Factors Contributing to Readmission of Seniors into Acute Care Hospitals

Medicare spending is expected to increase by 79% between the years 2010 and 2020, caused, in-part, by hospital readmissions within 30 days of discharge. This study identified factors contributing to hospital readmissions in a midwest heath service area (HSA), using Coleman's Transition Care Model as the theoretical framework. The researchers analyzed data from the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services and findings from a survey of seniors and a focus group of health professionals. The targeted HSA had a lower overall readmission rate than the national average, yet higher for surgical discharges in particular. Analysis of survey and focus data showed that factors centered around the area of patient-provider and provider-provider communication processes, patient adherence, and health literacy. The study's convenience sample limits its generalizability. However, findings are consistent with the theoretical framework and past research, demonstrating that the solution to the rising health care costs may be less high tech or pharmaceutical interventions per se but more fundamental communication among providers as well as with patients and caregivers.     

DEVELOPING CURRICULA FOR GRANDPARENTS IN JAPAN

The purpose of this study was to determine how three generations view the contribution and needs of grandparents in Japan. A sample consisting of 239 grandparents, 266 parents, and 274 grandchildren from, urban and rural areas completed the Grandparent Strengths and Needs Inventory (Strom & Strom, 1993). Grandparents reported more satisfaction, success, and involvement in teaching than was observed by parents or grandchildren. Grandparents experienced greater difficulty as well as frustration and saw themselves as less informed about their role than was reported by younger people. Significant main effects were generation, grandchild gender, grandchild age, generations living together, frequency of grandchild care by the grandparent, and amount of time the generations spent together. Implications for building curricula and guidelines for program development are identified.     

Item-Level Comparative Analysis of Online and Paper Administrations of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills

This article describes a comparative study conducted at the item level for paper and online administrations of a statewide high stakes assessment. The goal was to identify characteristics of items that may have contributed to mode effects. Item-level analyses compared two modes of the Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills (TAKS) for up to four subjects at two grade levels. The analyses included significance tests of p-value differences, DIF, and response distributions for each item. Additional analyses investigated item position effects and objective-level mode differences. No evidence of item position effects emerged, but significant differences were found for several items and objectives in all subjects at grade 8 and in mathematics and English language arts (ELA) at grade 11. Differences generally favored the paper group. ELA items that were longer in passage length and math items that required graphing and geometric manipulations or involved scrolling in the online administration tended to be the items showing mode differences.     

THE KNOWLEDGE OF MEMORY AGING QUESTIONNAIRE

A new questionnaire, the Knowledge of Memory Aging Questionnaire, assesses general knowledge of normal and pathological memory aging for use with students, older adults, and service providers who work with the elderly. The questionnaire consists of 28 true/false items covering a broad range of memory behaviors     

Grandparent Education: Raising Grandchildren

Grandparent-headed households are increasing in the United States. Most caregivers believe their role will be permanent. The responsibilities are more difficult because previous parenting experiences do not apply to some current challenges, and there are no paradigms to provide guidance. Accordingly, caregivers want to know the goals that successful grandparents share to consider them as a source of direction. Identification of grandparent success is based on the separate and combined responses from three generations to 60 Likert-type items in the Grandparent Strengths and Needs Inventory. Results detect assets and knowledge gaps, and they are used to determine content for group interventions. This presentation unites findings drawn from three-generational studies, community program initiatives, and case studies. The purpose is to show how goals of successful grandparents can be used to inform a paradigm for caregivers so that they are able to establish suitable priorities, recognize the necessary adjustments in their thinking and behavior, and discover how to assess progress. Grandparents develop these strengths when they are willing to amend their dreams, get to know grandchildren by spending time together, and adopt a perspective that enables management of stress. Cooperation with a parent who shares an obligation for childcare is essential along with an understanding of family rights and benefits. Success also requires resilience to confront predictable setbacks and provide lessons for grandchildren about overcoming adversity.     

Sport development and physical activity promotion: An integrated model to enhance collaboration and understanding

As inactivity and obesity levels continue to rise, calls are being made for sport development action to be further directed towards capitalising on the value of community participation for health and social benefits. This paper seeks to highlight a current disconnect between physical activity and sport management research, and identify opportunities for collaboration. To date, the sport management literature has predominantly focused on sport as a form of entertainment with spectatorship outcomes, where professional codes are a commonly used setting of research inquiry. There has been less focus on organisational issues related to participation in sport and recreation. This is identified as a gap, given the current push towards increasing focus on sport and recreation promotion for community wellbeing. The present paper sought to examine physical activity and sport management research, to identify commonalities and potential for integration and co-operation. The outcome of this review is a conceptual framework, integrating socio-ecological models, taken from physical activity research, and sport development concepts derived from sport management theory. The proposed conceptual framework seeks to provide sport management researchers with direction in their efforts to promote participation in sport, recreation and physically active leisure domains, particularly for community wellbeing purposes. Furthermore, such direction may also enhance the capacity of researchers to capitalise on opportunities for collaboration and integration across domains of inquiry.     

The application of transformational leadership theory to parenting: questionnaire development and implications for adolescent self-regulatory efficacy and life satisfaction

We draw upon transformational leadership theory to develop an instrument to measure transformational parenting for use with adolescents. First, potential items were generated that were developmentally appropriate and evidence for content validity was provided through the use of focus groups with parents and adolescents. We subsequently provide evidence for several aspects of construct validity of measures derived from the Transformational Parenting Questionnaire (TPQ). Data were collected from 857 adolescents (M(age) = 14.70 years), who rated the behaviors of their mothers and fathers. The results provided support for a second-order measurement model of transformational parenting. In addition, positive relationships between mothers' and fathers' transformational parenting behaviors, adolescents' self-regulatory efficacy for physical activity and healthy eating, and life satisfaction were found. The results of this research support the application of transformational leadership theory to parenting behaviors, as well as the construct validity of measures derived from the TPQ.     

Grooming the victim: an analysis of a perpetrator's seduction letter.

The authors review the current literature on the sexual victimization of adolescent males with attention given to victim characteristics and victim selection factors and strategies. Following this review, a letter written by a middle-aged man to entice a teenage boy into sexual activity is presented and analyzed. The strategy used by the letter-writer is to refute the usual reservations a teenage boy might have about engaging in sexual activity with a man. The approach used in the letter and the ensuing analysis are generalizable to teenage boys experiencing similar encounters and highlight the sophisticated seduction and grooming strategies used to sexually victimize adolescent males.