Ombudsman Program Research Articles

Agents of Nursing Home Quality of Care: Ombudsmen and Staff Ratios Revisited

Many gerontologists have proposed that ombudsman programs and other forms of community presence should improve nursing home quality of care. This study compared these programs' effects on quality of nursing care on a random sample of 134 Medicare/Medicaid-certified long-term care facilities in Missouri. The presence of an ombudsman program was found to be the most important factor associated with quality for intermediate-care facilities, and it was significantly associated with quality for skilled nursing homes where there was ample staffing of registered nurses.

Corporate ombudsman programs

Canadian Public AdministrationVolume 34, Issue 1 p. 177-183 Corporate ombudsman programs David Nitkin, David NitkinSearch for more papers by this author David Nitkin, David NitkinSearch for more papers by this author First published: March 1991 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1754-7121.1991.tb01453.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat Volume34, Issue1March 1991Pages 177-183 RelatedInformation

Rural volunteer ombudsman programs.

We examine benefits and difficulties surrounding the effective implementation of a long-term care volunteer ombudsman program in a rural setting. Discussion focuses on the uniqueness of each rural community and potential strategies that can be mixed and matched to meet individual community needs. We consider implications for the development and implementation of ombudsman programs in rural areas.

Readers' Perceptions of Purpose of Newspaper Ombudsman Program

Readers' Perceptions of Purpose of Newspaper Ombudsman Program

The Public's View of Newspaper Accountability

How does a newspaper audience that is regularly exposed to an ombudsman program and a news criticism column perceive the newspapers' accountability? A cross-sectional telephone survey was conducted with 393 respondents in Louisville, Ky, where newspapers have both features. The findings supported the expectation that those with higher awareness of the ombudsman have higher perceptions of newspaper accountability. There was no support for the idea that more frequent column readership would be linked to higher perceptions of accountability. The findings may be connected to the promotion of the ombudsman program by the newspapers.

Resolving Grievances in the Nursing Home: A Study of the Ombudsman Program

1. Antecedents of the Ombudsman Program2. Structuring Quality Assurance Mechanisms for the Elderly in Long-Term Care3. Study Methodology4. The Ombudsman and the Complaint Grievance Process5. What Do Ombudsmen Do?6. Do Ombudsman Programs Get Results?7. The Future of the Ombudsman

Resolving Grievances in the Nursing Home: A Study of the Ombudsman Program.

1. Antecedents of the Ombudsman Program 2. Structuring Quality Assurance Mechanisms for the Elderly in Long-Term Care 3. Study Methodology 4. The Ombudsman and the Complaint Grievance Process 5. What Do Ombudsmen Do? 6. Do Ombudsman Programs Get Results? 7. The Future of the Ombudsman

The short-term effect of a national prevention model on student drug abuse

This article presents the results of a short-term evaluation of a national drug abuse prevention model entitled the Ombudsman Program (OP). The OP was approved as a national model by the U.S. Department of Education in 1979, and is currently being disseminated nationwide via the National Diffusion Network (NDN). This outcome evaluation research is based on the data generated by the most recent replication of the OP in spring semester 1981 in Charlotte. A quasi-experimental design was used, with 29 students in the treatment group and 30 students in the control group, all at the sixth grade level. Using the "high-risk" Student Attitudinal Inventory (SAI), the following results were obtained: (1) at the conclusion of the OP, a larger proportion of students in the treatment group had favorable attitudes toward their regular school teachers than was the case in the control group; (2) when the students' appraisal of the importance of the program content of the OP is compared to the regular school program, there does not seem to be a significant difference between the two; (3) between the pre- and post-tests, there were positive attitudinal improvements in five out of seven "high risk" factors that are closely related to the frequency of student drug involvement; and (4) the magnitude of these changes, however, is minimal in general and statistically nonsignificant. Finally, a number of recommendations applicable not only to the OP but to other drug education/prevention programs are presented on the basis of the data generated from numerous replications of the OP between 1977 and 1981.

Assessing the efficacy of ombudsman services for the aged in long term care institutions

Long term care ombudsman programs are a recently established component within the gerontological services continuum. Public policy in this area is not yet well defined and there is a conspicuous absence of systematic studies assessing the effectiveness of such program efforts. This research reports on the accomplishments of an urban based, volunteer nursing home ombudsman program. Survey findings show moderate levels of goal attainment in the policy and social relations domains and more promising results in the organizational/managerial sphere. The relationship between perceptions of program success and varying ombudsman role behaviors is underscored.

The Prison Ombudsman

A correctional ombudsman office is needed to balance the American prison systems. This is necessary because of both the nature of prison and the inadequacy of other means of dealing with the conflicts, grievances, and interpersonal problems inherent in incarceration. The ombudsman is the logical conclusion of the idea of inmate rights established by the prisoner litigation of the 1960s and 1970s. This paper discusses structural and personal attributes of an ombudsman and cites examples of ombudsman programs in U.S. prisons.

An Evaluation of Ombudsman Primary Prevention Program on Student Drug Abuse

This study is designed to measure the outcome of a drug prevention program entitled Ombudsman. Currently, this program is being disseminated nationwide via the National Diffusion Network (NDN) since its approval as a national model by the U.S. Department of Education. In its replication in Charlotte during fall semester 1979, the Ombudsman program (OP) was offered to students in grades 5–9. One-hundred thirteen students were in the treatment group which had three different subgroups. Seventy-two students were in the control group. Utilizing the “high-risk” Student Attitudinal Inventory (SAI), the following results were obtained: 1. at the conclusion of the OP, a significantly larger proportion of students in the treatment group had favorable attitudes toward their regular school teachers than those in the control group; 2. a significantly larger proportion of students in the treatment group reported more favorable attitudes toward the Ombudsman instructors than did either the treatment or control groups with regard to their own classroom teachers; 3. the OP was more effective among students whose regular classroom teachers have had Ombudsman training than those whose teachers did not have such training; and 4. the OP was more effective among elementary than junior high school students.

How do we know whether a primary prevention program on drug abuse works or does not work?

Primary prevention of drug abuse is defined as a systematic effort through which curiosity-oriented drug experimenters are kept from becoming regular drug users. Following this definition, a model program entitled Ombudsman is evaluated. The hypothesis tested is: The proportion of students who no longer use drugs will be greater among those who have participated in the Ombudsman program than among those who have not. Some of the findings are: (1) the program is most effective with regard to "hard' drugs (greater than .001), but not with "social' drugs; (2) the program impact is most effective among younger students (p greater than .01).

Modern Technology Applied to Traditional Political Functions: The Florida Senate Ombudsman Program

Modern Technology Applied to Traditional Political Functions: The Florida Senate Ombudsman Program

The ombudsman: a serendipitous mental health intervention.

It is proposed that the ombudsman program, originally conceived of as a protection of the political rights of individual citizens, can be profitably viewed as a primary prevention of psychological disorders. The ombudsman attempts to alleviate reality problems prior to the onset of psychological disruption by engaging in active change agentry in public and private bureaucracies. Two hundred randomly selected written complaints were analyzed to ascertain the types of problems brought to this program. The role of the mental health professional and training issues are briefly discussed.