Motivation in The Workplace

Bonus pay can be defined as a payment In Dalton to an employee's base salary or hourly wage. Bonus pay is normally used to reward employees for a job well done, but it can be used to improve employee morale, productivity and motivation as well. Bonus's usually work best in an environment where the job greatly depends on an employee or employees to accomplish a goal with high effectiveness. With bonus payments, there is a significant advantage. Offering a cash amount to employees who complete a specific goal can offer Incentive.It also expresses a sign of appreciation awards an employee(s). This can then motivate en employee to continue working hard to achieve another bonus payment. There are disadvantages to bonus payments, such as a high cost for the company. Giving out bonus payments yearly, during holidays or at other times, must be calculated to figure out how many employees a company can afford to give a bonus to. Another drawback to bonus payments Is having to pay taxes. A bonu s Is added to your yearly Income, meaning a large bonus means higher taxes.Commissions Commission payments are an amount of money, whether it be a percentage or a flat ate, paid to an employee after completing a task, such as selling a product. Commission may be paid in addition to a salary or Instead of a salary. Commission works best in a retail sales business. Real estate is a good example. In retail sales, commission pay can encourage an employee to put 100% effort into a sale. When a worker Is offered commission pay, whether It's In addition to a salary or not, it offers the employee a high paying opportunity, as the number or sales they make effect their pay.By paying commission It also allows the company to weed out those who are not able to succeed at the job. If an employee cannot earn enough by commission pay, the company is then left with only the top earners, who clearly succeed at their jobs. A fluctuation in pay is considered a disadvantage. Some weeks an employee may earn a high amount, while other weeks sales may be very slow and earnings will be extremely low. This Is the largest disadvantage to commission sales. Especially If a worker Is being paid commission only – with no salary, an employee may end up working for many hours while not earning any money.Employee Stock Ownership (ESP.) Employee Stock Ownership is a program where employees accumulate shares and ay ultimately assume control of the company. These stocks can be acquired through purchase, or through bonuses. Seeps work best for large companies such as West Jet or other airlines. Sop's can increase production and profitability, and Improve employees' dedication and sense of ownership. When employees become owners in the company, they become more loyal and productive. Seeps also offer significant tax breaks to a company.Some disadvantages to Seeps are that an employee basically has all of their eggs in one basket, so if the company does not perform, the employee's investment could be lost. In addition to a loss of investment, s more shares are purchased, an employee's share becomes a smaller percentage of Gain-sharing is when a company's employees' performance improves, that company will share the financial gain. Gain sharing works to improve performance while eliminating wasted time, energy and materials.This way, as the employees' performance progresses, they profit from the company's savings from the improved performance. With gain-sharing, it focuses on rewarding only performance improvement, and payouts are self-funded from savings generated by the plan. Employees become more interested in the company's goals. Measures are narrower Han organization-wide profit and therefore gains may be paid even though profits may be down. Gain-sharing also requires that management openly shares information about performance, therefore a participative management style works best.Gain-sharing works best in a work place that focuses on groups rather than individual accomplishments. Profit-sharing Profit sharing is when the people who work for a company receive a direct share of the profits. The payouts are funded through company profits. Unlike gain-sharing, payouts are made when there is profit, performance doesn't necessarily have to show improvement. With profit sharing employees will be focused on the company's profitability. This motivates employees to work together for the success of the company. This in turn will allow employees to feel more committed to the company.Disadvantages of profit sharing include the fact that employees pay goes up equally, and there can be major fluctuations in smaller companies. This can then be very difficult for employees with their pay varying so much. Merit Pay Merit pay is extra pay rewarded to an employee regarding performance. If an employee succeeds at his or her Job, they are then rewarded with an additional mount of money to their regular salary. This type of financial incentive works excellent in e nvironments where employees work independently, as each employee can then be rewarded (or not rewarded) for their performance individually.Merit pay works well at Jobs related to retail sales. Merit pay is a very good motivator for employees. It shows the direct connection between hard work and rewards. An employee can be individually rewarded according to their performance. Merit pay also increases the commitment of employees. Each person will then strive to succeed to the best of their ability because they know it will be compensated. This is very good for company profit. Employees will also be more likely to stay within a company if they feel secure within their Job.Hard work being rewarded allows an employee to feel comfortable and secure. A disadvantage to merit pay is it can be affected by outside factors. In the case of a retail sales employee, sometimes no matter how hard they work to make a sale, that person may Just not want to purchase that item. This is a factor that can not be controlled, and affects that employee's pay. Merit pay also can cause pressure. If an employee is constantly worried about not being able to succeed ND earn a higher paycheck through their performance, that may affect their abilities as they are stressed out.Skill-based pay Skill-based pay is when employees are paid based on their individual skill levels knowledge and acquire new skills. This is best for self – motivated employees. Being paid according to skills allows the employee to focus on career development. This means you have to continue to develop new skills and education through courses and training if you want to increase your pay. Another disadvantage of knowledge- based pay is employees may feel bitter towards one another due to difference in pay. Motivation in The Workplace Bonus pay can be defined as a payment In Dalton to an employee's base salary or hourly wage. Bonus pay is normally used to reward employees for a job well done, but it can be used to improve employee morale, productivity and motivation as well. Bonus's usually work best in an environment where the job greatly depends on an employee or employees to accomplish a goal with high effectiveness. With bonus payments, there is a significant advantage. Offering a cash amount to employees who complete a specific goal can offer Incentive.It also expresses a sign of appreciation awards an employee(s). This can then motivate en employee to continue working hard to achieve another bonus payment. There are disadvantages to bonus payments, such as a high cost for the company. Giving out bonus payments yearly, during holidays or at other times, must be calculated to figure out how many employees a company can afford to give a bonus to. Another drawback to bonus payments Is having to pay taxes. A bonu s Is added to your yearly Income, meaning a large bonus means higher taxes.Commissions Commission payments are an amount of money, whether it be a percentage or a flat ate, paid to an employee after completing a task, such as selling a product. Commission may be paid in addition to a salary or Instead of a salary. Commission works best in a retail sales business. Real estate is a good example. In retail sales, commission pay can encourage an employee to put 100% effort into a sale. When a worker Is offered commission pay, whether It's In addition to a salary or not, it offers the employee a high paying opportunity, as the number or sales they make effect their pay.By paying commission It also allows the company to weed out those who are not able to succeed at the job. If an employee cannot earn enough by commission pay, the company is then left with only the top earners, who clearly succeed at their jobs. A fluctuation in pay is considered a disadvantage. Some weeks an employee may earn a high amount, while other weeks sales may be very slow and earnings will be extremely low. This Is the largest disadvantage to commission sales. Especially If a worker Is being paid commission only – with no salary, an employee may end up working for many hours while not earning any money.Employee Stock Ownership (ESP.) Employee Stock Ownership is a program where employees accumulate shares and ay ultimately assume control of the company. These stocks can be acquired through purchase, or through bonuses. Seeps work best for large companies such as West Jet or other airlines. Sop's can increase production and profitability, and Improve employees' dedication and sense of ownership. When employees become owners in the company, they become more loyal and productive. Seeps also offer significant tax breaks to a company.Some disadvantages to Seeps are that an employee basically has all of their eggs in one basket, so if the company does not perform, the employee's investment could be lost. In addition to a loss of investment, s more shares are purchased, an employee's share becomes a smaller percentage of Gain-sharing is when a company's employees' performance improves, that company will share the financial gain. Gain sharing works to improve performance while eliminating wasted time, energy and materials.This way, as the employees' performance progresses, they profit from the company's savings from the improved performance. With gain-sharing, it focuses on rewarding only performance improvement, and payouts are self-funded from savings generated by the plan. Employees become more interested in the company's goals. Measures are narrower Han organization-wide profit and therefore gains may be paid even though profits may be down. Gain-sharing also requires that management openly shares information about performance, therefore a participative management style works best.Gain-sharing works best in a work place that focuses on groups rather than individual accomplishments. Profit-sharing Profit sharing is when the people who work for a company receive a direct share of the profits. The payouts are funded through company profits. Unlike gain-sharing, payouts are made when there is profit, performance doesn't necessarily have to show improvement. With profit sharing employees will be focused on the company's profitability. This motivates employees to work together for the success of the company. This in turn will allow employees to feel more committed to the company.Disadvantages of profit sharing include the fact that employees pay goes up equally, and there can be major fluctuations in smaller companies. This can then be very difficult for employees with their pay varying so much. Merit Pay Merit pay is extra pay rewarded to an employee regarding performance. If an employee succeeds at his or her Job, they are then rewarded with an additional mount of money to their regular salary. This type of financial incentive works excellent in e nvironments where employees work independently, as each employee can then be rewarded (or not rewarded) for their performance individually.Merit pay works well at Jobs related to retail sales. Merit pay is a very good motivator for employees. It shows the direct connection between hard work and rewards. An employee can be individually rewarded according to their performance. Merit pay also increases the commitment of employees. Each person will then strive to succeed to the best of their ability because they know it will be compensated. This is very good for company profit. Employees will also be more likely to stay within a company if they feel secure within their Job.Hard work being rewarded allows an employee to feel comfortable and secure. A disadvantage to merit pay is it can be affected by outside factors. In the case of a retail sales employee, sometimes no matter how hard they work to make a sale, that person may Just not want to purchase that item. This is a factor that can not be controlled, and affects that employee's pay. Merit pay also can cause pressure. If an employee is constantly worried about not being able to succeed ND earn a higher paycheck through their performance, that may affect their abilities as they are stressed out.Skill-based pay Skill-based pay is when employees are paid based on their individual skill levels knowledge and acquire new skills. This is best for self – motivated employees. Being paid according to skills allows the employee to focus on career development. This means you have to continue to develop new skills and education through courses and training if you want to increase your pay. Another disadvantage of knowledge- based pay is employees may feel bitter towards one another due to difference in pay.

Critical Legal Thinking Essay

A state doctrine is â€Å"a doctrine which states that judges of one country cannot question the validity of an act committed by another country within that other country’s borders. It is based on the principle that a country has absolute authority over what transpires within its own territory† (Cheeseman, 2013). In the case of Glen v. Club Mediteranee, S.A. this means that because the incident of Cuba’s expropriating the Glen’s beachfront property to Club Mediteranee, S. A. to build their facility and then not paying the Glen’s for the property cannot be brought to a U.S. court to be judged because the incident originated in Cuba and state doctrine states that another country cannot â€Å"question the validity of an act committed by another country† (Cheeseman, 2013, p. 543). The U.S.A. cannot just step in and tell Cuba that their standards and beliefs are wrong. Ethics No, the Cuban government and Club Mediteranee by ethical, societal, or U.S. standards act morally in the joint venture of building their facilities on the Glen’s beachfront property without establishing a contract or making payment to the Glen’s for their beachfront property. By our society standards and beliefs, in the U.S.A. this would be considered stealing. Although we might see this as immoral and illegal Cuba may not, because their country may have no compunction to take what is not theirs and use it as they see fit does not give another country the right to sit in judgment because each culture and civilization has their own ethical standards and we cannot place our standards on other countries because that would be unethical. Contemporary Business References Cheeseman, H. R. (2013). The Legal Environment of Business and Online Commerce: Business Ethics, E-Commerce, Regulatory, and International Issues. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson/Prentice Hall. Investment policy – OECD. (2014.). Retrieved from http://www.oecd.org/investment/toolkit/policyareas/investmentpolicy/expropriationlawsandreviewprocesses.htm

Air Blue

The group is supposed to first analyze and then recommend the Vision and Mission statements based upon the characteristics discussed in text. Assignment #2 Report on Industry Analysis This assignment would encompass the following components: a. Introduction and History of the allocated industry. b. PEST Analysis and conclusion on industry attractiveness. c. Industry scanning using the Porter’s five force model and conclude on prevailing competition level. d. Make a list of opportunities and threats present in the industry emerging out of PEST Analysis and Porter’s Five Force Model in relation to allocated company. e. Make EFE Matrix of the company and interpret its result. f. Identify and make a list of CSF’s of the industry . Identify company’s major competitors and make CPM Assignment # 3 Report on Company Analysis On the allocated company from within the respective industry, each group is required to develop: a. Perform Strategic internal audit of the company of the following departments as per the guidelines given in the prescribed text book i. Marketing ii. Finance iii. RD iv. Accounting v. MIS vi. HR b. Complete internal audit and make list of key Strengths and Weaknesses of the company. c. Make IFE Matrix of the company and interpret its result. . Make SWOT analysis of the company and interpret its overall findings. Assignment # 4 A-Long Term Objectives In light of vision and Mission statement and SWOT analysis develop:- i. Long Term Financial Strategic Objectives of the company ii. Long Term Non-Financial Strategic Objectives of the company a B-Strategic Analysis and Choice I. Inputs stage This stage involves development of EFE matrix, CPM and IFE Matrix that has already been covered in assignment 1 to 3. (Just include findings) II. Matching Stage In this stage it is required to develop at least three out of the five matrices discussed below: i. SWOT matrix so as to develop four strategic scenarios (SO, ST. WO. WT) ii. SPACE Matrix for determining the organization’s overall strategic position. iii. BCG (If required) so as to determine the relative contribution of different divisions in terms of market share and industry growth. iv. IE Matrix using IFE and EFE scores ( done previously) v. Grand Strategy Matrix for formulating alternative strategy Set of feasible strategies emerging out of matching tools which company can consider for decision stage ? FINAL PROJECT REPORT PRESENTATION B-Strategic Analysis and Choice III. Decision Stage i. Compare all strategies included in sets of feasible strategies using QSPM of the allocated company. ii. Use excel spreadsheet for developing QSPM in order to evaluate the best alternative strategies set. This would require using the results from the input and the matching stage. Identify most attractive Strategies Using QSPM scores identify the most attractive strategies set to be followed by the company under the prevailing circumstances. Strategy Implementation i. Arrange the most attractive strategies sets in order of their priority in implementation to achieve company’s strategic goals ii. Specify the action plan that you are going to work on for implementation purpose for each strategy. iii. In order to implement any strategy you need to develop its annual objectives, policies and focus on the resources and other management issues that you may require your attention Evaluation and Control i. Specify the steps and measures to be taken for checking the effectiveness of the each strategy set after they are implemented. ii. Specify corrective actions to be taken in case of positive or negative variances for each strategy set. Conclusion i. Write a short note (1/2 Page) on how do you see the future of this company in next 5 years down the road specially with reference to your overall analysis and Strategy set that you have recommended. ii. Write down what Lessons you have learned from this project. Special Note: If required students can easily transfer these assignments and project into final MBA project by adding more articles, updated industry and company data, and surveys about the strategies being pursued by the company. You can round up your MBA project by making a complete strategic business plan of the company for the next 3 years in light of your recommended strategies Reports format and presentation instructions IMPORTANT NOTE : ALL REPORTS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED ON DESIGNATED DAY AND TIME WHICH WILL BE ANNOUNCED BY THE INSTRUCTOR –THERE IS NO CONCEPT OF LATE SUBMISSION Students are advised to strictly follow these instructions while compiling their assignment or final project reports, or making presentations (any deviation will result in deduction of marks): †¢Reports should be laser printed on A4 size (white) paper. †¢New Times Roman with font size 12 for the main body, Font size 14 bold for the sub heading, Font size16 bold for the main headings. Line spacing 1. 5 lines. Left justified †¢The title page of the report must contain: 1. Name and Logo of UCP 2. Title of the course and Section 3. Name of Industry 4. Company Name 5. Group members names and registration numbers 6. Name of the instructor 7. Date and Time of submission †¢Due references must be made where required in form of bibliography in APA style. ( Check the details of APA style of referencing on net) †¢Plagiarism would lead to negative marking or cancellation of the project. †¢Check spelling and grammar using MS Word spell check. †¢Presentation time would be 20 minutes followed by Q/A session in which each group member must participate. It should be on PPT slides. †¢Presentation should entail a brief summary of the industry and allocated assignments. Air Blue The group is supposed to first analyze and then recommend the Vision and Mission statements based upon the characteristics discussed in text. Assignment #2 Report on Industry Analysis This assignment would encompass the following components: a. Introduction and History of the allocated industry. b. PEST Analysis and conclusion on industry attractiveness. c. Industry scanning using the Porter’s five force model and conclude on prevailing competition level. d. Make a list of opportunities and threats present in the industry emerging out of PEST Analysis and Porter’s Five Force Model in relation to allocated company. e. Make EFE Matrix of the company and interpret its result. f. Identify and make a list of CSF’s of the industry . Identify company’s major competitors and make CPM Assignment # 3 Report on Company Analysis On the allocated company from within the respective industry, each group is required to develop: a. Perform Strategic internal audit of the company of the following departments as per the guidelines given in the prescribed text book i. Marketing ii. Finance iii. RD iv. Accounting v. MIS vi. HR b. Complete internal audit and make list of key Strengths and Weaknesses of the company. c. Make IFE Matrix of the company and interpret its result. . Make SWOT analysis of the company and interpret its overall findings. Assignment # 4 A-Long Term Objectives In light of vision and Mission statement and SWOT analysis develop:- i. Long Term Financial Strategic Objectives of the company ii. Long Term Non-Financial Strategic Objectives of the company a B-Strategic Analysis and Choice I. Inputs stage This stage involves development of EFE matrix, CPM and IFE Matrix that has already been covered in assignment 1 to 3. (Just include findings) II. Matching Stage In this stage it is required to develop at least three out of the five matrices discussed below: i. SWOT matrix so as to develop four strategic scenarios (SO, ST. WO. WT) ii. SPACE Matrix for determining the organization’s overall strategic position. iii. BCG (If required) so as to determine the relative contribution of different divisions in terms of market share and industry growth. iv. IE Matrix using IFE and EFE scores ( done previously) v. Grand Strategy Matrix for formulating alternative strategy Set of feasible strategies emerging out of matching tools which company can consider for decision stage ? FINAL PROJECT REPORT PRESENTATION B-Strategic Analysis and Choice III. Decision Stage i. Compare all strategies included in sets of feasible strategies using QSPM of the allocated company. ii. Use excel spreadsheet for developing QSPM in order to evaluate the best alternative strategies set. This would require using the results from the input and the matching stage. Identify most attractive Strategies Using QSPM scores identify the most attractive strategies set to be followed by the company under the prevailing circumstances. Strategy Implementation i. Arrange the most attractive strategies sets in order of their priority in implementation to achieve company’s strategic goals ii. Specify the action plan that you are going to work on for implementation purpose for each strategy. iii. In order to implement any strategy you need to develop its annual objectives, policies and focus on the resources and other management issues that you may require your attention Evaluation and Control i. Specify the steps and measures to be taken for checking the effectiveness of the each strategy set after they are implemented. ii. Specify corrective actions to be taken in case of positive or negative variances for each strategy set. Conclusion i. Write a short note (1/2 Page) on how do you see the future of this company in next 5 years down the road specially with reference to your overall analysis and Strategy set that you have recommended. ii. Write down what Lessons you have learned from this project. Special Note: If required students can easily transfer these assignments and project into final MBA project by adding more articles, updated industry and company data, and surveys about the strategies being pursued by the company. You can round up your MBA project by making a complete strategic business plan of the company for the next 3 years in light of your recommended strategies Reports format and presentation instructions IMPORTANT NOTE : ALL REPORTS ARE TO BE SUBMITTED ON DESIGNATED DAY AND TIME WHICH WILL BE ANNOUNCED BY THE INSTRUCTOR –THERE IS NO CONCEPT OF LATE SUBMISSION Students are advised to strictly follow these instructions while compiling their assignment or final project reports, or making presentations (any deviation will result in deduction of marks): †¢Reports should be laser printed on A4 size (white) paper. †¢New Times Roman with font size 12 for the main body, Font size 14 bold for the sub heading, Font size16 bold for the main headings. Line spacing 1. 5 lines. Left justified †¢The title page of the report must contain: 1. Name and Logo of UCP 2. Title of the course and Section 3. Name of Industry 4. Company Name 5. Group members names and registration numbers 6. Name of the instructor 7. Date and Time of submission †¢Due references must be made where required in form of bibliography in APA style. ( Check the details of APA style of referencing on net) †¢Plagiarism would lead to negative marking or cancellation of the project. †¢Check spelling and grammar using MS Word spell check. †¢Presentation time would be 20 minutes followed by Q/A session in which each group member must participate. It should be on PPT slides. †¢Presentation should entail a brief summary of the industry and allocated assignments.

Relationship between Cooperative Learning and Social Emotinal Learning Research Paper

Relationship between Cooperative Learning and Social Emotinal Learning - Research Paper Example This process happens in stages and does not take place in one instance. This entails that it happens in defining stages that are dependant Brackett, (Kremenitzer, & Maurer, 2011). For the process to be successful, there must be proper mechanisms that ensure that each stage is followed. After successfully undergoing through this process, change is usually experienced Corporative learning is addressed based on two aspects. Academic and social learning, these are then organized based on classroom activities. Corporative learning differs from group work, therefore, it takes structural interdependence. Practically, it involves students that take up tasks collectively towards a particular academic goal. This mode of learning is considered to be better placed than individual learning since individual learning takes up a competitive edge. When students are involved in a group, each one capitalizes on the resource presented. A corporative learning setup enables students to ask for information and also evaluate the one at hand. The corporative learning mode has been credited by numerous authors. Its accreditation is drawn from the numerous benefits that have been resultant. Proper adoption of this mode of learning makes the success of a group to become shared amongst the members. In this model, workload is decreased as a result of role adjustments. Teachers are seen as facilitators, their normal role as information givers changes to facilitators. This model was first introduced by social theorists, before world war two. Notable authors that contributed to its establishment include Allport, Shaw, Watson, and Mead. This group established corporative learning after prior research that indicated that corporative learning is more effective with regards to quantity, quality and the general productivity. Social emotional learning is an all-inclusive term that covers all aspects pertaining to life skills. This covers other

Individual Assignment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Individual Assignment - Essay Example The company chose to deal with water, a vital commodity over which, because of public interest, they could not raise prices too high without becoming the target of negative sentiments. This means that MIBW4A will be trapped perpetually in narrow profit margins. Underreporting is a real concern, because there is no way for MIBW4A to oversee sales. The revenue sharing agreement, where water vendors receive 20% and MIBW4A 80%, in unrealistic, given that the water which comprises the product is provided by water vendors, the cost they shoulder. MIBW4A will be more justified to charge a flat rate for rental. There is no reason why the vendors could not purchase their own filters and get 100% of their own sales, instead of turning over 80% to MIBW4A. Slow Sand Filtration is inferior to the 10-stage, or other multistage, standard water filtration system. There are more strategic, technological, and operational weaknesses in the business plans for MIBW4A, that there is greater reason to beli eve that it shall be more unfeasible than feasible. 2. What conclusions can you draw from your analysis of the financial statements? The financial statements are not realistic projections of the likely financial performance of the proposed business. On the following pages, the ratios of the pro forma financial statements, and the horizontal and vertical analysis of the balance sheet and income statement, are presented. Since the company shall not rely on short-term or long-term borrowings or liabilities, there are no liquidity or solvency ratios to speak of. All financing will be by equity (Atril & McLaney, 2008). This in itself is financially unsound, because the business does not explore the profit magnifying power of financial leverage. Fixed asset and total asset turnovers appear rosy, but this not being a manufacturing concern, reliance on these ratios is not significant. The firm has no major fixed assets directly related to its production except the filters, its contract, and its vehicles. Of these, only the vehicles are of real, tangible value, because the filters and contract are only as valuable as their perceived usefulness allows. Obsolescence and lack of market interest could drive the value of these assets to almost nothing very quickly. There being no cost of goods sold, there is no gross profit margin. The net profit margin is high at 59% and 61%, while the ROI (which is also the ROE since equity financed all the assets) is high for the second year at 96% but drops by 30 percentage points to 60% for the third year. Again, these ratios could not be relied upon because there appear to be significant elements which were not considered in the forecasting of revenues and costs. (Sources: Paramasivan, et al., 2008; Shim, et al., 2008) The common-size balance sheet (vertical analysis) on the next page shows each account as a ratio of total assets. A huge proportion of the assets are in cash, indicating that the company is under-invested. Keeping huge amounts of cash is unproductive; where these funds are not needed to be invested in the company’s business, it should be put in marketable securities such as safe government bonds or treasury bills. The horizontal analysis points to the

Read and discuss Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Read and discuss - Essay Example They should aim at reflecting the eventual HR challenges, and not just through HR practice investments but through making use of practice in the creation of value outcome. The author clearly states that within every function of management, the inability to anticipate accurately about the future may result in incomplete execution of errors which may have the ability to cause harm to the organization. For example, in case there is an incorrect design of something by the engineering department, it will have to go back to square zero in order for amendments to be made. If manufacturing fails to meet the cost required, quality requirements or delivery, there will be a quick correction of the problem and so on. I can go on and on to explain various circumstances, but as the authors of this text put it, in case HR managers fail to prepare for the future and fail to prepare an adequate plan, there will be more than just machines, designs, number and sales affected; a large number of peoples’ lives would be touched too. It may never be possible to undo such a terrible mistake. According to the authors, there may be a large number of failures caused by HR professionals, who may be administratively focused on future anticipation, although none of them may be more delayed in serious progress than the inability to gauge and watch movement of civil rights’ impact. This describes the extreme effects that may impacted an organization as a result of improper demand anticipation of economic, social, demographic, global and ethnic changes. The author might have been keen on addressing the key issues faced in a work environment as a result of worker discrimination. He puts to table the different consequences faced due to the practice of this growing vice. It is up to every HR to ensure that there is no discrimination in every single working environment if he ever wants to achieve positive, enticing organizational results. In 1941, Philip Randolph, the

To what extent does the word 'violence' have meaning shared across all Essay

To what extent does the word 'violence' have meaning shared across all human cultures - Essay Example Since looking at an intercultural perspective offers a broad image of violence, this paper will examine the definition and explanation of violence in sociology, since the uniqueness of societies and its norms are the ones initiating it and are also directly affected by it. Although it takes on different forms of which it is dependent on culture, the universality of violence would refer to the reaction of humans to deal with certain deprivation and as an act of fitting to the situation. Defining ‘Violence’ The World Health Organization (WHO) (n.d., p. 3) described violence as a â€Å"part of human experience† where â€Å"its impact can be seen in various forms, in all parts of the world.† The specified ‘human experience’ is already broad in its sense, but when referring to violence, it is mostly coming from negative perception. Through this definition, the World Health Organization agrees to the claim that ‘violence’ covers varied i ssues where the definition would surely undergo revisions; yet, all of which would be considered correct. The cultural view of violence depends on the specific ‘human experience’ and is entirely unique in one aspect or another, which makes the definition of violence more complex. Steger and Lind (1999, p. 24) improvised a way on defining violence without disregarding even one cultural background by categorizing it according to three disciplines where violence might have stemmed: Philosophical, Political and Sociological. A philosophical view of violence which is also called a â€Å"wide† definition is centered on structural violence. This has been expounded by Garver (n.d., cited in Steger & Lind, 1999, p. 24) wherein his definition of violence is about the unreciprocated needs of the society, or if there were alterations in the normal social process, specifically termed as ‘quiet violence.’ Quiet violence would exist if â€Å"people are deprived of choices in a systemic way by the very manner in which transactions normally take place† (Garver, n.d. cited in Steger & Lind, 1999, p. 24). Somehow, Garver’s definition is congruent to Galtung’s (1969, p. 169) assertion about what violence is. According to him, violence occurs when â€Å"the potential is higher than the actual is by definition avoidable and when it is avoidable.† In other words, violence, according to Galtung is when an action is entirely preventable and yet, no one is able to stop it from happening. A firm example posed is the case of a tuberculosis patient. Years ago, when tuberculosis inflicts death among people, the severity of the disease would not be considered violence since there were no effective medications available against it. However, if it has occurred now, such situation is considered violence because treatments for the said disease are available, and therefore, such deaths would have been preventable. In addition to Steger and Lind’s (1999) classification, sociological definition of violence might have to be the most overseen among the ones mentioned, since it deals with the acceptable and unacceptable types. In one way or another, sociological violence is politically driven especially when pertaining to the â€Å"illegal or illegitimate use of force† (Steger & Lind, 1999, p. 24). For example, the acts of the military men during war cannot be considered violence in this sense since they are permitted by the state to do so,

Mitigation Strategies and Solutions Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words

Mitigation Strategies and Solutions - Essay Example Kemp (2004) estimates that the earth’s surface temperature have increased by 0.3Â °c-0.6Â °c since 1900. The years 1995-2006 ranked amongst eleven of the twelve warmest years on record since climatic records began in 1850. The IPCC also estimates that by 2020, the earth’s temperatures will have risen by a further 0.2Â °c. Natural Causes/Contributions of Global Warming Earth’s Orbital Variation The Milankovitch Theory of climate change predicts that the Earth’s orbit around the sun is not a perfect circle but an ellipse, which makes the earth closer to the sun at certain periods. This currently occurs in January, making northern hemisphere winters slightly milder than previous winters. With greater eccentricity the length of the Earth’s seasons varies, which can lead to the build up of ice sheets when there are cooler summers. Sun Spot Activity The sun is now believed to be its most active for 300 years (Kemp, 2004). In the past 120 years, 0.5Â ° c rise in global temperatures occurred before 1940, which is earlier than the biggest rise in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions released by humans. Further evidence comes from tree ring data in which 17 out of 19 of the warmest spells in the past 10,000 years coincided with peaks in solar activity (Goudie, 2000). Ocean Circulation Changes The Earth’s oceans cover around 70% of the Earth’s surface and absorb twice the amount of sun’s radiation as the atmosphere of the land surface (Jackson and Jackson, 1996). With their huge heat capacity, and means to move vast quantities of heat across the planet, they have a major effect on the earth’s temperatures, e.g. during an El Nino cycle, the west coast of South America experiences higher temperatures with greater rainfall due to the transportation of warm waters from the South Pacific replacing the usual up-welling of nutrient rich cooler waters (Thomas and Goudie, 2000). The North Atlantic Jet and Gulf Stream also has a major affect on the earth’s surface temperatures in North Europe, which transports warm heat from the Caribbean up to high latitudinal regions making temperatures artificially high for their latitudinal position. Human Causes/Contributions of Global Warming Burning of Fossil Fuels The burning of fossil fuels such as coal, oil and gas releases anthropogenic emissions of GHG’s, such as carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and halocarbons. These gases absorb some of the infrared radiation emitted by the Earth which would otherwise escape back into space. This creates the enhanced greenhouse effect, in which increased CO? levels (280ppm from pre industrial levels to 379pmm by 2005) have warmed global temperatures by around 0.5Â °c over the past century (IPCC, 2007) Deforestation The world’s forests have decreased by around 38% over the past century (Jackson and Jackson, 1996). This has led to increased levels of CO? in the earth’s atmosphere because there are not enough trees to absorb the additional carbon rates caused by increased human activity. Increased agriculture and livestock such as cows release significant amounts of methane, which contribute towards global warming. Levels of methane have doubled since pre-industrial times to 1.765 ppmv (Kemp, 2004). CFC’s CFC’s and other halocarbons released from refrigerators, insulating foams, aerosol spray cans and industrial plants all destroy the stratospheric ozone, and are a significant cause of global warming due to their higher concentration levels of greenhouse gases (Goudie, 2000). Positive and Negative

Virginia State Local Government Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Virginia State Local Government - Essay Example The division, however, does not end with the cultural aspect. Statistics also show that those living in the northernmost part of the state earn more and have a higher level of education than those at southern and southwestern counties. The Commonwealth Institute, a liberal thinking organization focused on Virginia, reached more or less the same conclusions, focusing more, however, on the income inequalities in the state. Without saying explicitly that the people up north are better off than their southern and southwestern counterparts, the institute found that there is a higher wage gap between whites and African-Americans in the state and this has not changed significantly since the late 1970's. This claim is supported by findings of experts that wages and salaries in the north are indeed higher than the rest of Virginia, where incidentally more African-Americans can be found. Given the existence of inequity between northern and southern counties, an obvious solution to the problem would actually be for the government to strive to make state of things equal, given the injustices and unfairness present in Virginia nowadays. However, the question is: how do legislators go about doing this For one, legislators can push for the use of other gu

Answer the question below Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 2

Answer the question below - Essay Example He rejects materialistic explanation of the mind. His view has a negative relationship to the theories of evolution as the philosophers believed the spirit as evolving from epiphenomenon or powers of living matter. Science fails to bring out dignity as it uses observation to designate and quantify the numerous manifestations of life at a particular time. It is impossible to the spirit (Fiorenza, Francis, and John 55-75). Through reflection, we can analyze the mind. It is through theology that we can explain Gods creation. The Catholic Church endorse the biblical hermeneutic that life is godly and conveyed by Jesus Christ. They approve the gospel as being true in trying to explain the origin of life (Fiorenza, Francis and John 95-105). They validate the bible as having satisfactory message in life as it regards life as having a revelation. However, they are not fast in condemning science unless it has a repercussion on salvation or

Imperial Russian Middle Class Essay Example for Free

Imperial Russian Middle Class Essay Before the late 1900s Russia was primarily an agrarian country with a government in the hands of the Tsarist regime however with the advent of the Industrial revolution in Russia changes happened within Russian society resulting in the creation of an Urban middle class. The result of the industrial revolution was that Russia underwent a rapid industrialization and urbanization wherein peasants moved migrated towards the the numerous cities most notably Petrograd (present day St.  Petersburg) due to the opportunity for higher wages that was present there. This sudden rapid industrialization can be attributed to the growth of the capital controlling middle class which encouraged the creation of numerous factories and complexes to feed the growing hunger of the Russian economy for industrially made goods. The end result of this was that the traditional agrarian economy of Russia ands its previous class system was replaced by a growing and popular capitalist system. Impact of the Russian Middle Class on Society. Political Impact During the mid 1800s the growing Russian middle class received a boost from the political reforms enacted at the time resulting in new forums for civic duty and activity for its members. The result was in 1864 an independent judiciary and numerous local assemblies were created as well as numerous city administrations and city councils during the 1870s which resulted in greater control of the middle class over numerous aspects of city governance and operations. Societal Impact The rapid expansion of Russias industrial sector due to its middle class resulted in a societal shift from its previous agrarian culture to an industrial one. The result of course was a migration of peasants to the numerous newly industrialized cities which provided them with a more ample wage than what they were used to as farmed. One unique aspect of this though was that a lot of these workers still continued to keep ties with their families back home in the farming communities that they had come from and at times returned back to their communities for a while only to go back to the cities a few days later. Such actions can be compared to todays overseas workers who work in other countries, keep touch with their family and friends back home and go back and forth between the countries where they worked and countries they came from. It can be said that the industrial revolution in Russia was the reason for the creation of a new culture of distance workers something unheard of at time since most peasants preferred to stay near their homes. Architectural, Economic and Health Impact  It was through the new lifestyles for the peasantry created by the Russian Middle class that a new city centered culture was created wherein to house all these new workers numerous new buildings were created near the factories where the workers could stay in order to be near the place they worked. Unfortunately due to the high prices of dwellings at the time most occupants stay in rooms which they had to share with 4 to 5 other people and the resulting overpopulation in some areas caused the disease to spread rapidly over what was a new class in society, the urban working poor. It wasnt all bad though it was due to the work in the factories that workers were able to buy products within the city that they normally wouldnt have been able to obtain back in their farming communities resulting in a brisk local economy. Conclusion Although the power of the Russian middle class was curtailed by the state in the form of unreasonable qualifications when it came to holding political positions, it was through the Middle class that status of a lot of Russias peasantry was able to improve and Russia was able to enter a new age of industry.

Financial Information Systems Essay Example for Free

Financial Information Systems Essay INTRODUCTION Financing is the important function of every business organizations, Computer based financial information systems(FIS) support financial managers in decisions concerning. The financing of business, the allocation and control of financial resources. What is finance ? Finance is the art and science of managing money. Virtually all individuals and organisations earn or rise money and spend or invest money. Finance is concerned with the process, institutions, markets and instruments involved in the transfer of money among and between individuals, business and governments. Major FIS Categories Include Cash investment management Capital budgeting Financial forecasting Financial planning Cash Management Collect information on all cash receipts and disbursements with in a company on a real time or periodic basis. This helps the business to deposit or invest excess funds more quickly. for cash flow forecasts. to determine cash collection programs and alternative financing or investments strategies with forecasted cash deficits or surplus. Online Investment Management Helps to financial management The process of buying, selling, or holding each type of security so that an optimum mix of securities is developed that minimizes risk and maximizes investment income for the business. Capital Budgeting Process of evaluating the profitability and financial impact of processed capital expenditures. Techniques in capital budgeting Payback Period (PBP) Net present value (NPV) Internal rate of return (IRR) Spreadsheets are heavily used for this process incorporates present value analysis of expected cash flows and probability analysis of risk to determine the optimum mix of capital. Financial Forecasting Planning Financial forecasts concerning to †¦ Economic situation Business operations Type of financing available Interest rates Stock and bond prices Software’s used in FIS 1.Sage Accpac ERP Sage Accpac ERP offers the freedom of choice, seamless integration, high performance, and reliability that forward-thinking companies rely on to increase profitability and gain competitive advantage. Advantages Completely Web-Based Easy To Use and Customize Total Investment Protection Designed for Global Business Hundreds of Industry-Specific Solutions 2.SAP The e-commerce functionality in the SAP ® Business One application will help you bring your business to the public with a set of Web design tools that enable you to build and customize your online store. Create an online catalog where customers, salespeople, and partners can easily access your  products. Manage everything from taxes to inventory to pricing through a Web-based interface, all synchronized with SAP Business One. 3.Greentree Greentree’s main users are medium sized businesses, but it is also successfully used by many larger organizations. The Green tree product is seamlessly scalable to support the whole spectrum of businesses from a small team to many hundreds of users. Features: Greentree is built around a core financial system, with seamless integration across distribution, job costing, manufacturing etc. The modular design will enable to implement a basic financial solution and add modules as the business grows or grows in complexity, or install a complete business management package from the outset. Greentree delivers both Windows-based and Linux-based software 4.Microsoft Dynamics AX Designed for mid-size and larger companies, It is a multi language, multicurrency enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution. Its core strengths are in manufacturing and e-business, and  it includes strong functionality for the wholesale and services industries. includes applications for financial management, customer relationship management, supply chain management, human resource management, project management, and analytics. It integrates with widely-familiar Microsoft products such as Microsoft SQL Server, BizTalk Server, Exchange, Office, and Windows. Employees can work with tools that they’re already familiar. Financial Management Microsoft Dynamics AX delivers a range of financial capabilities for companies to consolidate accounts with subsidiaries or distribution centres, no matter where they are located. 5.SAP Business One SAP Business One provides you with instant access to your critical business information – when you need it to run your business. This comprehensive application covers all your core operations, giving you keen insight, so you  can confidently make informed business decisions. Features: All aspects of business become more agile, including administration, customer relationship management, operations, distributions, and financials. Helps in Accounting and Financials, Budgeting, Banking, Financial Reporting, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Business partner management.

Medication Adherence And Treatment Satisfaction In Patients Nursing Essay

Medication Adherence And Treatment Satisfaction In Patients Nursing Essay Abstract Background and Objective: Medication adherence and treatment satisfaction are important for successful therapeutic outcome. The objectives of this study were to (1) assess antipsychotic medication adherence using 8-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS), (2) assess treatment satisfaction using Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM 1.4), and (3) correlate adherence and satisfaction with psychiatric symptoms measured using 24-item expanded Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS-E) in patients with schizophrenia. Methodology: This is a cross sectional study Admin2010-12-25T10:07:00 Also, You should mention your design of study inside the textcarried out at governmental out-patient psychiatric unit in Nablus/ Palestine during summer 2010. Two hundred and sixty seven schizophrenic patients were registered at the clinic. Patients included in the study were those whose medications have not been changed in the past six months and those who did not have an acute attack in the past year. Data were entered and analyzed using SPSS 16 for windows. Results: One hundred and fifty patients Admin2010-12-25T12:46:00 In cross sectional study, you should calculate the sample size to give a good precision for reliability and validity. These terms increase the quality and acceptance rate of articles.out of 267 registered schizophrenic patients met the inclusion criteria. Nineteen patients refused to participate while 131 patients agreed giving a response rate of 87.3%. The mean  ± SD of MMAS was 6.1  ± 1.7 in which 44 patients (33.6%) had low rate, 58(44.3%) had medium rate 29 (22.1%) had high rate of adherence to their antipsychotic medications. The means of satisfaction with regard to effectiveness, side effects, convenience global satisfaction were 72.6  ± 20.5, 67.9  ± 31.47, 63.2  ± 14.3 63.1  ± 18.8 respectively. The mean BPRS score of the patients was 68.4  ± 24.5 with 14.4  ± 6.7 13.7  ± 6.1 means for positive and negative symptoms scores respectively. Pearson correlation showed that there was a positive and significant correlation between effectiveness (P = 0.002, r = 0.27), side effects (0.006, r =0.24), convenience (P Discussion and Conclusion: conclusions can be summarized as follows: First, the majority of the patients had low to medium rate of adherence. Second, adherence was positively and significantly correlated with satisfaction. Third, adherence was significantly but negatively correlated with most psychiatric symptoms. Fourth, no significant difference in adherence was found among patients receiving various antipsychotic therapeutic regimens. Finally, various antipsychotic regimens significantly differ in side effects satisfaction domain only. Key words: adherence, satisfaction, psychiatric symptoms, antipsychotics Introduction Schizophrenia is a chronic psychiatric disorder that impairs the quality of patients life and requires pharmacological and non-pharmacological interventions (Palmer et al., 2002; Pinikahana et al., 2002; Sharma and Antonova, 2003). Antipsychotic drug therapy is considered as the key element in schizophrenia management and has been reported to minimize the frequency of acute schizophrenic episodes and hospitalization (Awad and Voruganti 2004; Campell et al., 1999). Adherence (compliance) to antipsychotic medications is necessary in order to achieve these therapeutic goals. Furthermore, adherence has been reported to lead to considerable cost savings (Damen et al., 2008). However, non-adherence (non-compliance) to antipsychotic medications is common and is considered as an integral barrier to the successful treatment of schizophrenia (Dolder et. al, 2003; Weiden 2007; Byrne et al., 2006; Kim et al., 2006). There are several factors that can cause treatment non-adherence in schizophreni c patients. Such factors include those derived from schizophrenic disorder itself, patient characteristics, those associated with the health-care system, and the antipsychotic treatment regimen (Svestka Bitter 2007; Misdrahi et al., 2002). Patients related factors contributing to non-adherence include gender, age, socio-economic status, race, and religion (Lowry 1998; Borras et al 2007). Cultural differences might be a potential factor for non-adherence. For example, a review article about psychotropic medications found that rates of non-adherence were higher among Latinos than Euro-Americans and clinical and research interventions to improve adherence should be culturally appropriate and incorporate identified factors (Lanouette et al., 2009). Although patients satisfaction with treatment regimen is crucial for medication adherence (Atkinson et al., 2004; Taira et al. 2006), few studies had examined the relationship between adherence, treatment satisfaction and therapeutic outcome in patients with schizophrenia (Fujikawa et al.; 2004; Freudenreich et al., 2004 Watanabe et al, 2004). Therefore, the objectives of this study were to: (1) Assess the degree of adherence to antipsychotic medications among schizophrenic outpatients using eight-item Morisky Medication Adherence Scale (MMAS), (2) Assess the degree of patients satisfaction with their treatment regimen using Treatment satisfaction Questionnaire for medication (TSQM 1.4), (3) Evaluate patients clinical symptoms, Positive Symptom Score (PSS) Negative Symptom Score (NSS) using Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS), and finally (4) Investigate relationships and correlations between medication adherence, subjective patients treatment satisfaction and psychiatric symptoms in patients with schizophrenia. Methodology 2.1. Patient selection: This study was conducted between July 2010 September 2010 at Al-Makhfya psychiatric Health Center in Nablus, Palestine. Approval to perform the study was obtained from the Palestinian ministry of health and IRBAdmin2010-12-25T10:09:00 Define this abbreviation committee at An-Najah National University. Patients who met the following criteria were invited to participate in this study: 1) their age was between 20 65 years, 2) they were diagnosed with schizophrenia as defined by DSMAdmin2010-12-25T13:29:00 Define this abbrev.-IV, 3) they had not been suffering from an acute attack of illness during the past year, and 4) their drug regimen had not been changed in the past 4 months. 2.2. Assessment and measures The instrument used in this study consisted of three parts: part one collected socio-demographic and medication data from patients medical files; part two was the Arabic version of the validated eight-item Morisky Medication Admin2010-12-25T13:31:00 . The final version of the Arabic questionnaire should be assessed to know if the Arabic version is reliable and valid to be used in your population. This a routine question by high impact journal Also, I suppose you are the first who use this score in Arab country, and this is good for you because you can write new article related to validity and reliability and it is preferred to be published before this article.Adherence Scale (MMAS) (Morisky et al., 2008, Morisky et al., 1986) and part three was the Arabic version of Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM 1.4) which the researchers obtained from Quintiles Strategic Research Services. The English version of the MMAS was translated into Arabic and was approved by professor Morisky through e-mail communication. The translation process was carried out according to the following procedure: 1) A forward translation of the original questionnaire was carried out from English to Arabic language to produce a version that was as close as possible to the original questionnaire in concept and meaning. Translation was carried out by two qualified independent translators; both native speakers of Arabic and proficient i n English. Each translator produced a forward translation of the original questionnaire into Arabic language without any mutual consultation. The corresponding author, who is a native Arabic speaker, reviewed the two primary versions and compared them with the original. (2) A back translation from Arabic language to English was carried out by two different translators after lengthy discussion between the translators and the corresponding author. (3) The back translated questionnaire was approved by Professor Donald Morisky through e-mail. The Arabic version of MMAS is an 8-item questionnaire with 7 yes/no questions while the last question was a 5-point likert question. Based on the scoring system of MMAS, adherence was rated as follows: high adherence (= 8), medium adherence (6 The TSQM 1.4 is a 14-item psychometrically robust and validated instrument consisting of four scales [Bahramal et al., 2009]. The four scales of the TSQM 1.4 include the effectiveness scale (questions 1 to 3), the side effects scale (questions 4 to 8), the convenience scale (questions 9 to 11) and the global satisfaction scale (questions 12 to 14). The TSQM 1.4 domain scores were calculated as recommended by the instruments authors, which is described in detail elsewhere (Atkinson et al., 2004; Atkinson et al., 2005). The TSQM 1.4 domain scores range from 0 to 100 with higher scores representing higher satisfaction on that domain. Psychiatric symptoms, positive and negative schizophrenic symptoms were evaluated by a psychiatrist and well trained psychologists using the expanded Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS-E) (Overall and Gorham, 1962; Overall 1988; Lukoff et al., 1986; Ventura et al, 1993) at the same visit. The BPRS-E consists of 24 items measuring psychiatric symptoms. It measures four different dimensions: manic excitement/ disorganization, positive symptoms, negative symptoms, and depression/ anxiety (Ruggeri et al., 2005). Positive symptoms were the followings: grandiosity, suspiciousness, hallucinations, unusual thought content and conceptual disorganization. Negative symptoms included disorientation, blunted affect, emotional withdrawal, motor retardation, and mannerism and posturing. 2.3. Data analysis Continuous variables like Morisky score, satisfaction domain scores, BPRS, positive and negative symptoms scores were expressed as mean  ± SD. Correlation between continuous variables was carried out using Pearson correlation test. Difference in means was carried out using one-way ANOVA test. All statistical analyses were conducted using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS; version 16.0) for Windows. The conventional 5 percent significance level was used throughout the study. Results Demographic and clinical characteristics of patients One hundred and fifty patients out of 267 registered schizophrenic patients met the inclusion criteria. One hundred and thirty one (131) patients agreed to participate giving a response rate of 87.3%. Of the 131 patients, 40 (30.5%) were female and 91 (69.5%) were male. The mean age of the patients was 42.9  ± 10.3 years (range = 20 65 years). The mean duration of illness was 16.23  ± 9.59 years. Eighteen patients (13.7%) had other non-psychiatric diseases mainly diabetes mellitus (10 patients; 7.6%). Smoker schizophrenic patients represented 55% (72 patients) of the sample. None of the patients were reported to have any type of drug abuse. Details regarding demographic and clinical characteristics of the studied patients are shown in Table 1. Regarding treatment regimens, patients were grouped into 7 categories based on the type of antipsychotic medications they were using: Twenty four patients (18.3%) had been treated with oral typical antipsychotics only, 8 patients (6.1%) were using combination oral typical antipsychotics, 19 (14.5%) had been treated with typical depot injections only, 37 (28.2%) had been treated with typical oral and depot injections, 18 (13.7%) had been treated with oral atypical only, 12 patients (9.2%) had been treated with typical and atypical oral antipsychotics, and finally 13 patients (9.9%) had been treated with atypical oral and typical depot injection combination. The most common oral typical antipsychotic used by the patients was chloropromazine while the most common atypical antipsychotic was clozapine. Based on MMASAdmin2010-12-25T13:34:00 It is preferred to classify the characteristic of patients according to the adherence groups. Also, indicate if there is differences between the 3 groups , 44 (33.6%) of patients were rated as having low adherence, 58 (44.3%) were rated as having medium adherence 29 (22.1%) were rated as having high adherence to their antipsychotic medications. The average adherence score (6.1  ± 1.7) for the patients generally indicates medium rate of adherence. Upon investigation using 8-item Morisky scale (questionnaire ), we found that about 33.6% of patients forgot to take their medications; 15.3% of patients missed taking their medication for reason other than forgetting in the past two weeks before the interview; 13.7% stopped taking their medication without doctor counseling when they felt worse upon taking them; 16.8% forgot to take their medications with them when they leave home for long time; 10.7% didnt take their medication in the day before interview; 26% stopped taking their medica tion when they felt that their health is under control; and 55.7% felt hassled about sticking to their treatment plan. As for remembering to take their medications; 27.5% of the patients faced a difficulty in doing this once in a while; 6.1% of the sample sometimes had difficulties in remembering to take their medications; 6.9% of patients usually found difficulties; while 0.8% of schizophrenic patients faced these difficulties all the times. However 58.8% didnt show any difficulty in remembering to take their medication on time. Response to each question in the modified Morisky questionnaire is shown in Table 2. The average score of satisfaction with regard to effectiveness, side effects, convenience global satisfaction was 72.6  ±20.5; 67.9  ± 31.5; 63.2  ± 14.3; 63.1  ± 18.8 respectively. The mean BPRS score of the patients was 68.4  ± 24.5 with 14.4  ± 6.7 13.7  ± 6.1 means for positive and negative symptoms scores respectively Correlation between adherence scores and other variables There was a significant positive correlation between age and adherence (P = 0.028; r = 0.19Admin2010-12-25T13:35:00 As recommended, when correlation is less than 0.25 this considered as no or week correlation, 0.25-0.50 considered fair correlation. You can take this comments in your consideration. ). However, no such correlation was observed with the duration of illness (P = 0.13). Furthermore, no significant difference in the means of adherence was found between male and female (P = 0.76). Patients having other chronic diseases have significantly higher adherence score compared to those who do not, but the significance was at the borderline (P = 0.049). Pearson correlation showed that there was a positive and significant correlation between all satisfaction domains like effectiveness (P = 0.002, r = 0.27), side effects (P= 0.006, r =0.24), convenience (P Adherence, Treatment Satisfaction and type of antipsychotic regimen Adherence score was not significantly different (P = 0.6) among patients having different antipsychotic therapeutic regimens. Analysis of satisfaction based on the antipsychotic drug regimens showed that there was a significant difference in satisfaction with regard to side effects among different antipsychotic regimens ( P = 0.006, F = 3Admin2010-12-25T13:35:00 When you use one way ANOVA, it is recommended to use the Tukey post-hoc test to test the differences in the means between categories. To determine which group or groups are significant. ). Patients on atypical antipsychotic drug therapy showed the highest satisfaction with side effects (86.5  ± 4.8) compared with (51.3  ± 5.17) to those on typical antipsychotic mono-therapy. No significant difference with regard to other satisfaction domains (effectiveness, convenience and global satisfaction) among patients with different psychiatric regimens. Similarly no significant difference was found in BPRS scores (P = 0.6), positive (P = 0.6) and negative symptoms (P= 0.8) among different antipsychotic drug regimens. Details regarding adherence scores, BPRS, positive and negative symptoms with different antipsychotic drug regimens are shown in Table 4. Discussion This studyAdmin2010-12-25T13:36:00 This study is the first of its type in Palestine and the first study used an Arabic version for Morisky. You can add this points as originality of the article was conducted to assess medication adherence and treatment satisfaction among schizophrenic outpatients. The conclusions of the study can be summarized as follows: First, the majority (78%) of the patients had low to medium adherence rate. Second, adherence was positively and significantly correlated with treatment satisfaction. Third, adherence was significantly correlated with positive but negative psychiatric symptoms. Fourth, no significant difference in rate of adherence was found between patients using typical or atypical antipsychotic therapeutic regimens. Finally, patients on typical or atypical antipsychotic medications had similar scores in all domains of satisfaction except for that of side effects. Regarding rate of adherence, several studies have shown that up to 80% of all schizophrenic patients discontinue antipsychotic medications and that non-adherence rates ranging from 20% to 89%, with an average rate of approximately 50%, have been reported (Fenton et al, 1997; Lacro et al 2002, Young et al, 1986). Differences in rate of adherence among different reports might be attributed to different instrument used to assess adherence, social and cultural differences among different countries and differences in healthcare systems (Breen et al., 2007). In our study, younger patients had significantly lower adherence score than elderly patients. This finding is in agreement with other researchers who reported that younger schizophrenic patients have lesser adherence than older patients (Sajatovic et al 2007; Hui et al reported that younger age is a predictor for discontinuation of antipsychotic therapy (Hui et al.; 2006). However, other researchers reported equal non adherence among m iddle aged and elderly patients (Jeste et al., 2003) . Many factors have been cited as a potential cause for poor adherence. Side effects are key factors influencing compliance with antipsychotic medication (Weiden et al., 2004). (Liu-Seifert et al., 2005; Fleischhacker et al., 2003). There are few reports suggesting that treatment satisfaction is positively associated with antipsychotic medication adherence [Gharbawi et al., 2006,], improved clinical outcomes [Masand and Narasimhan, 2006], and quality of life [Hofer 2004,]. Our results give further support that treatment satisfaction is positively associated with adherence and symptom improvement, particularly psychotic positive symptoms. A study by Maneesakorn 2008 indicated that antipsychotic medication adherence has positive impact on psychiatric symptoms and satisfaction with medication (Maneesakron et al., 2007). Furthermore, Mohamad et al 2009 demonstrated an association between positive attitudes toward medication among schizophrenia patients and lower rates of study discontinuation (Mohamed et al., 2009). Thus, it is important to accurately evaluate patient satisfaction with medication treatment using validated instruments that can be utilized in clinical trials and practice. Medication non-adherence had a significantly negative impact on treatment response, highlighting the importance of adherence to achieve satisfactory treatment outcome (Lindameyr et al., 2009). A study by Liu-Seifert et al 2005 has found that discontinuing of treatment may lead to exacerbation of psychiatric symptoms and undermining therapeutic progress (Liu-Seifert et al., 2005). In these studies, poor response to treatment and worsening of underlying psychiatric symptoms, and to a lesser extent, intolerability to medication were the primary contributors to treatment being discontinued. Fewer extrapyramidal symptoms and tardive dyskinesia of atypical compared to typical antipsychotics led researchers to speculate that patients receiving atypical antipsychotics will show greater adherence, satisfaction and psychiatric improvement compared to patients receiving typical antipsychotics (Kane et al., 1988; Tollefson et al., 1997; Marder et al., 1994; Small et al., 1997 Jeste et al., 1999; Marder SR, 1998). However, our findings regarding adherence, satisfaction and psychiatric symptoms measured by BPRS-E were similar between patients on typical and atypical antipsychotic medications. Rosenheck and colleagues evaluated medication continuation and regimen adherence in 423 patients taking haloperidol or clozapine as part of a double-blind, randomized trial. Although the patients who received clozapine continued their medication significantly longer, the treatment groups did not differ in the proportion of pills returned each week (Rosenheck et al., 200). Olfson and colleagu es examined the effect of antipsychotic type on adherence 3 months after 213 inpatients with schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder were discharged while receiving typical (84.5% of patients) or atypical (14.5% of patients) antipsychotics. A non-significant trend toward increased adherence was reported among patients with prescriptions for atypical antipsychotics (Olfson et al., 2000). Cabeza and colleagues retrospectively studied the relationship of adherence to antipsychotic type in 60 inpatients with schizophrenia. No significant association was found between adherence and type of antipsychotic (Cabeza et al., 2000). Dolder reported that patients on either typical or atypical had similar low rates of adherence (Dodler et al., 2002). Gianfransessco et al 2006 indicated that none of the atypicals showed treatment durations significantly different from the typical (Gianfransessco et al 2006). A study by Jones et al, 2006 has found that in people with schizophrenia whose medicatio n is changed for clinical reasons, there is no disadvantage across 1 year in terms of quality of life, symptoms, or associated costs of care in using FGAs rather than nonclozapine SGAs (Jones et al., 2006). Schulte et al concluded that, in general, very few or no advantages are to be gained from using SGAS rather than FGAS and the clinical effectiveness is not increased, but the side-effects are different. (Schulte et al 2010). In contrast, Al-Zakawani reported that atypical antipsychotic users were significantly more adherent to therapy, and had lower rates of office, hospital and emergency room utilization (Al-zakawani 2003). Actually, efficacy variations within SGAs and FGAs result in overlaps between the two groups and classification of antipsychotics into the two groups is no longer useful (Volvoka 2009). One might argue that cost of atypical antipschyotics is the barrier for medication adherence (Gibson et al., 2010). However, in our study, all patients had governmental insura nce and therefore cost of medications was not a reason of poor adherence of atypical antipsychotics. Regarding results of depot IM antipsychotic injections, we found no difference between oral and long acting antipsychotics with regard to adherence, satisfaction or psychiatric symptoms. Some researchers reported similar or better adherence, satisfaction and outcome with long acting injection than oral antipsychotics (Olivares et al., 2009; Gutierrez et al., 2010; Kane and Garcia 2009; Haddad et al., 2009). In contrast, vehof reported that patients on depot antipsychotics were less adherent and have more side effects than oral antipsychotics (Vehof et al., 2008). Our study has few limitations. The sample size might be relatively small to draw conclusions for assessing adherence, satisfaction and psychiatric symptoms. Instruments that we used to assess adherence, satisfaction and BPRS are might not be the gold standard for this purpose. A third Admin2010-12-25T13:16:00 Must be preceded by first and secondpotential limitation of our study is that the patients selected were homogenous in that all of them had governmental insurance and tends to use similar medications. Non-adherence among schizophrenic patients might be inherent in the context of the disease itself. Despite these limitations, results of this study were useful in understanding adherence, satisfaction and psychiatric symptoms. ReferencesAdmin2010-12-25T10:45:00 The number of references is too much, after delete the repeating ref. the number still 75 Al-Zakwani IS, Barron JJ, Bullano MF, Arcona S, Drury CJ, Cockerham TR. Analysis of healthcare utilization patterns and adherence in patients receiving typical and atypical antipsychotic medications. Curr Med Res Opin. 2003;19(7):619-26. Arana GW: An overview of side effects caused by typical antipsychotics.J Clin Psychiatry 2000; 61:5-11 Atkinson MJ, Kumar R, Cappelleri JC, Hass SL: Hierarchical construct validity of the treatment satisfaction questionnaire for medication (TSQM version II) among outpatient pharmacy consumers. Value Health 2005, 8(Suppl 1):S9-S24. Atkinson MJ, Sinha A, Hass SL, Colman SS, Kumar RN, Brod M, Rowland CR. Validation of a general measure of treatment satisfaction, the Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM), using a national panel study of chronic disease. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2004 Feb 26;2:12 Awad AG, Voruganti LN. Impact of atypical antipsychotics on quality of life in patients with schizophrenia.. CNS Drugs. 2004;18(13):877-93. Review Bharmal M, Payne K, Atkinson MJ, Desrosiers MP, Morisky DE, Gemmen E. Validation of an abbreviated Treatment Satisfaction Questionnaire for Medication (TSQM-9) among patients on antihypertensive medications. Health Qual Life Outcomes. 2009 Apr 27;7:36 Borras L, Mohr S, Brandt PY, Gillià ©ron C, Eytan A, Huguelet P. Religious beliefs in schizophrenia: their relevance for adherence to treatment. Schizophr Bull. 2007 Sep;33(5):1238-46 Breen A, Swartz L, Joska J, Flisher AJ, Corrigall J. Adherence to treatment in poorer countries: a new research direction? Psychiatr Serv. 2007 Apr;58(4):567-8 Byrne MK, Deane FP, Caputi P. Mental health clinicians beliefs about medicines, attitudes, and expectations of improved medication adherence in patients. Eval Health Prof. 2008 Dec;31(4):390-403 Cabeza IG, Amador MS, Lopez CA, Chavez MG: Subjective response to antipsychotics in schizophrenic patients: clinical implications and related factors. Schizophr Res 2000; 41:349-355 Campbell M, Young PI, Bateman DN, Smith JM, Thomas SH The use of atypical antipsychotics in the management of schizophrenia.. Br J Clin Pharmacol. 1999 Jan;47(1):13-22. Review Clinical and resource-use outcomes of risperidone long-acting injection in recent and long-term diagnosed schizophrenia patients: results from a multinational electronic registry. Curr Med Res Opin. 2009 Sep;25(9):2197-206 Cost-sharing effects on adherence and persistence for second-generation antipsychotics in commercially insured patients. Manag Care. 2010 Aug;19(8):40-7 Damen J, Thuresson PO, Heeg B, Lothgren M. A pharmacoeconomic analysis of compliance gains on antipsychotic medications. Appl Health Econ Health Policy. 2008;6(4):189-97. De Hert M, McKenzie K, Peuskens J. Risk factors for suicide in young people suffering from schizophrenia: a long-term follow-up study. Schizophr Res. 2001 Mar 1;47(2-3):127-34 Dingemans PM, Linszen DH, Lenior ME, Smeets RM. Component structure of the expanded Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale (BPRS-E). Psychopharmacology (Berl). 1995 Dec;122(3):263-7 Dolder CR, Lacro JP, Dunn LB, Jeste DV. Antipsychotic medication adherence: is there a difference between typical and atypical agents? Am J Psychiatry. 2002 Jan;159(1):103-8. Erratum in: Am J Psychiatry 2002 Mar;159(3):514 Dolder CR, Lacro JP, Jeste DV. Adherence to antipsychotic and nonpsychiatric medications in middle-aged and older patients with psychotic disorders. Psychosom Med. 2003 Jan-Feb;65(1):156-62. Dolder CR, Lacro JP, Leckband S, Jeste DV. Interventions to improve antipsychotic medication adherence: review of recent literature. J Clin Psychopharmacol. 2003 Aug;23(4):389-99. Review Fenton WS, Blyler CR, Heinssen RK: Determinants of medication compliance in schizophrenia: empirical and clinical findings. Schizophr Bull 1997; 23:637-651 Fleischhacker WW, Oehl MA, Hummer M. Factors influencing compliance in schizophrenia patients. J Clin Psychiatry. 2003;64 Suppl 16:10-3 Freudenreich O, Cather C, Evins AE, Henderson DC, Goff DC. Attitudes of schizophrenia outpatients toward psychiatric medications: relationship to clinical variables and insight. J Clin Psychiatry. 2004 Oct;65(10):1372-6 Fujikawa M, Togo T, Yoshimi A, Fujita J, Nomoto M, Kamijo A, Amagai T, Uchikado H, Katsuse O, Hosojima H, Sakura Y, Furusho R, Suda A, Yamaguchi T, Hori T, Kamada A, Kondo T, Ito M, Odawara T, Hirayasu Y. Evaluation of subjective treatment satisfaction with antipsychotics in schizophrenia patients. Prog Neuropsychopharmacol Biol Psychiatry. 2008 Gharabawi GM, Greenspan A, Rupnow MF, Kosik-Gonzalez C, Bossie CA, Zhu Y, Kalali AH, Awad AG. Reduction in psychotic symptoms as a predictor of patient satisfaction with antipsychotic medication in schizophrenia: data from a randomized double-blind trial. BMC Psychiatry. 2006 Oct 20;6:45 Gianfrancesco FD, Rajagopalan K, Sajatovic M, Wang RH. Treatment adherence among patients with schizophrenia treated with atypical and typical antipsychotics. Psychiatry Res. 2006 Nov 15;144(2-3):177-89. Epub 2006 Sep 27. Gibson TB, Jing Y, Kim E, Bagalman E, Wang S, Whitehead R, Tran QV, Doshi JA. Gutià ©rrez-Casares JR, Caà ±as F, Rodrà ­guez-Morales A, Hidalgo-Borrajo R, Alonso-Escolano D. Adherence to treatment and therapeutic strategies in schizophrenic patients: the ADHERE study. CNS Spectr. 2010 May;15(5):327-37. Haddad PM, Taylor M, Niaz OS. First-generation antipsychotic long-acting injections v. oral antipsychotics in schizophrenia: systematic review of randomised controlled trials and observational studies. Br J Psychiatry Suppl. 2009 Nov;52:S20-8. Herings RM, Erkens JA. Increased suicide attempt rate among patients interrupting use of atypical antipsychotics. Pharmacoepidemiol Drug Saf. 2003 Jul-Aug;12(5):423-4. Hofer A, Kemmler G, Eder U, Edlinger M, Hummer M, Fleischhacker WW. Quality of life in schizophrenia: the impact of psychopathology, attitude toward medication, and side effects. J Clin Psychiatry. 2004 Jul;65(7):932-9 Hui CL, Chen EY, Ka

Joke :: essays research papers

DIET QUIZIf you answer "yes" to eight or more of these questions, you may want to consider restricting your future calorie intake: * Has your neighborhood grocery store ever offered to send for you with a limo? * After ordering lunch at a fast-food drive-through window, has it ever been delivered to your car on a hand truck? * Within the last month, have you burned out more than two refrigerator bulbs? * Do people often decide to follow you up on the next elevator? * Has your fork ever suddenly come up missing? * Have you ever broken out in a cold sweat when you realized you were more than a mile from the nearest Taco Bell? * Is there a restraining order against you from the Association of All-You-Can-Eat Restaurants? * On a recent Caribbean cruise, did the captain order you to stay in the center of the ship? * Do your picnics in the country involve renting a U-Haul? * Does the left side of your car seem to bottom out a lot? * Does your street always seem to have more potholes than other streets? ------------------------------------------------------------ FREE ** Business Cards ** FREE Want to pretend your an astronaut or a CEO of a major company? or do you have a real job? Get 250 full color cards at a value of $80.00 to $120.00 absolutely FREE: http://mailbits.net/ad/bcard.asp -------------------------------------------------------------Quick Wit: Legend has it that President Calvin Coolidge once entertained some friends from the country in the White House. His friends were concerned that they display proper table manners to win the President's respect, so they observed Coolidge very carefully and followed his example in detail. The meal passed smoothly, then coffee was served.

Underground To Canada : Mammy Sallys Version :: essays research papers

Underground to Canada : Mammy Sally's Version As Mammy Sally was cooking this lady called Nina who also worded in the kitchen said "I found a passage way out o' here." Mammy Sally looked shocker. "But if we get caught Massa Simms gonna whip us until our day are done workin'. "Said Mammy Sally. But, Nina was Strong and Fearless and said "I don't care I'm sick of the way those people treat us I goin' to Canada. Mammy Sally stood there for a while and in came Massa Simms with his whip. And said "You ladies gonna be standin' for a while" Mammy Sally looked frightened and said "No sir we were just talking about what's for diner," "So Said Massa Simms "what's for dinner", "well" said Mammy Sally "potatoes and corn" "what else" said Massa Simms Mammy Sally had a scared look on her face "What else"?! Yelled mass Simms" well I guess I can cook some bread" said Mammy Sally, "Same bread that would be nice" Some break that would be nice" Said Massa Simms. A Couple of hours passed and Mammy Sally getting ready to set the table for dinner when in came Nina and she said "So have you thought it yet" " no" said Mammy Sally. The next day Nina woke up early she put on here rags and took some food from the kitchen and woke up Mammy Sally and Mammy Sally said "if we get caught "I know I know" interrupted Nina " we gonna get whipped tell our days are done working." Well at least you know" said " Mammy Sally and they left. "So said Mammy Sally" Where is this secret passage you were talking about" you'll see" said Nina. When they got to the secret passage Mammy Sally said, "We aint gonna get out with out getting caught. Nina looked awkwardly at Mammy Sally and said "she is safer than the underground railway" "how can you ? it "said Mammy Sally. The secret passage was a hole through the ground and first went Mammy Sally after went Nina. When they got out Nina said " Smell the fresh air of freedom." "yes soon we will be back there and we wont be working in the kitchen we'll be getten whipped." It was getting and Mammy Sally and Nina were walking all day and they were very tired, so they decided to stop and rest. After they rested they ate and began walking again. It was down when they came to a cabin and the knocked on the door they

Essay --

Rebecca Pierce Professor Engbers ENGL 230 13 December 2013 Creative Portfolio Author Statements Free Verse Poem Free verse is a type of poetry in which is referred to as poetry that does not have any consistent meter patterns, rhyme scheme or rhythm scheme, or any other type of pattern applied. There is no specific length that is has to be either. One would tend to view free verse poetry as if it were someone speaking. By having a free verse poem, it allows the reader to have a better understanding of what the poem is about. The various structures that a poem can take on sometimes can take away and distract from the meaning and intention of the poem. In this poem, there isn’t much imagery for the imagery would take away from the meaning of the poem. As an author, it is important to use figurative language to create sentences that show and not tell. Within this poem, there is an attempt to capture and convey meaning through the emotion that is presented in the phrases. There was a hope that there would be a strong impression left with the reader as well. While the poem reflects many as pects of free verse poetry is displayed, it isn’t the best that could have been done. More metaphors and similes could have been used to better create the phrases. Also, while there was an attempt to make it like spoken words, there still seems to be a rhythm taste to it. There were many changes that were made to poem from the help of peer reviews to try and remove that rhythm aspect that it had but with all those changes, it didn’t seem to disappear. Sonnet Sonnets are yet another form of poetry that is out there. A sonnet usually consists of fourteen lines and have iambic pentameter. There are many different rhyme schemes in which these... ...nto it as well. â€Å"Come over here, Buddy We are going on an adventure!† Excited she ran after me. It was as if she could actually understand me. I took one final look into my hideout before I shut the door, for wherever I was going or headed, I surely wasn’t going to be returning. Even though I spent most of my time down there being afraid of dying, it was the only safe place I could go and I will miss that place. It had been my home for so long, and probably was where I would have been spending the rest of my short lived life if I hadn’t felt this sense of uneasiness. I sighed deeply, and began shutting the door. â€Å"Calm down, Buddy†, I muttered as he was barking at something. He had a tendency to bark at objects and things that actually never existed, so I didn’t think twice about it. However when I turned around, I laid my eyes on something, or rather yet someone.

City or Country

Japanese boy, Chinese boy, Filipino boy, Egyptian boy, Arabian boy, I’ve been hearing those comments all my life, and I believe that our true nationality is mankind and color doesn’t make the difference between people. Toastmaster, members, and guests welcome and good evening, tonight I’m going to introduce myself by talking about my crazy way of thinking. My name is hareth alsaadi, my father is Syrian and my mother is Filipino, and I carry a Filipino passport and for me it’s just papers made by men and it doesn’t identifies me, also work, money, materials, position, certificate, appearance, color, family, achievements doesn’t identifies me, from my perspective what identifies me and most of people is their mind and heart. I remember one month ago I watched a movie called ( the great Gatsby ) ( who knows the movie ) which I’ve learned from it a great lesson, the story is a man who’s name is Gatsby was a very rich and famous man with a very good looking, he had a very big and beautiful mansion with lots of servants, during his life thousands of people used to attend his parties that were held in his mansion, but unfortunately when he died none of them attended his funeral even his servants, only one attended his funeral, his friend who loved him for his heart and mind not for his materials. And that’s what I’ve noticed throughout my life, lots of people judge other people by their color or materials, and from my own experience people used to judge me by my color, in some countries people used to call me Arabian terrorist or Muslim terrorist what’s my fault if some Muslims who didn’t understand Islam did terrorist things, and in other countries people called me Mongolian boy which I didn’t know what it meant. I actually wouldn’t speak a word if im just facing verbal abusement, but Im also facing something called economic inequality which means having less chance to earn money, good job, good university,†¦ etc, and I have an experience on this issue, once I applied for a job opportunity in a bank, I gave them all the requirements including my high gpa certificate, so they gave me an English and math exam and my results in it is 98%, and I also did more than perfect in the interview, but somehow they didn’t accept me, I didn’t know the reason so I went to a friend of mine who works in the same bank, I told him of what happened so he called the HR to know why they didn’t accept me, so they told him the reason is very simple that the bank doesn’t accept Filipinos, but I wasn’t shocked because I got used on that kind of racism. Once albert einestein said nationalism is a childish thing it’s the disease of mankind also Socrates says Iâ€℠¢m not an Athenian or a greek, im a citizen of the world and I agree with both of them. It’s very terrible when we think about the results of nationalism, countries fight each other instead of fighting disease, poverty, natural disasters. At the end of my complicated speech all what I want to say firstly: I’m against identifying people by their materials, positions, certificates, color, etc, secondly: I’m against racism, thirdly I don’t like nationalism because I’m with the saying our true nationality is mankind. However I’ve learned a lesson of not making those things I face an excuse for me not to succeed or not to live happy, I want to end my speech with a quote which says obstacles are put in your way to see if what you want is worth fighting for.

Social Policy and Its Application to Social Services Provision

Private problems become public issues when an individual’s problem/problems spill out into the community for example youth homelessness. Youth homelessness is greater than you might think in May 2008 it was thought that there were over 75000 youths at risk of becoming homeless, mostly due to the breakdown of the family or the introduction of a step family, 65% of these young people experienced violence as their family broke down and 20% experienced sexual abuse. The really sad thing about the number of youths at risk of homelessness is, in order to be detected as at risk something extreme has to happen e. g. the young homeless person was arrested for causing a disturbance or ends up in hospital after a violent incident. Mostly when families breakdown we as a community know nothing about it (their family problems are kept private) this becomes a public issue which may require the creation of a â€Å"policy for dealing with social issues†, when we see young people sleeping rough or the crime rate increases as the homeless person steals to feed them self. Over the years there has been significant research and development of policies which are aimed at combating homelessness among the 16-25 year olds and in 2002 the homelessness Act was endorsed by the Scottish parliament after it was highlighted that the numbers of homeless people sleeping rough in our cities, could affect the tourist trade, which in turn would affect our economy, this act extended the definition of priority need to include new groups of vulnerable people including youths. This Homeless act means that young people are no longer turned away from hostels; in fact there are hostels that are just for young people (these hostels help protect the young people on the streets from abuse i. e. prostitution) This homeless act also made local authorities develop homeless strategies e. g. the housing and support team that we have in West Lothian. Due to new policy the numbers of young people sleeping on the streets is few, and the ease of access to information/services means homeless people have hope and can access services before they actually become homeless, which in turn combats drug/alcohol abuse (which also relieves pressure off the NHS) and crime statics. 2. Social policies come about due to various influences. Nationwide statics are gathered for various reasons and as a result these figures/statics can and do bring around change in policy or even the implementation of new olicies e. g. it was found that the number of people binge drinking and requiring hospital treatment was on the rise, so the government created a policy that it was illegal to have happy hours in bar’s and it was illegal for shops to have two for one offers on alcohol. Another way the government is influenced to change or create policy is through pressure groups. Pressure groups don’t have to be official bodies or organisations like â⠂¬Å"fathers for justice†, they can be a group of people who are concerned about an issue in their community e. . a group of concerned parents petitioning the government about the lack of services for teenagers in their area (youth club) due to the planned closure of the community centre. Social policies can also come about if there is a threat to society e. g. terrorism, after 9/11 the pass port policy changed, before 9/11 children were able to travel on their parents passport, after 9/11 the policy changed and now everyone needs a passport regardless of age. Before 9/11 we could travel within our own country (Glasgow-London) without a passport now we can’t. Policies have also changed after public outcry. After the abduction, rape and murder of a child in England by a convicted paedophile, who had been housed in the area on his release from prison. The policy that gave these people anonymity was reviewed and changed, so that anyone who is concerned about an adult, who is working with children, can ask the police if they are a risk. 3. The mixed economy of care came about due to the governments of the 1980s being concerned that the place for the care of people should be provided from within their communities and that the â€Å"sense of community† would be lost as people stopped â€Å"looking after their own†. People would stop contributing charitably to the community and the people in it ( popping in on a neighbour to give her a break from her ill husband or running to the shop for an older person as well as fund raising and legacies), as it would become taken for granted that the state would provide everything i. e. ousing and Health Care as well as meals on wheels and respite, as a result, people would not feel like it was their job to help themselves, their community or their neighbours, that it was the states job, and so the fear was the sense of community would be lost to dependency on the state. The mixed economy of care means that different services collaborate/works together in order to provid e a service for an individual which not only meets their needs, but makes sure that the care being provided doesn’t over lap i. e. one care plan is made for the individual and all the required services work within this plan. Our government as it is now (2009) has picked up where the 1980/90s left off (they carried on where the last government left off instead of returning to state provided care) and is working towards a â€Å"mixed economy of care†, it has identified 4 sectors of care provision i. e. statutory, private, voluntary and informal. The statutory sector is care what is provided by the state for example benefits, cars for the disabled and access to health care e. g. occupational health (home adaptations). The private sector offers care as part of a business for example private nursing care, respite and private pensions. The voluntary/charity sector provide care that is funded through fundraising and donations and offers things like lunch clubs (help the aged), meals on wheels (WRVS) and hospital transport (red cross). The final sector, the informal sector comes by way of care provided by a non professional/specialist; this could be family, the community (neighbours) or friends who give up their time to look after their community and the people in it. The informal sector saves the government and NHS millions of pounds every year as their contribution relieves the need for official respite services and health care and it’s free. The Community Care Act 1990 came about as in order to fulfil the recommendations /objectives that the white paper (1989) Caring for People had identified (the enabling of older people to live independently for as long as possible in their own home, practical support for carers, guidelines for quality individual needs assessments and accountability for service providers and the quality of care they provide) new legislation was needed, thus the community care act (1990) was passed. Nowadays we see people living and working in our community who, not so many years ago, would have lived their lives in institutions or sanatoriums without any human rights or even choice, but now with implementation of individual/ person centred care plans/assessments, designed with the individuals needs, rights, circumstance and abilities in mind, as well as making access to different care services more easily available e. g. upported accommodation/residential nursing care, benefits, disabled employment (Remploy), occupational therapy, day care and befriending, not only are the individuals needs being met, the human rights of these individuals are being recognised. The individuals who were once locked away from the rest of society without any rights, choices or quality of life are now (with a little help from the care in the community act) living, working (Remploy) and contributing in and to communities (Volunteering in a charity shop). 4. Funding for different care services comes from various sources for example the services that are state/government services e. g. benefits, NHS departments (occupational therapy) and pensions are funded mostly through income tax, VAT, and national insurance, but not all of these services are completely free for example an older person who requires residential care will have to contribute financially if they have enough of an income or assets to cover the cost, they will also receive little or no help financially if they have a private pension i. e. they will have to pay for glasses and prescriptions. Funding for the local authority care services is much the same as central government funding comes firstly from the annual government grants as detailed in the 2009, amendment of the local government finance act 1992 Scotland order. Funding also comes from council tax income, business rates, licensing (alcohol) and recycling. While all this income generates wealth it does not mean everything is free and individuals will still contribute via user charges. Voluntary/charitable organisations also contribute to care services through fund raising and free care service i. . volunteers. There is also the Scottish post code lottery which has funded community projects as has the national lottery. Legacies also contribute to the financing of a service. 5. European commission was established in 1954 and has members from every country in Europe (two from the UK) its job is to form policy and legislation that protects the individuals’ human rights. They give the country an amount of time t o comply adequately to any new policy/legislation, before the country is taken to the human rights court e. g. he Council Directive 2000/78/EC of 27 November 2000 establishing a general framework for equal treatment, in employment and occupation. The minimum standard (directive) as stated by the EC included the protection of equal rights. The regulations (which must be implemented immediately) for this act included equal employment opportunities (promotion). Sometimes new legislations/policies cost money to implement and it falls to the local authority to decide how best to do this, finding the money often results in other services suffering through smaller grants e. . the promotion of electricity produced from renewable energy sources (â€Å"Renewables Directive†) the local authorities are obligated to implement these directives within a set time frame. The local authorities have to find the money, this is usually through council tax and money they make through council busin ess e. g. Neighbourhood Recycling, this in turn affects the care service and volunteer services by reducing the budget or funding they receive and possibly a rise in taxes and rates. The guide lines that come from the EC are a bit like expectations for example the government/EC expects local planners, architects and developers to take into account crime prevention when designing streets for example, this is to provide a safe and secure environment (your human right to live in a safe/secure environment) The duty to make this happen falls on local authority that, for example would have street/security lighting and the installation of CCTV as a condition of the planning application or they could create a local policy that says new housing schemes will only receive planning approval if there is security lighting fitted as standard.