Analysis of responses to work-home interaction as measured by the SWING

The primary objective of this study was to analyse the responses of the Survey Work-home Interaction-Nijmegen – (SWING) using the Rasch measurement model. A quantitative, cross-sectional research design was used. Paper-and-pencil copies of the SWING were distributed to heterosexual working couples that lived in the greater Gauteng region in South Africa (n?=?318; females?=?50%; age range 25 to 65, Black Africans?=?35%, various work sectors). The main findings of this study indicate that work-home interaction is a multidimensional construct that can validly be measured by the four SWING subscales: (1) negative work-home interaction; (2) positive work-home interaction; (3) negative home-work interaction; and (4) positive work-home interaction. Further validation work should seek to develop shorter and more efficient measures of SWING subscales.     

Critical Success Factors of Rural and Urban Special Education Administration

Perceptions and opinions are reported of special education administrators in Indiana and Massachusetts. The data that are presented reflect administrators' ratings of factors that they consider critical to their personal success on-the-job and factors they see as essential to successful functioning of their organizational unit. Discussion occurs within the context of operation of special services programs in single district units and those found in cooperative or intermediate unit structures.     

Health,Healing and Wholeness in Frail Elderly People

ABSTRACT

This article explores the relationship between health, healing and wholeness in a group of twenty frail older residents of nursing homes, using in-depth interviews. While the participants in this study were all frail and lived with a number of disabilities, they demonstrated signs of transcendence in their responses to their disabilities. While independent living older adults in a previous study had all expressed fears of future vulnerability, only 45% of these nursing home residents said they had fears. Failure to thrive is discussed as one area of concern for frail older people, noting that this may stem from a lack of nourishment of the soul. Pastoral care is described as a multidisciplinary intervention for these residents, forming part of their wholistic care.     

Recovery opportunities,work–home conflict,and emotional exhaustion among hematologists and oncologists in private practice

Hematologists and oncologists in private practice play a central role in the care provided for cancer patients. The present study analyzes stress and relaxation aspects in the work of hematologists and oncologists in private practice in Germany in relation to emotional exhaustion, as a core dimension of burnout syndrome. The study focuses on the opportunities for internal recovery using breaks and time out during the working day, the frequency of working on weekends and on vacation, and the physician’s work–home and home–work conflict. Postulated associations between the constructs were analyzed using a structural equation model. If work leads to conflicts in private life (work–home conflict), it is associated with greater emotional exhaustion. Working frequently at the weekend is associated with greater work–home conflict and indirectly with greater emotional exhaustion. By contrast, the availability of opportunities to relax and recover during the working day is associated with less work–home conflict and indirectly with less emotional exhaustion. These results underline the importance of internal recovery opportunities during the working day and a successful interplay between working and private life for the health of outpatient hematologists and oncologists.     

Association of financial and health literacy with cognitive health in old age

We tested the hypothesis that higher financial and health literacy is associated with better cognitive health in 755 older persons who completed a literacy measure (M = 67.9, SD = 14.5) and then had annual clinical evaluations for a mean of 3.4 years. In proportional hazards models, higher literacy was associated with decreased risk of developing incident Alzheimer’s disease (n = 68) and results were similar for financial and health literacy subscales and after adjustment for potential confounders. In mixed-effects models, higher literacy was related to higher baseline level of cognition and reduced cognitive decline in multiple domains. Among the 602 persons without any cognitive impairment at baseline, higher literacy was associated with a reduced rate of cognitive decline and risk of developing incident mild cognitive impairment (n = 142). The results suggest that higher levels of financial and health literacy are associated with maintenance of cognitive health in old age.     

Early literacy and early numeracy: the value of including early literacy skills in the prediction of numeracy development

The purpose of this study was to examine whether early literacy skills uniquely predict early numeracy skills development. During the first year of the study, 69 3- to 5-year-old preschoolers were assessed on the Preschool Early Numeracy Skills (PENS) test and the Test of Preschool Early Literacy Skills (TOPEL). Participants were assessed again a year later on the PENS test and on the Applied Problems and Calculation subtests of the Woodcock–Johnson III Tests of Achievement. Three mixed effect regressions were conducted using Time 2 PENS, Applied Problems, and Calculation as the dependent variables. Print Knowledge and Vocabulary accounted for unique variance in the prediction of Time 2 numeracy scores. Phonological Awareness did not uniquely predict any of the mathematics domains. The findings of this study identify an important link between early literacy and early numeracy development.