Change in Change Agents: Effects of an Employability Institute

A revised version of the Porter Scale of Counselor Attitudes was used to assess the interpersonal response patterns of 16 Nebraska Department of Labor employees who had completed the Nebraska Employability Development Institute. A significantly greater percentage of understanding responses (compared to national norms for a similar group) was interpreted as meeting intermediate criteria of training program success. Comments are made regarding the further necessity for final program assessment using enrollee outcomes as successful criteria.     

A Comprehensive Model of Cancer-Related Information Seeking Applied to Magazines

This article examines a comprehensive model of information seeking (CMIS) resulting from the synthesis of three theoretical research streams: the health belief model, uses and gratifications research, and a model of media exposure and appraisal. The model postulates that four health-related factors—demographics, direct experience, salience, and beliefs—determine two information carrier factors—perceptions of information carrier characteristics and utility—which, in turn, determine information-seeking actions. A sample of 366 adult women drawn from a medium-size midwestern city was surveyed by telephone on the issue of mammography use and cancer-related information seeking. The model resulted in an excellent fit to the data received. However, the values of the paths associated with the health-related factors were extremely low, suggesting that models of information seeking from mass media, such as magazines, should focus on purely communicative factors. These results are discussed in terms of future research and the pragmatic benefits of this theoretical framework.     

Improving the Counseling Relationship

The TFA System is a practical method counselors can use to adapt theories, techniques, and their personal style to working relationships with clients.