system levels.

Measuring Satisfaction with Social Work Services

For various reasons, the role of the medical social worker is often unclear to persons seeking medical treatment. Allied health professionals, such as nursing staff, tend to have a better understanding of the medical social worker's role and of whether services are being provided to best meet each patient's needs. We aimed to illustrate the abilities of nursing staff to provide patient satisfaction feedback to medical social workers in such areas as responsiveness to patient requests and the satisfaction of patients and their family members with the social services provided. Use of this satisfaction measurement technique will hopefully resolve any confusion that patients, and others not familiar with the role of the medical social worker, may have. This method provides accurate measurement of patients' evaluation of medical social work services.

Engaging stakeholders in the planning of a collaborative multi-agency evaluation: The Housing Plus Collaborative Communities Project

This article describes the planning of a multi-agency and multi-stakeholder evaluation of the implementation of supportive housing. The Ottawa Housing Plus Collaborative Communities project is a collaboration between university-based evaluators and members of a local network of supportive housing providers. The objectives of the initiative are (1) to develop tools and methods for evaluating the implementation of supportive housing by network members, (2) to evaluate program implementation, and (3) to use evaluation findings to assist network members to collaborate in finding solutions to shared implementation challenges. This article examines the early planning of the project. It describes the process used to engage stakeholders in the conception and planning of the project, the challenges and successes in the early planning efforts, and the issues that will need to be addressed over the course of the 3-year project term. These challenges and successes of engaging stakeholders are discussed in the context of adapting educational concepts to the evaluation of social services and in engaging multiple agencies, at multiple levels, in a collaborative evaluation.

Review of Evaluation: The International Journal of Theory, Research, and Practice, Volumes 11(2), 11(3), and 11(4)

The following contribution provides a summary of Volumes 11(2), 11(3), and 11(4) of Evaluation: The International Journal of Theory, Research and Practice (2005). The central motif of issue 11(2) is learning, that is, learning from theories of change, “accountability (f)or learning,” learning aided by cluster evaluation, facets of organizational learning, and learning from the use of certain research designs. Issue 11(3) centers on issues and approaches of (primarily policy) evaluation in different countries (Belgium, the United Kingdom, Norway, and Japan) and contexts (development evaluation, educational evaluation, social service evaluation). Issue 11(4) stresses evaluation designs, methodological approaches, evaluator competencies, and problems of bottom-up versus top-down evaluation. The following briefly summarized the contributions of each volume.

Quality Development in Supported Living Services for People with Learning Disabilities: Introducing AQUA‐UWO

This paper reports on the manual AQUA‐UWO, an instrument for quality development in supported living services developed by a research group at the Centre for Planning and Evaluation of Social Services at the University of Siegen in Germany. The extension of supported living services in Germany is still marked by conceptual and financial uncertainty. Debates about the concept and quality of supported living are still not advanced. Against this background, AQUA‐UWO identifies key issues for supported living and formulates professional standards for work in, and management of, supported living. Service user rights for self‐advocacy and self‐determination form the basis of quality assurance and development of supported living services. The first part of the instrument covers conceptual foundations, quality comprehension and methodical procedures. The second part covers key issues, identifies working procedures and clarifies quality standards. The third part includes materials which can be used to support the process of quality development.