How effective are minimally trained/experienced volunteer mental health counsellors? Evaluation of CORE outcome data

Background: Existing research findings indicate that minimally trained/experienced paraprofessional counsellors can be as effective as professionally trained and experienced counsellors. More research into the effectiveness of paraprofessionals with specific client populations is required to determine the conditions under which they can be most effective. Aims: To evaluate the effectiveness of a group of 12 minimally trained/experienced volunteer mental health counsellors. Method: Data were collected over a one year period on 118 clients referred to a voluntary sector counselling agency. The CORE-OM was used to measure clients' levels of distress on a session-by-session basis. Clients and counsellors also completed a range of additional self-report measures. A benchmarking strategy was used to evaluate the outcomes achieved by participants in this study against three benchmark studies selected from published literature. Results: Paraprofessionals in this study were less effective than their professional counterparts. Results showed that participants in this study achieved an effect size of .70 compared to effect sizes of 1.36, 1.39 and 1.42 in the selected benchmark studies. Implications: Findings suggest that minimally trained/experienced paraprofessional counsellors working in mental health settings may benefit from longer and more targeted training programmes before engaging in practice. Conclusions: The benchmarking strategy provided a valuable and practical means of evaluating the comparative effectiveness of paraprofessional and professional counsellors. Findings should be interpreted cautiously as the selected benchmarks are not precise measurements and may not reflect the organisational factors operating within voluntary sector counselling agencies.     

Comparisons and advertising: the route from comparisons to effective advertising

In this study, we investigate what conditions cause subjects to make comparisons and the comparison patterns that influence effective advertising. People make social or temporal-past or temporal-future comparisons, or may not make any comparisons when facing a choice of purchase situation. Unlike past research, we investigate four comparison patterns, and propose a general comparison model that leads to greater advertising effectiveness.     

Student Experiences of the Adolescent Diversion Project: A Community-Based Exemplar in the Pedagogy of Service-Learning

Service-learning partnerships between universities and surrounding communities striving to create systems-level change must consider an emphasis in critical community service; a community centered paradigm where students are taught to work with communities to better understand contexts surrounding a social problem, as opposed to merely volunteering to provide a service to a community. The Adolescent Diversion Project (ADP), which has been operating for over 30 years, demonstrates critical community service through the type of relationship built between students and the local community. This article describes: a qualitative study with ADP students, the historical context of ADP, what and how students learned through their involvement in ADP, and reframes the work of this project as a form of service-learning pedagogy. Inductive content analysis was employed to identify underlying themes across participants related to their personal experiences of ADP and its impact in their lives. Findings were compared with service-learning outcomes and other quantitative studies conducted with past ADP cohorts from the literature. Consistent with past studies, ADP students become more negative toward social systems involved with their youth. This finding may explain an increase in feelings of political commitment following involvement in ADP. Consistent with service-learning outcomes, results demonstrate that ADP should be further documented as not only an effective community-based program but also as an exemplar in the pedagogy of service-learning. This study highlights why service-learning opportunities for students are not just one way to teach students, they are opportunities to bridge relationships within communities, bring life to theoretical concepts, and build the foundations necessary for educated citizens that will one day take lead roles in our society.     

Moderating effect of emotional intelligence on the role of negative affect in the motivation to drink in alcohol-dependent subjects undergoing protracted withdrawal

In order to understand how emotional aspects evolve and are related to craving for alcohol, different emotion-related variables were examined in relationship to craving during a protracted withdrawal. To this end state affectivity (PANAS), emotional intelligence (EI) (TEIQue), and craving (OCDS) were assessed at the onset (T1: day 1 or 2) and at the end (T2: day 14 to 18) of three-week protracted withdrawal among alcohol-dependent inpatients (DSM-IV, N = 41). A significant decrease in craving and negative affectivity (NA) was observed from T1 to T2 while EI scores remained low. At both baseline and follow-up, there was a significant moderation effect of EI on the link between NA and craving for alcohol. Negative mood at the onset of the cure was linked to craving at the end of the withdrawal period but only among patients with low trait EI scores. The merits of using psychotherapeutic approaches were discussed in the treatment of alcohol addiction.     

结直肠癌多学科专家组诊疗模式

结直肠癌多学科专家组诊疗模式(colorectal cancer multidisciplinary team,CRC-MDT),最早始于英国,它以病人为中心,多个学科共同参与诊治过程,制定出最适合病情的多模式相结合的科学合理的诊疗方案。此后,结直肠癌多学科专家组诊疗模式逐渐在德国、法国、意大利、美国等医疗中心相对集中的国家得到推广和完善。北京大学人民医院胃肠外科于2002年成立了包括内科、外科,病理科、影像科等8个学科专家组成的胃肠MDT。越来越多的临床实践证实,结直肠癌多学科专家组的诊疗方案,更具有科学性和合理性,明显改善结直肠癌病人预后,增加了患者的临床获益。目前,结直肠癌多学科专家组诊疗模式在世界范围内已经成为现代医院医疗体系的重要组成部分。结直肠癌MDT模式不只是对患者进行多学科会诊,而是对整个医疗过程全程指导,促进学科间的交流,增进学科间了解。在欧美CRC-MDT发展完善的地区,人们的目光不仅关注MDT在结直肠癌诊治中的应用,而且注意到了MDT作为一套宏观的医疗管理模式,在结直肠癌诊治流程运作中的社会效益、经济学价值的推动作用。     

L’insertion professionnelle des enseignants débutants au Québec

With an aim of checking if educational circles took into account the professional induction of their beginning teachers, in the context of the renewed teacher educational formation, we investigated the working experience of newly graduated high-school teachers from University of Montreal in the years 1998-1999-2000. This study also tries to see if the renewed teacher educational formation inaugurated in 1994 plays a facilitating role in the beginning high school teachers’ induction and if professional exhaustion is part of their problems. The results obtained indicate that 94 % (N=165 out of 176) of the beginners participating in our study considered to have succeeded in their professional insertion. Most of them find their initial formation adequate. They say to be especially satisfied of the quantity and quality of the training courses and state that their formation covers well the various aspects of the actual teacher’s task. Beginners also find that school Commissions should greatly improve their facilitating measures of professional insertion. The results of the investigation showed that the professional insertion of the beginners is more difficult in the absence of helping measures. Finally, although the majority of beginners complain about the heaviness of their task, the investigation reveals that professional exhaustion does not play a part in the success or failure of their induction.     

知识员工团队工作自主性与效能的关系研究

团队日益成为新经济时代背景下知识员工工作的主要方式。追求工作自主性同时也被认为是知识员工的核心特征之一。对杭州地区13家企业的35个工作团队的调查发现,工作自主性是一个二阶单因素结构,包含三个子维度:方法、进度和标准的自主性。回归分析显示:领导者信任在知识员工团队工作自主性与团队激励间起正向调节作用;反馈在团队激励与团队工作绩效及满意感间起负向调节作用。     

组织诚信:超越个体品德的组织伦理和行为

由于市场经济活动中的交易行为更多是组织层面的行为,企业组织诚信相比较于个体诚信来说对社会公众就具有更广泛和更普遍的影响。本文辨析了组织诚信与个体诚信的异同,指出组织诚信是组织作为社会环境中的道德行为者,自觉遵守商业经营的一系列价值和伦理规则。文章揭示了组织诚信的作用,以及它成为组织战略性资产的定位,并进一步提出了建设组织诚信的基本路径。