The Willingness of Older Adults to Evacuate in the Event of a Disaster (open access)

The Willingness of Older Adults to Evacuate in the Event of a Disaster

The issue of rising number of disasters, the overwhelming increase in number of older adults, and historically flawed evacuations presents real challenges. Disasters can strike anywhere, any time, and have devastating consequences. Since 1900, the number of Americans 65 and older has increased 12 times (from 3.1 million to 36.3 million). During the next two decades, the number of American baby boomers, now aged 45-64, who turn 65, will increase by 40%. As evidenced by recent disasters, the imperfections and vulnerabilities of flawed evacuations for older adults are still present. This study examined the level of willingness to evacuate among older adults in the event of a disaster. Despite the extensive literature on disasters and evacuation, some significant questions regarding evacuation and older adults have not been addressed. This study addressed the following concerns: (1) What is the willingness among older adults to evacuate when asked to do so by emergency management officials? (2) Does the call to evacuate being mandatory versus voluntary influence the willingness of seniors to evacuate? (3) Do preconditions (Gender, Marital Status, Age, Ethnic Origin, and Education Levels) influence the willingness to evacuate among older adults? The sample population consisted of 765 voluntary participants aged 60 …
Date: May 2009
Creator: Gray-Graves, Amy Michael
System: The UNT Digital Library
Weapons in the City: Weapon Use in Chicago Homicide Cases (open access)

Weapons in the City: Weapon Use in Chicago Homicide Cases

This study used data from the homicides in Chicago 1965-1995 dataset (N=9,340) to examine the relationship between the use of certain types of weapons in criminal homicides by gender, race, age, victim-offender relationship, motive, location, and changes over time. Differential association and sex-role theory were utilized to argue why gender differences would occur in type of weapon used in a homicide. Subculture of violence theory was used to emphasize that the place where the homicide occurs, the relationship between the victim and offender, motive of the offender, and the remaining variables affects the type of weapon used to kill. Significant relationships were found for all bivariate analyses performed. The type of weapon used to kill differs most by sex of offender, resulting in a moderately strong association. The type of weapon used to kill differs least by age of offender and although statistically significant, the association between the two is very weak.
Date: December 2007
Creator: Johnson, Natalie Jo
System: The UNT Digital Library
Toward a functional approach to goal setting (open access)

Toward a functional approach to goal setting

A variable that may be associated with performance improvements is goal setting (within and across days). Easy-to-achieve goals will likely produce gradual trends in improvement and difficult-to-achieve goals steeper trends. The purpose of the current experiments was to study the effects of setting easy-to-achieve and difficult-to-achieve goals on the level, trend, and variability of correct, incorrect, and skip responses for math tasks when reinforcement contingencies and numbers of practices were held constant. Five undergraduate students answered math problems on flash cards in 30s timings. Single case design elements were used to evaluate the effects of different types of goals on the speed and accuracy of performance. The results revealed that goal setting primarily increased the frequency of incorrect responses and both the level and trend of skip responses. The implications of these findings and other important variables that influence the effectiveness of goal setting are discussed. In addition, the authors suggest guidelines to follow when implementing goals to improve performance.
Date: December 2007
Creator: Isley, Shane D.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Reform and change in police education: Examining the variations in the top-down and bottom-up structures in the process of implementation. (open access)

Reform and change in police education: Examining the variations in the top-down and bottom-up structures in the process of implementation.

This study examines the variations in the practice of implementation in different implementation structures using the case of police education reforms that were undertaken by the Turkish National Police (TNP) in 2001 and 2003. Differentiations and similarities in the top-down and bottom-up structures while practicing the process of implementation were investigated in this study. First, the study provides a comprehensive understanding of the process of implementation and structure of implementation. Second, the study introduces TNP education reforms and explains the reasons for the reform. Third, a quantitative approach is used to measure the success of the TNP educational reforms. Specifically, multiple regression analysis, one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA), and post hoc tests are used to clarify if police performance in the TNP has improved since the reforms. Fourth, the study uses a qualitative approach to find out how features associated with top-down or bottom up approaches were involved in the process of implementation of the educational reforms. Finally, based upon the views of the participants in the qualitative analysis, the study examines the variations in the practice of implementation between decision makers and the street level bureaucrats.
Date: August 2009
Creator: Kapti, Alican
System: The UNT Digital Library
A Survey of Collaborative Efforts Between Public Health and Aging Services Networks in Community Health Centers in Texas (open access)

A Survey of Collaborative Efforts Between Public Health and Aging Services Networks in Community Health Centers in Texas

Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) that harness the reinforcing nature of collaborative efforts with aging services can better prepare for the future of older adult populations. The purpose of this research was to identify collaborative efforts between FQHCs and aging services and distinguish perceptions and knowledge regarding older adult populations. Executive directors, medical directors and social service directors (N=44) at 31 FQHCs across the state of Texas completed surveys measuring structural, procedural and environmental components of the health center setting. The 2007 Uniform Data System and 2000 US Census provided additional data on health centers use and services. Descriptive statistics analyzed independent variables of health center characteristics. Bivariate analysis determined significance of association between independent variables and levels of collaboration with aging services. Results found that all health centers collaborated with at least one aging service, with more informal than formal partnerships. Respondents indicated major barriers to providing services to older adults, including inadequate transportation, inadequate insurance, and limited funding. Respondents also indicated overloaded staff as a major barrier to collaborating with aging services. Aging topics for staff development and perceptions about older adults were also identified. Health center tenure (p=0.005, lambda=1.000), professional tenure (p=0.011, lambda=1.000), leadership in aging services …
Date: May 2009
Creator: Severance, Jennifer Jurado
System: The UNT Digital Library
Progressing From Multiple-respondent Anecdotal Assessments to Test-control Analyses of Problem Behavior (open access)

Progressing From Multiple-respondent Anecdotal Assessments to Test-control Analyses of Problem Behavior

The current study was designed to evaluate the utility of progressing sequentially from multiple-respondent anecdotal assessments through test-control treatment analysis as an effective and efficient method of identifying the environmental determinants of problem behavior. the goal of the study was to evaluate overall agreement among multiple respondents on the primary function of aberrant behavior using the Motivation Assessment Scale (MAS) and Questions About Behavioral Function (QABF) and, if agreement was obtained, conduct a test-control evaluation to confirm anecdotal assessment findings while simultaneously evaluating the effects of function-based treatment. for 4 individuals, at least 4 of 5 respondents to the anecdotal assessments agreed (both within and across assessments) on the probable maintaining consequence for their problem behaviors. Test-control multielement evaluations were then conducted in which baseline sessions, corresponding to the suspected operant function of each individual’s problem behavior, were alternated with sessions in which the identified contingency was arranged for alternative behavior. Each evaluation showed substantial decreases in problem behavior and maintenance of alternative responses.
Date: May 2012
Creator: Staff, Martha Joe
System: The UNT Digital Library
Hospital Readmissions: the Need for a Coordinated Transitional Care Model: Analysis and Synthesis of Research on Medicare Policy and Interventions for the Elderly (open access)

Hospital Readmissions: the Need for a Coordinated Transitional Care Model: Analysis and Synthesis of Research on Medicare Policy and Interventions for the Elderly

The transition from hospital to home or alternate care setting is a time of vulnerability for all patients and particularly for our elders. If not handled appropriately there is a risk to our elders for readmission to the hospital environment that may decrease their overall quality of life and further compromise their health status. in addition to the individual risks associated with patient readmissions, there are societal impacts that reach far beyond our current generation of elders 65 and older. This impact may have dire implications for the future fiscal health of the next generation. a review of the current and past literature shows that there are a limited number of resources available for hospitals to use in order to comply with the new Value Based Purchasing initiatives that are being implemented by CMS regarding the reduction in readmission rates. the problem of hospital readmissions is confounded by the many processes that are available for study, from pre-hospitalization conditions and care through hospitalization, discharge, and finally to post discharge processes. While most research and literature reviews have focused on individual disease causes, there is a need to provide hospitals with a resource that outlines the available options and interventions that …
Date: May 2012
Creator: Wolfe, Laura M.
System: The UNT Digital Library
Misinformation About the Misinformation Effect (open access)

Misinformation About the Misinformation Effect

This study partially replicated the research of Cook, Kwak, Hoffman, & Loftus where they examined post-event activities that induces subjects to pick a wrong person in a forced choice identification procedure. The goal was to investigate if providing a neither option to a match to sample task increases the accuracy of responding. Subjects were asked to study three faces for 10 seconds, after which they were asked to pick out the faces in a forced choice setting where two other faces were presented. Later the subjects were asked to pick out faces in a setting in which they could use a neither option. Results indicated that a generalization effect occurs when identifying faces and the effect is seen as subjects choosing the wrong face. This suggests that when using faces with some similar features in a lineup setting the procedure may cause the subject to pick the wrong person.
Date: August 2012
Creator: Halvorsen, Lars I.
System: The UNT Digital Library