Level Of Goal Achievement Research Articles

Towards a maturity model to assess field hospitals' rollout

The rollout of a field hospital is a crucial aspect in a crisis context. It has to be performed in a responsive, effective and efficient manner in order to provide its services. To improve the rollout, it can be evaluated following a rigorous method in order to know precisely its strengths and weaknesses and to be improved to achieve defined or reachable and realistic objectives. This work focuses on the means to evaluate the rollout of a field hospital and presents the first development of a model based on the concept of maturity assessment. This kind of evaluation allows users to know the level of goal achievement with regards to a specific domain. Thus, the purpose is to show the approach and the structure of the maturity model for the assessment of the field hospitals' rollout and, in the end, its improvement.

Towards a maturity model to assess field hospitals' rollout

The rollout of a field hospital is a crucial aspect in a crisis context. It has to be performed in a responsive, effective and efficient manner in order to provide its services. To improve the rollout, it can be evaluated following a rigorous method in order to know precisely its strengths and weaknesses and to be improved to achieve defined or reachable and realistic objectives. This work focuses on the means to evaluate the rollout of a field hospital and presents the first development of a model based on the concept of maturity assessment. This kind of evaluation allows users to know the level of goal achievement with regards to a specific domain. Thus, the purpose is to show the approach and the structure of the maturity model for the assessment of the field hospitals' rollout and, in the end, its improvement.

A goal-directed woodwork group for men in community rehabilitation--A pilot project.

Male clients who attend community rehabilitation programs often have low engagement in meaningful occupations and thus suffer a disconnect with their community. The primary aim of this mixed methods study was to explore the feasibility of using a therapeutic woodwork group to engage male clients in community rehabilitation. In the context of a community rehabilitation setting, fourteen clients attended an 8-week woodwork group to engage in meaningful projects developed with an occupational therapist to achieve specific goals. The group also aimed to encourage male peer support and interaction in an outpatient group setting. Clients identified three rehabilitation goals which guided their rehabilitation intervention. Goal achievement was rated pre- and post-group using the Goal Attainment Scale; one of two Quality of Life scales were administered to measure change in self-reported quality of life. Participants were interviewed pre- and post-group to measure woodwork experience and the group process. Results from the pilot project indicate that 85.7% of clients attained their expected level of goal achievement or higher on set rehabilitation goals. Consistent positive feedback was received from those who attended the group, particularly in the area of skill development and socialisation, although patients reported minimal changes in quality of life from baseline to end-of-group (P > 0.05). There remains an unmet need for meaningful engagement for men in the community who are not currently engaged in paid work. Community-based occupational therapy programs have the opportunity to play an important role in engaging clients in meaningful occupations, including woodwork, which was shown to increase socialisation and lead to goal attainment in our small sample. Future research should explore if rehabilitation woodwork groups can assist people to transition to participate in community-based Men's Sheds.

OPTIMAL, an occupational therapy led self-management support programme for people with multimorbidity in primary care: a randomized controlled trial.

BackgroundWe investigated the effectiveness of an occupational therapy led self-management support programme, OPTIMAL, designed to address the challenges of living with multiple chronic conditions or multimorbidity in a primary care setting.MethodsPragmatic feasibility randomised controlled trial including fifty participants with multimorbidity recruited from family practice and primary care settings. OPTIMAL is a six-week community-based programme, led by occupational therapy facilitators and focuses on problems associated with managing multimorbidity. The primary outcome was frequency of activity participation. Secondary outcomes included self-perception of, satisfaction with and ability to perform daily activities, independence in activities of daily living, anxiety and depression, self-efficacy, health-related quality of life, self-management support, healthcare utilisation and individualised goal attainment. Outcomes were collected within two weeks of intervention completion.ResultsThere was a significant improvement in frequency of activity participation, measured using the Frenchay Activities Index, for the intervention group compared to the control group (Adjusted Mean Difference at follow up 4.22. 95% Confidence Interval 1.59-6.85). There were also significant improvements in perceptions of activity performance and satisfaction, self-efficacy, independence in daily activities and quality of life. Additionally, the intervention group demonstrated significantly higher levels of goal achievement, following the intervention. No significant differences were found between the two groups in anxiety, depression, self-management scores or healthcare utilisation.ConclusionsOPTIMAL significantly improved frequency of activity participation, self-efficacy and quality of life for patients with multimorbidity. Further work is required to test the sustainability of these effects over time but this study indicates that it is a promising intervention that can be delivered in primary care and community settings.Trial registrationTrial Number: ISRCTN67235963

Perspectives of pharmaceutical education--while explaining the related evaluation standards and their viewpoints of "evaluation of pharmaceutical education programs"

In 2013, a program to be implemented by the Japan Accreditation Board for Pharmaceutical Education, Third-party Pharmaceutical Education Evaluation, was initiated. The purposes of this program are: 1) to ensure the quality of education programs; 2) to promote their improvement; and 3) to provide support to actively obtain public understanding and cooperation. In the next 7 years, all pharmaceutical departments and universities will undergo this third-party evaluation. The evaluation standards specify the necessity of establishing indices to evaluate goal achievement levels and to ensure appropriate evaluation based on standards in a number of very important domains of pharmaceutical education. They also emphasize that it is necessary to similarly evaluate overall learning achievement levels in undergraduate degree accreditation. On the other hand, the revision of pharmaceutical education models and core curricula was also proposed and considered in 2013, and preparations for the adoption of revised curricula are currently proceeding. The revised models and core curricula are mainly characterized by setting learning goals within a learning-achievement-based education approach, taking into consideration the 10 qualities to be achieved before graduating. In line with this, in order to nurture pharmacists who appropriately meet social needs by enhancing the quality of their education and training, it is crucial for universities to establish methods to appropriately evaluate learning goal achievement levels as a basis for the realization of these qualities. In this article, appropriate pharmaceutical education curricula, particularly evaluation methods, will be discussed from the above-mentioned perspectives, while explaining the related third-party evaluation standards and their viewpoints.

A randomized controlled trial evaluating a brief parenting program with children with autism spectrum disorders.

This randomized controlled trial evaluated the efficacy of Primary Care Stepping Stones Triple P, a brief individualized parenting program, in a sample of parents of children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Sixty-four parents of children aged 2-9 years (M = 5.67, SD = 2.14) with an ASD diagnosis participated in the study. Eighty-six percent of children were male, and 89% of parents identified their child's ethnicity as Australian/White. Families were randomly assigned to 1 of 2 conditions (intervention or care-as-usual) and were assessed at 3 time points (preintervention, postintervention, and 6-month follow-up). Parents completed a range of questionnaires to assess changes in child behavior (Eyberg Child Behavior Inventory) and parent outcomes (Parenting Scale, Depression Anxiety Stress Scale-21, Parent Problem Checklist, Relationship Quality Inventory, Parental Stress Scale) and 30-min home observations of parent-child interactions. Relative to the care-as-usual group, significant short-term improvements were found in the intervention group on parent-reported child behavior problems, dysfunctional parenting styles, parenting confidence, and parental stress, parental conflict, and relationship happiness. No significant intervention effects were found on levels of parental depression or anxiety, or on observed child disruptive and parent aversive behavior. The effect sizes for significant variables ranged from medium to large. Short-term effects were predominantly maintained at 6-month follow-up, and parents reported high levels of goal achievement and satisfaction with the program. The results indicate that a brief low intensity version of Stepping Stones Triple P is an efficacious intervention for parents of children with ASD.

Shared responsibility for forest protection?

Worldwide, there is growing reliance in forest politics on public–private partnerships (PPPs) as a means for forest-environmental protection. In Sweden, such partnership characterizes the approach in nature conservation agreements (NCAs) in the forest policy from 1993 and onwards. NCAs are negotiated between the County Administrative Board/the Forest Agency and a landowner, where the landowner agrees to, with some compensation, provide a public service in terms of protecting biodiversity. However, assessments of the implementation of NCAs show rather inefficient implementation of set goals in general, even if there are great regional variations.This paper explores factors affecting the establishment of PPPs in two neighboring counties distinguished by high and low level of goal achievement of NCAs respectively. The analysis focuses on the process among the landowners and responsible authorities, their incentives for collaboration, and the potential for developing shared motives. The results suggest that in particular the discretionary power of authorities influences not only the willingness to participate, but also the institutional ability to develop sustainable relationships which largely explains why landowners in some counties are keener to engage in NCAs.

Presenting a model for safety program performance assessment using grey system theory

Purpose– The proposed model was capable of being used in both promoting safety performance level and evaluating and ranking safety units. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approach– Managers must be able to determine positive impacts of safety programmes on the organisation and level of goal achievement and information access about performance of safety units. Since uncertain judgements of decision makers can be hardly estimated by numerical values, in this paper, based on grey system theory, a method was proposed for evaluating performance of safety units which was done using qualitative criteria of safety performance in an uncertain environment by one of the newest developed theory. This method used concept of grey theory to convert verbal variables into interval grey numbers; in the quantitative method, degree of grey possibility was imported.Findings– The results showed that the most important performance indicator in the field of safety in inter-urban transportation management included specialized safety training, safety auditing, hazard identification and risk evaluation, employees’ health monitoring, solid waste management and management review.Originality/value– This model could be extended for the whole safety issues and can be used as a simple and efficient method to evaluate performance of safety units in metro company of all the cities in order to determine their weaknesses and introduce the applied control strategies.

지역의 산학협력 연구개발 지원 과제 선정을 위한 연구

본 연구의 주요 목적은 참여기업이 만족할 수 있는 지역 산학협력 R&D 과제를 선정하기 위한 지표를 발견하는데 있다. 기존의 산학협력 R&D 과제는 수요자인 참여기업에 대한 고려가 부족했다. 하지만, 우수한 연구 성과를 목표로 하는 연구개발 사업과는 달리 기업의 경쟁력 향상을 목표로 하는 지역 산학협력 R&D 과제의 경우 참여기업 중심의 과제 기획 및 선정이 필요하다. 따라서 본 연구에서는 산학협력 R&D 사업에 참여했던 기업들을 대상의 설문조사 결과를 기반으로 일원분산분석, 회귀분석 등의 통계적 분석을 통해 기업의 만족도에 영향을 미치는 요인들을 찾아내고 이를 선정기준으로 정리하였다. 연구결과 기업만족도에 영향을 미치는 요인으로는 협력시간, 사업화계획 수립시점, 기술이전 여부, 목표달성 수준 등이 있었으며, 이는 선정단계에서 구체적인 인원투입계획, 사업화 계획에 대한 평가가 필요하다는 것을 시사한다. 본 연구는 만족도를 사업 시스템 개선에 활용한 시도로서 의미가 있으며, 수요자 중심의 사업기획과 운영에 활용될 수 있기를 기대한다. This paper is to discover selection indicator for academia-industrial cooperation R&D project. Existing Project lacks careful consideration for participant enterprise. But, This project must be focused on enterprise for the goal of project is to improve business competition. Therefore, we analyze the survey result of enterprise satisfaction and deduct the factor of satisfaction by statistical analysis like One-way ANOVA and Regression. The study says that collaboration time, the time of planning of commercialization, technology transfer and the level of goal achievement improve enterprise satisfaction. And it implies needs for plan of manpower input and commercialization at the selecting phase. This paper is significant that it can improve project system by satisfaction. We expect that this result is utilized by planning and management.

Exploring Association of OD Values with Organizational Perceived Effectiveness: Case of Small and Medium Enterprises

A value culture always plays a significant role in organization development. Although the contemporary business organizations are gradually realizing the importance of these values in enhancing organization effectiveness, most of the organizations in Pakistan are still in dire need to adapt the values of openness, trust, authenticity and empowerment, collaboration and continuous organization learning in order to enhance organizational effectiveness and efficiency to survive or compete. Especially, the SME sector which constitutes a considerable part of Pakistani economy where majority of the firms have not been able to realize their full potential, the absence of value culture is constantly giving rise to low employee morale and less productivity and declining firms’ performance. Using goal theory of organization effectiveness, this study explores the association of four important OD values: employee empowerment, open communications, employee collaboration and continuous learning on the perceived effectiveness taking the case of 20 small and medium enterprises located in Karachi. A hypothetic-deductive approach is adapted to obtain the findings. The results support that open communication, employee collaboration and continuous organization learning are significantly associated with the perceived goal achievement levels of the firms. A positive but statistically insignificant association is observed in case of employee empowerment. The regression analysis indicates that the selected four OD values significantly contribute to the perceived organizational effectiveness on the given four important goals of the firm. The findings of this study do not only contribute to the organizational development, but would also help the government and the concerned authorities to devise strategies to develop and reinforce the value system in SMEs to deal with effectiveness and productivity issues in this major sector

Indicators monitoring the process of specialized nutritional support. Grupo de Nutrición de la SEFH

To identify and develop monitoring indicators of the process of specialized nutritional support that will allow measuring the level of adherence to the established practice standards. Those practice standards considered to be key elements of the process were selected to develop performance indicators. The construction of these indicators combined the scientific evidence with expert opinion. Key goals were identified within each standard provided that its consecution would allow increasing the achievement of the standard. Particular improvement initiatives associated to each key goal were generated. Lastly, monitoring indicators were defined allowing undertaking a follow-up of the implementation of the improvement initiatives or either to assess the level of achievement of the key goals identified. Nineteen practice standards were selected representative of the critical points of the process. The strategic map for each standard has been defined, with the identification of 43 key goals. In order to achieve these key goals, a portfolio of improvements has been generated comprising 56 actions. Finally, 44 monitoring indicators have been defined grouped into three categories: 1. Numeric: they assess the level of goal achievement; 2. Dichotomic (yes/no): they inform on the execution of the improvement actions; 3. Results of the practice audits. We have made available monitoring indicators that allow assessing the level of adherence to the practice standards of the process of specialized nutritional support and the impact of the implementation of improvement actions within this process.

The Effect of A Self-Management Support Program on The Achievement of Goals in Diabetic Foot Care Behaviors in Indonesian Diabetic Patients

Introduction: Diabetic foot care behaviors (DFCB) are a fundamental component of the prevention of diabetic foot complications. This quasi-experimental study aimed to examine the effect of a self-management support program on the achievement of DFCB goals in Indonesian diabetic patients. Method: Thirty-five subjects were recruited from the diabetic unit of a district hospital in West Java, Indonesia. The subjects received a five-week diabetic foot care self-management (SM) support program. This program consisted of three sequential phases based on the self-management method proposed by Kanfer and Gaelick-Buys (1991): self-monitoring, self-evaluation, and self-reinforcement. The strategies used in this program consisted of individual foot care education, goal setting and action planning, and brief weekly counseling and follow-ups. The goals achieved from the second to the fourth weeks were evaluated weekly by phone call follow-ups with a face-to-face interview evaluation in the fifth week. The level of goal achievement was determined by counting the number of successfully implemented actions based on the subject’s action plans. The actual goal achievement was then classified into three levels: goal completely achieved, goal partially achieved and no behavioral change (no action) at all. Results Most of the subjects (94.3%) were able to completely achieve their first week goals whereas only approximately two-thirds of the subjects were able to completely achieve their goals in the second to the fourth weeks. Throughout the program, less than half of the subjects (42.9%) completely achieved all four weekly goals although only one subject (2.9%) was unable to achieve any of the weekly goals. The most improved DFCB component in each of the first to fourth weeks was foot hygiene, footwear, toenail care and a combination of foot hygiene and footwear, respectively. Conclusion: This SM support program effectively improved the Indonesian diabetic patients’ foot care behaviors. Therefore, nurses can apply this program in practice in enhancing DFCB in order to prevent diabetic foot ulceration.

Assessing multi-criteria approaches with environmental, economic and social attributes, weights and procedures: A case study in the Pampas, Argentina

Abstract Soil erosion control is a major issue in agriculture. The no till system of soybean production has been widely adopted; however, soil erosion may increase due to pasture and forestry land convertion to cropland in the marginal Pampas, Argentina. The aim of this paper is to assess the conflicts and trade-off among environmental, economic and social interests by using three continuous multi-criteria approaches and a set of different weights. Different land uses, crops, pastures, forestry and soil and water conservation practices at the basin scale in the marginal Pampas were assessed. The basin (423 km2) was discretised into 176 sub-basins to focus the management strategy on 5th and 6th order streams. Minimum basic information was obtained using intensive field observations and satellite images. The basin hydrology, soil erosion, sediment delivery and vegetated filter strip models and GIS were used to quantify the technical coefficients. Thirteen decision factors and six criteria (peak run-off, annual erosion, sediment, investment, gross margin and employment) were used in the optimisation trials. Weighted goal programming, lexicographic goal programming, compromise programming and a sensitivity analysis of weights were performed. The results showed a high impact of soil and water management practices on the environmental factors and a strong conflict between environmental and economic interests. The three multi-criteria approaches also showed that it is possible to obtain a good level of goal achievement with different plans. These plans should include: soil conservation practices; crop rotation (of a 2:1 soybean-to-corn ratio); gully and channel erosion control; regulation ponds; and pasture and agro-forestry areas. This goal achievement is mainly limited by public and private investment. Sensitivity analysis of the decision-maker weights shows differences among the values achieved by the criteria and their trade-off. Thus, the weight value of each criterium should be supported by the negotiation–consensus process.

Rationale and design of a multicentre, double-blind, prospective, randomized, European and Canadian study: Evaluating patient outcomes and costs of managing adults with post-stroke focal spasticity

This report describes the design of a study aiming to provide evidence for the extended use of botulinum toxin A in focal post-stroke upper and lower limb spasticity and to evaluate the impact of incorporating botulinum toxin treatment into the rehabilitation of patients with spasticity. International, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study with an open-label extension. Approximately 300 adults with a stroke occurring ≥ 3 months before screening, presenting with symptoms and signs of an upper motor neuron syndrome and focal spasticity-related functional impairment, were randomized to botulinum toxin (BOTOX®, Allergan Inc.) + standard care or placebo + standard care. Study medication was administered at baseline and again at Week 12 if required, with follow-up to 52 weeks. The primary endpoint was the number of patients who achieved their investigator-rated principal active functional goal (as measured by Goal Attainment Scaling), at 10 weeks after the second injection (Weeks 22-34) or at the 24-week visit if no second injection was administered. Secondary endpoints included changes from baseline in level of goal achievement, health-related quality of life and resource utilization. Botulinum toxin A Economic Spasticity Trial (BEST) will provide information regarding clinical and cost-effectiveness of botulinum toxin + standard care vs standard care alone in patients with upper and/or lower limb post-stroke spasticity typically seen in clinical practice. ClinicalTrials.gov number NCT-00549783.

Proximity and duration in temporary organisations

This study focuses on the effects of duration and proximity on collaborative outcomes in temporary organisations. With regard to proximity, it distinguishes between geographical and organisational proximity. The study is based on a regression analysis of an original dataset of 147 temporary organisations in the Netherlands. The results indicate that face-to face contact has a positive impact on the collaborative outcome, whereas the geographical distance between organisations does not seem to matter. Organisations with a high level of organisational proximity are also likely to achieve their goals better than organisations that are rather dissimilar. Furthermore, duration positively influences the relation between face-to-face contacts and goal attainment. However, it appears that duration as such has a negative influence on performance. This study shows that there are important differences between IORs that have to be taken into account since they matter for the level of goal achievement of a collaborative effort.

Integrating self-management and exercise for people living with arthritis

The Program for Arthritis Control through Education and Exercise, PACE-Ex™, is an arthritis self-management program incorporating principles and practice of self-management, goal setting and warm water exercise. The purpose of this program review is to examine the impact of PACE-Ex on participants' self-efficacy for condition management, self-management behaviors, goal achievement levels and self-reported disability, pain and health status. A retrospective review was conducted on participants who completed PACE-Ex from 1998 to 2006. A total of 347 participants completed 24 PACE-Ex programs [mean age 69.9 (±12.2) years, living with arthritis mean of 14.1 (±13.2) years]. Participants showed statistically significant improvements in their self-efficacy to manage their condition (Program for Rheumatic Independent Self-Management Questionnaire) (P < 0.001) and performance of self-management behaviors (Self-Management Behavior Questionnaire) (P < 0.01). Self-reported health status, disability and pain levels improved post-program (P < 0.01) despite reporting statistically significant increase in the total swollen and tender joint counts (Health Assessment Questionnaire) (P < 0.05). Sixty-eight percent of participants achieved or exceeded their long-term goal as measured by Goal Attainment Scaling. These findings remain to be proven with a more rigorous method yet they suggest that PACE-Ex is a promising intervention that supports healthy living for individuals with arthritis.

Ausgestaltung von Management by Objectives innerhalb von Leistungslohnsystemen - Unterschiede in der Motivation zwischen Mitarbeitenden und Managern/ The implementation of management by objectives within monetary incentive systems – differences in motivation between employees and managers

Abstract Management by Objectives (MbO) wird definiert als Synthese von Zielsetzung, Partizipation bei Zielvereinbarungen und Feedback über die Zielerreichung. Dieser Beitrag untersucht, wie sich die Ausgestaltung von MbO innerhalb von Leistungsvergütungssystemen auf die Motivation von Mitarbeitenden und Vorgesetzten auswirkt. Als Datenbasis dient eine Stichprobe von 342 Unternehmen in der Schweiz. Die Untersuchungsergebnisse zeigen, dass 96% der betrachteten Leistungslohngruppen Management by Objectives anwenden. Bei 83% ist die Leistungsvergütung direkt mit dem MbO-System verknüpft. Eine detaillierte Betrachtung zeigt, dass die Ausgestaltung der einzelnen Elemente von MbO-Zielsetzung, Partizipation und Feedback - je nach Hierarchiestufe verschiedene Bedeutungen haben. Während für die Mitarbeitenden ohne Führungsfunktion in erster Linie die Kommunikation über die Zielerreichung einen positiven Einfluss auf die Motivation hat, ist für das Management die Qualität der Zielsetzungen zentral.

Goal Fulfillment and Goal Targets in Sequential Choice

This article examines the effect of goal fulfillment on choices made in the context of an ongoing sequence of experiences. We find that a good first experience produces an upward shift in the target level of goal achievement. When a higher level of goal attainment is offered by a risky option, that option will be preferred more following a good experience than following a bad experience. Several studies show that this pattern applies only to risk related to the content of the active goal and only to risk that offers the possibility of a higher level of goal achievement than a riskless option.

Predictors of Family Business Tensions and Goal Achievement

The purpose of this study is to investigate predictors of business tensions and family and business goal achievement within family businesses. Household managers identified higher business tensions and higher goal achievement levels than did business managers. A family health assessment (APGAR) was the highest predictor of business tensions for both household and business managers. Total business tensions was the most significant predictor of business goal achievement for both business and household managers, and family health (APGAR) was the largest contributor to family goal achievement for both managers.

Modelling multiple objectives of land use for sustainable development

Sustainability is a human-centred concept that comprises multiple aspects and objectives of different interest groups. Sustainable development is not readily measurable, except as a compromise between different parts of society, of which some may try to represent future generations of mankind. To determine a sustainable development path in the relationship between agriculture and its natural environment, a profound knowledge of this complex system and its behaviour under different socio-economic conditions is necessary. We present a modelling system which consists of a set of hierarchically linked modules. These modules describe production activities in a way that allows an economic and ecological analysis of these techniques. The heart of the modelling system is a multiple goal linear programming model, which is generated by data base modules. Simulation of single farm models as well as regional models based on simultaneously optimised farm types is possible. The modelling system appears to be a highly flexible tool with respect to the number and type of farms, sites and production techniques. Environmental objectives can easily be included and different levels of goal achievement can be simulated. It is well suited for single farm analysis as well as for regional models, for static as well as dynamic approaches. It allows rapid adoption of the model and rapid calculation of scenarios. Therefore, it is suited for use in interactive environments with users which are interested in repeated runs with little changes in the goal function, prices, subsidies or technical coefficients. The results can be used for policy decisions as well as the strategic planning of individual farmers. Applications of the modelling system will be presented in following papers. In this paper the kind of information the model can generate and the circumstances of their usage are shown. ©